People everywhere are hungry for information about COVID-19, as disease outbreaks affect their communities, countries, and the world. However, at a time when trusted and accurate news is urgently needed, sources of it are suffering greatly—right along with other industries—and job losses may threaten the public’s ability to access important headlines.
Specifically, local news has seen a discouraging trend of layoffs and shutdowns during the coronavirus crisis. Where I live, Vermont, reputable news sources across the state have been ravaged this week by the loss of advertising revenue during the pandemic.
The Waterbury Record announced in a front-page article that its March 26 issue would be the last, saying that ad losses from COVID-19 were the death knell for what was already a struggling small paper (Waterbury Record, 2020). Twin newspapers The Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus laid off 20 employees for at least two weeks and cut the number of times per week each would go to the presses (Heintz, 2020A). The head of The Bennington Banner, The Brattleboro Reformer, and The Manchester Journal announced all workers at those papers would be furloughed for one week out of the next five (Heintz, 2020B). The Valley News, which serves readers in towns in both Vermont and New Hampshire that sit along the Connecticut River, had to lay off employees, cut others’ hours, trim page counts, and slash the pay of senior staffers (McClory, 2020). And The Milton Independent, The Essex Reporter, and The Colchester Sun announced those sister papers would stop printing hard-copy editions, relying on web publishing only (Monroe, 2020).
There are likely other impacts to my state’s local news scene that I’m missing—and surely, similar situations are playing out in communities across the country.
Benton (2020) predicted the hardest-hit segment of local journalism may be in alt-weeklies—publications that tend to rely on advertising from restaurants, concerts, and arts events more than mainstream newspapers do. With those businesses shut down to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, their ads have obviously stopped running. Vermont’s alt-weekly, Seven Days, which provides a great deal of coverage of hard news and politics, is evidence of that. The paper had to lay off 15% of its staff for at least 10 weeks, and more than two dozen employees took voluntary reductions in pay (Heintz, 2020C) when food and entertainment-related ads suddenly vanished.
The COVID-19 cutbacks at local papers are just the latest blow to newsrooms. U.S. papers lost nearly 30,000 jobs in the decade following the great recession that started in 2008, leaving a large number of communities now unserved by local papers (Waldron & Golshan, 2020). While online subscription fees have created a new source of revenues for many local papers, those simply cannot make up for the staggering drought in ad money (Doctor, 2020), causing fears that even more local news outlets will close up shop. The dire situation even inspired The Atlantic to publish a plea from a journalism nonprofit urging everyone to support local news outlets. Waldman and Sennott (2020) urged readers, “Wash your hands. Don’t touch your face. And buy a subscription to your local newspaper.”
Print journalism will not be the only media segment to feel the pain from advertising drop-offs during this public health emergency. A survey of ad buyers conducted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (2020) revealed a number of reasons any industry dependent on advertising should be concerned:
- Nearly a quarter of buyers paused all advertising for the time being
- Declines of between 20-50% are anticipated across all forms of media through June, including social media, billboards, television, direct mail, print, and radio
- Nearly three-quarters of buyers expect a worse impact from COVID-19 than from the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
The irony in this is that ad spending is dropping at a time readership and viewership are at their highest points in years. Major news outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Wired have seen visits to their sites double during the pandemic—with people also spending more time on the pages (Tracy, 2020). The Washington Post said an article about how society can “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 infections was its most-read piece ever (Tracy, 2020). Television newscasts have also seen an audience surge. ABC World News Tonight With David Muir’s average of 12.5 million viewers the week of March 16-22 is a number the broadcast had not achieved in two decades (Battaglio, 2020). Battaglio (2020) also reports audience sizes are up dramatically at NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News while people are staying home to slow the spread of the virus.
(Getty Images)
Marketing that is focused on a social mission or cause is increasingly emerging, as brands shift away from their previous advertising strategies (Interactive Advertising Bureau, 2020). Major advertisers who are still spending appear to be infusing their spots with a message that brands will serve as customers’ steady and supportive guides during the storm of coronavirus, and are interested in seeing their customers stay as safe and comfortable as possible.
