The wave of layoffs ravaging U.S. newsroom in recent years didn’t let up in 2018, if analysis recently released by Pew Research Center is any indication.
Pew’s report, which compiled layoff data occurring at the largest U.S. daily newspapers and digital-native news outlets by audience reach, found that 27 percent of U.S. papers with average Sunday circulations of 50,000 or more were afflicted with layoffs in 2018.
Pew’s analysis determined that the total number of newspapers in the U.S. with Sunday circulations of 50,000 or more now stands at 97, compared to 110 in 2017.
 Top: A smaller share of U.S. newspapers experienced layoffs in 2018, but a larger share of U.S. newspapers (bottom) experienced more than one round of layoffs during the same period. |
The lone bright spot, according to Pew’s analysis, is that overall, five percent fewer U.S. newspapers cut jobs last year than in 2017. On the other hand, more than a third of the papers that did enact layoffs in 2018 (31 percent) also endured multiple rounds of layoffs within the same year, nearly twice the rate experienced in 2017.
The report discovered that mid-market newspapers (those with circulations between 100,000-249,000) were hit hardest by layoffs last year. More than a third of newspapers this size (36 percent) saw cuts last year. Higher-circulation newspapers (those with circulations of 250,000 or more), 50 percent of which saw pink slips in 2017, fared much better last year (29 percent). Least affected were smaller-circulation newspapers (those with circulations under 100,000), of which 18 percent experienced layoffs.
Buyouts were also offered by 14 percent of these papers last year, down from 18 percent in 2017. Once again, mid- and high-circulation papers were more likely than lower-circulation papers to offer buyouts.
The study also confirmed that digital outlets aren’t immune to the layoff scourge that’s plagued newsrooms across the country. Last year, 14 percent of the highest-traffic digital-native news outlets in the U.S. endured layoffs, a modest improvement from the 20 percent that suffered layoffs in 2017.
Pew in June reported that employment across U.S. newsrooms has declined by 25 percent since 2008, driven primarily by job losses at newspapers.
Pew’s analysis examined layoff-related data at the 134 largest (by audience reach) daily newspapers and digital-native news outlets in the country between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
