Sometimes it might help if journalists wrote between the lines. A media columnist for The Washington Post reports:
“Fifty-five news outlets have closed for good [in the US] since the pandemic began—and that’s on top of more than 2,000 newspapers that have folded since 2004.”
Margaret Sullivan has buried her lede. Her figures suggest that on average more than 125 newspapers have closed per year over the past 16 years. But this year, the rate of closing has roughly halved, despite the economic slowdown. Is that because the pandemic has raised the demand for news? Or is it because only profitable newspapers have survived this long? Even in Kazakhstan, inquiring minds want to know. --Leon Taylor tayloralmaty@gmail.com
Reference
Margaret Sullivan. 2020. Bright spots in a touch year for local news. The Washington Post, December 21, 2020.
