In the Harvard lectures that became Art as Experience (1934) Dewey developed a democratic account of art that not only expanded the range of creative experience (watching a huge digger, the architectonics of a mutually satisfactory conversation, are included in the reach of art) but developed an account of art that was vitally reciprocal, participatory and social. Maker and perceiver are equally interactive creators as they mutually develop new modes of feeling and thinking. For Dewey this relationship necessarily re-makes the experience of community and, just as important, creates a civic space for interrogation and critique. (This article is published in the thematic collection ‘The arts and humanities: rethinking value for today—views from Fellows of the British Academy’, edited by Isobel Armstrong.)

The value of local journalism is a pressing question for society because of the challenge posed to established business models by digital platforms. However, while local journalism is understood to be of benefit to people, discussion of the nature of those benefits and the ways in which they are accrued is dominated by a comparatively narrow focus on its outputs. Using the case of the legacy commercial local newspaper, this paper argues that local journalism as a process, practice and presence can be considered part of the accidental social infrastructure—part of the fabric which underpins strong communities, even if its intended purpose is something else. Data drawn from interviews with people working with local newspaper archives demonstrates how local journalism facilitates the development of social capital and processes of sociality. It demonstrates an expanded conceptual lens to articulate its benefits.