The newspaper industry has experienced the worst drop in advertising revenue in more than 50 years.
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%.
When it gets to the point that the only thing worth looking at in the newspaper are the comics and the very slanted editorial page, people stop their subscriptions. Our Sunday news advertisement pile sometimes has more physical weight than the “news” section.
Well, the papers are really getting hit in the classifieds. My wife and I used to peruse them looking for bargains and yard sales. Now we check out the same via Craigslist. The cost of posting an advert for a used sofa on the web is nothing and you can get better responses. The classifieds can get pricey.
Factor in falling circulation numbers and the future for newspapers is not very rosy.
here is an interesting tid bit via Instapundit:
Reader Johann Erickson emails: “Last time I put a ‘help wanted’ ad in my local paper, it cost me about $500. I got 6 faxes, 5 were unqualified for the job. I put an ad on Craigslist for free and got about 40 resumes. About 10 qualified for the job. Why would I ever use a newspaper again? Classified ads were the biggest drop, 16.5% or so. Just another dinosaur dying.”
Somewhat predictable once newspapers decided to stop becoming reporters of the news and instead to become “shapers” of the news.
People realize that if you want to sort out what the truth is, you can go on the internet and find it for free. I haven’t read a newspaper for a couple of years now, and I’m certainly much better informed now.
As an allusion, not so much different from those churches that have stopped reporting the “Good News,” and instead have decided to rewrite it to fit their agendas.
Who needs newspapers?
Everyone I know reads [i]TitusOneNine[/i]!