{"id":9887,"date":"2020-07-14T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T19:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T22:25:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T03:25:41","slug":"key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/07\/14\/key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"Key facts about digital-native news outlets amid staff cuts, revenue losses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/fact-sheet\/digital-news\/\">Digital-native news outlets<\/a> \u2013 those \u201cborn on the web\u201d \u2013 have seen a wave of cuts since the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/topics\/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19\/\">outbreak of the coronavirus<\/a> as financial troubles continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/media\/with-cuts-at-vice-quartz-buzzfeed-even-medias-savviest-digital-players-are-hurting\/2020\/05\/19\/f15d3dde-96e9-11ea-91d7-cf4423d47683_story.html?outputType=amp\">roil the news media<\/a>. Quartz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/05\/14\/business\/media\/quartz-to-lay-off-80-employees.html\">laid off 80 staffers<\/a> as its advertising revenue <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kerrymflynn\/status\/1260942217876836352\">declined by over half<\/a>. BuzzFeed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/buzzfeed-shuts-down-news-operations-in-uk-and-australia-2020-5\">shut down<\/a> its divisions in the UK and Australia while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/buzzfeed-shuts-down-news-operations-in-uk-and-australia-2020-5\">furloughing dozens<\/a> in the United States, and Vox <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/04\/17\/media\/vox-media-furloughs\/index.html\">furloughed about 100<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2020\/04\/the-outline-an-attempt-to-build-a-bolder-kind-of-news-site-appears-to-have-met-its-end\/\">The Outline<\/a> has shut down entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are key facts about digital-native news organizations, based on Pew Research Center analyses of data from Comscore, eMarketer and other sources. All data predates the current downturn related to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-18555\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/07\/14\/key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses\/ft_2020-07-14_digitalmedia_01-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f2f1f1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f2f1f1;\" decoding=\"async\"  sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_01.png?resize=480,538 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_01.png?resize=782,877 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_01.png?resize=840,942 840w\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_01.png?w=840\" alt=\"Traffic to digital-native news sites largely unchanged since 2016\" class=\"wp-image-18555 not-transparent\" width=\"420\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Traffic to digital-native news sites has <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/fact-sheet\/digital-news\/\"><strong>plateaued in recent years<\/strong><\/a>. After rising from 2014 to 2016, it remained steady through 2019. The average monthly number of fourth-quarter unique visitors for the primary domains of these outlets in 2019 was 23.5 million, up only 3% from 2016, when it was 22.8 million. (The digital-native news outlets included in this analysis are those whose primary domain \u2013 the outlet\u2019s flagship website \u2013 averaged at least 10 million unique visitors per month from October to December of each year analyzed, according to Comscore, a cross-platform audience measurement company. There were 46 such outlets in 2019; for a full list of outlets and collection methods, see the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Digital-native-facts-methodology-new-1.pdf\">methodology<\/a>.)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-18546\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/07\/14\/key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses\/ft_2020-07-14_digitalmedia_02-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"dacfce\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #dacfce;\" decoding=\"async\"  sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_02.png?resize=480,705 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_02.png?resize=620,910 620w\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_02.png?w=620\" alt=\"About half of all digital display ad revenue goes to Facebook, Google\" class=\"wp-image-18546 not-transparent\" width=\"310\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>A majority of digital display ad revenue goes to two tech companies.<\/strong> The total number of digital display advertising dollars (to all sites, not just news sites) has been rising rapidly, more than tripling from $21 million in 2014 to $71 million in 2019. But in 2019, about half (53%) of digital display ad revenue went to just two companies: Facebook (42%) and Google (11%). Another 12% went to other tech companies, including Amazon; Verizon Media Group, which owns Yahoo and AOL; Twitter; and Microsoft, among others.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Employment at digital-native news outlets was <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/04\/20\/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-dropped-by-a-quarter-since-2008\/\"><strong>steadily rising<\/strong><\/a><strong> before the outbreak but was still far lower than at newspapers or broadcast TV (local and network).<\/strong> In 2019, there were about 16,000 newsroom employees at digital-native news organizations, roughly double the figure from 10 years prior, but they were outnumbered by newsroom employees at newspapers (34,950) and in broadcast TV (30,120).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-18543\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/07\/14\/key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses\/ft_2020-07-14_digitalmedia_03-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"f1f1f1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #f1f1f1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_03.png?resize=480,688 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_03.png?resize=782,1121 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_03.png?resize=840,1204 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/ft_2020.07.14_digitalmedia_03.png?w=714\" alt=\"Employment at digital-native news outlets has been rising steadily but is lower than for newspapers and broadcast television\" class=\"wp-image-18543 not-transparent\" width=\"714\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Digital-native news organizations in 2018 were <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2019\/08\/01\/large-u-s-newspapers-layoffs-2018\/\"><strong>about half as likely to undergo layoffs<\/strong><\/a><strong> as newspapers, <\/strong>despite a spate of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adweek.com\/digital\/inside-digital-medias-great-upheaval-in-2018-from-layoffs-to-unionized-newsrooms\/\">high-profile layoffs<\/a> in digital media that year. While 27% of large newspapers experienced layoffs in 2018, only 14% of digital-native news outlets did.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: See <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Digital-native-facts-methodology-new-1.pdf\">methodology<\/a> for more details on digital-native news site traffic and digital display revenue.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Traffic to digital-native news sites has plateaued in recent years. After rising from 2014 to 2016, it remained steady through 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":584,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"bylines":[{"key":"dbd5d88e2d9acee7f40dee5f2f0857e3","termId":961},{"key":"c442bde526856311a71baa2187c1d5ca","termId":962}],"acknowledgements":[],"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[275,334,332],"bylines":[962,961],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[527],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-9887","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-digital-news-landscape-2","category-digital-news-landscape-1","category-media-industry","bylines-galen-stocking","bylines-michael-barthel","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-journalism"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":388,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/07\/14\/key-facts-about-digital-native-news-outlets-amid-staff-cuts-revenue-losses\/","art_direction":{"A2":{"id":18568,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":true},"XL":{"id":18568,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":18568,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":true},"A4":{"id":18568,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":true},"A1":{"id":18568,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_crop.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":18564,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_feature_new.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/07\/FT_20.07.10_DigitalNative_feature_new.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Key facts about digital-native news outlets amid staff cuts, revenue losses","description":"Traffic to digital-native news sites has plateaued in recent years. After rising from 2014 to 2016, it remained steady through 2019.","og_title":"Key facts about digital-native news outlets amid staff cuts, revenue losses","og_description":"Traffic to digital-native news sites has plateaued in recent years. After rising from 2014 to 2016, it remained steady through 2019.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"twitter_title":"Key facts about digital-native news outlets amid staff cuts, revenue losses","twitter_description":"Traffic to digital-native news sites has plateaued in recent years. 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