Covering tragedy in a small community: A practice-oriented study of local journalism, embeddedness, and ethical decision-making

Accidents in small communities raise some ethical questions for local journalists. How to provide news and simultaneously be sensitive to community and victims? Inspired by research which indicates a shift towards an overall local journalism perspective that does not separate the watchdog role from the caring role, the article discusses journalism practice, tragedy, and ethical decision-making. Despite local journalism’s documented “closeness to community”, few studies examine relationships between individual, -institutional, and society level including individual decisions, workplace- and institutional practices, and society. Using the covering of a tragic helicopter accident in a small community in Norway as a case, including interviews with journalists, presentations and news texts, findings show that for local journalists, the society level is important. Findings also indicate a change in attitude among journalists when covering tragedy. The normative idea of objectivity, including viewing proximity to community and closeness to sources as unethical, did not come forward in the interviews or in the texts. Instead, embeddedness is perceived as part of all their work, something they need to consider daily. In a hybrid media environment where rumors spread on social media, tragedies call for both an ethic of care, and to exercise the watchdog role. Local journalists keep the community accountable for their digital behavior. By urging its inhabitants to care and reminding them of the importance and responsibilities of being part of the community when a tragedy happens, local journalists contribute to a collective “we”, emphasizing local media’s important role in the local society.