State of the News Media

Jesse HolcombSenior Researcher, Journalism Project

@jesseholcomb

September 12, 2014 2www.pewproject.org

“Tell the truth and trust the people.”

–Joseph N. Pew Jr.

What do the data tell us?

• The way we engage with news is changing

• There’s still little clarity on how to sustain journalism

• That matters because of journalism’s civic role

1. The way we engage with news is changing

September 12, 2014 5www.pewresearch.org

Internet Rising as Top News Source

September 12, 2014 6www.pewresearch.org

Print Continues to Decline

September 12, 2014 7www.pewresearch.org

Cable Audience has Peaked

September 12, 2014 8www.pewresearch.org

Digital News Video on the Rise

September 12, 2014 9www.pewresearch.org

Digital News Video more Popular w/the Young

September 12, 2014 10www.pewresearch.org

Social media is a pathway to news

September 12, 2014 11www.pewresearch.org/journalism

Getting “News” on Facebook Is

an Incidental Experience

• 78% of Facebook

news users mostly see

news when on

Facebook for other

reasons

• 34% of Facebook

news consumers “like”

a news organization or

individual journalist

September 12, 2014 12www.pewresearch.org

Social Media Allows Public to Participate

September 12, 2014 13www.pewresearch.org/journalism

Mobile Devices Make are Facilitating This

September 12, 2014 14www.pewresearch.org/journalism

News is a Top Activity on Mobile

2. How Will Journalism Sustain Itself?

Courtesy Will Steacy

September 12, 2014 16www.pewresearch.org

Print $ Declines, Digital won’t Replace it

September 12, 2014 17www.pewresearch.org

New Money Is Coming To Digital News

• Personal wealth, capital

investment

• Venture capital - $300 million

over the past year to news orgs

• Foundation support for public

radio, as well as scores of digital

nonprofit outlets, added roughly

$150 million.

September 12, 2014 18www.pewresearch.org

But, New Revenue Is a Drop in the Bucket

• The news industry overall

brings in roughly $63-65

billion dollars in annual

revenue.

• New money amounts to just

1% of that total

3. Why It Matters

Courtesy Will Steacy

September 12, 2014 20www.pewresearch.org

Weakened Business Climate = Fewer Journalists

38,000 full-time editorial

newspaper jobs

16,200 jobs lost from 2003-2012

In 2013, estimated job losses:

• 400 at Gannett

• 700 at Tribune

• 50 at the Cleveland Plain Dealer

• 70 at the Orange County

Register

Impact Felt on the Local Level

September 12, 2014 22www.pewresearch.org

Local TV Consolidation =

Decline in Original News

• News stations producing

original reporting declined 8%since 2005

• A quarter of 952 stations

airing news do not produce their

own

• Impact on the consumer seems

to vary

September 12, 2014 23www.pewresearch.org

Public is Taking Notice

September 12, 2014 24www.pewresearch.org

More Commentary, Less Reporting

September 12, 2014 25www.pewresearch.org

Investigative Journalism = $

ProPublica spent two

years and $750,000

reporting on the

dangers of

acetaminophen.

September 12, 2014 26www.pewresearch.org

Public values accountability reporting

September 12, 2014 27www.pewresearch.org

There are reasons for optimism

September 12, 2014 28www.pewresearch.org

Nonprofit Startups Proliferating

September 12, 2014 29www.pewresearch.org

Momentum in Digital News

5,000Number of full-time staff and editorial jobs at nearly 500

digital news outlets. 30 larger sites and 468 smaller ones

September 12, 2014 30www.pewresearch.org

3 Main Areas of Editorial Focus

Local Investigative International

September 12, 2014 31www.pewresearch.org

New Ways to Do Journalism

• New tools (mobile, social

media)

• Lowered Barrier to entry (Digital publishing &

distribution)

• Experiments

w/Storytelling (data,

interactive, unfiltered)

September 12, 2014 32www.pewresearch.org

Explore our data at journalism.org

State of the News Media

Jesse HolcombSenior Researcher, Journalism Project

@jesseholcomb