Page 151 - Critical Political Economy of the Media

130 Critical investigations in political economy

smartphones, tablets and other computing devices. However, while some free
papers have been viable, the costs of producing online news have generally not
been recouped through combined revenues from advertising, subscription or
micro-payment methods. Most online ventures remain heavily cross-subsidised
and parasitic on other profit-making activities, with no truly viable model for
online news content established.
Debt-laden corporations, having run down journalistic resources through cost-
cutting and other measures to maintain profits, are now increasingly abandoning
newspaper operations altogether during the latest recession; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
for instance, cut staff from 165 to the 20 retained for its future, online-only presence,
contributing to the estimated 200,000 media jobs lost in the US between 2004
and 2009 (McChesney and Nichols 2010; Mosco 2009: 124). Journalistic media
based on professional routines and deadlines have been particularly affected with
many firms seeking ‘productivity’ gains to feed and compete with 24-hour news,
which critics say leaves journalists more desk-bound and dependent on sources.
According to one study:

In many, but not all, EU countries this type of journalism is increasingly
suppressed or replaced by less expensive freelancing, with journalists work-
ing under deteriorating or even degrading working conditions and having
insufficient resources to pursue stories in depth. More and more news is
provided by agencies.
(European Commission 2013: 28)

The number of journalists employed in the US declined by 26 per cent
between 2000 and 2009 (Pew 2011), with similar falls in the UK as fewer journalists
were required to produce more content due to office cutbacks, the integration of
news online, and the demands of a competitive 24-hour news cycle (Fenton
2010). In such conditions journalists tend to be desk-bound, formulaic and to
have increased dependence on sources and on PR-originated material (Davies
2008). All this would matter less if content diversity were as rich and blossoming
as envisioned. However, leading news brands have been helped in defending
their oligopolies by the weakness of their challengers (Curran 2012: 19). No
successful business model for independent online news has emerged. Subscription
is difficult because of availability and the custom of accessing free content.
Financing through advertising is challenged by the small size of audiences.
Existing online revenues can sustain only the smallest web-based news organisations
(Downie and Schudson 2011), with few online independents being ‘profitable or
even self-financing’ (Pew 2009).
Internet users have ready access, in a technical sense, to richer sources of
information, alternative ideas and imagery than at any time in history. Yet, studies
have found that content aggregators’ search results tend not to give prominence to
alternative news sources. A study of Google’s and Yahoo’s listings in relation to
five public affairs issues found that no alternative news sites featured in the first