Which news is read the most? Without any doubt, those are the ones that are related to deaths, tragic events, money, or gossip. But does that news affect us as citizens? An enormous amount of them is pure entertainment. We’ll read them, share them, and comment on them with our friends, and in a few weeks, we’ll forget them with no repercussion in our lives.

That’s not the case of local journalism, which would be to readers what local clinics mean to health: the first window for the inhabitants of a town or a city. Local media try to communicate everything that happens in this little area without thinking about the number of views that news can reach.

Some friends have asked me why I don’t try to work in autonomic or state media, downplaying the local ones and obviating that sometimes, there are economic or political interests after many of the bigger ones. Then, who is going to explain what happens in our villages? Although it’s underrated, local journalism is an important job considering the high level of misinformation on social media, pubs, and streets.

Local journalism is valuable and grateful. You know that what you communicate has happened near you and that your piece of information will arrive at readers without the distortions that could appear in generalist press. It’s real journalism and not just entertainment. Maybe we won’t appear on TV, and our names won’t be popular outside our towns… But who cares?

Jose Luis Cano