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The New News Barons: Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Reporting Capacity

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  • Erik Peterson
  • Johanna Dunaway

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Erik Peterson & Johanna Dunaway, 2023. "The New News Barons: Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Reporting Capacity," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 74-89, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:707:y:2023:i:1:p:74-89
    DOI: 10.1177/00027162231211426
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    2. Lourdes M. Cueva Chacón & Jessica Retis, 2023. "¿Qué pasa with American News Media? How Digital-Native Latinx News Serves Community Information Needs Using Messaging Apps," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 237-255, May.
    3. Kokil Jaidka & Sean Fischer & Yphtach Lelkes & Yifei Wang, 2023. "News Nationalization in a Digital Age: An Examination of How Local Protests Are Covered and Curated Online," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 189-207, May.
    4. Patricia D. Posey, 2023. "Information Inequality: How Race and Financial Access Reflect the Information Needs of Lower-Income Individuals," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 125-141, May.
    5. Joshua P. Darr, 2023. "How Sticky Is Pink Slime? Assessing the Credibility of Deceptive Local Media," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 109-124, May.
    6. Joseph Torres & Collette Watson, 2023. "Repairing Journalism’s History of Anti-Black Harm," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 208-227, May.

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