View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
July 14, 2020updated 17 Nov 2023 2:52pm

Eight in ten now see Covid-19 as major threat to news industry as job cuts accelerate

By Charlotte Tobitt

More than three-quarters of Press Gazette readers now see coronavirus as an extremely serious or major threat to the news industry.

Compare this with March when a small majority of our readers said they did not think the outbreak would pose a serious threat to the industry.

Over the past week, 1,064 people have responded to the question: “How serious a threat does the coronavirus outbreak pose to the news industry?”

Some 45% (474 people) said it poses an extremely serious threat, while 34% (361 people) said it’s a major threat – making a combined total of 79% who are concerned about the lasting impact on journalism.

Some 11% (119) said it was no threat at all, while 10% said it was a minor threat.

This shows how rapidly the situation has changed in the past four months. We first asked the question in a poll which ran between 10-16 March on Press Gazette – a week before lockdown began in the UK.

Content from our partners
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it
Impress: Regulation, arbitration and complaints resolution

At that time, when newsrooms were starting to ask staff to work at home, 36% of 450 respondents said Covid-19 posed only a minor threat and 15% said it was no threat at all – making a combined total of 51%.

Since then, a number of publishers have furloughed a proportion of their staff and are now, or are at risk, of making permanent job cuts.

They include:

Methodology: This poll was an indicative survey of Press Gazette readers which ran on the site from 6 July to 13 July 2020. It used cookie-based tracking to stop readers from voting twice. Press Gazette’s readers are predominantly journalists and others who work in the news industry.

Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network