The New News Barons

Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Reporting Capacity

Bibliographic Data

ID5741301
AuthorsErik Peterson (0000-0002-9073-4619, corresponding author), Johanna Dunaway (0000-0003-3975-5227)
Year2023
Volume707
Issue1
Pages74-89
Publication date2023-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00027162231211426
OpenAlexW4391995877
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited38

In recent years, local media in the U.S. have faced increasing economic precarity, and many newspapers have been purchased by hedge funds and private equity firms. How do investment owners shape the newspapers they acquire? We document the shift in ownership and its impact on the number and type of journalists that local newsrooms employ. Using over 13,000 digitized media directory pages, we measure the newsrooms of 211 major newspapers from 2005 to 2022. We estimate that the acquisition of a newspaper by an investment owner reduced the paper's newsroom by nine reporters and editors compared to newspapers that remained under other ownership, a cut equivalent to 14 percent of the average newspaper's staff. These cuts were concentrated among positions focused on general assignment and political reporting. Our findings indicate the rise of investment owners has accelerated the decline of local newspapers

Advertising · Business · Investment (military) · Newspaper · Political science · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies

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