[Commlist] CFP: “Locally Informed?” at Journalism

*Locally Informed? Information Inequalities, Audience Disconnection, and 
the Changing Roles of Local Journalism*

*Deadline for extended abstracts: 20 November 2026*

The journal /Journalism/ (SAGE) invites submissions for a Special Issue 
examining how people access, experience, and evaluate local information, 
and the changing role of journalism within increasingly fragmented local 
information ecosystems.

While research on local journalism has often focused on newsroom 
closures, declining coverage, and news deserts, less attention has been 
paid to how audiences perceive their own level of local informedness. 
The presence of local news media does not necessarily translate into 
attention, engagement, trust, or civic connection. Conversely, 
communities with limited journalistic provision may rely on alternative 
sources of local information.

This Special Issue seeks to advance an audience-centred research agenda, 
exploring the relationships between local information conditions, 
audience practices, and their consequences for journalism and public life.

*We particularly welcome contributions addressing:*

  * Local news avoidance, non-use, disengagement, trust, and perceived
    relevance;
  * Perceived local informedness, information sufficiency, and local
    knowledge;
  * News deserts, underserved communities, and territorial information
    inequalities;
  * Audience practices across traditional, digital, community, and
    platform-based media;
  * The relationships between journalism, social media, local
    authorities, community organisations, and alternative information
    providers;
  * Algorithmic visibility, incidental exposure, and AI-mediated local
    information;
  * Implications for civic participation, community belonging,
    accountability, and local democracy.

We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions using qualitative, 
quantitative, comparative, experimental, ethnographic, and mixed-methods 
approaches. International comparisons and research focusing on 
underrepresented territories, media systems, and populations are 
particularly encouraged.

*Submission guidelines:*

Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract of 800–1,000 words 
(maximum two A4 pages, including references), outlining the research 
problem, conceptual contribution, research questions, methodological 
approach, expected findings or central argument, and relevance to the 
Special Issue.

*Key dates:*

  * Extended abstract submission: *20 November 2026*
  * Notification of decisions: *18 December 2026*
  * Full manuscript submission: *30 June 2027*

Full manuscripts must not exceed 8,000 words (including references and 
all other elements) and will undergo the journal's standard double-blind 
peer-review process.

*Publication fees:*

There are no submission or publication fees for articles published under 
the journal's standard subscription model. No Article Processing Charge 
(APC) is required. Optional Open Access publication is available through 
SAGE Choice and may involve an APC, subject to institutional agreements.

*Guest Editors:*

Pedro Jerónimo – University of Beira Interior, Portugal

Alba Díez-Gracia – University of Salamanca, Spain

Joy Jenkins – University of Missouri, United States

*Full Call for Papers and submission information:*

https://journals.sagepub.com/page/jou/cfp-special-issue-in-journalism 
<https://journals.sagepub.com/page/jou/cfp-special-issue-in-journalism>

We look forward to receiving contributions from scholars working across 
journalism studies, audience research, local media, and related fields.”

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