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Journalism has never been an easy business. What feel like unique struggles now are, in some ways, new iterations of old troubles. “Journalists are fond of narratives of decline, trading nostalgic memories of ‘the good old days.’ And yet the truth is that the old days weren’t all that good—or at least they weren’t very good for very many people,” Sewell Chan writes in an introduction to the Economics section of CJR’s 60th Anniversary Issue.
The section begins with E.B. White. In 1976, the Xerox Corporation paid Esquire $170,000—an arrangement to which White professed a strenuous objection. “Sponsorship in the press is an invitation to corruption and abuse,” he wrote. “The temptations are great, and there is an opportunist behind every bush.” In a 1982 issue of CJR, corporate ownership—rather than sponsorship—was the folly. The Tribune Company had put up the New York Daily News for sale, threatening to put the paper out of business. Mary Ann Giordano, a reporter for the paper, kept a diary of that period of uncertainty: “Pregnancy test was negative. I just have to calm down. Easier said than done. Had nightmares last night about being laid off.” Nine years later, John Long wrote about the pain of being laid off after the Miami bureau of NBC News shuttered.
New problems presented themselves in the 21st century. In 2009, David Simon, creator of The Wire and former reporter at the Baltimore Sun, waded into the debate around paywalls. “The true audience for this essay narrows necessarily to a pair of notables who have it in their power to save high-end journalism,” Simon writes. “Two newspaper executives who can rescue an imploding industry and thereby achieve an essential civic good for the nation.” He meant the publishers of the New York Times and the Washington Post. As for the method of rescue: Put up a paywall. “No half-measures, either.”
The section contains more, on journalism economics around the world, and parental-leave policies at news outlets. Together, they depict an industry that’s always been grappling with some form of crisis. But as Chan reminds us: “The economics of our industry are more challenging now. What’s clear is that the days when a top editor could focus only on stories—not digital audience, workplace culture, buyouts and layoffs, or assertive unions—are gone for good.” ––Savannah Jacobson, story editor
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