Newspapers go broke, feeling fiscal strain of coronavirus pandemic

Media outlets are under financial strain as the Coronavirus pandemic hits advertising revenues and puts a halt on sales.

In the UK, the crisis has already claimed two newspapers; the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish News.

In a statement on its website, the Jewish Chronicle said it expected liquidation to conclude within the next two to three weeks, with operations continuing as normal until then.

“Despite the heroic efforts of the editorial and production team at the newspaper, it has become clear that the Jewish Chronicle will not be able to survive the impact of the current coronavirus epidemic in its current form,” the statement said.

Founded in 1841, the Chronicle, alongside the Jewish News, were the two main papers serving the British Jewish community.

The strain is also being felt by larger outlets, including some of Britain’s largest tabloid papers.

The company Reach, which runs several tabloids, such as the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, and Daily Express, as well as regional titles, announced it was going to furlough 1,000 staff members or roughly 20 percent of its workforce. Managers at the company are also taking a 20 percent pay cut.

One of Britain’s largest publishers, the Daily Mail Group, has asked staff to take a pay cut in exchange for shares in the company.

While the PA Media Group, which runs one of the UK’s largest wire services, has furloughed a quarter of its staff while asking those remaining to take pay cuts.

Furloughing has been an approach adopted by many companies during the pandemic. It involves granting an unpaid or partially paid leave of absence until a company can get its house in order.

Newspapers in the UK and elsewhere have been feeling the pinch as sales drop. By late March, sales of printed papers in the country had dropped 30 percent with that drop expected to accelerate as stricter measures on movement were introduced.

Despite a rise in online traffic related to the Covid-19 pandemic, media outlets are not benefiting as many advertisers choose to block their content from appearing alongside such articles, cautious of audiences associating their products with the disease.