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Can democracy or the socioeconomic and political fabric that holds together our modern existence survive the destruction and possible death of journalism?According to the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation, “Journalism plays a crucial role in society, tasked with being the watchdog of democracy and informing the public.”Regarding the election of public leaders, the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) has said, “The media are essential to democracy, and a democratic election is impossible without media.”Media24’s ability to detect fictitious references in the draft national AI policy earlier this year was a clear demonstration of the importance of the media’s role. But what happens when the media can no longer fund good journalism, talent is absorbed into other areas of the economy and publishers depend on the whims of those willing to “support” their work? Many factors are to blame for where legacy newsrooms find themselves, but leaders in the sector should be held responsible for the initial triggers that have led to the status quo. Read: KERUSHUN PILLAY | The death of physical media puts history and journalism at riskIn July 2020, well into the Covid-19 pandemic, Kate Skinner, then executive director of Sanef, told Business Day that the number of journalists in the country had halved from about 10,000 in 2010 to fewer than 5,000, suggesting an attrition rate of 50% at the time. By September 2024, when Daily Maverick went through its own round of job cuts, the publication estimated that South Africa had lost 70% of its news media workforce. Legacy media’s biggest mistake was the economic response to the dawn of the internet era. At the time, in the early 2000s, legacy media saw the internet as a “fad” or passing trend that would not have a material impact on its lucrative advertising-driven business model. As such, those publications that chose to embrace the new distribution platform offered their content to audiences for free, thus creating a culture that good journalism does not have to be paid for online.Legacy media’s biggest mistake was the economic response to the dawn of the internet era. This was not a problem as long as newspapers and magazines continued to sell and advertisers kept patronising print, radio and television platforms. Fast forward to 2026, when an estimated 80%-85% of advertising revenue in South Africa has been mopped up by internet giants Google and Facebook’s parent Meta. It turns out that teaching people to consume content online for free, for more than a decade, would not translate into high adoption of paywall subscriptions to replace dwindling physical circulation. Contrast this to the music industry’s fight against online file sharing platforms such as Napster and Limewire that distributed content for free. Much can be said about the exploitative treatment of artists in the industry, but at least its leaders understood that the market should always have to pay for its produce, no matter the medium. Fast forward to 2026. The industry, which made so much money off physical CDs, cassettes and vinyls of old, has found a way to be paid from online streaming, social media and other digital platforms. All the while working against online piracy. Can real journalism survive, or will it take on a new form and weather the current storm?Beyond Daily Maverick’s estimates of the shrinking newsroom, further cuts have come from Mail & Guardian in 2025, the conclusion of Media24’s big cuts and those that have taken voluntary severance packages at MultiChoice since Canal+’s takeover.Last week, eNCA, run by JSE-listed eMedia, joined a long list of local media operators that have announced job cuts in recent years, even as group CEO Khalik Sherrif took home R19m in the most recent financial year. About 171 out of 309 of the news broadcaster’s employees, more than half of its workforce, are in the line of fire. The Digital News Report for 2026, conducted by the Reuters Institute and Oxford University, offers insight into the future business of journalism. According to the report, “digital news creators are growing increasingly influential, making the online news environment more crowded and competitive and accelerating the shift of audiences away from legacy outlets and towards smaller digital, personality‑driven platforms”. The report highlights former News24 and Sunday Times reporter Qaanitah Hunter’s Debrief Network. Founded in 2025, its goal is to become “a habit for people who currently live outside the news cycle”.Journalism is notoriously expensive to fund. The solution will come down to containing costs but more importantly to finding an economic model that can replace the losses to internet players. AI may offer an opportunity for legacy media to bed down their strategies for monetisation. Whatever the approach, new thinking is needed. Gone are the days when journalists and journalism can be arrogant and choose not to do things differently. Business Day
