The history of the News

Part
01
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Part
01

News - Timeline

How people learn about what's happening around them has evolved from ancient times to date through interpersonal communication, relay runners, bulletins, news pamphlets, and other propaganda materials, town criers, print media, radio, television, to social media and the internet.

Early Civilization

  • Cross-culturally, as civilizations expanded, people learned about the news through interpersonal communication. Relay runners used to carry messages across distances, taking months or years to reach their destinations in some cases.
  • In the ancient and early medieval periods, bulletins, news pamphlets, and other propaganda material were common features on walls. Kings in ancient times had their royal proclamations or edicts pasted on the walls or inscribed on stones while they received written reports from their spies.
  • As far back as can be found in Greek mythology, town criers were the initial newsmen. They are thought to have become common in Britain in 1066 with the news of the invasion of William of Normandy.
  • Men were employed to pass information from town to town, calling out the king's proclamation. In later times, these town criers were provided with bells to make important announcements within their locality.
  • Even in the late 19th century, with low literacy in Britain, people relied on town criers and heralds to hear about proclamations, edicts, laws, and news — only a small portion of the British population had access to newspapers and books.

Print Media

  • With an increase in literacy, print media (newspapers) became the primary news source for populations.
  • Print media is not a recent innovation. It dates back to 59 BCE. Rome circa when they noted down the news in Acta Diurna, "a gazette of political and social events."
  • Around 618-907 CE, the Tang dynasty in China prepared a report named Bao that was used to keep officials updated with the events.
  • However, the first-ever regular news publications emerged in 1609. These were news sheets from Germany and Strasbourg called "Avisa" and "Relations," respectively.
  • Around 1556, the Venetian government introduced monthly written notices called Notiziescritte, with which it disseminated news around Europe about politics, military activities, and the economy. In 1632, France got its first-ever newspaper, Gazette de France, which was used to promote the monarch's propaganda. India got its first newspaper, Hickey's Bengal Gazette, in 1780.

Radio and Television

  • Radio and television news made their entry in the 1920s. Radio reached peak popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, following the transmission of the first transatlantic radio signal by Marconi in 1895. By 1930, radio became a great competitor to print media, causing many small papers to go out of business, with large newspapers consolidating and merging.
  • Television gained popularity later on without eliminating radio as a source of news. People continued to listen to music over the radio, including educational talk shows and sports broadcasting.
  • In the US, talk stations started becoming popular on both AM and FM frequencies in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, talk shows aired nationwide. By 2001, the FCC had approved two satellite radio stations for broadcasting, significantly increasing programming offerings.
  • Television gained its foothold as a news source with Edward R. Murrow's move to television in 1951 via his news show See It Now. Networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC — followed by local stations and affiliates — then started nightly newscasts.

Cable and the Internet Age

  • With the invention of cable in the 1980s and the growth of the internet in the 2000s, media consumers now have more options than ever before as they can access news anytime and anywhere.
  • Today, the internet has provided the easiest way to learn about the news through social media and websites of various news channels.
  • Younger viewers, especially Gen X and millennials, prefer humorous newscasts, as presented on popular shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. These sources of "soft news" offer an entertaining approach to news presentation.
Part
02
of seven
Part
02

Americans and the News

Introduction

We have identified the main sources of information that Americans have used over the last 50 years. We have also provided relevant statistics, quantitative insights, and images as were available during our research.

Americans and the News in the Last 50 Years

  • Over the past 50 years, Americans have learned about the news through sources such as print media, radio, television, cable network, the internet, and social media.

