The goal of this thesis was to examine how local papers utilise Internet in their journalistic work. The thesis also suggests new ways to utilise Internet for local papers. This subject was chosen because I am interested in local papers and communication on the Web.

The background of the thesis discusses communication and media on the Web, what is characteristic to them and how they can be utilised in mass communication.

The study was carried out by interviews done in two local papers, Koillissanomat and Rantapohja. The editors of both papers were interviewed as the employees in charge of updating new content to the web pages of the papers. In Koillissanomat two employees were interviewed and in Rantapohja one.

The interviews revealed that the papers could better utilise the Internet than they do at the moment. The most important targets for development were in the fields of interaction and new methods of journalistic work. Also the cost-effectiveness of services and products on the Web turned out to be an important theme.

The conclusion was that taking the special characteristics and possibilities of the Web into account local papers can produce more interesting stories. Good examples of the new methods worth considering are crowdsourcing and data journalism. Making the interaction on the Web more vivid as well as improving the quality of it local papers can engage their readers and also find new ones. At the end of the thesis it is also pondered, how local papers could profit on services and products on the Web.