Luxembourg. Uncovering news deserts in Europe Risks and opportunities for local and community media in the EU

In Luxembourg, local and national information are intertwined in the media given the small size of the country and the ease of access for journalists, in particular the short distances between places and free public transport. There is no debate about the “deserts of local news” in Luxembourg. Policy makers, industry professionals and the general public don’t recognise that this is a problem and don’t discuss it regularly. The current land area of Luxembourg is 2,574.5 sq. km, with a population size of 640.06
thousand1. Luxembourg is divided into two regions: Oesling in the north and Guttland in the centre and south. The five largest cities in population size are concentrated in the southern half of the country2. In addition, the country's local information also goes beyond borders by devoting itself to news from neighbouring countries as well. This is due to the presence of cross-border workers but also of Luxembourgers who reside in border countries for economic reasons. Local information is thus made up of two local
areas: the municipalities and districts of Luxembourg as well as the border territories of the Greater Region (Belgium, France and Germany). Almost half of the resident population is foreign and many of them do not speak Luxembourgish. In January 2022, 47,1% foreigners were living in Luxembourg and the ratio of foreigners is still increasing. The legal framework of the law of 27 July 19914 on electronic media provides a definition of “local media” in Luxembourg, but this definition only applies to radio. Luxembourg has 19 local audio-visual media according to the Luxembourg Independent Audio-visual Authority (ALIA). Beyond this list, there is no precise name for the written press as local media, except for a local print media named Forum, which is a monthly review founded in 1976 in the legal form of association (foundations and non-profit
associations, ASBL). There is no definition in the law for "community media". But in practice, given the Luxembourg context of multilingualism and multiculturalism with the significant presence of foreign communities within the country, some media can be considered as community media.