24 March 2020updated 17 Jan 2024 7:14am

Coronavirus has made news essential – but it could force the closure of newspapers

Social distancing will accelerate the decline of the print sales that have sustained many media organisations.

An arrangement of UK daily newspapers photographed as an illustration in Liverpool on March 17, 2020, shows front page headlines and a back page NHS advisory, reporting on the story that Britain is stepping up its response to coronavirus, recommending household isolation, home-working and an end to mass gatherings to try to stem an accelerating outbreak. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The coronavirus has made people hungrier than ever for reliable information about world events, but the extraordinary measures required to check the pandemic threaten to destroy many of the news organisations we rely on to inform us.

At first sight, it may appear as if newspapers and other sources of news are better prepared than most to ride out the crisis. Not only is demand for their output higher than ever, but most of the work of journalists can be carried out remotely. Even field reporters do not need to be in a crowded office to do their work.