Declines in News Audience, Revenue, Reporting –
And A Grim Picture for Economic Models for Online News

March 15, 2010—The losses suffered in traditional news gathering in the last year were so severe that by any accounting they overwhelm the innovations in the world of news and journalism, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

There is tremendous energy in efforts around the country to do journalism in the digital age, PEJ’s State of the News Media 2010 finds, and many of these efforts are bringing a renewed sense of public mission to the news.

But the cutbacks in traditional media dominate. Newspapers now spend $1.6 billion less annually on reporting and editing than they did a decade ago, the report estimates. Network TV is down by hundreds of millions since their peak in the 1980s. Local TV newsrooms are cutting too, down 6% in the last two years, some 1,600 jobs. Only cable news, among the commercial news sectors, did not suffer declining revenue and layoffs last year.

By comparison, the non-profit contributions flowing to these new media efforts since 2006 amount to about $141 million, according to estimates by the group J-Lab. While that number does not include the many efforts that are operating without grants or are coming from legacy media, it offers some sense of scale.

“Last year was significantly harder on the news industry even than 2008, and the report predicts still more cutbacks in 2010, even with an improving economy,” PEJ Director Tom Rosenstiel said. “And while there is more discussion of alternative ways of financing the news, there is not yet much concrete progress.”

Three questions now drive discussions about the future of journalism: How much lost revenue might come back as the economy improves? How much journalistic potential exists in alternative new media operations? And what progress was made in new revenue models online? The answers are not yet all that promising, according to the comprehensive study of the State of the News Media, the seventh in a series of annual efforts by PEJ to take stock of the revolution occurring in news and information in the United States.

Among the study’s key findings:

Grim revenue numbers in 2009: Newspapers saw ad revenue fall 26%, while local television saw a 22% drop in 2009 — triple the decline the year before. Radio was down 22%; magazine, 17%; network TV, 8%. Online ad revenue overall fell about 5%. Cable news was the lone commercial news sector to be spared a drop in revenue. Nearly half of the 37 publicly traded media companies for which there are current data lost money in 2009, according to PEJ’s analysis of media ownership and industry data

Online news consumers resistant to ads and “pay walls.” Fully 79% of online news consumers say they have never or only rarely clicked on an online ad, according to a new survey included in this year’s State of the News Media report that examines the potential for online revenue models. The prospects for “pay walls” are daunting as well: only 35% of online news consumers can identify a “favorite” news website, and of this most likely group that might pay for the content, only 19% said they would continue to visit the favorite site if they had to pay for it.

Top news sites garner most traffic. Of the 4,600 news sites Nielsen tracks, the top 7% get 80% of the traffic, according to a new analysis of news web sites based on Nielsen NetRatings data. Of the top roughly 200 news sites, legacy media are heavily represented, accounting for 67%. Another 13% are aggregators, such as Google News, primarily of legacy content, while 14% are online-only sites that produce original content. The average visit to an online news site is three minutes and four seconds long, but a visit to the New York Times website averages more than a minute longer than a visit to an aggregator site. And contrary to what some might expect about consumers engaging more closely with their favorite topics, people spend about half as much time per month on niche news sites as they do on those focused on general interest news.

A broad range in content and depth in community journalism. A new study of community journalism sites finds that the best sites can vary widely in their values and norms — even among those run by former journalists. Highly regarded sites produce more new content than community sites overall, but they are still limited in capacity. Only 43% of the sites were likely to produce a new piece of lead content each day. Fewer than a third of these select sites allowed citizens to post news or feature stories, information about community events or photographs. Just 2% allowed videos to be uploaded.

Most sectors have seen continued audience declines. For the third consecutive year, only digital and cable news saw audiences grow among the key sectors that deliver news. In cable in 2009, those gains were largely captured by one network, Fox; though during the day, a breaking-news time, CNN also gained viewers. Local TV news, which surveys show Americans most rely on for news, is now seeing audience declines beyond those in network news — and they are across all day parts and all metrics, according to PEJ’s analysis of audience data.

The economy and health care topped the 2009 mainstream news agenda. While PEJ’s analysis of the Year in the News finds the economy was the top story of 2009, in the second half of the year it was outdistanced by the health care debate — and that was led by talk radio and cable news. In the third quarter, talk radio devoted 41.9% of its time to health care. Cable news spent 29.8% of its time on the subject. Meanwhile, bloggers and social media often had a different news agenda. The top linked-to news story among bloggers matched the top story in the mainstream press just 13 out of 47 weeks studied. On Twitter, the top story was even less likely to be the same — just four of the 27 weeks studied, or less than one-sixth of the time. But the traditional media play a large role in the blogosphere. American legacy outlets like newspapers and broadcast networks accounted for 80% of all linked-to stories on blogs.

In addition to these findings, PEJ’s 2010 State of the News Media report analyzes the state of each of the major media sectors and includes two new special interactive features.

