In Canada, Bell Media just laid off hundreds of journalists and shuttered whole newsrooms. In the U.S., a group of distressed newspapers were just purchased by a hedge fund, to the despair of its employees who know full well what that will mean ‘clear your desks.’

The Toronto Star has made a habit of throwing funds toward big initiatives like tablet editions or national bureaus, only to shutter them in the face of cash woes. That celebrated brand was recently sold for less money than it had cash in the bank.

Australia’s news industry is trying to keep itself alive by lobbying the government to shimmy bucks from Facebook and Google, and as we recapped here on Friday. No matter how you cut it, the media is collapsing everywhere in the Western world. Newspapers and magazines, TV stations and radio, even the new media digital outlets that were supposed to be our salvation struggle to survive.

For the first time, Edelman’s annual trust barometer, which it shared with Axios, revealed that fewer than half of all Americans acknowledge any kind of trust in the mainstream media. Fifty-six percent of Americans, for example, said they agreed with the following statement: ‘Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.’

The results go on to show that 59% of Americans said they agree with this statement: That most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public. And 61% of Americans think that ‘The media is not doing well at being objective and non-partisan.’

According to a 2021 report by the Media Reform Coalition, 90% of the UK-wide print media is owned and controlled by just three companies, Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror), News UK and DMG Media. This figure was up from 83% in 2019. The report also found that six companies operate 83% of local newspapers.

Thirty-three local newspapers have closed in the UK since the start of 2019, according to new Press Gazette analysis. The latest figure takes the total net loss of local newspapers since 2005 to 265. That year was considered by many to be the high-water mark of print newspaper profitability in the UK; the economy was riding high; automation had made printing cheaper and broadband internet had yet to cause severe disruption.

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