I recently reached a turning point in my communications career: I’ve spent more time working as a crisis communications consultant than as a journalist in the newsroom.
I started out as a cub reporter at the Aspen Times and worked my way up to a business and metro editor at the Rocky Mountain News. When the paper unceremoniously shut down in 2009, I started using my journalism skills to help clients with crisis communications, media relations, media skills and training.
I still use my reporting and editing skills on a daily basis: clear writing, strategy, and questioning everything…Those skills will be with me forever. And will always be sought after.
Of the 200 journalists who were laid off when the Rocky shut down, I’d estimate that no more than 10-15 are still in journalism, and most of those folks are on their third or fourth jobs since the paper shut down.
Recently journalism think-tank Poynter Institute did a podcast about how local media is still standing, despite continuous newsroom jobs being eliminated.
Poynter said that local news is something that affects everybody. It can influence how you vote, explain how your tax dollars are working, and describe how your kids’ lives are being affected.
At the same time, surveys show that media trust is at the lowest level it has ever been. Local news stands out, however.
Kristen Hare, Poynter faculty, director of craft and local news and the author of Local Edition, Poynter’s weekly newsletter for and about local journalists, said local news has to remain “relevant to my life, they’re telling me where to get supplies when we have to get ready for a hurricane, where to get information when it’s time to vote. You know what to do if something’s wrong with my (toll pass), where to go eat because there’s a new restaurant in town. And so, relevance and usefulness are hugely important.”
The big players are doing better. The New York Times reported recently that it now has 12.33 million total subscribers to all of its products. It has said it is aiming for 15 million by the end of 2027. The addition of 460,000 digital subscribers was the biggest gain for The Times since it began reporting on the number of subscribers instead of the number of individual subscriptions to different products.
The challenge is how local media outlets can convince customers that they provide value. It’s an uphill battle. According to the PEW Research Center, one-in-five U.S. adults say they are regularly getting news from news influencers on social media.
David Simon, creator of HBO’s The Wire, captured the value of local news when he testified in 2009 at a Senate Hearing on the Future of Journalism:
“The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore zoning board hearing is the day that I will be confident that we have reached some sort of equilibrium. The next 10 or 15 years in this country are going to be a halcyon era for state and local political corruption. It is going to be one of the great times to be a corrupt politician. I really envy them.”
About the author: Gil Rudawsky specializes in issues and reputation management, and crisis communication. He began his career as a reporter in Aspen, and journalism took him across the country and then back to his native hometown of Denver, where he worked for the Rocky Mountain News. His journalistic skills – source development, research, credibility, storytelling, and curiosity – remain the foundation of his work with clients. He has experience working on a range of issues across sectors, including federal investigations, corporate and workplace issues, DEI and public advocacy campaigns. He provides expert-level strategic counsel, including on-the-ground support. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a degree in philosophy.