When Local is National An analysis of interacting journalistic communities in the coverage of sea rise

This study explicates meanings of local journalism when what was traditionally treated as a local issue for local audiences-Miami's rising seas-was thrust onto a national stage by national press and for wider audiences. Through a textual analysis of local news stories over a period of three years, this paper highlights how local journalists demarcated local and national journalistic boundaries, using national news to legitimize previous local coverage of sea-level rise, as news sources in local environmental journalism that strengthened presentations by local press as expertise on the issue, ultimately positioning national journalists as "outsiders."