Print Media (Newspapers and Magazines)

  • According to Anthony R. Fellow, author of "American Media History," the first continuous news press to disseminate information to locals was started in Boston in 1704.
  • While newspapers were used to communicate local activities and events, they also became a major medium for editors and writers to question Britain's right to rule over its colonies. The newspapers reported about the British wrongdoings and attempted to stir up a revolution among the people.
  • During the 1760s and 1770s, newspapers were read in 40,000 homes by a population of close to 2 million, while daily papers emerged in large cities.
  • From the late 1700s to before the advent of radio and TV, the print media had a massive mainstream reach. Some of the most notable developments in this medium include:
  • Introduction of the party press era in the 1780s where the choice for newspaper and editorial content was largely dictated by loyalty to a political party and partisanship. The party press era was fueled by the insufficiency of newspaper subscriptions and advertisement to cover publishing costs; thus, political parties funded presses that supported their causes and policies.
  • Machines and manufacturing made the producing newspapers faster, more efficient, and less expensive between 1830 and 1860.
  • Penny press issues shot in popularity since they sensationalized issues, focused more on gossip than good journalism and gave rise to yellow journalism. These sensational and scandalous news items can be primarily attributed to Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World.
  • Adolph Ochs bought The New York Times in 1896 to restore sanity in the print media and transform it back to the information and credible source of news it had been.
  • As the Progressive Era came about, muckraking and investigative journalism became popular to expose corruption in government and business and maintain transparency.

Newspaper Readership Statistics Over the Last 50 Years

Radio

  • Radio news made its debut in the United States in the 1920s.
  • On November 20, 1920, "Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, under the call sign KDKA, broadcast the live returns of the Harding-Cox presidential election." This broadcast is widely recognized and accepted as the first commercial radio broadcast.
  • During the 1930s, NBC and CBS started running radio dramas and sponsored news programs. Comedy programs also became popular in the 1930s as Americans tried to get humor during the Great Depression.
  • By 1940, 83% of American households had a radio, and they tuned in regularly.
  • Radio was not just a preserve of Americans living in urban areas. News and entertainment programs proliferated in rural areas as well, giving rise to broadcasts that are still alive today.
  • As more people listened to the radio in the US, politicians and presidents saw an opportunity to get a personal touch with Americans. "Warren Harding was the first president to regularly give speeches over the radio. President Herbert Hoover used radio as well, mainly to announce government programs on aid and unemployment relief. Yet it was Franklin D. Roosevelt who became famous for harnessing the political power of radio. On entering office in March 1933, President Roosevelt needed to quiet public fears about the economy and prevent people from removing their money from the banks. He delivered his first radio speech eight days after assuming the presidency."
  • In the recent past, satellite radio has shot in popularity.
  • Today, radio listening in America is still popular, with people listening to both online radio and AM/FM formats. According to News Generation, Radio is the leading reach platform, with 92% of Americans listening to AM/FM radio over the airwaves.
  • Today, over 244.5 million Americans listen to the radio. Radio listenership has grown more diverse, with 45 million Hispanic listeners and over 35 million African American listeners.
  • According to Pew Research, 28% of Americans get their news from the radio.
  • The Federal Communications Commission provides a timeline of commercial radio's 100-year history.

Television

  • Television brought about an audio-visual mélange that revolutionized the news and media landscape forever. In the US, the first official TV broadcast was the 1939 speech by President Franklin Roosevelt in New York during the opening of the 1939 World’s Fair.
  • CBS's coverage of WWII prompted many Americans to purchase TV sets, and when the TV prices dropped in the 1950s, most Americans took advantage to buy a set.
  • TV stations predominantly aired quiz shows and games, but this all changed in 1951 when Edward R. Murrow went on TV with his See It Now news show. As television journalism grew, more news stations sprung up, and more channels were added.
  • TV became an important medium for politicians to connect with voters, run campaign ads, and clear corruption and impropriety accusations. TV also started featuring presidential debates, which have become a mainstay in today's political arena.
  • According to Encyclopedia, "between 1945 and 2005, television became the first place most Americans turned for information about political issues and breaking news events. The amount of news available on TV expanded greatly through the history of the medium—from a daily fifteen-minute network update in the 1940s to the twenty-four-hour news coverage offered by many cable channels in the early 2000s."
  • In the 1960s, TV was still playing second fiddle to print media as far as news and broadcasting went since TV news required huge and expensive equipment, and its credibility didn't match that of print journalism. This all changed in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated and his accused killer murdered on live TV.
  • The years between the 1960s and the 1990s were referred to as "The Golden Age of Presidential Television" since presidents had a strong command of the media.
  • The percentage of US households owning a TV set grew from 9% in 1950 to 95.3% in 1970
  • .
  • According to Pew Research, 49% of Americans get their news from the TV.
  • As of 2021, 68% of Americans get their news from the TV, while 35% prefer to get their news from TV.

