Sydney (AFP)
Australia's largest newspaper group, News Corp, of media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced on Wednesday that it has suspended the printing of sixty regional newspapers due to the drop in advertising revenue linked to the coronavirus.
New Corp said newspapers in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia will no longer be in print and will only be available online.
"We did not take this decision lightly," said Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australasia, quoted in the group's national daily newspaper "The Australian".
"The coronavirus crisis has created unprecedented economic pressures and we are doing everything we can to keep as many jobs as possible," said Miller.
"The suspension of printing of our local editions was imposed on us by the sharp drop in advertising revenue due to the restrictive measures (...) taken in the context of the fight against the coronavirus", he added. .
Among the sectors affected by these restrictions, he notably mentioned the real estate sector, the closure of restaurants and the cancellation of events.
Even before the pandemic started, many Australian press groups had already made the transition to digital.
The announcement follows a series of media shutdown announcements, including the only Australian national press agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP), which is slated to close in the coming months.
All the media on the planet are paying the price for this pandemic.
On Monday, the Gannett Group, the number one press in the United States, said that its employees will be put on leave without pay and will suffer wage cuts.
Digital media, such as Google and Facebook, are now capturing a large share of advertising revenues while the number of readers continues to decrease, making the press less and less profitable.
© 2020 AFP