Local journalism and local media in
Finland, like in other countries in Europe and Northern America, are living
through a time of intensive changes as part of the restructuring of the whole
media ecosystem. In Finland, four different eras during the second half of the
twentieth century have been recognized, from the era of print and universal
public service media in 1950s to the era of media businesses, until 2000
(Picard 2003). Based on the latest development in media landscape and our
findings on the development of hyperlocal media, there are groundings to an
argument that now we might be witnessing a fifth expansion period. This fifth
era seems to be characterized by several simultaneous trends which include
consolidation of larger media entities, and the rise of new media offerings for
small, targeted audiences. In this paper we are specifically looking at these
trends of the changing media landscape through the lense of hyperlocal media.

The presentation shares the first results
from an ongoing research project with the aim to map the current situation of
hyperlocal media (and journalism) in Finland. The number, the spatial
distribution and the categories of hyperlocal media in Finland in 2017 as well
as the motivations and ambitions of actors are examined in the project. The
research looks at local publishing outside traditional local newspapers and
freesheets, and both professional and amateur led new local (journalistic)
ventures are accounted for. In order to be able to examine characteristics of emerging
hyperlocal media, publishing and local media ecosystems as well as to discuss
future views of hyperlocal publishing, in a further stage of the project a
comparative analysis will be done on the current situation of local newspapers
and freesheets.