The Who Owns the News Media database, which allows users to compare companies by various indicators, explore each media sector and read profiles of individual companies

Year in the News Interactive, which allows users nearly to explore PEJ’s comprehensive content analysis of media performance based on 68,000 stories from 2009

The report is the work of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonpolitical, nonpartisan research institute. The study is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and was produced with the help of a number of collaborators, including Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute and a host of industry readers.

A PDF of the complete executive summary is available here.

Follow PEJ on Twitter: http://twitter.com/PEJPew

For each of the nine sectors studied, we examine developments in five different distinct areas—audience, economics, newsroom investment, ownership and digital journalism—and, often, alternative outlets as well. We aggregate as much publicly available data as possible in one place and include original content analysis. In addition to numerous new charts of data, most compilations from earlier reports are updated and still available.

Our goal is to be a resource for the public, journalists, students, academics, those in government and those who want to use the news culture to communicate. People can approach the material in this report in several ways. They can go directly to the medium about which they are most concerned — say, local television news — and drive vertically through it. Or they can focus on a particular issue — audience trends, for example — and move horizontally across different media sectors. They can move across the introductory overviews of each sector. They can flip back and forth between our narrative and the interactive charts. And this year, they can interact with the data themselves through our two new interactive databases, answering their own questions, in effect creating their own reports.

Our desire in this study is to answer questions we imagine any reader would find important, to help clarify the strengths and weaknesses of the available data, and to identify what is not yet answerable.

The study is the work of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, a nonpartisan and nonpolitical institute that studies the information revolution. PEJ is one of seven initiatives that make up the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. The center and this work are funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The chapters were written by the Project’s staff, with the exception of the chapters on newspapers and online, which were co-authored. All of the chapters also benefit from the input of teams of readers who are experts in each media sector.

Our aim is a research report, not an argument. Where the facts are clear, we hope we have not shied from explaining what they reveal, making clear what is proved and what is only suggested. We hope that we are not seen as taking sides. Our intention is to inform, not to persuade, and where we interpret data to draw conclusions, our goal is to do so in a way that is fully supported by the data, and only when those data are clear.

We have tried to be as transparent as possible about sources and methods, and to make it clear when we are laying out data and when we have moved into analysis of it. We have attempted, to the best of our ability and within the limits of time, to seek out multiple sources of information for comparison where they exist. Each year we hope to gather more sources, improve our understanding and refine our methodology.

Our approach — looking at a set of questions across various media — differs from the conventional way in which American journalism is analyzed, one medium at a time. We have tried to identify cross-media trends and to gather in one place data that are usually scattered across different sites. We hope this will allow us and others to make comparisons and develop insights that otherwise would be difficult to see.

For the third consecutive year, only digital and cable news saw audiences grow among the key sectors that deliver news.

In cable in 2009, those gains were largely captured by one network, Fox, though during the day, a breaking-news time, CNN also gained viewers.

What’s more, the data continue to suggest a clear pattern in how Americans gravitate for news: people are increasingly “on demand” consumers, seeking platforms where they can get the news they want when they want it from a variety of sources rather than have to come at appointed times and to one news organization.

Online, an analysis of the list of Nielsen Net Ratings list of 4,600 news and information sites saw the collected number of unique visitors grow 9.25%, according to a PEJ analysis. But on that list the top sites tend to dominate. Of the 4,600 sites, the top 7% collect 80% of the traffic. And the top 20 sites attract the majority of that. Legacy media still make up the majority of the most popular destinations, although each year newly created websites are joining the list. Of the news sites with a half million visitors a month (or the top 199 news sites once consulting, government and information data bases are removed), 67% are from legacy media, most of them (48%) newspapers. And most people graze though among a limited number of sites. A new Pew Internet-PEJ survey finds only 21% say they tend to rely primarily on one destination for news online; only a third even say they have a favorite website. But these online news grazers do not range far. Most people, 57%, range from using two –to five websites, and only 11% use more than six.

The gains to cable news generated in the election of 2008 proved more ephemeral for some than others. Over all, median prime-time viewership for the three main news channels grew 7% to 3.88 million, while daytime rose 16% to 2.16 million. But those overall numbers are deceptive. At night, when cable is dominated by ideological talk shows, Fox grew by nearly a quarter to an average of 2.13 million viewers at any given moment. MSNBC rose 3% to 786,000, while CNN fell 15% to 891,000 viewers. In daytime, CNN was up 9% over 2008 to an average of 621,000 viewers. But Fox daytime viewership grew again by almost a quarter, to roughly twice CNN’s audience (1.2 million viewers). MSNBC, relying on NBC news people more than talk show hosts, fell 8% to 325,000 viewers.

Network news audiences in 2009, by contrast, continued their long decline. For the evening news programs, the rate of erosion appears to be slowing. Viewership for the year fell 2.5% (or 565,000 viewers), but that is about half the number of viewers on average lost annually in the evening over the last two decades. (The NBC Evening News actually gained viewers in 2009, while ABC’s World News Tonight lost the most heavily.) Still, over all, 22.3 million viewers tune in to network evening newscasts each weeknight at the dinner hour. That is more than five times the number watching cable news at any given moment during prime time, when more TV sets are in use. In the morning, 12.8 million people watch network morning shows. That figure, however, is down 2.4% from 2008, and marks the fifth year of decline.

