The percentage of large newspapers and digital news sites that experienced layoffs fell considerably in 2021 when compared with the year prior, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis, which examined online news stories about layoffs at outlets in both of these categories.
In 2021, 11% of high-circulation newspapers — those with an average Sunday circulation of 50,000 or more — experienced layoffs, compared with three times that share the year before (33%), when the coronavirus pandemic upended the nation’s economy. The 2021 figure is the lowest percentage of large newspapers experiencing layoffs since the Center began tracking this trend in 2017.
