USA Today: Coronavirus Could Devastate the News Industry

To the list of industries reeling from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, add the news. On Monday, USA Today published a sobering look at the state of the industry, which relies on increasingly scarce ad dollars to operate.

From free local newspapers, like Seattle’s The Stranger, which has stopped publishing its print edition, to digital behemoths like BuzzFeed, which said it would cut employees’ pay by up to 25 percent, virtually every news publication is reeling from a swift reduction in advertising.

McClatchy, one of the country’s largest news publishers, is already in bankruptcy, and publishing chains such as Lee Enterprises, Tribune and Gannett — USA Today’s parent company — are deeply in debt.

> Monday, Gannett, which owns USA TODAY and more than 250 local papers, told employees it would begin a series of immediate cost reductions, including a furlough program in its news division in April, May and June, as a result of the economic pressures brought on by the pandemic. Other departments are taking separate cost-saving measures. CEO Paul Bascobert told employees, "I will not be taking any pay until these furloughs and pay reductions have been reversed."

Some industry professionals are now urging Congressional leaders to provide relief.

> Steven Waldman, co-founder of Report for America, and Charles Sennott, CEO of the GroundTruth Project, wrote a piece in The Atlantic, “The Coronavirus Is Killing Local News," in which they called for news organizations to be considered in future stimulus packages, such as placing public health ads in local media outlets.