The first casualty of any economic downturn, whether real or imagined, is almost always advertising.
Companies slash their budgets and buy fewer ads on TV and in print.
It stands to reason the second casualty is the news business, whose lifeblood is ad revenue. But even before the economy stumbled, the news business was in the midst of substantial change. With the advent of multiple all-news cable channels and instant updates available on the Internet, ratings for the national evening newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC have dropped precipitously in the past 30 years. We can get our news from other sources. If an anchor that has received virtually every honor in broadcast journalism can't give viewers a reason to watch, nothing will.