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.
Coverage is purely domestic in each country, and includes current events, politics, business, sports and culture, as well as analysis and opinion.
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).
History.
"The Local" founders are managing director Paul Rapacioli, formerly a director of reed.co.uk and managing editor James Savage, formerly a radio journalist and PR consultant.
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.
Shareholders include the 6th and Almi Invest.
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 to produce sponsored content (native advertising).
In late 2017, "The Local" launched a membership scheme, 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 the end of September 2020 The Local had over 30,000 members.
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 "Medievärlden"'s 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.