Biggest Ad Revenue Plunge Newspapers in History
More proof that the era of print newspapers has passed by: “According to new data released by the Newspaper Association of America, total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunged 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006 — the most severe percent decline since the association started measuring advertising expenditures in 1950.”
The drop-off points to an economic slowdown on top of the secular challenges faced by the industry. The second worst decline in advertising revenue occurred in 2001 when it fell 9.0%.
Total advertising revenue in 2007 — including online revenue — decreased 7.9% to $45.3 billion compared to the prior year.
There’s hope for the newspaper industry, though: they raised more money online. If they, therefore, want to survive, they have to focus on online revenue. They’ve got to find a way - somehow, someway - to make a profit, a significant profit, online.
But raising money online is more difficult than in print. Don’t ask me why, it’s a fact. It’s not easy to become rich by running a website, not - not even when you’ve got a major newspaper. However, there are some bloggers who are quite good at making money through ads (on their blog): newspapers should look at what those bloggers do, how they do it, and copy it.
Personally, I don’t quite understand why people stop reading newspapers in print. Yes, I can also read my favorite newspapers online, but I prefer to read them in print; there’s something to holding that newspaper in your hand, turning the pages, to see that your fingers have become black…
But I’m not the average person; the average person increasingly favors reading websites over print newspapers. And that’s good news for sites such as this one.
Well, mostly good news. There’s also bad news for us:
Now before we get absorbed in the usual schadenfreude, let’s remember that most of us are news junkies. Having the newspaper industry see its worst ad revenue falloff in 50 years means that resources for responsible, in-depth reporting will likely disappear…
It’s not good news, but it’s mostly self-inflicted. If the news industry had focused on serious, objective reporting, people would still rely on them for information. Instead, most newspapers turned into preachy, biased megaphones for the pet issues of their publishers.
"…resources for responsible, in-depth reporting will likely disappear.."
This comment assumes that "responsible, in-depth" reporting can only be provided by the newspaper industry (to the extent that it is currently provided at all). This is a classic example of an error in critical thinking resulting directly from the speculative application of current operational norms to a future environment where they may not apply (and highly ironic that Allahpundit would be guilty of such an error).
Yes, primarily only print media (let’s not forget newsmagazines here) provide resources, in the form of in-house reporting staff, to accumulate detailed information for the purpose of disseminating it to their subscribers. But there is a model that even now provides an exception to this rule - the wire services (AP, Reuters, etc.). These organizations operate under a model that has the capacity to produce valuable reporting (my complaints regarding the shoddiness of their product notwithstanding). And print media organizations regulary pay for this service.
This is a model that can most certainly be adopted by the new (read web-based) media; and in some cases already has been. Granted, this won’t happen overnight (neither did the building of the print media); but critical mass will accumulate to the providers of this information as they demonstrate increasing competence and proficiency. Eventually, they will supplant the existing wire services if the quality of their product becomes consistently, even for print media.
Wire services tend to focus on national and international events. Local papers devote much of their resources to local events and news. Also, specialty publications cover specific areas of interest in detail that the other two major news sources cannot. But there is no reason that competition cannot take place in the new media at these levels as well. Establishing the delivery channels in such a way that allows the providers to recoup their costs will be the challenge, as it is in any business.
If AP restricted his comment to the short term, I think he would have a better point - it takes time to develop such resources. But I see no reason why we cannot eventually have a superior delivery of hard news - at least, superior to the current product.
Oh Good Grief - that was Ed Morrisey, not AllahP. My apologies. But I still think Captain Ed is misjudging the tide here.
I agree with that actually; that’s part of the plan for the future of this website. But resources… is an important issue. Newspapers already have that; so they’ve got a huge advantage.