Lessons from ‘The Vale’ – the role of hyperlocal media in shaping reputational geographies
Lessons from ‘The Vale’ – the role of hyperlocal media in shaping reputational geographies
This chapter takes the form of a case study, examining the role of community media in the Castle Vale area of Birmingham. The ‘Vale’, as it is known locally, is a former 1960s housing estate that has been extensively regenerated over the latest 20 years. Whilst community media operations have the potential to counter existing mainstream media representations of place, the extent to which this is achieved is questionable. The chapter offers operational insight into community media and reveals ways in which assumptions about the democratising function of such media come up against the tensions over representation that exist between readers and producers. The chapter offers a critical account of how research into ‘connected communities’ needs to take account of the ‘banality’ of everyday activism by citizens sensitive to pre-existing negative reputational geographies.
Keywords: regeneration, hyperlocal, community, media, representation
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