News and media are constantly adapting to consumer demand. While the shift to digital media has occurred on multiple levels over the last couple of decades, this shift has been more challenging for niche, local media. International conglomerates have also felt the pinch, as social media and the internet have become a vast source of instant, free information.
Consumer demand is the primary driving force in any industry, regardless of the form of media or entertainment. Local news, in the days before the internet, was an extremely valuable tool and resource for people to stay connected to their community. It wasn’t just a place people went to stay up to date with the news; they were full of local ads, notices, and obituaries, and they were vital in keeping the community informed.
Once the internet started to change this dynamic, these companies quickly noticed a shift in the number of people seeking out ads in local papers. The internet didn’t just make it easier and cheaper; for companies with the potential to offer their services to an audience that extended beyond their community, it presented possibilities they had never had before.
Global Potential
One of the first industries to seize the potential of the internet was the gaming industry. This happened on multiple levels. The rise of the gambling industry led to a surge in operators targeting a global market rather than a localized one. In addition, home video console games began to do the same, bolstering their online capacity and allowing users to play against each other from all over the world.
Within the space of a few years, the proliferation of professional video gaming and betting markets has occurred, which underpins them. Much of this growth occurred at the organic level, as video gaming communities came together, partnered with streaming companies, and created these markets from scratch. Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) is one of the most popular games within this niche, with the biggest CS2 tournaments of 2025 showcasing just how varied and deep this market has become.
Taking a look at the eSports odds at Thunderpick, you can get an idea of just how significant the underlying market is, too. When it first started, there were only a couple of markets with pretty thin wagering options, but it has since grown far beyond initial expectations.
Nowadays, some eSports betting markets have a broader scope than some mid-sized professional sports. It’s this digital shift that has showcased just how much potential there is for any industry that can harness the power of digital platforms, but especially in the world of media.
Identifying The Trend
Due to the size of the news industry, there are numerous levels, and because of their size, they all experienced these changes differently. Large media companies, which had offices worldwide, were able to leverage their vast resources and capital to make aggressive moves into the digital space, aiming to dominate that realm as well.
Ultimately, the main aim for local news was to continue offering the same product and services, but shift their advertising budget and business model entirely online. In the mid-2000s, many were still in denial about the internet’s potential, but those localized news companies that moved online positioned themselves in the market and have since benefited.
It took a lot of conviction to do this in the early days, but now that digital sources are the primary route for people to obtain their news, it is a gamble that paid off. Local news focussed on the sort of niche areas that larger conglomerates can’t, such as staying up to date with community and culture news that was specific to the area, and bringing letters, opinions, and using their social media pages as a hub to redirect people to their main site, where they offer monthly paid subscriptions and advertising space.
The Future Of Local Media
As the last decade has demonstrated, the future of local media is increasingly digital and multifaceted. Ultimately, the goal for any local newspaper or media source is to attract as many people as possible to their website.
There are dozens of effective ways to do this, but as advertising revenue from physical papers shrinks, and companies are able to use social media influencers, SEO, and, more recently, GEO as their main marketing routes, local media could become a completely digital market within the next couple of decades.
As the older generation, who buy newspapers and rarely go online, start to exit the market, and they are replaced by a generation that grew up in the digital world, it seems inevitable that digital sources will envelop the entire industry.
It’ll be through a number of different networks, ranging from social media to websites to short-form media like Instagram Shorts and TikToks. However, this trend has been moving online for over two decades now, and it shows no signs of slowing.
