Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Home Research Topics News Habits & Media News Media Trends State of the News Media (Project)

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.

Icon for promotion number 1

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

All

State of the News Media (Project)

Publications

Displaying 1-10 of ? results
Filtering by:
Reset
  • report

    Mobile Devices and News Consumption: Some Good Signs for Journalism

    The migration of audiences toward digital news advanced to a new level in 2011 and early 2012, the era of mobile and multidigital devices. More than three-quarters of U.S. adults own laptop or desktop computers, a number that has been stable for some years.1 Now, in addition, 44% of adults own a smartphone, and the number of tablet owners grew by about 50% since the summer of 2011, to 18% of Americans over age 18.

  • report

    The State of the News Media 2011: An Annual Report on American Journalism

    By several measures, the state of the American news media improved in 2010. After two dreadful years, most sectors of the industry saw revenue begin to recover. With some notable exceptions, cutbacks in newsrooms eased. And while still more talk than action, some experiments with new revenue models began to show signs of blossoming.

  • report

    Survey: Mobile News & Paying Online

    Local news is going mobile. Nearly half of all American adults (47%) report that they get at least some local news and information on their cellphone or tablet computer.

  • report

    Why U.S. Newspapers Suffer More than Others

    While print newspapers everywhere face difficult challenges in the future, newspapers in the United States today are suffering more acutely than those virtually anywhere else in the world. In sharp contrast with the U.S. situation, overall print newspaper circulation worldwide has dipped only slightly so far in 2010. Revenues are expected to rise, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

  • report

    Emerging Economics of Community News

    It is easy to oversimplify what is happening in online news. Breathless headlines — from the $315 million sale of The Huffington Post to AOL, Patch’s march to 1,000 plus local sites, to the early dismantling of TBD.com in Washington, D.C. – tend to obscure other important efforts, especially on the local front.

  • report

    Seattle: A New Media Case Study

    Seattle, perhaps more than any other American city, epitomizes the promise and challenges of American journalism at the local level.

  • report

    A Year in the News 2010

    Two weeks into the year, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti and dominated the news in the United States for a month. As coverage began to subside, the climactic legislative battle over remaking the American health care system took on a feverish quality—and began its own month-long control of the news. In April, an oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico commandeered the media’s attention all the way into August. And from Labor Day to Nov. 2, the midterm elections held the media’s fascination far beyond anything else.

  • report

    Newspapers: Missed the 2010 Media Rally

    For newspapers, 2010 was comparatively calm after the hair-raising revenue dips of 2008 and 2009. That was cold comfort, however, to an industry still laboring to find a sustainable business model for the future.

  • report

    Network News: Durability & Decline

    As the economy improved in 2010, network broadcast news quietly went through an arduous period of change. The news division of one network, ABC, instituted sharp personnel cuts designed to accomplish a “fundamental transformation” in the way network news is produced.1 Another, CBS News, worked its way from financial losses back to break-even, while management continued to strengthen a depleted bench of correspondents and news producers. NBC prepared for new owners, the third such transition since NBC was founded in 1926, and if history is a guide, the change will alter the network more than most pre-sale analyses predicted.