MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS FOR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS AND LOCAL INFORMATION

Local newspapers are one of the means by which community identity and culture are sustained. Electronic versions of local newspapers can mai ntain the role of local newspapers as cultural standard-bearers for th e community, yet deliver their information in a technologically up-to- date manner. The flexibility of the technology allows for electronic n ewspapers that can assist disadvantaged groups in society, such as the geographically isolated, or the disabled and elderly, as well as the population as a whole. Electronic newspapers have thus the potential t o widen cultural value-making across more of society than conventional printed newspapers can achieve. The main success story will be founde d on the quality, on the usability, and on the user focus, content and services. Those newspapers which are able to gain early experience in making high-quality products will have the best basis to be successfu l within a new emerging and prospering market. (C) 1998 Published by E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.