6 key takeaways about the state of the news media in 2020
We’ve updated our series of fact sheets on the U.S. news media industry. Here are some key findings about the state of the industry in 2020.
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U.S. newsroom employment has fallen 26% since 2008
While newspapers have seen steep job losses from 2008 to 2020, digital-native news organizations have seen considerable gains.
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A third of large U.S. newspapers experienced layoffs in 2020, more than in 2019
Staff layoffs continued to pummel the beleaguered U.S. newspaper industry in 2020, a period complicated by the impact of the pandemic.
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Nearly 2,800 newspaper companies received paycheck protection loans, and most were under $150K
Though this figure is a sliver of all PPP loans lent out to small businesses as of August, it represents a large segment of U.S. newspaper companies.
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Americans blame unfair news coverage on media outlets, not the journalists who work for them
About eight-in-ten Americans (79%) say news organizations tend to favor one side when presenting the news on political and social issues.
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Key facts about digital-native news outlets amid staff cuts, revenue losses
Traffic to digital-native news sites has plateaued in recent years. After rising from 2014 to 2016, it remained steady through 2019.
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SXSW 2020 Online Session: Misinformation and the 2020 U.S. Election
Amy Mitchell (Pew Research Center), Philip Howard (University of Oxford), Jane Lytvynenko (Buzzfeed News) and Lori Robertson (Factcheck.org) discuss misinformation during the coronavirus outbreak, and ahead of the 2020 presidential election, as part of SXSW 2020’s virtual sessions.
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Fewer Americans now say media exaggerated COVID-19 risks, but big partisan gaps persist
The percentage who say journalists have exaggerated the risks of the outbreak has decreased notably in recent weeks.
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Most Americans say COVID-19 has changed news reporting, but many are unsure how it’s affected the industry
The public’s sense about the pandemic’s impact on the financial well-being of most news organizations is far from clear.
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10 charts about America’s newsrooms
Mergers, closures and layoffs have affected many media organizations. Here are 10 charts on the state of newsroom employment in the U.S. today.
