Social Engagement Indicator (SEI) in Proximity Journalism: Towards a Quality Model in Local Media

Abstract

Proximity journalism has historically played a key role in the shaping of local and regional communities. In a context of
strong transformation of the journalistic sector, previous studies have shown that some local news initiatives achieve
to remain as central actors in democratic systems, thanks to the fact that they promote social cohesion. For all these
reasons, it is useful to address the construction of an Engagement Indicator (SEI) that serves to measure the
commitment of the local press. The objective of this work is to develop a measurer of the social commitment of local
media in order to guarantee citizens’ access to quality information that meets the standards to respond to their
interests. Likewise, the results will contribute to delivering an explanatory model that evaluates this commitment. In
this sense, a mixed research strategy is used, in which semi-structured interviews are combined with case studies and
content analysis. First, the interviews allow us to outline the variables that should be tackled to measure the
commitment of a news media. After identifying these categories, the case studies serve to compare the validity of the
information obtained. Finally, a measurement tool is designed that makes it possible to refine the indicator, once
applied to the universe of digital proximity media of the autonomous community of Andalusia (n= 212). The result of
this process is a synthetic indicator of the commitment of the local media with the members of their environment (SEI).
This transfer tool can provide elements of reflection to digital media on how they face their relationships with audiences
and other agents in the local environment.