New Media (Internet and Social Media)

  • According to a Pew Research Center survey, the rapidly-growing digital landscape has disrupted the traditional news landscape of radio, print, and television.
  • The survey reveals that 86% of Americans get their news from digital platforms using devices such as smartphones, computers, or tablets. In addition, 52% of Americans prefer digital channels to any other channels for their news (see above graphic.)
  • Below are more graphics on the state of digital news consumption, including the most popular channels.

Research Strategy

To provide an overview of how Americans have been getting their news over the past 50 years, we leveraged industry research sources such as Journalism.org, McKinsey, Pew Research Center, News Generation, Stacker, the Federal Communications Commission, as well as academic resources such as Lumin Learning and Encyclopedia. We have identified the main sources of information that Americans have used over the last 50 years.
Part
03
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Part
03

News - Sources Used by Americans

Introduction

Americans have access to various channels for news, including radio, television, print publications (newspapers and magazines), and digital platforms such as social media, podcasts, news websites (e.g., Yahoo! News), and search engines (e.g., Google). With internet penetration at 86% as of 2020, digital platforms continue to be the most common news sources. This brief provides sources currently used by Americans to access news.

Social Media/Digital Platform

  • 23% of Americans often use social media as a source of news.
  • Although social media is a popular news platform for Americans, it is still perceived as inaccurate. However, around a third of the people say it helps them understand current events.
  • Of the social media platforms, most Americans (68%) use Facebook as a regular news source.
  • White American adults use Facebook and Reddit more than any other demographic. Additionally, more women (63% vs. 35%) than men are likely to turn to Facebook for news.
  • Democrats or lean Democrats regularly use sites such as YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and LinkedIn to access news, than any other political affiliation.
  • Generally, younger people and females are more likely to use social media as their primary news sources.
  • Most people using social media platforms as their primary source of news tend to have lower than a college education and lower household incomes.
  • Around half (52%) of Americans prefer to get news from digital sources, with 26% preferring news websites, 12% search engines, 11% social media, and 3% podcasts.
  • More than eight in ten (86%) Americans use digital devices to get news. When using smartphones, computers, or tablets, around two-thirds of U.S citizens (68%) get information at least sometimes from news websites or apps and (65%) from search engines like Google.
  • Around 7 in 10 (71%) American young people aged between 18-29 years use digital devices for news.
  • When using digital platforms to access news, most age groups use news websites compared to other platforms.
  • Similarly, news websites or apps are the most popular digital platforms for political news, with a quarter (25%) of the people using them.

TV

  • 68% of Americans get news from television at least sometimes, with 40% stating that they often use TV as their news source.
  • It is interesting to note that although more than half of Americans get news from television, only around half (35%) of them prefer TV as a source of news.
  • Additionally, the news brands that are least trusted (CNN and Fox) are also the most viewed both online and on television.
  • Based on age group, only 16% of people aged 18-29 years get news from TV. The majority of older Americans use TV as a source of news, with 54% of those aged 50-64 years and 68% of Americans older than 65 years using TV to get news.
  • TV as a source of news is divided along party affiliation, with 43% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans getting news from network TV news programs.
  • A 2019 research indicated that most people who use print publications and broadcast television as their primary source of news are less likely to be married.

Radio

  • 50% of Americans use the radio as a source of news, at least sometimes.
  • Only 7% of Americans, when given a choice, would prefer to use the radio as a source of news.
  • Young people are least likely to use radio as a news source, with only 7% of those aged 18-29 saying that they use radio to get news. On the other hand, Americans aged between 30-49 years are most likely (25%) to listen to the radio for news.
  • The majority of people who use radio as their primary source of news are likely to be male and have a college degree.

Print Publications

  • Print is the least popular source of news. According to a Pew research carried out in 2020, only 32% of Americans get news from print sources at least sometimes.
  • When provided with choices, only 5% of Americans would choose print as their preferred news source.
  • The majority of Americans who use print publications as a source of news are above 65 years. A quarter (25%) of people over 65 years use print publications to get news. However, only 3% of those aged between 18-29 years get news from print publications.

