The phenomenology of legacy journalism in a hyperlocal media context: A self-reflective analysis

Journalism scholarship generally agrees that community-run hyperlocal media has emerged as an important alternative democratic institution. Rosen further argues such media is evolving from pre-digital media’s inherent commercial fallibilities into a somewhat utopian democratic institution. However, how professional legacy journalism can contribute to this evolution, from a practitioner’s personal perspective, has not been explored. This article applies a self-reflective methodology to the researcher-legacy practitioner’s lived experience while working in a community-run hyperlocal media context. Through this process, the researcher analyses the evolution of a legacy world-view while contributing to a Melbourne inner west hyperlocal news outlet as local government reporter over a twelve-month period. Through such an analysis, this article reveals a hybrid legacy/communal framework that may help progress hyperlocal media’s evolution towards fulfilling its democratic destiny.