Gibson, host of ABC’s Good Morning America, gave this speech at the RTNDA convention in Las Vegas upon receiving the Paul White Award on April 24, 2006.
For the newspaper industry, 2005 turned out to be the year of unpleasant surprises. Every indicator, including the number of news staff members that the nation’s best metro papers field every day, was on a steep downward path.
In 2005, the Web continued to grow as a source for news in America. The picture also began to look more nuanced. Rather than just something new and growing, we were beginning to see strengths, weaknesses and signs of maturity.
Local TV news continues to face a complex future. The situation with audiences is hardly ideal. Ratings for the key early evening newscasts appear in most markets to be continuing their decline, and there may be trouble now in the early morning. But there are some indications that late local news, the programs that air after prime time, may be improving their audience appeal.