The Guardian / Jim Waterson
U.K. national newspaper sales down “as much as 30%” under lockdown →“Industry sources suggested sales of print outlets briefly rose in the run-up to the lockdown but have collapsed since people were asked to stay at home…Print revenue — both from the cover price paid by readers and print adverts — continues to provide the majority of revenue at most British newspapers, often in effect underwriting the cost of free online content.”
Press Gazette / Charlotte Tobitt
Coronavirus could force closure of “most” U.K. hyperlocal news publishers within weeks →“Three-quarters of independent news providers in the UK fear they are at risk of temporary or permanent closure because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis, a survey has shown…’Last week [advertising] was disappearing within the first few days…It was dire last week, I don’t know even know what the word for more than dire is but that’s where we are.”
News Media Alliance / David Chavern and Dean Ridings
The Daily Beast / Maxwell Tani
The Toronto Star / Daniel Bernhard
Canada’s media is “on the brink of mass failure” →“This is a six-alarm fire. If Ottawa does not treat this as an emergency and act accordingly, Canadians will be left with few sources of reliable information about how to protect ourselves and our families from COVID-19…As of Thursday, you could buy all Torstar stock for just $21 million…For its part, the CBC is so underfinanced that it cancelled all local TV news broadcasts last week.”
Facebook / Campbell Brown
New York Times / Brett Sokol
Community radio fights to stay live (and weird) despite coronavirus →Staffed largely by volunteers, noncommercial community radio has been forced into hastily improvising a response to the growing spread of Covid-19. “At dublab, the electronic dance music-flavored station in Los Angeles, each broadcast day now begins with a new episode of ‘The Quarantine Tapes’: short phone interviews with hunkered-down artists including the former Black Flag singer and author Henry Rollins and the filmmaker Werner Herzog.”
The Colorado Independent / Corey Hutchins
Newspapers across Colorado are talking directly to their readers →“Revenue from advertisements, which had declined gradually over the years, has steepened its slide as local businesses suffer themselves. The future of The Daily Sentinel relies on you, our subscribers. Please consider renewing or extending your subscription now.”