A study of hyperlocal digital news platforms and grassroots Journalism in West Bengal Pal Sambit1, Dwivedy Ashish Kumar2 1Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, monksambit1@gmail.com 2Senior Academic Consultant, Journalism and Mass Communication, Odisha State Open University, Sambalpur, ashy_dwivedy@yahoo.com Online published on 20 July, 2020. Abstract The present paper proposes to study the growth and role of hyperlocal digital news platforms in West Bengal. Employing content analysis, it plans to decipher the most frequent, dominant themes dealt with by a small sample of these news platforms. By comparing the findings of Content Analysis with secondary data, the paper investigates the proposed claim of the hyper local digital platforms of being truly sensitive towards the needs of the community they represent. Results reveal an overabundance of general news and news on government and politics, even as recent government reports express serious concerns over the lack of productive employment opportunities, esp. among women, failure of universal primary education, an alarming rise in landlessness, urbanrural income disparities, low nutritional status of women and children, the need for preventive health delivery system and inadequacy of drinking water supply as the most pressing local problems facing Bengal. The same hints at the need for more sensitivity on the part of hyperlocal digital platforms of West Bengal towards the real problems of their audience. Top Keywords Digital News, Social Media, Local News, Content Analysis. Top |