Managing old and new in local newsrooms: an analysis of Generation C’s multiplatform local news repertoires

Convergence has substantially changed the ways of news consumption and dissemination. This research represents one of the first attempts to examine Generation C’s multiplatform local news repertoires at both media source and audience levels. Results of the cluster analysis identified three types of local news sources–traditional local news sources, web location-independent news sources, and “push” news source, and suggested that local news organisations’ traditional, web, and social platforms appealed to Generation C audiences in a similar way. In addition, this study identified three types of audiences of local news–heavy local news seekers, determined location-independent news seekers, and light local news seekers, and found that both individual and structural factors significantly predicted the classification of the audience types. Managerial implications are provided for local newsroom operations.