It continues to amaze us that with all of the changes in the media that are evident everywhere we look, we still hear so much denial and clinging to the way things used to be. In order to be successful in working with traditional and emerging media, it’s important to understand how quickly things are changing. That’s why we recommend spending time with the results of the extensive Pew Center research in The State of the Media 2011.
Some highlights:
-Newspaper newsrooms are, on average, 30 percent smaller than they were in 2000. That includes the biggest dailies and the smallest. I heard today about one large market daily that has reduced its business reporting staff from 12 to 4 in the past six years. Fewer journalists create less news.
-47% of those surveyed say they get some form of local news via a mobile device. That’s not a future number – that’s now.
-This is the first time in at least 12 years that the mean audience declined for all three cable news channels. Maybe “Scream TV” isn’t so popular when you can get your news, in peace, online? Online news consumption is up more than 17 percent from last year while cable news viewing is down nearly 14 percent.
-The most consistent medium is radio. 93% of people surveyed listen to AM and/or FM radio at some point during the week. That’s down just 3% in ten years. However, those who say they got news from the radio “yesterday” is down from 43 to 34 percent in ten years. We think that’s because of the mega-owners of radio stations that cut news altogether to save money. Simply put, if you live many of places in America, radio news is not an option for you.
If you work with or even in traditional media – the report is a must-read. If you think that you understand media just because you consume it your way, it’s also worth your time.