Jack, you know things are bad for news outlets when even billionaire-backed outlets are struggling to make ends meet:

Nearly six years ago, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times for $500 million. Since then he has poured another $300 million—and conducted three rounds of layoffs—into trying to keep the paper afloat. Last week, 300 members of the Los Angeles Times Guild staged a one-day walkout in multiple cities. When they returned to the newsrooms, it was announced that 20% of the staff would be laid off.

Jeff Bezos's Washington Post is estimated to have lost $100 million in 2023. In October, the Post announced voluntary buyouts which helped avoid another round of layoffs.

Time Magazine, owned by Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce, is reported to have lost about $20 million by 2023. Earlier this week the legacy publication announced they would be laying off an unknown number of staff across numerous departments in hopes of improving their financial situation.

The problem is that almost every single news outlet has relied on advertising revenue to cover their operating expenses. It is now abundantly clear that in order to survive, a news outlet must evolve.

Hoping to stay afloat, news outlets have tried to bring in more money by finding corporate sponsors, some billionaire backer, or cash from hedge funds. Others find more revenue by blocking news content with a paywall or making it accessible only with expensive subscriptions. Every single one of these options has a tradeoff.

More than a decade ago, when first facing a downfall in advertising revenue, Daily Kos turned to our readers and activists to ask for help. Today nearly 60 percent of our revenue comes from our readers and activists donating a few dollars at time to support our work.

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