Gannett and McClatchy, two major American newspaper chains, are scaling back their relationships with The Associated Press, with Gannett planning to stop using A.P. articles, photos, and videos in its publications and McClatchy also reducing its use of A.P. services. Gannett cited its own journalistic output and signed an agreement with Reuters for global news, while McClatchy, which was bought out of bankruptcy by Chatham Asset Management, will cease some A.P. services next month.
The recent layoffs of three Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists employed by the McClatchy newspaper chain highlight the steady decline of opinion content in the struggling print industry. The firings reflect changing reader habits and a reluctance to provoke anger in an already diminishing readership. The number of employed cartoonists has drastically decreased over the years, with fewer than 20 remaining. While economics play a role, experts also attribute the decline to a broader reluctance to make people mad in the current political environment. Newspapers are offering opinion pages less frequently, and syndicated services are being relied upon for cartoons, primarily dealing with national or international issues.
