How local newspapers can thrive in an era of digitilisation

Danish local newspapers are struggling. With 350 jobs lost since 2021, local newspapers are fighting to survive and stay relevant. In her report, journalist at Bornholms Tidende and fellow at Constructive Institute, Anette Vestergaard, looks at how a handful of more‑than‑100‑year‑old local dailies are dealing with paywalls, digital transformation, and the battle against the algorithms of the tech giants. 

Four different approaches to change

“It was tough for the organisation with all those changes. At first, people simply couldn’t handle it. Their motivation collapsed. But today everyone knows it’s fine to spend two or three days to produce something of real quality.” 

Kevin Walsh, former editor-in-chief at Nordjyske

Targeting a younger audience

Initiatives aimed at younger generations are particularly important, they all agree. But what might that look like in practice?

Both Ole Sloth, editor-in-chief at Lolland-Falsters Folketidende, and Kevin Walsh highlight how their newspapers began integrating short-format videos and strengthening the skills of their video journalists. Audio-productions should also be prioritised, because – as Kevin Walsh puts it – people don’t have time to read in the morning. To stay in sync with audience needs, newspapers must adapt their formats to fit the daily lives of their ‘readers’.

And the content itself needs to be more relevant – and more constructive. When Kevin Walsh was the editor-in-chief of Nordjyske, he made the ‘drastic’ decision to end the print edition by 2027. The decision was driven by the high cost of maintaining print and by the reality that younger generations simply don’t read the newspaper – even though they’re just as interested in the world and local community around them. They consume news differently, and newspapers have to work with that tendency and, not against it.

A club-based business model

Beyond editorial development, Ole Sloth emphasizes the importance of transforming the business model. It needs to become a membership-based model that strengthens the sense of community around local life – you’re part of a club.

The local newspaper must be indispensable – like a driver’s license giving you access to the local area. Ole Sloth’s strategy is about shifting from being a distributor of information to becoming the core of a community – where being a “member” is the key to understanding and participating in local life.

And this is exactly what Kristoffer Gravgaard, editor-in-chief at Bornholms Tidende, and Peter Orry, former editor-in-chief of JFM, also stress: you have to create content your community cannot live without. 

A way of doing this is through citizen involvement. For instance, organising public meetings or asking the local community about specific topics can help you understand their needs – and create journalism.

 “It’s about cultivating long-term relationships with people who eventually end up becoming customers.”

Peter Orry, former editor-in-chief at JFM

Understanding the audience through data

But JFM doesn’t just cultivate the relationships with its audience by talking to people – for JFM, it’s about really understanding the audience and their needs. And they do that through data.

By taking what Jesper Nørgaard, editor-in-chief for editorial development at JFM, describes as a scientific approach, the organisation can clearly see from the data what is being read – and what is not.

“Today we no longer produce as much culture or sports coverage, because the data dive showed these were some of the least‑read categories. We also take far fewer press releases about events.”

Jesper Nørgaard, editor-in-chief for editorial development at JFM

Performance, quality and quantity

JFM’s new strategy has reshaped both its journalistic approach and the role of its journalists. A key element here is the partnership with the Norwegian media group Amedia. Being part of a larger media organisation has placed strong emphasis on knowledge-sharing – especially at editor level – as well as shared systems and streamlined workflows.

One concrete initiative is the intervention team. This team visits all JFM newsroom once a month and review, among other things, whether there is sufficient “pulse” online – meaning whether journalists’ articles are performing well in terms of reading time and conversions.

As Jesper Nørgaard puts it: “With fewer staff, we can’t afford to have someone who doesn’t perform.”

Kevin Walsh argues that journalists should produce less – quality over quantity. In some ways, this aligns with JFM’s approach; in others, it contradicts it. At JFM there are clear expectations for journalistic output: eight articles a week, with three to four of them being more substantial pieces involving multiple sources.

The paywall

At JFM only the article text is behind the paywall now. The headline and subhead must answer the question every reader asks himself: Why should I read this story?

Ole Sloth at Folketidende openly acknowledges the financial challenges posed by declining advertising revenue and presents a vision of replacing the traditional paywall with a paid membership model instead – the “club-model.”

Kristoffer Gravgaard offers another solution: the combo subscription that gives readers the first month free and then gradually raises the paywall – and, as he stresses, the shift must happen gradually.

“I think it’s an advantage to do it gradually. If you shut everything overnight, you flush all your non‑paying readers out at once. It needs to be a small change that slowly makes access harder – so they don’t disappear, but instead gradually find it attractive to pay.”

Kristoffer Gravgaard, editor-in-chief at Bornholms Tidende

A local advantage

Journalism and local media are undeniably undergoing major changes these years. And as Ole Sloth points out, it may be crucial for local journalists to remember the strength of being local experts – big tech giants can’t compete with the authenticity and intimacy that provides to a local community.

The crucial thing is to know your local community well enough to choose the changes and strategies, that will work for your newspaper – because, as Anette Vestergaard writes in the report, different areas require different approaches.

So even though it may feel like a major loss of control, journalists will find their way. Perhaps the future of local journalism lies in hyper-local media outlets, or perhaps everyone will eventually become part of a larger organisation like Amedia. Either way, change often paves the way for creativity and innovation.

About Anette Vestergaard

Anette Vestergaard is an experienced journalist and author, who has divided her carreer evenly between journalism and nonfiction. The first 15 years she was employed by outlets like Dagbladet (today Sjællandske Medier), Frederiksborg Amts Avis (also Sjællandske Medier) og Dagbladet Politiken (1995-2004).

From 2004-2017 she worked as an independent editor and writer in the publishing industry, mainly producing biographies for Gyldendal, Politikens Forlag, Lindhardt & Ringhof and Gad among others. This turn of carreer started with a commissioned title, ”Børneopdragelse gennem 100 år”, issued by Politikens Forlag in 2004. From 2006-2008 she worked as an inhouse nonfiction editor at Lindhardt & Ringhof. In 2017 Anette Vestergaard took a short stint as a temp on Bornholms Tidende. This stint has now lasted more than eight years and has, since she joined the board i 2020, become a mission for her, as a closer look into the economics of the paper showed that the company was in deep financial trouble.

Her fellowship was funded by Aarhuus Stiftstidendes Fond

Read the full report in English here

Read the full report in Danish here