An unprecedented number of digital news outlets have shut down across Latin America in the past year as a result of declines in funding, political instability and a deprioritization of news content on social media, according to a new study.
More digital native news outlets in Latin America stopped publishing this past year than in any year since 2015, according to a tally by the Buenos Aires-based media incubator SembraMedia.
This is one of the conclusions from a report published yesterday by SembraMedia and its Oasis Project on the sustainability, innovation and impact of independent digital media in Europe, North America and Latin America.
SembraMedia's first study on Latin American native digital media, released in 2017, was “wonderfully optimistic,” Janine Warner, co-founder of the organization, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR).
“This time, I must say it was tough to see some of the challenges that emerged, especially in the past two years,” she said. “We saw this more in Latin America than in the U.S. or Europe.”
Still, Warner said there’s a lot to be excited about. Digital native organizations that continue to publish are producing impactful journalism and cover topics neglected by traditional press, she said.
The news outlets that continue to operate are making an impact and play a role in their communities, Ana Paula Valacco, director of the Oasis Project, told LJR.
“They are still doing valuable journalism and inspiring others,” she said.
Fewer media being founded, more media closing
The Oasis Project conducted interviews with leaders of media organizations to profile more than three thousand active native digital media outlets in 68 countries. In Latin America, the study identified 1,032 active media in 21 countries.
Brazil was included for the first time in SembraMedia’s monitoring, with a study mapping 164 active media outlets in partnership with the Digital Journalism Association (Ajor). The analysis of trends in the region does not include Brazilian media.
Since 2015, when it began mapping native digital media, SembraMedia had observed a constant growth of new media in Latin America. This trend reversed after the Covid-19 pandemic: there was a nearly 60% drop in the number of new media founded in the region from 2021 to 2022, according to the organization.
“There are fewer people taking the step to launch them now, and I don’t think it’s because we’ve reached a saturation point,” Warner said. “We haven’t filled all the news deserts. We're not covering all the communities that have been neglected. Clearly, there is more work to be done. But there seems to be a slowdown in interest because of the risks, because of the lack of funding, because it's very hard.”
Many media leaders interviewed by the SembraMedia team reported that grant funding has dropped as many donor organizations changed their focus, reorganized, or reduced support to media in Latin America. Grants represent the main source of revenue for 50% of the Latin American media mapped in the study. Advertising represents 23%, audience support (19%), consulting services (3%) and content services (3%), and 2% other unspecified sources.
During the pandemic, there was a surge of emergency grants that helped many media survive. However, when this source dried up, many media were left with a financial hangover that made them even more vulnerable to new challenges, such as the security costs caused by the increasing danger from organized crime and authoritarian governments, the report says.
In recent years, several Latin American outlets also saw a drop in traffic, which harms those that rely on advertising as a significant source of revenue. The drop came after Facebook and Instagram stopped prioritizing news in the feed and after changes in Google’s algorithm.
Another threat to native digital media is state persecution in Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Cuba, and violence from organized crime in Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador, the report says.
The alarming increase in journalists in exile is also a point of concern in the study. In Nicaragua, 20 of 21 digital native outlets tracked by SembraMedia reported having at least one team member in exile. The remaining outlet recently closed its operations.
Warner says the international community should be allocating more funds to Latin American digital journalism and more quickly tracking changes in the region, especially the deterioration of conditions for journalists, as has been the case in Ecuador.
“There’s a perception that Latin America is not so bad. There’s no active war like in Ukraine or Gaza,” she said. “The problems in Latin America are more subtle: Internal conflicts, corrupt officials, drug traffickers, and that kind of thing. So if we can get more attention from international donors, especially in Latin American countries where things are precarious but could improve or worsen depending on how we support journalists, we could make a bigger difference in those places.”
Clarification: This story was updated to clarify the volume of digital native outlets that have closed in the region.
