An Analysis of the Impact of the Corona Crisis on the Performance of Iran's Non-Governmental Print Newspapers

Due to the intensification of the Corona crisis since the end of 2010, this study intends to use two quantitative and qualitative methods as well as a conceptual framework to gain an understanding of the impact of the Corona crisis on the performance of non-governmental newspapers. Newspaper economics, content and audience trust, journalistic workflow, and policies and strategies are four parts that are carefully evaluated in this study. In total, the researcher-made questions were sent to 40 journalists and media executives, 20 of whom answered. Findings show that 14 out of 20 newspapers that answered this question (70%) believe that the decrease in circulation was caused by the Corona crisis. At the same time, the impact of Corona on the economy of non-governmental newspapers in the two dimensions of costs and revenues and its components was discussed in the view of respondents. Given that 89.5% of the newspapers reported that their income had decreased and 60% stated that their expenses had either increased or not decreased, it can be concluded that most of the newspapers had economic problems. The researcher also examined 4 areas in the content section: content quantity, content quality, trust and competition. In the working conditions of journalists and staff of Iranian national non-governmental print newspapers, 55.5% of respondents said that Corona had no effect on the efficiency of journalists. Respondents stated that the corona had reduced field reporting and instability in their work situations.