Over the past year thousands of journalists have lost their jobs as mass media news organisations struggle to make ends meet. Ad revenue is down, many publishers are struggling to gain subscribers, and social media has resulted in plummeting traffic to homepages. More than a third of people worldwide say they sometimes or often actively avoid the news, many citing their mental health and concerns that they can’t do anything about the problems reported. Meanwhile advancements in artificial intelligence promise rapid changes to the way journalism is done. So, what’s the future of journalism? Shaun Ley is joined by: Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School Benjamin Toff, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Minnesota, a research associate at the Reuters Institute and co-author of the book: ‘Avoiding the News: Reluctant Audiences for Journalism’ LaSharah S. Bunting, CEO and executive director of the Online News Association Produced by Max Horberry and Paul Schuster (Photo: Getty)
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I'm Shawn Lay with your deep dive into a story that's making news and changing lives and this week the news is increasingly itself the subject of headlines.
And not in a good way.
One of the biggest newspapers in the United States, the Los Angeles Times, is laying off more than a fifth of its journalists as it faces mounting financial losses.
Meanwhile, the publisher of Sports Illustrated plans to lay off most or all of its staff.
The website Buzzfeed News is closing down.
The company CEO says it will lay off 15% of its total staff across the company.
The cost cutting and job losses in the United States just in the past year indicate the strains being felt by news organizations the world over.
Revenue from adverts, which helps pay for a lot of news journalism, is down, and getting people to pay upfront to subscribe is an increasingly hard sell.
Funding models that aren't that old are in crisis too, even if those producing news factual, impartial information can somehow make the sums add up again.
Does journalism itself face an existential challenge?
New research suggests an increasing number of people are turning away from the news because it lowers their mood.
I can actually tell if I've been listening to the news all day that I'm a bit more depressed than if maybe I haven't had a chance to.
A lot of the time it's stuff.
That I can't do anything about, so I try not to let it affect me.
If there's no resolution, if they feel powerless and if it makes them anxious.