Digital environments play a central role in the news making process. Seeking new ways to interact with people previously seen as audience is a big challenge for media and journalists today, especially in local contexts, where journalists are more embedded in the community, physically and digitally, namely through social media and from mobile devices. This study intends to identify how local journalists are using digital tools in their routines, especially when it comes to be close and engaged with communities. To do so, a survey was applied to a sample of journalists (n = 107) from 42 newsrooms from the central region of Portugal, which gathers the most significant presence of local media. Findings point to full integration of the Internet into local journalists’ routines as well as social media and mobile. Digital technologies are used essentially for news gathering and to get in touch with sources. Employing social media to engage with the community is true only for a few. The same happens when it comes to recognize or even incorporate content produced by citizens. Local journalists are not always so available to be close to the public as they usually claim.

Local news organizations are adapting their newsroom routines to better respond to a digital readership. These models feature different levels of online integration, but all aim to restructure newsroom responsibilities to ensure editorial and economic sustainability. This study uses a cross-national approach to assess how roles and structures in local and regional newsrooms are changing in the digital environment. In-depth interviews with managers, editors, and journalists in five countries (Finland, France, Germany, Portugal, and the U.K.) reveal how their newsroom structures have adapted for the production of digital content; how they have changed their newsroom cultures to better reflect a digital-first mind-set and changing audience preferences; the role of newsroom leaders in implementing these changes and equipping staff members to respond to digital disruption; and changes to journalists’ roles and responsibilities, including new beat assignments, the use of new digital tools, and the creation of entirely new positions. The findings shed light on ways local and regional news organizations are defying their institutional nature and innovating by restructuring their internal and external practices and rethinking their news products to appeal to digital audiences.

Fake news and disinformation are not a new phenomenon. However, in recent years, they have acquired great prominence on the public agenda, conditioning electoral results and generating episodes of political destabilization. Academic interest runs in parallel with the consideration of disinformation as a growing priority for governments and international organizations, due to its geostrategic relevance and its importance for national sovereignty and security. The interference of countries such as Russia or China in other nations’ electoral processes, using new tools and methods to manipulate public opinion and proliferate cyberattacks have led to the creation of agencies or regulations aimed at curbing disinformation in some states. The UN, the EU and other countries’ governments have tried to develop strategies to respond to this growing threat. The pandemic has accelerated the decline of local media, which leaves communities in a state of serious vulnerability. Reliable resources and sources around local information are scarce assets, information is increasingly consumed through social media, and in them disinformation easily proliferates. With this proposal, we intend to start a discussion around disinformation at a local level, something that has been absent in disinformation studies.

The expansion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across different stages of production and distribution in journalism is opening a debate on its applications within newsrooms and in business models. This research studies how different media outlets, media groups and institutions are beginning to create internal regulations for the use of AI, both from a technical and an ethical perspective. To do so, an international sample (N = 45) of editorial stylebooks and internal self-regulatory guidelines published between 2023 and early 2025 have been compiled—all links are openly available here—and put through a process of content analysis. The results indicate that the self-regulatory guidelines emerge from an individual initiative of the media themselves, with a focus on limiting the use of generative AI, particularly in text creation. The guidelines emphasize ethical commitments such as transparency, content verification, and respect for data and copyright while underlining the importance of human oversight. Key objectives include avoiding bias, ensuring information quality, and strengthening audience trust. Despite progress, regulation remains in its early stages and requires continuous adaptation to keep pace with technological advancements.

This text addresses the phenomenon of so-called fake news in the new media ecosystem, namely in contexts of increasing influence of populist discourse and action, such as Brazil, the UK, the USA, Italy, among others. It does so by way of some characteristics already implicit in the limited effects theory: a) fake news involves, in a specific way, the participation of its receivers in disseminating and sharing it; b) producers/consumers (prosumers) are involved in contexts of proximity that facilitate selective exposure, perception, and memorization; c) these phenomena are joined by another (selective sharing): the stakeholders share ideas they agree with more intensely. Information bubbles reinforce existing beliefs and predispositions; d) the phenomenon is increased in contexts of proximity, be it geographical proximity provided by regional media or thematic and ideological proximity shared in online groups. Despite this, there is a difference between contexts of proximity in traditional communities and mechanisms of propaganda that have a significant level of organization and ideological polarization.Este texto aborda o fenômeno das chamadas fake news no novo ecossistema midiático, nomeadamente em contextos de aumento da influência do discurso e das ações populistas, como Brasil, Reino Unido, EUA, Itália entre outros, através de algumas características, já implícitas na teoria dos efeitos limitados: a) as fake news implicam, de um modo especial, a participação dos seus receptores na sua divulgação e dispersão; b) os produtores/consumidores (prosumers) estão envolvidos em contextos de proximidade que facilitam a exposição, percepção, memorização seletivas; c) a estes fenômenos acrescenta-se outro (partilha seletiva): os stakeholders compartilham com mais intensidade as ideias com que estão de acordo. As bolhas de informação reforçam crenças e predisposições já existentes; d) o fenômeno agrava-se em contextos de proximidade, seja esta a proximidade geográfica e temática proporcionada nos media regionais, seja a proximidade temática e ideológica partilhadas nos grupos online. Apesar disso, há uma diferença liminar entre os contextos de proximidade em comunidades tradicionais e os mecanismos de propaganda com forte índice de organização e mobilização ideológica.Este texto aborda el fenómeno de las llamadas fake news en el nuevo ecosistema mediático, a saber, en contextos de creciente influencia del discurso y la acción populistas como Brasil, EE.UU., U.K., Italia, entre otros, mediante algunas características implícitas en la teoria de los efectos limitados: a) las fake news implican, de modo especial, la participación de sus receptores en su divulgación y dispersión; b) los productores / consumidores (prosumers) participan en contextos de proximidad que facilitan la exposición, la percepción y la memorización selectiva; c) a estos fenómenos se añade otro (compartición selectiva): los stakeholders, quienes comparten con más intensidad las ideas con que están de acuerdo. Las burbujas de información refuerzan creencias y predisposiciones ya existentes; d) el fenómeno se agrava en contextos de proximidad, es decir, la proximidad geográfica y temática proporcionada en los medios regionales, sea la proximidad temática y ideológica compartida en los grupos online. Apesar de ello, hay una diferencia entre los contextos de proximidad en comunidades tradicionales y los mecanismos de propaganda con fuerte índice de organización y movilización ideológica.