Unconventional Practices and Boundary Work in Small Town Newspapers: The Case for a Rural Journalism Subfield

Local rural newspapers live a precarious existence in Alberta, Canada. In a declining economic situation, rural journalists have adopted unconventional practices to continue their work. Based on fieldwork in four communities, we show how rural journalists negotiate between the dominant metropolitan-based doxa and habitus of the journalistic field and their own position within communities. The analysis reveals rural-specific reporting practices, atypical business practices, and unconventional approaches to innovation. We argue that rural journalism is not merely a deviation from dominant metropolitan norms but a subfield actively redefining the boundaries of journalistic practice in response to economic precarity and community obligations.