The pandemic upended every aspect of life in the world, and the news industry is no exception. But I’m optimistic that 2022 will be a different year.
The pandemic has shown the power of locative data and its connection to the user. People have spent more time using digital tools to find resources in their immediate neighborhood: getting food delivered, supporting a local business a block away, checking the number of Covid-19 cases in their city, and finding parks or nature spaces to escape to amid all the craziness.
These motivations for information nearby (and the behaviors that fulfill them) are now happening more than ever. The location-based services industry is estimated to be worth $48.5 billion by 2026. For local news organizations, this poses a unique and important opportunity to connect the dots — all the pieces of information tied to places and spaces in their community — in order to let the public learn more about what’s happening around them.
I have spent six years exploring how space and place are impacting journalism and storytelling through the lens of spatial journalism. Spatial journalism is here, and it’s ready for news organizations that are ready to embrace it.
Spatial journalism is not about just using locative technology. It’s also about understanding how spaces and places create meaning for the user. It’s a mindset and a framework to work from. From that point, one can use a variety of approaches to convey the spatial information to the user: maps, geolocation, location segmentation, or customization.
This kind of place-based knowledge that can be constructed from connecting spatial data and information is what I wrote about in 2014 and is what’s happening now in 2021. Users are seeking location-based information to make daily decisions in their lives. Factal, BK Reader, and the LenFest Local Lab are among the pioneering organizations that have embraced this approach. In fact, The New York Times’s R&D department also recently created a special area devoted to spatial journalism.
Connecting spaces and places to information might be considered common sense. But the mindset and framework to employ a spatial understanding of the community aren’t typical in journalism. This kind of spatial understanding has long been a part of other fields, like architecture, geography, and urban planning — but less so in news.
That can change. When news organizations are in a moment of self-reflection and upheaval, the opportunity to change the dominant narrative is there. There can be a change to how communities are understood, covered, and connected when we revisit the idea of spaces and places through the creation of spatial narratives, place-based knowledge, and locative data.
Amy Schmitz Weiss is a professor in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University.
The pandemic upended every aspect of life in the world, and the news industry is no exception. But I’m optimistic that 2022 will be a different year.
The pandemic has shown the power of locative data and its connection to the user. People have spent more time using digital tools to find resources in their immediate neighborhood: getting food delivered, supporting a local business a block away, checking the number of Covid-19 cases in their city, and finding parks or nature spaces to escape to amid all the craziness.
These motivations for information nearby (and the behaviors that fulfill them) are now happening more than ever. The location-based services industry is estimated to be worth $48.5 billion by 2026. For local news organizations, this poses a unique and important opportunity to connect the dots — all the pieces of information tied to places and spaces in their community — in order to let the public learn more about what’s happening around them.
I have spent six years exploring how space and place are impacting journalism and storytelling through the lens of spatial journalism. Spatial journalism is here, and it’s ready for news organizations that are ready to embrace it.
Spatial journalism is not about just using locative technology. It’s also about understanding how spaces and places create meaning for the user. It’s a mindset and a framework to work from. From that point, one can use a variety of approaches to convey the spatial information to the user: maps, geolocation, location segmentation, or customization.
This kind of place-based knowledge that can be constructed from connecting spatial data and information is what I wrote about in 2014 and is what’s happening now in 2021. Users are seeking location-based information to make daily decisions in their lives. Factal, BK Reader, and the LenFest Local Lab are among the pioneering organizations that have embraced this approach. In fact, The New York Times’s R&D department also recently created a special area devoted to spatial journalism.
Connecting spaces and places to information might be considered common sense. But the mindset and framework to employ a spatial understanding of the community aren’t typical in journalism. This kind of spatial understanding has long been a part of other fields, like architecture, geography, and urban planning — but less so in news.
That can change. When news organizations are in a moment of self-reflection and upheaval, the opportunity to change the dominant narrative is there. There can be a change to how communities are understood, covered, and connected when we revisit the idea of spaces and places through the creation of spatial narratives, place-based knowledge, and locative data.
Amy Schmitz Weiss is a professor in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University.
Cristina Tardáguila
Anika Anand
Juleyka Lantigua
Catalina Albeanu
j. Siguru Wahutu
Sarah Marshall
Burt Herman
Chase Davis
James Green
Francesco Zaffarano
Christina Shih
Ståle Grut
Tony Baranowski
Anita Varma
Cindy Royal
Daniel Eilemberg
Jody Brannon
Jim Friedlich
Stephen Fowler
Doris Truong
Chicas Poderosas
Joe Amditis
Joshua P. Darr
Kendra Pierre-Louis
Kristen Jeffers
Izabella Kaminska
Melody Kramer
Megan McCarthy
Amara Aguilar
Ariel Zirulnick
Larry Ryckman
Alice Antheaume
Gonzalo del Peon
Parker Molloy
Richard Tofel
Errin Haines
Shalabh Upadhyay
Millie Tran
Laxmi Parthasarathy
Michael W. Wagner
Tom Trewinnard
Jennifer Brandel
Mandy Jenkins
Nikki Usher
Kristen Muller
Mario García
Jonas Kaiser
David Skok
Gabe Schneider
Julia Munslow
Sam Guzik
Janelle Salanga
Mary Walter-Brown
Jesenia De Moya Correa
Amy Schmitz Weiss
Meena Thiruvengadam
Robert Hernandez
Matt Karolian
S. Mitra Kalita
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Jennifer Coogan
Gordon Crovitz
Andrew Freedman
Simon Galperin
David Cohn
Paul Cheung
Anthony Nadler
Don Day
Joni Deutsch
Joy Mayer
Simon Allison
Matthew Pressman
Moreno Cruz Osório
Rachel Glickhouse
Brian Moritz
Julia Angwin
Sarah Stonbely
Kathleen Searles Rebekah Trumble
Cherian George
John Davidow
Whitney Phillips
Zizi Papacharissi
Eric Nuzum
Wilson Liévano
Victor Pickard
Matt DeRienzo
Joanne McNeil
Jesse Holcomb
Mike Rispoli
Stefanie Murray
Tamar Charney
AX Mina
Shannon McGregor Carolyn Schmitt
Kerri Hoffman
Jessica Clark
A.J. Bauer
Natalia Viana
Christoph Mergerson
Raney Aronson-Rath
Candace Amos