Thank you for your interest in the Pulse COVID-19 Impact Shopping Survey findings. This is by no means a complete list, yet here are our strong suggestions to leverage this intelligence now.
The Alliance has been working over the last six weeks to enhance the ability of newspapers to get recognition and relief during the COVID-19 pandemic – making sure that newspapers are recognized as “essential” businesses; fighting restrictions that would have excluded certain newspapers under the original CARES Act; and advocating for a delay in pension payments. We have continued to work over the last couple of weeks to expand the SBA loan program to more newspaper companies and to encourage the federal government to immediately direct current spending on advertising to local media outlets.
Today a bipartisan letter was sent from U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Boozman (R-ARK) to their Senate colleagues urging support for expanding U.S. Small Business Administration loan access to struggling local newspapers.
Though online traffic to news sites has spiked during the pandemic, far too many news publishers are still struggling. Thankfully, the recently-enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act provides some relief for American businesses, including news publishers, during this challenging time.
As we enter the second month of social distancing due to COVID-19, many people will be getting cabin fever (if you haven’t already), especially kids. We know it can be difficult with everyone under one roof 24/7, so we’ve rounded up some fun “news”-themed activities your kids — or you! — can do when things get dull.
Today, four national media organizations representing thousands of local newspapers and local broadcast media outlets – the News Media Alliance, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Newspaper Association (NNA) and America’s Newspapers – jointly called on Congress to provide critical support to local news media in its next stimulus bill designed to provide relief to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
As municipalities across the United States enter states of emergency and issue shelter-in-place orders, news publishers are working to ensure they are viewed as “essential” workers, allowing journalists and other news publishing employees the ability to continue reporting and delivering the news.
In a webinar with the American Press Institute’s Metrics for News team, we discussed which measures of engagement to focus on (hint: not just pageviews) and how to define success. Through a series of 11 lessons on using metrics for newsroom change (gathered from the Metrics for News team’s work with 100+ newsroom partners), participants learned how to prioritize which metrics they track and tips for leveraging the data-collection tool(s) they already use.
During this unprecedented health crisis, the Alliance is working to provide accurate and real-time information; advocacy and representation with lawmakers; legal guidance and resources to navigate funding and regulations; and a portal to connect and exchange information among newspapers across the country.
The News Media Alliance and Digital Content Next call on digital advertisers and digital advertising companies to stop using keyword blocking practices that jeopardize the sustainability of high-quality journalism during this critical time.