Research Strategy

For this research on the news sources used by Americans today, we leveraged the most reputable sources of information that were available in the public domain, including surveys conducted by Pew Research Center, RAND Corporation, and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Part
04
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Part
04

The Future of News in the US

Key Takeaways

  • Surveys indicate an increase in the number of Americans who prefer to get their news online compared to previous years. However, in 2020 cable news channels recorded "an explosive audience growth."
  • Across the different age groups in the US, more than half stated they prefer to get their news from digital devices, 35% from television, 7% and 5% from radio and newspapers, respectively.
  • Amongst the social media platforms, 52% of American adults get the news from Facebook, 28% from YouTube, 17% from Twitter, and 14% from Instagram. However, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Snapchat had 8%, 8%, and 6% of audiences, respectively.
  • 73% of users of social networks use it as a source for news information.

Introduction

We have provided an overview of the future of news in America and identified the different channels that would be used for news consumption.

Future of News — Overview

  • Surveys indicate an increase in the number of Americans who prefer to get their news online compared to previous years. However, in 2020 cable news channels recorded "an explosive audience growth."
  • Experts believe that reports on the steep decline of the US newspaper advertising revenue suggest a shift in the media consumption habits of Americans.
  • According to Fortune, Americans believe that news media agencies exhibit what it terms as "hostile media effect." The source states that trust between Americans and their news agencies is at an all-time low. American news agencies are often "perceived as biased towards a particular political party."
  • Additionally, experts believe that Americans should be ready to pay to receive high-quality and accurate information. Supporting this claim is a survey indicating that Americans are willing to pay for online media.

Sources of News Intake

  • Fortune also claims that "small and local newspaper companies are going out of business because the American people opt to receive news in aggregate forms such as Google News, Facebook, Twitter."
  • Across the different age groups in the US, more than half stated they prefer to get their news from digital devices, 35% from television, 7% and 5% from radio and newspapers, respectively.
  • The segmentation by age groups shows a leaning by the younger generation (34 to 49 years) towards digital sources for getting news rather than traditional sources.
  • A survey by Pew Research Center indicates that "55% of US adults now get their news from social media either often or sometimes; this is an 8% increase from the previous year." Research reporters acknowledge the vital role of social media in the news diet.
  • 73% of users of social networks use it as a source for news information.
  • Amongst the social media platforms, 52% of American adults get the news from Facebook, 28% from YouTube, 17% from Twitter, and 14% from Instagram. However, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Snapchat had 8%, 8%, and 6% of audiences, respectively.

Additional Findings

  • On the global scale, surveyed correspondents "identified distributed forms of discovery as their main way of accessing and finding news online."
  • Furthermore, digital media drives people to more and more diverse sources, majorly through search engines.

Research Strategy

We scoured through the most reputable media sources, publications, articles, and interviews to provide an overview of expert opinion on the future of the news in America. Also, we hoped to identify the different sources of information that most Americans would use to get news. Through this method, we were able to locate all the information needed.


Part
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Part
05

Popular News Outlets

Introduction

The below research provides the top 10 most popular news outlets based on search volume (monthly unique visitors), which Americans use to learn about news. These include Yahoo! News, Google News, HuffPost, CNN, The New York Times, Fox News, NBC News, MailOnline, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Out of these, we have also included the required details for the top 5 news outlets.

Most Popular News Outlets in the US

  • According to SEMRush, the top 10 most popular news outlets based on search volume (monthly unique visitors), which Americans use to learn about news, include Yahoo! News, Google News, HuffPost, CNN, The New York Times, Fox News, NBC News, MailOnline, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. A similar ranking has been provided by eBizMBA.
  • The below infographic provides a detailed comparison of the above-mentioned new outlets ranked by monthly visitors as well as the number of states in which the news source is most searched.