Source: Arbitron, Audit Bureau of Circulations, comScore Media Metrix, Nielsen Media Research. ¹

Local television news is now seeing rapid audience declines beyond those in network, and those numbers appeared to accelerate in 2009. According to PEJ analysis of Nielsen data, viewership of the late news fell an average of 6.5% in 2009, four times the rate of a year earlier. Early evening news, at the dinner hour, fell 5.5% (similar to 2008). And early morning news, the programs that air prior to network morning shows that have been an island of relative stability for audiences, fell by 6.1% on average.

Newspapers saw print circulation losses accelerate in 2009. In the latest period, September, industry-wide circulation fell 10.6% from a year earlier. That comes on top of losses of 4.6% in 2008. The industry has lost 25.6% in daily circulation since 2000. Those declines, however, pale by comparison to the loss in revenues, which represent a more significant problem.

Audio audiences are more stable. Fully 236 million Americans listened to at least some radio in an average week in the fall of 2009, a number that has been basically static for the past five years, and news/talk/information remains among the most popular formats. NPR’s audience in 2009 rose slightly, up 0.1%, from 2008. But new technology is encroaching on the amount of traditional radio use. More than 4 –in 10 Americans now say they listen to less terrestrial radio due to iPod/MP3 use, and nearly 1in 3 now say they listen to online radio

The magazine industry is also hard hit. Of the 472 consumer magazines for which comparable data were available from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, circulation fell 2.23% for the last six months of 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier. But the type of circulation that cannot be controlled through promotional discounts — single-copy, or newsstand, sales — fell 9%, on top of 11% a year earlier. Six news magazines tracked here, excluding U.S. News & World Report after its conversion to monthly, fell 8.2%.

In ethnic media, the results were again mixed. The two major Hispanic television broadcasters saw audience growth. While some Spanish-language newspapers were flat, others fell and some smaller publications flourished. The black press also saw circulation numbers moving in various directions.

Economics

In 2009, the recession only intensified the financial crisis that technology has brought to the news business. Every commercial news media sector saw revenue declines except for cable. Ad revenues were particularly hard hit. If estimates by ZenithOptimedia prove accurate, total U.S. ad spending fell 12.9% for the year, the sharpest drop since the Great Depression, although most news sectors saw declines close to double that.

In newspapers, ad revenue (for print and online combined) fell 26%, a rate of decline that was more than 50% steeper than a year earlier (16%). Even online ads fell, 10%, a far cry from the 35% growth rates of a few years ago. Papers responded by raising circulation prices, figuring the core audience would remain. With those numbers added in, total revenue for newspapers fell about 22% to a total of $38 billion.

In audio, traditional broadcast radio experienced an 18% drop in ad revenue in 2009 compared to 2008. Internet and mobile radio revenues are growing (a projected 9.4%), but they do little to alleviate the pressure – counting for less than one fortieth of total. In satellite radio, SiriusXM in 2009 increased its revenue 3.7%, compared with a year earlier, to 2.5 billion compared to 2008. The company, however, both before and after the merger, has continued to report net losses in each of the last three years. In 2009 SiriusXM posted a net loss of $441 million.

In magazines, the number of ad pages sold across all titles studied fell by 26% in 2009, more than double the decline of a year earlier (12%). Almost every magazine suffered. Only 8% of the nearly 250 titles monitored saw an increase in ad pages. Among news magazines, the larger ones were hard hit. Time and Newsweek, for instance, saw ad pages fall 17% and 26% respectively. Niche news magazines examined tended to do better, though even here, the only one to gain ad pages was the Week, up 9.5%.

Source: Cable: SNL Kagan; Online: eMarketer; Network: TNS Media Intelligence; Audio: Radio Advertising Bureau; Magazines: Publishers Information Bureau; Newspapers: Newspaper Association of America; Local TV: Television Bureau of Advertising ²

In local television, after an unprecedented ad revenue downturn for an election-Olympics year in 2008, declines accelerated in 2009. Ad revenue fell 24% from the year before. Most analysts predict a better 2010, buoyed by economic recovery, a Supreme Court decision overturning limits on campaign spending and a midterm election year. But those numbers will be pressured still by continuing declines in audience numbers and a wider range of advertising options.

Cable remained the outlier in 2009. Overall revenues for the three major players rose an estimated 5% thanks to subscription fees and audience growth. Ad revenue was flat, up less than 1%, but profits rose 9%. The channels’ particulars are more revealing. Fox saw profits grow 19% to $535 million on revenue growth of 14% to $1.21 billion, according to data from SNL Kagan. CNN and its sibling HLN saw profits rise 1% to $476 million on revenues that were down 1% to $1.18 billion. At MSNBC, profits rose 1% to $150 million, on revenues that were similar, up less than 1% to $368 million.

