''The Local'' is a multi-regional, European digital news publisher targeting expats, labour migrants and second home owners. It has nine local editions: The Local
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, The Local
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, The Local
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, The Local
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, The Local
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, The Local
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, The Local
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, The Local
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and The Local
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Each site, while alike in appearance, has separate editorial teams, each focused on its respective market.
The parent company The Local Europe AB, has its headquarters in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden.
History
''The Local'' was founded in Stockholm in 2004 by Paul Rapacioli, formerly a director of
reed.co.uk 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. James Savage succeeded Paul Rapacioli as managing director in 2018.
In 2009, The Local acquired the website
Toytown Germany from its founder, James Pearn, who was subsequently hired by The Local as their
Chief technology officer.
In 2010, following the death of its creator, The Local acquired Englishforum.ch, a chat forum for English-speaking expatriates in Switzerland.
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.
In February of 2024, both the English Forum for Switzerland and the German Toytown forum were closed, with moderators receiving notice that the company had determined that server costs were too high.
Coverage
The Local's journalism has a heavy focus on issues connected to migration and integration, for example Germany's dual citizenship reforms, work permit reforms in Sweden and the impact of Brexit.
Ownership
Shareholders include venture capital firm CSB Capital, the 6th AP Fund and Almi Invest.
Business model
In late 2017, ''The Local'' launched a subscription model (marketed as membership), beginning with the Swedish edition. Throughout 2018, The Local's membership programme was rolled out to other editions including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. By early 2022 The Local had over 50,000 members.
In 2021 the company had a turnover of 33.7 million SEK and a profit of 2.6 million SEK. In 2022, the company had a turnover of 35 million SEK and a loss of 1.6 million SEK.
Awards
''The Local'' Swedish edition was nominated in 2009 as Swedish Digital Newspaper of the Year ('Årets Dagstidning Digitala Medier'), as part of media magazine ''Medievärldens annual newspaper awards.
In 2018, ''The Local'' Swedish edition was named Digital Publisher of the Year Award in the Popular Press category by the Swedish Magazine Publishers Association (Sveriges Tidskrifter).
''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.
''The Local''
's CEO James Savage received the Swedish Magazine Publishers' Associations Grand Prize (Sveriges tidskrifters stora pris) in 2021.
References
External links
*
The Local AustriaThe Local SwitzerlandThe Local GermanyThe Local DenmarkThe Local FranceThe Local SpainThe Local ItalyThe Local SwedenThe Local Norway
{{Portal bar, Journalism, Europe, Companies
Swedish news websites
Norwegian news websites
German news websites
Swiss news websites
Danish news websites
French news websites
Austrian news websites
Spanish news websites
Internet properties established in 2004