Monday, June 8, 2020

Media: "Newspapers face uphill battle to survive a pandemic"

First up, Pitchbook with the hedge fund/private equity angle:
A thirst for information about the coronavirus and spreading social unrest means demand for news has been booming. But the catastrophic effects of the virus on the US economy have hammered the newspaper industry, leading to dramatic declines in advertising revenue as well as layoffs, furloughs and other economic distress.

More than 30 newspapers have already closed across the US since the pandemic began. Advertising revenue could decline 45% by the fourth quarter of 2021, according to FTI Consulting, a management consulting firm. Relief funding from the federal government is one potential salve for those financial wounds, but so far, news outlets have struggled to gain access to such funds. In many ways, the industry's future seems bleak.

On Capitol Hill, though, there remain glimmers of hope.

In May, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would make funds from the Paycheck Protection Program available to hundreds of newspapers and other outlets that are currently ineligible. On a separate track, the House of Representatives is considering legislation that would direct Facebook and Google to collectively bargain with news outlets about sharing advertising revenue generated by news content, a move that would follow similar efforts recently undertaken by countries on three continents.

Such a bill would mark a new era for tech giants that currently don't offer licensing fees to newspapers for using snippets of content to draw readers in. It would allow news outlets to tap into the advertising duopoly of Facebook and Google, the two tech giants whose embrace of the ad space helped drive some newspapers to the brink of extinction.

But those fighting for the news industry's survival are quick to caution that such a change is very far from a sure thing.

"We have no leverage, not even The New York Times," said Danielle Coffey, general counsel for the News Media Alliance, an industry lobbying group. "We have to figure out a way to get (Google and Facebook) to come to the table. Not just out of guilt or benevolence, but to actually change the business model."

Echoes of a crisis past
The 2008 global financial crisis was disastrous for newspapers. Revenue declined. Advertising dollars dried up. And thousands upon thousands of jobs were lost. From 2008 to 2019, employment at US newspapers dropped 23%, according to Pew Research Center.

The industry also underwent a significant stretch of consolidation, led by large conglomerates with connections to hedge funds and private equity such as Digital First Media and New Media Investment Group. This reshaping of the industry has been controversial, with many newspaper employees excoriating their new owners for slashing costs, selling off real estate and other financial maneuvers. In 2018, The Denver Post published a front-page editorial calling on Alden Global Capital to sell the paper. The headline: "As vultures circle, The Denver Post must be saved."...
....MUCH MORE

And from Poynter: 
Here are the newsroom layoffs, furloughs and closures caused by the coronavirus 
We're updating this list almost daily
This article was originally published on April 6, 2020, and has been frequently updated since. It was last updated on June 5. We’ve also cut dates and other details, which you can find in the related links.
It’s getting hard to keep track of the bad news about the news right now. But we have to. Here’s our attempt to collect the layoffs, furloughs, and closures caused by the coronavirus’ critical blow to the economy and journalism in the United States. Please send tips. We’ll try to keep up.

In most cases, these entries link to previously reported stories. In some cases, where there are no links, we’re using relying on tips to help show the full impact of this pandemic.

Newspapers, weeklies and alt-weeklies
and many, many more, it's a very long list
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