I’ve read 4 newspapers daily for 15+ years. Here’s where I notice the declines in quality.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that newsrooms over the past decade have been reeling from budget cuts.
As a daily multi-newspaper reader for the past 15+ years, here are a few samples of the tangible aspects I’ve noticed:
- BBC’s cuts in funding translated to reduced coverage. Aside from funding, numerous ethics scandals, examples here, here, and here.
- NYT, ditto with ethics controversies. Coverage will mention an issue but not interview any experts or people connected to it. Tends to favor one or two particular views on topics of the day.
- WPost, the biggest decline in quality I’ve seen across publications, even more so after its acquisition by Jeff Bezos. Reading it seems more like Buzzfeed than the capitol’s primary newspaper. Lots of issues with accuracy. Statistics are bearing this out: Post’s online subscriptions are way down and NYT’s are up.
A trend is an agglomeration of content that comes from news wires, then each publication just puts their logo on it without adding much of substance. Surprisingly, this is also the case for foreign language news media.
Another downside: municipal credit ratings
I remember listening to NPR (I think Marketplace or Planet Money) and a story explained that in towns without local newspapers, investors actually charge higher interest rates. This is because of the presumption that graft and inefficiencies won’t be spotlighted without investigations by the media.
The upside: citizen journalism
While lacking the high power of the traditional press, there is upside for the increasing numbers of “regular people” writing. Sites such as Substack have been launchpads for both journalists to journey out on their own, as well as for many people to get started writing. Ditto for Medium! But to be honest, most sites don’t have the reach and gravitas as traditional media sources.
Readers: what have you noticed over the years?