Below, you’ll find some examples of ads from Ford, McDonald’s, and WeatherTech that reflect this new tone.
around a major purchase
dine-in options have suddenly closed in many states
A bright spot in the IAB advertising survey is that buyers were holding out optimism for the second half of the year (Sluis, 2020), indicating they may be willing to increase spending if the virus has abated and if people demonstrate pent-up demand for goods and services.
There will be so many vital news stories to write for the remainder of this COVID-19 emergency—and fantastic ones to report on the other side of it. Hopefully, there will still be jobs available for those who tell them in advertising-supported newsrooms…
References
Battaglio, S. (2020, March 25). A hunger for information is driving TV news to peak levels. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-03-25/tv-news-audiences-are-surging-thanks-to-coronavirus-pandemic
Benton, J. (2020, March 19). “Total annihilation:” Coronavirus may just be the end for many alt-weeklies. NiemanLab. Retrieved from https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/total-annihilation-coronavirus-may-just-be-the-end-for-many-alt-weeklies
Doctor, K. (2020, March 27). Newsonomics: What was once unthinkable is quickly becoming reality in the destruction of local news. NiemanLab. Retrieved from https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/03/newsonomics-what-was-once-unthinkable-is-quickly-becoming-reality-in-the-destruction-of-local-news/
Flynn, K. (2020, March 27). Hundreds of journalists are being laid off, right when the public needs them the most. CNN Business. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/media/media-layoffs/index.html
Heintz, P. (2020A, March 20). Media note: Rutland Herald, Times Argus cut staff, print editions. Seven Days. Retrieved from https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2020/03/20/media-note-rutland-herald-times-argus-cut-staff-print-editions
Heintz, P. (2020B, March 19). Media note: Vermont news outlets ramp up as outbreak threatens business. Seven Days. Retrieved from https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2020/03/20/media-note-rutland-herald-times-argus-cut-staff-print-editions
Heintz, P. (2020C, March 23). Media note: Seven Days lays off seven employees. Seven Days. Retrieved from https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2020/03/23/media-note-seven-days-lays-off-seven-employees
Interactive Advertising Bureau. (2020, March 27). Coronavirus ad spend impact: Buy-side. IAB. Retrieved from https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IAB-C19-BuySide_Ad-Spend-Pulse_FINAL.pdf
McClory, D. (2020, March 24). Publisher’s note: Cutbacks at The Valley News due to COVID-19. The Valley News. Retrieved from https://www.vnews.com/Note-from-VN-publisher-33513036
Monroe, M. (2020, March 25). Essex Reporter temporarily halts print edition. The Essex Reporter. Retrieved from https://www.essexreporter.com/essex/news/essex-reporter-temporarily-halts-print-edition/article_4b5b3bb8-d605-59b5-93e2-f452cbdf8375.html?fbclid=IwAR0XW6orMHwsfRuhPukgLCV-vkgKmz8f1A1Sg9Ep5yZIkKxit_kMrc1Ze-k
Sluis, S. (2020, March 27). One-quarter of brands are pausing all spend for Q1 and Q2. Ad Exchanger. Retrieved from https://www.adexchanger.com/advertiser/one-quarter-of-brands-are-pausing-all-spend-for-q1-and-q2/
Tracy, M. (2020, March 20). Coronavirus brings a surge to news sites. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/business/coronavirus-news-sites.html
Waldman, S., & Sennott, C. (2020, March 25). The coronavirus is killing local news. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-killing-local-news/608695/
Waldron, T., & Golshan, T. (2020, March 19). The coronavirus pandemic is hammering local newspapers. Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/journalism-layoffs-coronavirus_n_5e73bc6cc5b63c3b648cb74b
Waterbury Record. (2020, March 26). Waterbury Record publishes its last issue. The Waterbury Record. Retrieved from https://www.vtcng.com/waterbury_record/news/local_news/waterbury-record-publishes-its-last-issue/article_3900c10a-6f63-11ea-9691-0353b50d5eaf.html
8 Responses to What if a pandemic happens, but too few journalists are employed to cover it?