Facing a major slump in printed newspaper sales and advertising revenue, Latin America’s press is fighting for survival—and increasingly betting on paid digital subscriptions as readers turn to the internet.
January 26,2021 Facing a major slump in printed newspaper sales and advertising revenue, Latin America’s press is fighting for survival—and increasingly betting on paid digital subscriptions as readers turn to the internet. The decline in advertising dollars has been exacerbated by the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its impact on potential readers‘ salaries and their ability to pay for content. As a result, dailies have been pitched into a battle with social networks for clicks, shares and likes that some experts say has put credibility at stake. It is a dilemma that media worldwide are grappling with as the decades-old model of print advertising funding large payrolls and low newspaper prices is swept away by online platforms. „Big traditional media had structures that were often inefficient, sustained by an extremely successful and profitable business that is now finished,“ said Diego Salazar, a Peruvian journalist and author of a book on the decline of the journalism business. Last year, plunging demand forced El Salvador’s Diario Colatino to move to a digital-only format. The one-third of its workers who kept their jobs saw their salaries cut in half. „It’s the worst crisis in 130 years,“ said the newspaper’s manager, Francisco Valencia. With newsrooms shrinking as major cost cuts lead to layoffs, newspapers are seeking to persuade readers that it is worth paying for quality journalism, even online.
