North America

Journalism in North America faced an existential crisis as a result of the rapid drop in advertising revenue that began during the 2008–2009 global recession and continued with the rise of Google and Facebook. This put in doubt the profitable transition of news delivery from print, radio, and television to digital media. The news business had been transformed by advertising from a craft practiced mostly by printers in the 18th century into a big business in the 19th century and one dominated by profit-driven corporations by the late 20th century. The rapid decrease in advertising thus reversed the evolutionary course of journalism from a commodity sold for profit back toward a craft practiced for civic purposes by smaller businesses. Alternatives to the profit-driven model for ...