Online, advertising during the year declined for the first time since 2002, according to data from eMarketer. The firm’s updated August projections called for online ad spending to fall 4.6% to $22.4 billion. But some categories fared better than others. Search, which flows mostly to aggregators like Google, was projected to grow to 3% in 2009 to $10.8 billion, and by the end of the year, nearly half (48%) of the total online ad market was expected to be in search. But display advertising revenue, which news sites rely on, was expected to fall 2% to $4.8 billion. Even here, news does not get the greatest portion of revenue. Aggregators and internet service providers take in 28%. Newspaper websites get 5%, and other news and current-event sites less than 3%. Television websites, which include both news and entertainment material, get 6%. Another key ad category for news online, classified, is eroding in the face of free classifieds from places like Craigslist. Classified revenue was projected to plummet 31% to $2.2 billion in 2009. Accounting for 17% of online ad spending in 2003, classified are now just 9%.

Network news economics are harder to divine, but PEJ estimates that the three news divisions saw revenue declines in 2009, probably in double digits. Network ad revenue fell 7% over all. NBC now derives more than half of its news revenues from cable, and its single most important financial contributor is its financial cable news channel CNBC. PEJ estimates that CBS News did not turn a profit, and ABC managed to do so with cutbacks in 2009 and again in early 2010.

Ethnic media had a difficult year, although not as bad as some other quarters. For the 12 months ending June 2009, ad revenue for Spanish-language media fell by 6.3%, to $5.5 billion, according to estimates by Nielsen Media Research. But some segments fared better than others, and better their mainstream counterparts. Spanish-language television ad revenue, for instance, fell by just 2%, according to Nielsen data, compared with 8.3% for all television. Advertising revenue for local Hispanic newspapers fell to $88.6 million, or 20.3%, not quite as much as newspapers over all. Ad revenue to national Hispanic magazines fell by 17.5% to $146.7 million. Other ethnic media also had some bright spots. Black television ad revenue, for instance, rose 6.7%.

Online Economic Survey

A new survey by PEJ and Pew Internet and American Life Project finds a tough market for building economics on the Web.

The findings suggest there is a difficult hill to climb in putting content behind a pay wall. Most people graze the Web for news rather than rely on primary sources. Only about a third (35%) can even identify a favorite news website. And of those that do, only 19%3 said they would continue to visit if that site put up a pay wall.

The prospects for growth in conventional display advertising also look difficult. The vast majority of Internet users, 79%, say they never or rarely had clicked on an online advertisement. They don’t mind them. They simply ignore them.

News Investment

Newspaper staffs continued to shrink in 2009. We estimate with colleague Rick Edmonds that by year’s end 5,900 more full-time newsroom jobs were lost, disproportionately at larger papers, on top of a similar number in 2008. Roughly a third of the newsroom jobs in American newspapers in 2001 are now gone, and those cuts come particularly in specialty beats like science and the arts, suburban government and statehouse coverage.

In network television, the roster of journalists also continues to shrink. ABC News instituted three sets of cuts in the past year, NBC reportedly two, and CBS announced a big round in early 2010. We estimate that network news staffs had already been cut by roughly half from their peak in the 1980s.

At news magazines, the cutting continued as the publications moved farther, although not entirely, toward opinion journalism. Time’s ranks fell 20% more in 2009. U.S. News & World Report, in converting to a monthly print periodical, reduced its news staff by 38%. Newsweek cut about 9%. But the numbers over time reveal more. Time’s staff of 147 is less than half of the 304 it listed in 2003. Newsweek’s 150 is 15% less than the 176 in 2003, and 57% less than the 348 it listed in 1983.

Again, only cable, thanks largely to its reliance on subscriptions for half of its revenue, could claim more overall investment in newsgathering in 2009 than the year before, though those aggregate numbers are not true across the board. Fox News Channel’s estimated investment in news was up 10% to $674 million. Fox, however, spends 72% of that on producing its host-driven programs, including multimillion-dollar salaries. Only 28% goes to administrative and overhead costs, which include staffing and bureaus. That number, $188 million, is less than half of what is spent by CNN and HLN. Those two channel’s overall news investment fell for the first time in years in 2009, down 2.5% to $703.4 million. MSNBC, whose newsgathering is mostly borrowed from sibling NBC, was expected to spend roughly the same amount on newsgathering in 2009 as a year earlier, $218 million.

In local TV news, PEJ estimated that about 450 jobs were lost at stations in 2009, on top of 1,200 jobs lost in 2008. Despite staff reductions, the average amount of news increased to 4.6 hours, from 4.1 hours the previous year. Researcher Robert Papper estimates that local TV newsroom staffing peaked in 2007.

In audio, news plays an unusual role. The number of stations identified by Arbitron as news/talk/information rose in 2009 to 1,583, up from 1,533 in 2008. This category is broadly defined and includes a large amount of talk programming. But all-news stations make up a much smaller category. In 2009, there were just 27 commerical stations around the country that listed themselves as all news, down from 31 the year before. And even here the label is self-defined and may include talk or other less news-oriented programs. In commercial radio, local all-news stations now tend to be limited to only the largest markets.

