Community-First Criticism: Reviewing Art and Culture in Local Newspapers

Abstract

This article explores community-conforming criticism published in local or community newspapers. Currently, professional cultural criticism is largely focused on capital-based and regional newspapers, as well as cultural magazines, implying the specialisation of work and compartmentalisation of content, while local newspapers cover a wide variety of societal issues and dedicate attention to culture in genres other than the review. The article analyses the findings from a three-year development project launched by the Finnish Critics’ Association (2020–2023) that aimed to rethink reviewing in local journalistic settings. An analysis of the stories published until the summer of 2022 (n = 28) and semistructured theme interviews with the involved critics and staff journalists (n = 14) show the potential and challenges for local journalistic cultural criticism. Based on the analysis, I develop a theoretical framework for community-conforming criticism that places the primary focus on social values of art and preferences that rise from within the local community.