Scope and methodology
The research behind this archive focuses on municipalities with fewer than 5,000 registered inhabitants in Umbria, Marche, and adjacent areas of Abruzzo, Lazio, and Tuscany. This geographic and demographic boundary is not arbitrary: it corresponds to the threshold below which Italian press subsidy legislation (Law 416/1981 and its revisions) creates different economic conditions for local publications, and below which demographic ageing and population decline have the most acute effects on media viability.
Primary sources include:
- Archived print editions held at municipal libraries, diocesan archives, and the Archivio di Stato di Perugia
- Direct interviews with editors, parish priests, municipal administrators, and readers conducted between 2022 and 2025
- Press registration data from AGCOM, ODG (regional chapters), and USPI
- Municipal demographic and budgetary data from ISTAT and the Italian Ministry of the Interior
Content on this site is updated when new field research is completed or when existing material is corrected. Each article carries a visible date of last update. No content is generated automatically or without human review.
Who produces this research
Small Town Paper was established in 2022 by Marco Ferrini, a researcher specialising in Italian regional media and civic communication. Ferrini holds a degree in Political Science and a postgraduate diploma in Journalism Studies from the University of Perugia, where he taught media history as a contracted lecturer between 2009 and 2018. His previous work includes contributions to Problemi dell'Informazione (Il Mulino), the FNSI research programme on local press viability, and a chapter in Giornalismo locale nell'Italia contemporanea (2020, Carocci Editore).
The archive does not carry advertising. It does not accept sponsored content. Operating costs are covered through a combination of freelance research consulting and an annual contribution from the Department of Political Science, University of Perugia, which hosts the project's physical archive.
Editorial principles
Factual claims are cited to named sources. Where a claim rests on field interviews, the interviewee's general location, occupation, and approximate date of interview are noted; names are withheld unless the interviewee has given explicit permission for attribution. No information is published that could be harmful to individuals who cooperated with the research on the assumption of confidentiality.
External links point only to sources that were verified as accessible at the time of publication. Corrections are published promptly and noted in the article with the correction date.
Contact
Research enquiries, correction requests, and access requests to unpublished materials should be directed to:
Email: info@smalltownpaper.eu
Phone: +39 075 812 0044
Address: Via Roma 14, 06081 Assisi (PG), Italy
P.IVA: IT03456780543
Response time is typically 2–4 business days. Unsolicited press material is not reviewed.
Disclaimer: The content on this site reflects the findings of independent research conducted between 2022 and 2025. It does not represent the position of the University of Perugia, any press association, or any municipal authority. Factual errors, once identified, are corrected; interpretive judgments are the author's own.