Ownership

Perhaps the biggest news in media ownership in 2009 was the pending sale by General Electric and Vivendi of NBC Universal to the cable company Comcast. The sale includes NBC’s broadcast network, cable channels and company-owned local TV stations. This was the largest media merger since the combination of AOL and Time Warner in 2000, a union that since has broken apart. The $37 billion NBC deal, which is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department, may not be completed until 2011.

Few newspapers (14) changed hands in 2009, and those that did were in special circumstances, often bankruptcy. On the other hand, the notion that newspapers in large numbers were going out of business was not true. In all only a half-dozen ceased to exist or cut back on daily print publication in 2009, and most of those were among the few remaining second papers in their markets. A number of companies, due to debt obligations, went into some form of bankruptcy and some passed to private equity owners, but newspaper stocks were up from their rock bottom prices of 2008.

In magazines, 41 acquisitions were made in 2009, compared with 42 a year earlier, according to tracking by the Jordan, Edmiston Group. One of the higher-profile sales of the year was Bloomberg’s purchase of BusinessWeek from McGraw-Hill in a deal reported to include $5 million in cash and the assumption of $31.9 million in debt. In another significant acquisition, the Economist Group purchased Congressional Quarterly from the Times Publishing Co., the owner of the St. Petersburg Times. Times Publishing is owned by the Poynter Institute.

In local TV, the ownership landscape was also difficult and transactions limited. A few station owners sought bankruptcy protection and still others showed signs of trouble. Station sales transactions were up in 2009, both in number and dollar value, although most of that activity was the result of bankruptcy auctions or sales of distressed properties. According to one accounting, there were 76 station transactions in 2009, with a total value of $715 million. This compared with 46 in all of 2008 for a value of $537 million. Investors had trouble getting credit for acquisitions and station values were down throughout 2009.

As we learn more about both web economics and consumer behavior, the unbundling of news seems increasingly central to journalism’s future. The old model of journalism involved news organizations taking revenue from one social transaction — the selling of real estate, cars and groceries or job hunting, for example, — and using it to monitor civic life — covering city councils and zoning commissions and conducting watchdog investigations. Editors assembled a wide range of news, but the popularity of each story was subordinate to the value, and the aggregate audience, of the whole. And the value of the story might be found in its consequence rather than its popularity. That model is breaking down. Online, it is becoming increasingly clear, consumers are not seeking out news organizations for their full news agenda. They are hunting the news by topic and by event and grazing across multiple outlets. This is changing both the finances and the culture of newsrooms. When revenue is more closely tied to each story, what is the rationale for covering civic news that is consequential but has only limited interest? The data also are beginning to show a shift away from interest in local news toward more national and international topics as people have more access to such information, which may have other effects on local dynamics.

The future of New and Old Media are more tied together than some may think. A new multi-university study released in this report finds that even the best new-media sites in the country still have limited ability to produce content. No doubt they will evolve. Yet their reportorial capacity ultimately still will depend on finding a revenue model far larger than what exists today or than is projected to come from conventional online advertising. While there are some competing values and different reportorial cultures, in the end new and old media face the same dilemma and may be much more aligned in their search for revenue than many have thought. In some cases, there will be formal alliances or networks of new and old media. One concept that will get more attention is collaborations of old media and citizens in what some call a “pro-am” (professional and amateur) model for news. Yet how traditional news organizations cope with such partnerships, the rules for what is acceptable and what is not, remain largely uncharted.

The notion that the news media are shrinking is mistaken. Reportorial journalism is getting smaller, but the commentary and discussion aspect of media, which adds analysis, passion and agenda shaping, is growing — in cable, radio, social media, blogs and elsewhere. For all the robust activity there, however, the numbers still suggest that these new media are largely filled with debate dependent on the shrinking base of reporting that began in the old media. Our ongoing analysis of more than a million blogs and social media sites, for instance, finds that 80% of the links are to U.S. legacy media. The only old media sector with growing audience numbers is cable, a place where the lion’s share of resources are spent on opinionated hosts. One result may be the rising numbers in polling data that show 72% of Americans feel now most news sources are biased in their coverage and 70% feel overwhelmed rather than informed by the amount of news and information they see. Quantitatively, argument rather than expanding information is the growing share of media people are exposed to today.

Technology is further shifting power to newsmakers, and the newest way is through their ability to control the initial accounts of events. For now at least, digital technology is shifting more emphasis and resources toward breaking news. Shrinking newsrooms are asking their remaining ranks to produce first accounts more quickly and feed multiple platforms. This is focusing more time on disseminating information and somewhat less on gathering it, making news people more reactive and less proactive. It is also leading to a phenomenon in which the first account from newsmakers — their press conferences and press releases — make their way to the public often in a less vetted form, sometimes close to verbatim. Those first accounts, sculpted by official sources, then can rapidly spread more widely now through the power of the Web to disseminate, gaining a velocity they once lacked. That is followed quickly by commentary. What is squeezed is the supplemental reporting that would unearth more facts and context about events. We saw this clearly in a study of news in Baltimore, but it is reinforced in discussions with news people. While technology makes it easier for citizens to participate, it is also giving newsmakers more influence over the first impression the public receives.

