News media is suffering during the Coronavirus Pandemic, but this is nothing new. For over a decade in Australia media revenue from advertising has been falling every year. Countless journalists have lost their jobs in all sectors of news media. Analysts are forecasting the extinction of local news outlets due to the drying up of funds and an inability to modernise.
During this time of reduced consumption and movement, hospitality, retail and travel companies have been withdrawing their advertising from news organisations. The Economist has forecast that in Britain this could speed up the decline in revenue from 8% to 30%. Australia, which has the same rate of decline, will likely see the same.
Not only this, but many countries are becoming less safe for Journalists during The Pandemic, with China and Iran detaining journalists for speaking out about the virus and Egypt expelling those who question official infection rates.
Now, more than ever, we need fast and accurate information, so that we can make informed decisions for our own safety and that of others. These times show us that independent and truthful journalism is of the utmost importance. As journalist Stan Grant observed in an article for The Conversation recently, if China had had a free press, perhaps news of the virus would have emerged sooner and it could have been stopped from spreading across the world.