The past few weeks have been particularly tough for American journalism, even by the standards of a news industry whose fortunes have plummeted in the digital age.
Prominent newspapers such as the Washington Post are cutting back on reporters and editors, and on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times laid off more than 20 percent of its newsroom. Cable news ratings are declining amid an uncompetitive presidential primary. Respected titles like Sports Illustrated, which were already some vestiges of their former selves, were destroyed overnight.
As Americans prepare for an election marked by a war on disinformation, incitement by AI, and debate over the future of democracy, the mainstream that was once the de facto watchdog and facilitator of public debate The news industry is struggling to survive.
The pain is especially evident at the community level. According to Northwestern University's Medill School, an average of five local newspapers go out of print every two weeks, and more than half of all U.S. counties are now so-called news deserts with limited access to news about their hometowns. ing. Only one-fifth of his 1,100 public radio stations and their affiliates produce local journalism.
“While there is no doubt that America needs reliable news coverage now more than ever, it is deeply disturbing to see economic forces organizing so strongly against traditional news sources. “That's true,” said Andrew Hayward, a former CBS News president who is collaborating with a group of MIT researchers on the study. The future of news and information.
“It's not just disturbing,” he added. “That's dangerous.”
The decline continued for years, but a painful confluence of challenges led to the current carnage.
Americans are suffering from news fatigue, bombarded with important topics such as the upcoming election and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. People who follow the news are increasingly turning to social media and anti-establishment sites that exist outside of traditional institutions.
Companies are spending more advertising budgets to reach users on big tech platforms like Instagram and Google, making it less reliable to drive readers to traditional news sources. Twitter now cuts X users Google and Meta laid off key news employees, and the head of Instagram's Threads app said it would no longer focus on news, amid a focus on relevancy and relevancy after Elon Musk's chaotic acquisition.
Problems at the corporate level are also having a big impact.
The rise of streaming and the decline in moviegoing has put many news organizations' parent companies under strain. Disney, which owns ABC News, cut thousands of jobs last year. NBCUniversal lost viewers from its once-strong cable TV division, and NBC News laid off dozens of employees this month. CNN, owned by debt-ridden Warner Bros. Discovery, has undergone a series of layoffs. Paramount, which owns CBS News, is also planning significant cuts, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Boston Globe have been successful in attracting digital subscribers, but they have largely focused on a single industry, such as technology publications or technology publications. There are some green shoots among the niche subscription-based startups that are banking on it. Ankler of Hollywood.
Still, the onslaught of damning headlines is an ominous sign for the broader news industry's efforts to build a sustainable business model.
The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times seemed poised for a comeback after the papers were acquired by tech-savvy billionaires. The industry had hoped such economic benefactors could provide a lifeline as printing revenues dwindled. Both newspapers continued to win hiring sprees and Pulitzer Prizes.
But both lost tens of millions of dollars last year. This month, Kevin Merida, the widely respected editor of the Los Angeles Times, resigned after falling out with the paper's owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shione. This was followed by large-scale layoffs.
“If you care about journalism, whether it's local news, national news or international news, all the warning lights should be flashing red,” said Mary Louise, host of NPR's “All Things Thinking.” Kelly says. I wrote to X After rumors of his dismissal spread.
The Post has been cutting costs under its billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The newspaper's popularity soared under the Trump administration, but its subscription numbers did not increase. Just before the new year, the Post announced that 240 of its employees had accepted the deal.
The Baltimore Sun, Maryland's largest newspaper, also faces an uncertain future. The program was sold this month to businessman David D. Smith, who owns the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group. Many Sun reporters fear Mr. Smith will impose his political interests on a paper he recently admitted he had hardly read in the past 40 years.
The world of magazines is no exception. Last week, Sports Illustrated, once a giant of sports journalism and whose covers were a coveted prize for the world's greatest athletes, announced it would lay off much of its entire staff, and its owner He said its future is in doubt as it considers licensing. new investor. Days earlier, Condé Nast merged Pitchfork, once the king of the music industry's smart set, into GQ magazine and fired its employees, including its editor-in-chief.
On Tuesday, Condé Nast's unionized workers organized a strike and protest at the company's World Trade Center headquarters. Time magazine, owned by Salesforce founder and billionaire Marc Benioff, also began laying off employees this week.
In some ways, the recent bad news is a continuation of last year. In 2023, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, and NPR cut at least 10 percent of their workforces. BuzzFeed's news department has been shut down. News Corp cuts 1,250 jobs. National Geographic has laid off its remaining staff writers. Vox Media has experienced two layoffs. Vice Media has filed for bankruptcy. Popular Science has shut down its online magazine. ESPN, Condé Nast and Yahoo News are all cutting jobs.
Media entrepreneur and analyst Ken Doctor said, In the meantime, a new reality is percolating.”
The news industry is now looking at new hurdles posed by artificial intelligence technology. Some news organizations have expressed concern that AI algorithms that generate impromptu answers to readers' questions could replace online news sites as the go-to source for current events.
The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement, alleging that millions of articles published by the Times were used to train automated chatbots that now compete as information providers. . Some publishers, like Axel Springer, have signed annual contracts with OpenAI in exchange for the use of their digital archives.
If there's a bright spot, it might be local TV news.
Heyward, a former president of CBS News who now works as a consultant for several companies, said local TV news stations are facing heavier workloads for reporters despite stagnant pay. Although enduring problems, many stations are still in better shape than local newspapers, he said. local news outlets.
“Local TV news does a lot of good,” he says. “Virtually any size market has three or four competing newsrooms, which is in stark contrast to local newspapers that are lucky enough to have one newsroom in their market. , and if it does, it is usually a shadow of its former self.”
A 2022 Gallup/Knight Foundation poll found that Americans trust local news sources far more than national media organizations. And in a Gallup poll released this week, only 19% of Americans say they have “high” or “very high” trust in journalists, down 9 points from four years ago.
“You can't demonize it as fake news,” Hayward said of local media. “If a traffic light breaks down at Elm and Maple, people know it and there is no alternative truth. Masu.”