The ranks of self-interested information providers are now growing rapidly and news organizations must define their relationship to them. As newsrooms get smaller, the range of non-journalistic players entering the information and news field is growing rapidly. The ranks include companies, think tanks, activists, government and partisans. Some are institutions frustrated by the shrinking space in conventional media and the absence of knowledgeable specialists to cover their subjects. Others are partisans and political interests trying to exploit a perceived opportunity in journalism’s contraction. There are varying degrees of transparency in these efforts about the financing and intentions. Some are quite clear. Others present themselves as purely journalistic and independent when in fact they are funded by political activists, yet only by digging and cross-referencing websites can the agenda and financing be divined. In an age where linking and aggregation are part of journalism, news organizations must decide how they want to interact with this growing cohort of self-interested information players. Will they pick up this material and disseminate it? Can they possibly police it? Can they afford to ignore it? The only certainty is that these new players are increasingly vying for the public’s and the media’s attention, and their resources, in contrast to that of traditional independent journalism, are growing.

When it comes to audience numbers online, traditional media content still prevails, which means the cutbacks in old media heavily impact what the public is learning through the new. An analysis in this year’s report of online audience behavior, extrapolated from Nielsen Net Ratings data, finds that 80% of the traffic to news and information sites is concentrated at the top 7% of sites. The vast majority of the top news sites (67%), moreover, are still tied to legacy media financed largely by their shrinking end of the business.1 New media are growing, but their ranks among the most trafficked sites are still small. Another 13% of these news sites are aggregators, whose content is derived from legacy media. Only 14% of these sites are online-only operations that produce mostly original reportorial content rather than commentary. In short, the cutbacks in old media are drastically affecting not only traditional media but still significantly impact online content as well.

Inside news companies, the most immediate concern is how much revenue lost in recession the industry will regain as the economy improves.

Whatever the answers, the future of news ultimately rests on more long-term concerns: What are the prospects for alternative journalism organizations that are forming around the country? Will traditional media adapt and innovate amid continuing pressures to thin their ranks?

And with growing evidence that conventional advertising online will never sustain the industry, what progress is being made to find new revenue for financing the gathering and reporting of news?

The numbers for 2009 reveal just how urgent these questions are becoming. Newspapers, including online, saw ad revenue fall 26% during the year, which brings the total loss over the last three years to 41%.

Local television ad revenue fell 24% in 2009, triple the decline the year before. Radio was off 18%. Magazine ad pages dropped 19%, network TV 7% (and news alone probably more). Online ad revenue over all fell about 5%, and revenue to news sites most likely also fared much worse.

Only cable news among the commercial news sectors did not suffer declining revenue last year.

The estimates for what happens after the economy rebounds vary and even then are only guesses. The market research and investment banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson projects that by 2013, after the economic recovery, three elements of old media — newspapers, radio and magazines — will take in 41% less in ad revenues than they did in 2006.

For newspapers, which still provide the largest share of reportorial journalism in the United States, the metaphor that comes to mind is sand in an hourglass. The shrinking money left in print, which still provides 90% of the industry’s funds, is the amount of time left to invent new revenue models online. The industry must find a new model before that money runs out.

The losses are already enormous. To quantify the impact, with colleague Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute we estimate that the newspaper industry has lost $1.6 billion in annual reporting and editing capacity since 2000, or roughly 30%. That leaves an estimated $4.4 billion remaining. Even if the economy improves we predict more cuts in 2010.

Network news division resources are likely down from their peak in the late 1980s by more than half — which amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars — and new rounds of cuts came in the last 12 months. Local television is harder to gauge, but one estimate puts the losses in the last two years at over 1,600 jobs, or roughly 6%. Staffing at the Time and Newsweek since 1983 is down by 47%.1

So what about the new-media experiments growing around the country? There are certainly exciting things happening, from former journalists creating specialty news sites and community sites, to citizens covering neighborhoods, to local blogs and social media.

In 2009 Twitter and other social media emerged as powerful tools for disseminating information and mobilizing citizens such as evading the censors in Iran and communicating from the earthquake disaster zone in Haiti. The majority of Internet users (59%) now use some kind of social media, including Twitter, blogging and networking sites, according to a new PEJ/Pew Internet & American Life survey.

Citizen journalism at the local level is expanding rapidly and brimming with innovation. This year’s report includes a new study of 60 of the most highly regarded sites. The prospects for assembling sufficient economies of scale, audience and authority may be most promising at specialized national and international sites — efforts like ProPublica, Kaiser Health News and Global Post.

For all the invention and energy, however, the scale of these new efforts still amounts to a small fraction of what has been lost. While not all of the blogs and citizen efforts can be quantified, J-Lab, a project led by Jan Schaffer that studies new media, estimates that roughly $141 million of nonprofit money has flowed into new-media efforts over the last four years (not including public broadcasting). That is less than one-tenth of the losses in newspaper resources alone.

