The Local

The Local is a multi-regional, European, English-language digital news publisher with local editions in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Each site, while alike in appearance, has separate editorial teams, each focused on its respective market.[1]

This article is about the online news publisher. For the British convenience store, see First Quench Retailing. For the 2008 film, see The Local (film).
The Local
Type of site
News
OwnerThe Local Europe AB
URLwww.thelocal.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired for certain editions
Launched2004 (2004)
Current statusActive

Coverage is purely domestic in each country, and focuses on news and information for an immigrant or expat audience. The parent company The Local Europe AB, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, also owns English-language discussion forums in Germany (Toytown Germany) and Switzerland (English Forum).[2]

History

The Local was founded in Stockholm in 2004 by Paul Rapacioli, formerly a director of reed.co.uk[3] and managing editor James Savage, formerly a radio journalist and PR consultant. Rapacioli was managing director from 2004-2018.

The original Swedish edition began in early 2004 as a weekly email newsletter which Paul Rapacioli started sending to other students in his "Swedish for Immigrants" class. The first news site was launched in Sweden in August 2004. The German edition was launched in 2008 and Swiss edition in 2011. In 2013 the company opened offices in France, Spain and Italy. By January 2015 the company claimed to have over 4.5 million readers per month.[4] James Savage succeeded Paul Rapacioli as managing director in 2018.

Shareholders include venture capital firm CSB Capital, the 6th AP Fund and Almi Invest.[5]

In January 2010 The Local acquired the thelocal.com domain name from First Quench Retailing, a UK alcohol retailer which went into administration at the end of 2009.

The Local launched a Client Studio in 2014[6] to produce sponsored content (native advertising).

In late 2017, The Local launched a subscription model (marketed as membership), beginning with the Swedish edition.[7] Throughout 2018, The Local's membership programme was rolled out to other editions including Germany,[8] France,[9] Italy,[10] and Spain.[11] By early 2022 The Local had over 50,000 members.[12]

In 2021 the company had a turnover of 33.7 million SEK and a profit of 2.6 million SEK. [13]

Awards

The Local's Swedish edition was nominated in 2009 as Swedish Digital Newspaper of the Year ('Årets Dagstidning Digitala Medier'), as part of media magazine Medievärlden's annual newspaper awards.[14]

In 2018, The Local's Swedish edition was named Digital Publisher of the Year Award in the Popular Press category by the Swedish Magazine Publishers Association (Sveriges Tidskrifter).[15]

The Local's Client Studio received the bronze award in the Best Use of Online Media category at the 2018 Native Advertising Awards in Berlin.[16]

The Local's CEO James Savage received the Swedish Magazine Publishers' Associations Grand Prize (Sveriges tidskrifters stora pris) in 2021.[17]

References
  1. The Local:About us
  2. "Toytown Germany Imprint". Toytown Germany. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  3. Paying to Look Good at Work. BBC News. August 29, 2002
  4. Corporate site.
  5. . Medievärlden. 2017. (in Swedish)
  6. "The Locals chefredaktör blir innehållschef". www.resume.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  7. "Join Us! Become a Member of The Local". thelocal.se. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  8. "Next week we'll be asking you to become a Member of The Local. This is why". thelocal.de. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  9. "Why The Local France will soon be asking you to become paying Members". thelocal.fr. 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  10. "Why The Local Italy will soon be asking you to become a paying Member". thelocal.it. 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  11. "The Local Spain rolls out Membership: Why it's a positive move for readers". thelocal.es. 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  12. "The power of community: How a small publisher hit 50,000 paying members through audience engagement". What's New in Publishing. 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  13. "The Local Europe AB". allabolag.se. 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  14. De kan bli Årets Dagstidning Digitala Medier. Medievärlden. September 14, 2009.
  15. "Här är alla vinnarna av Tidskriftspriset 2018". Sveriges Tidskrifter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  16. "2018 Winners – Native Advertising Awards". Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  17. "Han vann Sveriges Tidskrifters Stora Pris: "Helt paff"". Retrieved 2023-03-19.
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