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State of the News Media (Project)

Data and trends about key sectors in the U.S. news media industry

Since 2004, Pew Research Center has issued an annual report on key audience and economic indicators for a variety of sectors within the U.S. news media industry. These data speak to the shifting ways in which Americans seek out news and information, how news organizations get their revenue, and the resources available to American journalists as they seek to inform the public about important events of the day. The press is sometimes called the fourth branch of government, but in the U.S., it’s also very much a business – one whose ability to serve the public is dependent on its ability to attract eyeballs and dollars.

Over the years, the Center’s approach to these indicators has evolved along with the industry, carefully considering the metrics, sectors and format in which the data appear. Instead of a single summary report, our approach is to roll out a series of fact sheets showcasing the most important current and historical data points for each sector – in an easy-to-digest format – a few at a time. (State of the News Media reports from 2004-2018 are archived as PDFs and available here.)

fact sheet

Digital News Fact Sheet

In the U.S., roughly nine-in-ten adults (93%) get at least some news online (either via mobile or desktop), and the online space has become a host for the digital homes of both legacy news outlets and new, “born on the web” news outlets.

fact sheet

Hispanic and Black News Media Fact Sheet

News media made by and for Black and Hispanic Americans – the two largest racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. – have been a consistent part of the country’s news landscape. Explore statistics on the Hispanic- and Black-oriented news industry.

fact sheet

Cable News Fact Sheet

In 2022, both prime-time and daytime cable news audiences increased for Fox News but decreased for CNN, MSNBC and Newsmax.

fact sheet

Network News Fact Sheet

Financially, advertiser expenditures for the news programs of the three major networks have declined substantially since 2020.

fact sheet

Local TV News Fact Sheet

Local TV companies generated more revenue in 2022 than in 2021, consistent with a cyclical pattern in which advertising revenue rises in election years and falls in non-election years.

fact sheet

Newspapers Fact Sheet

Newspapers are a critical part of the American news landscape, but they have been hard hit as more and more Americans consume news digitally.

fact sheet

Audio and Podcasting Fact Sheet

The audio news sector in the U.S. is split by modes of delivery: traditional terrestrial (AM/FM) radio and digital formats such as online radio and podcasting.

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State of the News Media (Project)

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  • short reads

    Men, for the most part, still run newsrooms

    In August, Deborah Turness will become the first woman to head a network news division as she takes the reins as president of NBC News. Nine years ago, she made history in precisely the same way in Great Britain, as she headed ITV News, a BBC rival. But industry data show that men continue to […]

  • short reads

    Can a new morning program revitalize CNN?

    This week, CNN launched New Day, a three-hour morning program at the center of the channel’s effort to regain its footing in the world of cable news. To do that, it will have to compete not only with the major networks, but also with more popular shows on Fox News Channel and MSNBC. This is […]

  • report

    Nonprofit Journalism: A Growing but Fragile Part of the U.S. News System

    As the economics of commercial journalism have been upended and newsrooms have shrunk, a variety of funders have sponsored nonprofit news operations to fill perceived information gaps. A report finds that while they voice optimism about the future, many organizations worry that they don’t have sufficient business-side resources.

  • short reads

    Is MSNBC the place for opinion?

    MSNBC president Phil Griffin generated plenty of media attention this week when he said, in a New York Times interview, that his channel was “not the place” for breaking news. “Our brand is not that.” Griffin was responding to a significant decline in MSNBC’s ratings, which the Times reported was down 18% in prime time […]

  • short reads

    Al Jazeera America’s biggest challenge: ’getting people to show up’

    It’s not on the air yet but, already, Al Jazeera America is creating a buzz in the world of journalism. Unlike so many news outlets that have been shedding staff the past few years, it’s hiring (and hiring big), bringing on about 800 employees as it prepares to launch an ambitious cable news channel later this year.

  • report

    Network News: A Year of Change and Challenge at NBC

    After an unusual uptick in the overall audience for evening news in 2011, the trend line returned to its normal in 2012. The combined viewership for the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts dropped 2%, to 22.1 million, resuming the downward trajectory of nearly three decades. It now appears that 2011 may have been an outlier, with the bigger audience attributable to an unusual number of major news events that year, including the Arab Spring, the Japanese earthquake and the killing of Osama bin Laden. Even a presidential election couldn’t keep some viewers from deserting network news in 2012.

  • report

    Digital: As Mobile Grows Rapidly, the Pressures on News Intensify

    For more than a decade, as the desktop/laptop era of computing took hold, news organizations were at a severe disadvantage competing against a raft of financially and technologically stronger tech companies. Now, the rapid advance of the mobile era threatens a whole new level of upheaval, as both the costs and technological challenges of keeping up in the swiftly evolving news ecosystem multiply.

  • report

    Newspapers: Stabilizing, but Still Threatened

    If the newspaper industry had theme music in 2013, it might use “Been down so long it looks like up to me,” the much-recycled line from a 1920s blues song. For the first time since the deep recession that began in 2007, newspaper organizations have grounds for a modicum of optimism.