Details of the Top 5 Most Visited News Outlets

1) Yahoo! News

  • The website of Yahoo! News can be accessed here.
  • According to SEMRush, it is the most popular news website in America, with around 175 million monthly visitors. Additionally, it is the most searched news outlet in 12 US states, the highest for any news source.
  • The top 5 metro areas where Yahoo! News is searched the most include Eureka, CA; Parkersburg, WV; St. Joseph, MO; Alpena, MI; and Corpus Christi, TX.
  • In terms of states, Yahoo! News is the most searched news outlet in the states of Montana, Alaska, New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Ohio, Nevada, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

2) Google News

  • The website Google News can be accessed here.
  • As per SEMRush, it is the second most popular news outlet in America, with around 125 million monthly visitors. However, it is the most searched new outlet in only 3 US states.
  • The top 5 metro areas where Google News is searched the most include Eureka, CA; Juneau, AK; Bend, OR; Eugene, OR; and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, CA.
  • In terms of states, Google News is the most searched news outlet in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.

3) HuffPost

  • The website of HuffPost can be accessed here.
  • As per SEMRush, it is the third most popular news outlet in America, with around 110 million monthly visitors. It is the most searched new outlet in the state of Vermont.
  • The top 5 metro areas where HuffPost is searched the most include Eureka, CA; Juneau, AK; Bend, OR; Helena, MT; and Butte-Bozeman, MT.
  • In November 2020, BuzzFeed acquired HuffPost from Verizon Media. BuzzFeed co-founder Jonah Peretti was also one of the early founders of HuffPost.

4) CNN

  • The website of CNN can be accessed here.
  • According to SEMRush, it is the fourth most popular news outlet in America, with around 95 million monthly visitors. Additionally, it is the most searched news outlet in 7 US states.
  • The top 5 metro areas where CNN is searched the most include Bend, OR; Burlington, VT & Plattsburg, NY; Charlottesville, VA; Madison, WI; and Helena, MT.
  • In terms of states, CNN is the most searched news outlet in the states of Vermont, Maine, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey.
  • However, since the evacuation of the President's office by Donald Trump, the news outlet has witnessed a fall in ratings. It has seen a 36% decline in primetime viewers in 2021.

5) The New York Times

  • The website of The New York Times can be accessed here.
  • As per SEMRush, it is the fifth most popular news outlet in America, with around 70 million monthly visitors. It is the most searched new outlet in the state of D.C.
  • The top 5 metro areas where The New York Times is searched the most include Charlottesville, VA; Burlington, VT & Plattsburg, NY; Portland-Auburn, ME; Juneau, AK; and Springfield-Holyoke, MA.
  • In recent times, the news outlet has pivoted towards the trending paid subscription model, which has helped it further increase its market share. Currently, it has around 6.1 million paid subscribers, more than any of its competitors.

Research Strategy

For this research, we have leveraged the most credible sources of information, including media articles from Forbes, WSJ, Bloomberg, Reuters, Businesswire, Business Insider, and PR Newswire, among others, and surveys from Nielsen, Deloitte, Pew Research, Market Radar, etc. We also looked through research reports from McKinsey, Forrester Research, Accenture, Statista, and Goldman Sachs, among others, and blogs like SEMRush, YouGov America, eBizMBA, SimilarWeb, etc. Based on these sources, we were able to find a ranked list of top news outlets in the US based on monthly unique visitors. We have leveraged the same to compile the required information. Out of the top 15 news outlets listed on the SEMRush website, we have provided the details of the top 5 outlets within the scope of this request.
Part
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Part
06

News Industry Employment

Introduction

In 2020, the number of people that work in the US news industry was 84,640. Unfortunately, there is limited data in the public domain regarding a breakdown of the number of people by role in the US news industry. The most relevant data provided is the breakdown of the newsroom employees by the news industry. Below are the findings and research strategy on the topic.

Findings

The US News Industry Workforce

  • According to research conducted by Pew Research Center, the number of people that work in the US news industry has declined by 26% between 2008 and 2020.
  • In 2008, the industry had 114,260 newsroom employees, including photographers, videographers, reporters, and editors - working in five industries producing news, i.e., broadcast television, radio, newspaper, cable, and other information services, such as digital news publishers. However, by 2020, that number has declined to 84,640, a loss of roughly 30,000 jobs.

