PALM BEACH, FL – More than 100 local and regional newspapers will disappear next month when News Corp Australia will cut publication and move many of its titles online, while others will cease to exist altogether.
The news comes amid what the company said was a sharp decline in advertising revenue and a ‘double impact’ of COVID-19 and competition from tech platforms. According to the Sydney Morning Herald as many as 1000 jobs could be lost from just three titles, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Herald Sun.
Over recent months we have undertaken a comprehensive review of our regional and community newspapers. This review considered the ongoing consumer shift to reading and subscribing news online, and the acceleration of businesses using digital advertising,” News Corp executive chairman Michael Miller said adding “Our portfolio review highlighted that many of our print mastheads were challenged, and the double impact of COVID-19 and the tech platforms not remunerating the local publisher whose content they profit from, has, unfortunately, made them unsustainable publications.”
The continuing decline in physical newspapers only makes digital assets and premium domain names increasingly valuable, especially those which compete with local community newspapers and those who continue to maintain long established news and information platforms as all publishers battle for the same online reader and subscriber.
News Corp is certainly not the only one feeling the squeeze as AAP, the Australian Associated Press says the news agency, an 85-year-old operation, will also close next month as its Chief Executive had to tell his staff it is just no longer a viable service – wow, amazing to hear it from the horses mouth.
Even more immediate, and closer to home, Viacom and CBS, will cut as many as 400 employees, mostly in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, markets. Those cuts, said to take effect immediately, are company-wide.
Working with reduced budgets, we have had to make some extremely difficult decisions,” said CBS News President Susan Zirinsky in a memo to employees. “I’m sad to report today that some of our colleagues and good friends will be leaving the company. These decisions are particularly painful for our entire organization, which has performed at the highest level during the COVID-19 pandemic, overcoming so many obstacles. But this restructuring is necessary to ensure CBS News remains strong long into the future.”
June 2020 will certainly mark a very dark time, for an already long fizzling-out main stream media and print newspaper industry.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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