Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on journalism

[3][4] The pandemic was characterized as a potential "extinction event" for journalism as hundreds of news outlets closed and journalists were laid off around the world, advertising budgets were slashed, and many were forced to rethink how to do their jobs amid restrictions on movement and limited access to information or public officials.

[8][9] Journalists have worked to produce coverage of the pandemic combating misinformation, providing public health updates, and supplying entertainment to help people cope with the virus's impact.

In some countries – including Turkey,[14] Egypt,[15] India,[16] Bangladesh,[17] Iraq,[18] Iran,[19] Nigeria,[20] Ethiopia,[21] Kenya,[22] Tanzania,[23] Uganda,[24] Madagascar,[25] Zambia,[25] Cote d’Ivoire,[26] Zimbabwe,[27] Eswatini,[25] Venezuela,[28] Belarus,[29] Montenegro,[30] Kosovo,[31] Kazakhstan,[32] Azerbaijan,[33] Malaysia,[34] Singapore,[35] Philippines,[36] and Somalia[37] – journalists have been threatened or arrested for their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[38] Jordanian authorities arrested Roya TV channel's owner, Fares Sayegh, and its news director, Mohamad al-Khalidi, for reporting on lack of jobs and money needed by labourers to feed families during the curfew in mid-April.

[39] On March 16, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis signed an emergency decree, giving authorities the power to remove, report or close websites spreading "fake news" about the COVID-19 pandemic, with no opportunity to appeal.

"[47] On June 16, Egyptian journalist and editor-in-chief of the al-Diyar newspaper was detained and charged with spreading false news, joining a "terrorist organization" and misusing social media after he criticized his country's handling of the pandemic.

In Ontario, they closed the newspapers Kingsville Reporter, Windsor-Essex's Lakeshore News, LaSalle Post, Tecumseh Shoreline Week, and Tilbury Times.

[59] The South China Morning Post announced on April 22, 2020, that it would introduce a package of cost-cutting and revenue-raising measures intended to weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Twenty-seven senior executives had immediate pay cuts, higher paid staff were asked to take three weeks unpaid leave, salaries were frozen, and a limited number of redundancies were made.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, said the pandemic had caused the "biggest existential crisis" in the history of the press, as local and national newspapers experienced circulation decline.

[76] Several alt weekly newspapers in affected metropolitan areas, including The Stranger in Seattle and Austin Chronicle, have announced layoffs and funding drives due to lost revenue.