The US News Industry Workforce Breakdown By Role


Research Strategy

For this research on the US news industry employment, we commenced our search by going through industry reports published by the leading research organizations, such as Pew Research Center, Journalism Org, and McKinsey. Also, we leveraged reputable news and media articles, such as Letter.ly, SG News Yahoo, among others. We could notice that these sources are quoting most of their data from the US newsroom research conducted by Pew Research Center in 2020, which provides the most recent data about the topic. From these sources, we could find the recent number of people that work in the US news industry. Unfortunately, they could not provide a breakdown of the number of people by role. Most sources, including the Pew Research Center and US Bureau of Labour Statistics, only provide the breakdown of the newsroom employees by the news industry.

Since we discovered that the newsroom employees include photographers, videographers, reporters and journalists, and editors, we searched for the number of employees in each provided category in the leading industry reports and news articles mentioned above. Again, this strategy did not provide substantial information regarding the breakdown of the number of people by role. Therefore, we have provided the breakdown of the newsroom employees by the news industry as an alternative/helpful finding.

Part
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Part
07

Fall of Newspapers

Key Takeaways

  • Social media has become one of the most common ways for people to get their news, especially political news. About 18% of U.S. adults surveyed in 2020 said social media is the most common way they get their political news, a higher percentage than cable TV, local TV, network TV, radio, and print. The only medium that ranked higher than social media was news websites or apps (25%). Print only received 3%.
  • Between 2021 and 2020, the number of people in the U.S. who reported being very or extremely interested in the news decreased by 11%.
  • Print newspapers are finding innovative ways to incorporate AR/VR into their publications. For example, one print newspaper added an AR icon to a photo still from a movie (shown in Image 1 here). When the icon is scanned with a mobile device, the device plays a trailer for a movie that is superimposed on the printed photo (shown in Image 2 here).

Introduction

This report analyzes key reasons why the number of newspaper readers are dwindling with time, including shifting channel preferences, the desire for interactive and video formats, decreasing trust in news media, and decreasing interest in the news overall. The report also provides some insight on what is being done to combat these obstacles, including merging with digital formats and becoming social, investing in video formats and using innovative AR/VR techniques in print, realizing the importance of focusing on facts to regain trust, and using digital advertising and analytics to generate interest.

The Number of Newspaper Readers Are Dwindling With Time

Reasons Why:

1: People are Getting Their News Through Social Media Instead

  • According to a market report on the U.S. newspaper market, a shift in the industry towards digital platforms is posing as a key threat to this market. This is being driven by increasing time spent on mobile phones per day and decreases in print advertising revenues.
  • Social media has become one of the most common ways for people to get their news, especially political news. About 18% of U.S. adults surveyed in 2020 said social media is the most common way they get their political news, a higher percentage than cable TV, local TV, network TV, radio, and print. The only medium that ranked higher than social media was news websites or apps (25%). Print only received 3%.
  • This trend appears to be driven by the younger audience, as 48% of those ages 18-29 said this was true, along with 40% of 30-49-year-olds; however, only 9% in the 50-64 age group said the same, and only 3% in the 65+ age group said the same. Instead, print newspapers are the most common method used by older generations, with 47% in the 65+ age group saying this is true for them, and 28% in the 50-64 age group.

2: Young People Want Interactive and Visual News Formats

  • Within the news industry, there appears to be a lot of general talk about how young people are not interested in reading the news. One particular driver of this appears to be its lack of technological appeal, as suggested by a survey conducted by Broduer Partners, which found that 48% of millennials and 47% of Gen Z "prefer journalism that includes virtual and augmented reality".
  • Additionally, younger people are highly drawn to video formats when seeking news information. When asked whether they prefer getting news from YouTube or newspapers/magazines, 49% of Gen Z said YouTube, compared to 17% who said newspapers/magazines. Among Millennials, these figures were 44% and 31%, respectively; for Gen X, 26% and 51% respectively; for Baby Boomers, 12% and 60%, respectively. This data shows a shift in format preferences as new generations take over as the core consumer base.

