Impact of Covid 19 on Media Sustainability https://zimbabwe.misa.org Impact on journalism profession Retrenchments Published at the end of May 2020, the SANEF interim research report on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the media concluded that hundreds of jobs had been lost but could not be precise. The country has in recent years seen a steady decline in the number of fulltime journalists. The Wits Journalism State of the Newsroom 2018 report noted that a survey showed the number of professional journalists in South Africa had been “slashed in half” over a decade to around 5 000 - and some interviewed for the survey believed the job loss figure could be higher.43 After the SANEF study, Media24 announced that the rationalization of its news operations would affect around 510 staff members, with around 660 posts closed. The implication is that some – and they were not all journalists - might be re-employed in the company, but that many jobs would be lost in one company.44 The Primedia Group, owner of the oldest independent radio stations in South Africa, announced in mid-July that it would be retrenching an unspecified number of staff.45 Caxton & CTP Publishers and Printers in September in its annual results announcement, said its restructuring to cope with the tough trading conditions the group expects “for the foreseeable future” would lead to estimated job losses “up to 1 500 positions once completed, out of a pre-Covid-19 staff complement of some 6 000 43. Alan (ed.) Finlay, “State of the Newsroom 2018” (Wits Journalism School, March 2018), http://wits.journalism.co.za/wp-content/ uploads/2018/03/906-STATE-OF-THE-NEWSROOM-2018-REPRINT- V2.pdf. 44. Media24, “Media24 Media Release.” 45. T. M. O. Reporter, “Primedia Group Starts Retrenchment Process,” The Media Online, July 16, 2020,//themediaonline.co.za/2020/07/ primedia-group-starts-retrenchment-process/. 14