USA: Internet beats newspapers as a source of information for the first time
In 2008, Americans turned to the Internet for news more than they did to print media for the first time. While news remains important to U.S. citizens and continues to be in demand, fewer and fewer people are willing to pay for it.
The annual report on the state of the media in the USA could hardly be worse for newspaper publishers: for the first time in 2008, Americans obtained more information on the Internet than from printed newspapers. Although news continues to be important to US citizens and remains in demand, fewer and fewer people are willing to pay for it. According to SDA, these are the key findings of the 2009 US media annual report by the respected Pew Research Institute in Washington.
The annual report on the state of the US media, presented on Tuesday for the sixth time in a row, is the "gloomiest yet", the researchers wrote. In view of the dramatic economic crisis, 2009 will probably be the "worst year ever" for the US newspaper industry, according to the forecast. Magazines, radio and local television stations in the USA also suffered losses in 2008. Alongside Internet providers, news broadcasters in particular can feel like winners.
"Desperate efforts" by the publishers
According to the study, publishers' attempts to use the web to make up for the losses that newspapers have been suffering for years due to falling circulation and the decline in advertising business have become "a desperate endeavor". Publishers have not yet found a concept to overcome the newspaper crisis. In order to earn money with news, traditional advertising will only be able to partially cover the costs of quality journalism in the future. However, it would be an exaggeration to speak of the death of traditional journalism, which commentators and media experts had warned of in view of the US newspaper crisis.
The circulation of US newspapers fell by around 4.6 percent in 2008 to a total daily circulation of around 48 million. According to the study, the newspaper industry had a turnover of around 38 billion dollars in 2008, with publishers still generating good profits in most cases.
The annual report on the state of the US media, presented on Tuesday for the sixth time in a row, is the "gloomiest yet", the researchers wrote. In view of the dramatic economic crisis, 2009 will probably be the "worst year ever" for the US newspaper industry, according to the forecast. Magazines, radio and local television stations in the USA also suffered losses in 2008. Alongside Internet providers, news broadcasters in particular can feel like winners.
"Desperate efforts" by the publishers
According to the study, publishers' attempts to use the web to make up for the losses that newspapers have been suffering for years due to falling circulation and the decline in advertising business have become "a desperate endeavor". Publishers have not yet found a concept to overcome the newspaper crisis. In order to earn money with news, traditional advertising will only be able to partially cover the costs of quality journalism in the future. However, it would be an exaggeration to speak of the death of traditional journalism, which commentators and media experts had warned of in view of the US newspaper crisis.
The circulation of US newspapers fell by around 4.6 percent in 2008 to a total daily circulation of around 48 million. According to the study, the newspaper industry had a turnover of around 38 billion dollars in 2008, with publishers still generating good profits in most cases.
