Plus: Journalistic norms vs. right-wing populism, what journalists think about deleting their tweets, and the unfulfilled promise of augmented reality for news
Instead of taking 30% of new subscribers’ payments, it’ll take 15%. The money’s welcome, but it’s also a reminder of how little control publishers have over the terms they get from tech giants.
“Trump has taken over VOA, Radio Free Europe, etc…planting loyalists, firing critical journalists. He can’t do that with Stripes so he’s just…zeroing out the budget.”
It now makes more revenue from digital than from print and continues to add new subscribers at a record pace. But its brutal COVID-driven drop in advertising will be echoed all across the industry.
When McClatchy declared bankruptcy in February, its debts were crushing, but its operating numbers weren’t so bad. But the coronavirus ripped away more than a quarter of its revenue in just a few weeks.
The vulture fund may be just fine with waiting a bit longer to make its next move to consolidate the local newspaper industry. Meanwhile, newsrooms wait.
By gutting local advertising overnight, COVID-19 has accelerated strategies — like cutting print days, corporate consolidation, or even closing down offices — that publishers had hoped could wait a while longer.
The coronavirus pandemic is proving the value of local news to millions of readers, driving up subscriptions. But the advertising collapse is knee-buckling. “If it’s a couple of months, we’ll make it through. If it’s six months, all bets are off.”
Declines in ad revenue and all those canceled events might prove manageable. But the real risk would come with a virus-inspired recession — and how the industry’s hedge-fund owners might respond to it.
Benton, Joshua. "How much danger does coronavirus pose to the battered U.S. news industry?." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 10 Mar. 2020. Web. 12 May. 2023.
APA
Benton, J. (2020, Mar. 10). How much danger does coronavirus pose to the battered U.S. news industry?. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 12, 2023, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/how-much-danger-does-coronavirus-pose-to-the-battered-u-s-news-industry/
Chicago
Benton, Joshua. "How much danger does coronavirus pose to the battered U.S. news industry?." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified March 10, 2020. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/how-much-danger-does-coronavirus-pose-to-the-battered-u-s-news-industry/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/how-much-danger-does-coronavirus-pose-to-the-battered-u-s-news-industry/
| title = How much danger does coronavirus pose to the battered U.S. news industry?
| last = Benton
| first = Joshua
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 10 March 2020
| accessdate = 12 May 2023
| ref = {{harvid|Benton|2020}}
}}