Michael Schudson, the sociologist of journalism at Columbia University, sees the promise of “a better array of public informational resources emerging. ” This new ecosystem will include different “styles” of journalism, a mix of professional and amateur approaches and different economic models — commercial, nonprofit, public and “university-fueled.”

Clay Shirky of New York University has suggested that the loss of news people is a predictable and perhaps temporary gap in the process of creative destruction. “The old stuff gets broken faster than the new stuff is put in its place,” he has written.

There is something important in these notions. As Schudson notes, the news industry became more professional, skeptical and ethical beginning in the 1960s. Many journalists think that sense of public good has been overtaken by a focus on efficiency and profit since the 1990s. In the collapse of those ownership structures, there is some rebirth of community connection and public motive in news.

Yet the energy and promise here cannot escape the question of resources. Unless some system of financing the production of content is developed, it is difficult to see how reportorial journalism will not continue to shrink, regardless of the potential tools offered by technology.

And as we enter 2010 there is little evidence that journalism online has found a sustaining revenue model. A new survey on online economics, released in this report for the first time, finds that 79% of online news consumers say they rarely if ever have clicked on an online ad.

There was certainly more talk of alternative approaches to advertising in the last year. Entrepreneur Steve Brill and others launched JournalismOnline.com, which offers news sites a mechanism for charging, but at this point it is more a possibility than a business reality. Rupert Murdoch announced discussions with Microsoft about higher payments for searching his content and insisted that everything his company produces would go behind pay walls. Columbia University produced a report that explored nonprofit and public funding sourcing and assessed the state of startup new media. The New York Times announced it was giving itself a year to figure out a way to charge for content to “get it really really right.” And more new-media startups were planned, a growing sign that as old media continues to shrink, the ecosystem is changing and some things are growing.

But if a new model is to be found it is hardly clear what it will be. Our survey, produced with the Pew Internet & American Life Project, finds that only about a third of Americans (35%) have a news destination online they would call a “favorite,” and even among these users only 19%2 said they would continue to visit if that site put up a pay wall.

In the meantime, perhaps one concept identifies most clearly what is going on in journalism: Most news organizations — new or old — are becoming niche operations, more specific in focus, brand and appeal and narrower, necessarily, in ambition.

Old media are trying to imagine the new smaller newsroom of the future in the relic of their old ones. New media are imagining the new newsroom from a blank slate.

Among the critical questions all this will pose: Is there some collaborative model that would allow citizens and journalists to have the best of both worlds and add more capacity here? What ethical values about news will settle in at these sites? Will legacy and new media continue to cooperate more, sharing stories and pooling resources, and if they do, how can one operation vouch for the fairness and accuracy of something they did not produce?

The year ahead will not settle any of these. But the urgency of these questions will become more pronounced. And ultimately the players may be quite different.

“I think the answer may come from places staffed by young people who understand the new technology and its potential and who have a passion for journalism,” said Larry Jinks, the highly regarded former editor and publisher who transformed the San Jose Mercury News a generation ago and who still sits on the board of the McClatchy Company.

See the Year in the News for 2010.

For this year’s State of the News Media report, PEJ has released a new interactive tool with data on the owners of the top media companies in the United States.  For the top magazine publishers, users can compare financial information, top stations, ratings, and general information on the companies themselves. See Who Owns the News Media.

The magazine chapter, too, has been restructured. You’ll find more information on the performance of specific publishers in the industry overall section as well as news magazines economics.

Below is information about merger and acquisitions in the last year and some reports on foreign-based publishers (information not included in Who Owns the News Media).

Total Magazine Revenue of the Three Biggest Publishers

2002-2009

Design Your Own Chart

Source: Estimates by Ad Age, Top Ten Magazine Companies

Mergers & Acquisitions

Dealmaking in the consumer magazine market was virtually flat in 2009, with 41 deals announced compared with 42 in the same period the year before, according to the Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc., an investment banking firm that tracks media transactions.¹

One of the higher-profile sales of the year was Bloomberg L.P.’s October purchase of BusinessWeek from McGraw-Hill in a deal reported to include $5 million in cash and the assumption of $31.9 million in debt.²

The deal included BusinessWeek.com, Business Exchange online news and information service, SmallBiz magazine and BusinessWeek Events.³

“The BusinessWeek acquisition will yield huge benefits for users of the Bloomberg terminal, and for our television, online and mobile properties,” Bloomberg president Daniel L. Doctoroff said. ⁴

McGraw-Hill said the transaction would enable the company to focus its resources on its remaining brands, such as Aviation Week magazine. ⁵

Bloomberg’s chief content officer, Norm Pearlstine, a former top editor at the Wall Street Journal and Time Inc., saw the  deal as a chance to expand the company’s reach. In an interview with Paidcontent.org, Pearlstine said, “we have always had both a desire and a need to be read in the corporate suite, in areas of government where people are not subscribing to the terminal.”⁶

In another prominent acquisition, the Economist Group in October 2009 purchased Congressional Quarterly from the Times Publishing Company, the owner of the St. Petersburg Times. Times Publishing is owned by The Poynter Institute.(link to Who Owns the News Media) Congressional Quarterly publications include CQ Weekly, CQ Today, CQ Politics, CQ Moneyline and CQ Homeland Security.

