Is journalism in crisis? - With the decline of newspapers, it is important to encourage and nourish independent journalism and media

It’s a cry you hear often from journalists in the West, and it’s easy to see why.

• A 2010 study in the UK estimated that between 15,000 to 20,000 journalist had lost their jobs since 2001, and the cuts have continued over the last two years.
• In the UK, the cuts have not just been at newspapers as the BBC has been forced to cut thousands of staff, many of them in its news departments. Its funding has been frozen and it has had to absorb the costs of funding World Service, which used to be funded directly by the British government.
• A 2010 study found that between 2007 to 2009, newspaper circulation dropped precipitously in many developed countries, including down by 20 per cent in Greece, 18 per cent in Japan, 17 per cent in Canada and most dramatically by 25 per cent in the UK and a staggering 30 per cent in the US.
• A recent report by the professional networking site, LinkedIn, found that of 30 industries, employment in the USdecreased most in newspapers during the recession.