Lauren Harris at The Columbia Journalism Review:
IN MARCH OF 2020, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism began tracking newsroom cutbacks in the wake of the pandemic. The tracker’s map tells part of the story of journalism’s ongoing crisis: an upheaval that hurt newsrooms, journalists, and—by straining journalism’s margins—the communities that those newsrooms and journalists are charged to serve.
One year later, here are five key takeaways:
- The journalism crisis of the past year has been a crisis across the board, for digital media, magazines, radio & TV stations, and—especially—newspapers.
- Significant layoffs happened across every medium.
- Print cutbacks accelerated the shift away from print.
- Cutbacks at Gannett loomed large.
- More than sixty outlets have ceased publication. Though some outlets found ways to resume publication after shutting down—and, in some cases, new publications set out to to fill news voids—the Tow Center reports the shuttering of sixty-six news outlets: fifty-six newspapers, three digital outlets, five magazines, and one radio station.
