State of the News Media (Project)

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

The faltering U.S. economy was the No. 1 story in the American news media in 2011, with coverage increasing substantially from a year earlier when economic unease helped alter the political landscape in the midterm elections, according to The Year in the News 2011, a new report conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The newspaper industry enters 2012 neither dying nor assured of a stable future. The industry has rallied around a story about itself – that year-by year it is developing new digital products and new revenue streams to transition from dependence on print advertising. In 2011, that traditional advertising pool declined for a sixth consecutive year. The website of the Gannett Company, emphasizing those digital initiatives, now intentionally has no mention of newspapers on its home page.

Two numbers symbolize the intensifying challenge and opportunity the digital world poses for the news industry: In 2011, social media giant Facebook grew to 133 million active users from 117 million in the U.S.1 And in the final months of the year, tablet ownership in the U.S. nearly doubled, to 18% of Americans.

The year 2011 was one of marked transition and even some positive numbers for network news.

After a year of declining revenues in 2009, followed by a year of declining ratings in 2010, cable outlets found some relief in the extraordinary news year of 2011. It was a relief, however, that could not answer the looming long-range audience challenges.

After years of losing audience and revenue, local television news appears to have settled into a kind of equilibrium. Stations made less income in 2011 than the year before, but the decline was about what might be expected in a non-election year. And the overall audience for local TV news grew as stations added newscasts at different times and on additional platforms, including their digital channels. Local stations also expanded their online, mobile and social media offerings, but most have not yet generated a substantial audience.

Consider it a sign of the times: when Time Inc., the country’s largest magazine publisher, went looking for a new chief executive officer last year, it turned to an expert in digital advertising. In December 2011, Time named Laura Lang, then head of digital ad firm Digitas, to run its magazine operation. Lang had no previous background in magazines.

Probably the biggest development in the audio landscape in 2011 came in the growth of people listening on digital mobile devices. And one of the prime arenas for device use was car listening, the long-established domain of AM/FM radio.

The ethnic media play an important role by providing news in both foreign languages and in English about places and issues that are often absent from the mainstream media. To provide greater depth, we issue reports on different groups at different times. This report focuses on Native American media.

Mobile devices are adding to people’s consumption of news, strengthening the lure of traditional news brands and providing a boost to long-form journalism, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism's ninth annual report on the health of American journalism.