3: People Are Losing Trust in News Media

  • A study conducted by Gallup and the Knight Foundation found that 73% of Americas feel news media bias is a major problem.
  • A large scale study conducted by Reuters Institute in 2017 asked survey respondents from multiple countries, including the U.S., why they don't trust the news. The most widely reported answers are concern about bias, spin, and hidden agendas. "Two-thirds of people (67 percent) cited one of these factors as a reason they don’t trust what they read."
  • An article published by Forbes in 2021 notes: "For the first time, Edelman’s annual trust barometer revealed that fewer than half of all Americans acknowledge any kind of trust in the mainstream media. Fifty-six percent of Americans, for example, said they agreed with the following statement: 'Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.'

4: People Are Losing Interest In News

  • Globally, people have been losing interest in the news. Between 2016 and 2021 number of people who say they are very or extremely interested in the news fell from 63% to 58% across 24 countries.
  • Between 2021 and 2020, the number of people in the U.S. who reported being very or extremely interested in the news decreased by 11%.
  • Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people in Germany who reported being very or extremely interested in the news decreased from 84% to 67%; in Australia, this figure decreased from 63% to 51%; in Spain, this figure decreased from 84% to 67%.

What's Being Done to Address These Obstacles:

1: Merging With Digital, Becoming Social

  • Newspaper publishers are investing significantly in building in-house data and analytics teams in order to gain a broader and deeper understanding of their consumers, distributors and other stake holders. This understanding can help them better reach and connect with audiences and prospective readers, especially on social media where they are already going for their news.
  • Newspapers have been adapting themselves from print versions to digital versions, including digital versions that require subscription payment.
  • As newspapers shift to digital, they are starting to rethink of themselves as a type of 'social media' outlet. Many are trying to navigate the use of their digital comment sections in a way that is both enticing, yet respectful.

2: Investing in Video Format, Using AR/VR Innovations in Print

  • 79% of news leaders surveyed in 2016 said they were going to invest more in online news video as of 2016.
  • Print newspapers are finding innovative ways to incorporate AR/VR into their publications. For example, one print newspaper added an AR icon to a photo still from a movie (shown in Image 1 here). When the icon is scanned with a mobile device, the device plays a trailer for a movie that is superimposed on the printed photo (shown in Image 2 here).

3: Need to Re-Focus on a Facts-First Approach to Regain Trust

  • 60% of people surveyed believe that journalists and media outlets are putting ideology or political position above informing the public about what is happening in the world. As a result, there is an increasing trend among people to increase their media and information literacy in order to avoid falling into media traps, such as disinformation and echo chambers.
  • According to Edelman, for people to regain trust in news media, it's important that outlets focus on reporting "with precision rather than click bait. Standards of reporting, like rigorous fact checking, impartiality and fairness, need to return to newsrooms. We need to invest in and nurture professional journalism itself."
  • A majority of Americans want new outlets to just report the facts without adding their "interpretation" or opinion. The number of Americans who agreed with this was 59% in 2016. However, a report published by RAND Corporation in 2019 notes: "Journalism in the U.S. has gradually shifted away from objective news and offers more opinion-based content that appeals to emotion and relies heavily on argumentation and advocacy."

4: Using Digital Advertising and Analytics to Generate Interest

  • "According to data from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), trends reflect that the print industry is evolving its business model in significant ways. Some of these ways include connecting with developments in technology, tapping into consumer behavior, understanding advertiser interest, and more in order to grow audiences and diversify its revenue stream."
  • "As they transfer their efforts to digital marketing, newspapers continue to offer more reach than any other medium. A recent study showed that nearly 105 million people read the newspaper in print or online during the week nationally. It also showed that more than 110 million adults read the Sunday newspaper as part of their routine."

Research Strategy

To conduct this research, we began by analyzing surveys, studies, market reports and trusted media articles to examine the factors that are putting negative pressure on the newspaper industry. We identified these factors based on those that are logically the most likely to have a significant impact on readership numbers and also are widespread preferences/behaviors/beliefs among consumers. We then gathered qualitative and quantitative data that explains and illustrates each factor. Next, we analyzed what is and can be feasibly done to address these obstacles by relying on insight from trusted media outlets, industry experts, and industry surveys.

Did this report spark your curiosity?

Sources
Sources

From Part 07