Technological transformation and new business models Just over half of respondents were confident or optimistic that emerging technologies could help sustain or even increase access to local news.Likewise, 42% were at least somewhat confident or optimistic these technologies could help local publishers and independent journalists remain independent.Slightly fewer, 44%, were confident or optimistic that technology could facilitate greater or more sustainable profits for smaller and local publishers as well as independent journalists.48% believed technology might have the capacity to help increase profits in the news and publishing industry overall.We found that news and publishing professionals were predominantly optimistic about technology’s role in slowing down the spread of news deserts moving forward. In our survey, we asked respondents a series of questions about the future of their industry. There are dangers, but there is still plenty of reason to have hope. Ruairí Doyle, CEO, PressReader Group of Companies The industry’s perspective and reasons for hope We also hoped to uncover possible solutions and ultimately understand the role that PressReader and other technology providers can play in shaping those solutions. We commissioned this survey because we wanted to understand the industry’s perception of this problem and drive additional awareness around the issue. Among other learnings, we found 86% of respondents agreed that local news access is vital to democracy, and that more than 45% believe access to local news has actually decreased in the past decade. Recently, PressReader surveyed professionals working in English-language news and publishing around the globe, in order to get a sense of their views on the current state and future direction of the industry - with a particular focus on news deserts. More than a fifth of US citizens now live in news deserts or in communities at risk of becoming news deserts. lost more than 360 newspapers between the waning pre-pandemic months of late 2019 and the end of May 2022. How bad is the issue of new deserts? A recent report from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communication notes that the U.S. The Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media (CISLM) at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media defines a news desert as “a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level.” Unfortunately, the collapse of local journalism creates a vacuum which peddlers of disinformation are all too happy to fill. So many papers have shut down in the past couple of decades that it has created what have been dubbed “news deserts” - communities lacking in media outlets that cover local news. However, it’s no exaggeration to say that the newspaper industry is in a crisis. PressReader’s CEO, Ruairí Doyle explains more…Īs a cornerstone of democracy, local news plays a crucial role in keeping community members informed about their local government, elections and other social events. News deserts pose a threat to local communities and democracy at large, particularly in an age of fake news, but tech can play a key role in reversing the trend. has lost more than one-fourth of its newspapers and is on track to lose a third by 2025.
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