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.”
The multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act should extend a lifeline to many small local publishers. But for bigger companies and chains, the help they’ll receive is still up in the air — “It’s very unformed.”
It’s generated controversy over its fundraising, its paywall, and its staffing. But it’s also about as close as a major American city has gotten to a digital news site that can go toe-to-toe with the local daily newspaper.
Will Chatham Asset Management, the hedge fund set to gain control of the company, want to operate it after bankruptcy? Or will it look to cash out via merger as quickly as possible?
What was once expected to be $200 million in annual cost savings has now grown to $400 million or more. But how much blood is left to be drawn from this stone?
The “failing” New York Times’ news operation now employs more than 1,700 journalists, up nearly 50 percent from a decade ago. It has nearly 5 million subscribers, triple its print-era peak. Now it’s preparing to up the price.
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: Nikkei’s Tsuneo Kita: “Without the FT, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to transform ourselves as we have”." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 8 Nov. 2019. Web. 1 Apr. 2020.
APA
Doctor, K. (2019, Nov. 8). Newsonomics: Nikkei’s Tsuneo Kita: “Without the FT, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to transform ourselves as we have”. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/newsonomics-nikkeis-tsuneo-kita-without-the-ft-it-wouldnt-have-been-possible-for-us-to-transform-ourselves-as-we-have/
Chicago
Doctor, Ken. "Newsonomics: Nikkei’s Tsuneo Kita: “Without the FT, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to transform ourselves as we have”." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified November 8, 2019. Accessed April 1, 2020. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/newsonomics-nikkeis-tsuneo-kita-without-the-ft-it-wouldnt-have-been-possible-for-us-to-transform-ourselves-as-we-have/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/newsonomics-nikkeis-tsuneo-kita-without-the-ft-it-wouldnt-have-been-possible-for-us-to-transform-ourselves-as-we-have/
| title = Newsonomics: Nikkei’s Tsuneo Kita: “Without the FT, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to transform ourselves as we have”
| last = Doctor
| first = Ken
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 8 November 2019
| accessdate = 1 April 2020
| ref = {{harvid|Doctor|2019}}
}}
