Hearts & Minds: Will journalism ever profit from impartiality again?

Quality journalism is battling an existential crisis. Advertising and subscription revenues are under fierce pressure, struggling against new, rival platforms competing for readers and viewers. The rise of AI, ever-rising costs, short attention spans and different preferences of Millennials and Gen Zs, are combining as one. Audiences have news fatigue, with many folks looking away completely. Print soldiers on but is looking ever forlorn; traditional TV is suffering; streaming is also feeling it. Once grand titles up for sale cannot attract sufficient buyers. Local, regional newspapers are not even trying and shuttering for good.

Not everyone. Some brands are flourishing; but by and large, the fight is real and ferocious. Meanwhile, brands that do not pretend to offer balanced coverage such as Fox News and Newsmax surge ahead. The latter saw its stock climb by 2,200% after its Monday New York debut. Proprietors, editors, reporters, find themselves questioning their entire approach, examining their methods and values. If they can do so well, why can’t we, should we change, is it too late? How do we attempt to make an acceptable profit doing what we do, against this backdrop?

There is one scenario that is doom-laden. There is another that says much of what we’re witnessing is cyclical, that good, objective, well-researched content will always find its place and public. People will tire and enough of them will require information and explanation. What lasts will not be the same but that is not necessarily a bad thing; the media landscape will be different, more reflective of a changed and fast-changing world.

Money may not be so readily available. Again, a degree of realism is required. For decades, newspapers and TV stations lived high on the hog. They enjoyed enormous sales, advertisers flocked to them and they priced accordingly. They could charge whatever they wanted. The only comparison was the rest of the market. What they did not offer was any guarantee their ads were being seen, let alone absorbed. Now, for the buyers, the corporates, that is transformed. It is still not completely scientific but they are able to discern how many clicks they received and how long those eyeballs stayed. That makes for a more honest, open system. In many respects, what is occurring is a wake-up call, for an industry that did not move with the times and ignored the needs of its customers. Quality will prevail. It will survive. It will.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.