While no financial details of the deal were disclosed, Andrew Rashbass, chief executive of the Economist Group, described it as meaning that “we will be able to offer comprehensive information and analysis to customers.”⁷

The Economist merged the CQ operation with that of Roll Call, a publication it already owned that also provides intensive online and print coverage of Congress.
After a two-month review of the operations, a reorganization was announced that resulted in the elimination of 44 positions across the merged newsroom of the newly created CQ-Roll Call Group, giving it a news staff of 184.⁸

Among the other transactions was the sale of TV Guide. Once the largest magazine in the United States, the weekly guide to TV programming has struggled to remain relevant in an age of on-screen and online program guides. A California-based investment firm, OpenGate Capital, bought the magazine from Macrovision for $1 — less than the cover price of a single issue – and the assumption of liabilities estimated to be worth $255 million.⁹

“OpenGate is stepping in with the commitment to successfully complete the magazine’s turn-around, which targets restored profitability by the end of 2009, and to re-establishing TV Guide as the premier television entertainment magazine in the country,” said OpenGate founder and managing partner Andrew Nikou.¹⁰

The Reader’s Digest Association filed for bankruptcy in August 2009. The filing, which only affected its U.S. operations, was negotiated in advance with creditors and was expected to reduce the company’s debt from $2.2 billion to $550 million. Private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, which acquired Readers Digest in 2007 for $1.6 billion, was expected to lose much of its equity.¹¹

A leading magazine that covers the news media, Editor & Publisher, was briefly shut down by its owner and then sold to a company that resumed publication. Nielsen Business Media announced in December that it would close Editor & Publisher, which resulted in several potential buyers coming forward. One of them, the Duncan McIntosh Company, an Irvine, Calif.-based publisher of magazines focused on boating and fishing, bought the operation in January 2010, for an undisclosed sum.¹²

Foreign Magazine Owners

Beyond U.S. borders, foreign owners continued to play a major role in U.S. magazine publishing. Among those is the Economist Group.

Despite a drop in ad pages in its U.S. edition, the Economist Group, which publishes The Economist, reported that its worldwide operating profit grew 26% for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2009, to £56 million (or $80 million at the exchange rate prevailing then), setting a record for the company. Revenue was up 17%, to £313 million  ($447.5 million). The London-based company credited ad gains in Europe, Africa and the Middle East as well as from its website.

Some of this was driven by the economic performance of various regions during the fiscal year. The Economist’s circulation in India grew 37% and sales of the company’s regional economic forecasts were especially strong in China.

“These results demonstrate once again that great brands delivering real value to readers and advertisers thrive even when the economic cycle turns and when the structure of the industry is evolving,” said Andrew Rashbass, the company’s chief executive.¹³

However, the company warned in its annual report that although it had benefited from a “flight to quality” among advertisers, economic turmoil would take its toll on revenues and that the company was cutting expenses.¹⁴

Felix Dennis, the founder of Dennis Publishing, which owns The Week among others, said that he had received offers for his magazine, but that they had always been too low and that he had no plans to sell the magazine.¹⁵

The privately held, British-based company, which does not release its financial results, purchased Land Rover Monthly and a global entertainment portal, Kontraband.com.¹⁶

Footnotes

1. Jordan, Edmiston Group, press release, “Positive Signs of M&A Recovery in Second Half of 2009,” January 2, 2010.

2. Stephanie Clifford and David Carr, “Bloomberg Buys BusinessWeek From McGraw-Hill,” nytimes.com, October 13, 2009.

3. Jason Fell, “McGraw-Hill Sells BusinessWeek to Bloomberg: Acquisition will ‘yield huge benefits for users of the Bloomberg terminal,’ ” Foliomag.com, October 13, 2009.

4.Jason Fell, “McGraw-Hill Sells BusinessWeek to Bloomberg: Acquisition will ‘yield huge benefits for users of the Bloomberg terminal,’ ” Foliomag.com, October 13, 2009.

5. Stephanie Clifford and David Carr, “Bloomberg Buys BusinessWeek From McGraw-Hill,” nytimes.com, October 13, 2009.

6. Staci D. Kramer, “Interview: Bloomberg’s Pearlstine: Buying BusinessWeek Matches Need — And Desire,” Paidcontent.org, October 13, 2009.

7. John Reynolds, “Economist Group buys Congressional Quarterly,” mediaweek.co.uk, July 22, 2009. http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/922218/Economist-Group-buys-Congressional-Quarterly.

8. Jason Fell, “CQ-Roll Call Group Reorganizes, 44 Editorial Positions Eliminated
Changes come nearly two months after acquisition, merger,” Foliomag.com. September 24, 2009.

9. Macrovision Solutions Corporation, 8-K filing with SEC dated January 5, 2009.

10. Jason Fell, “New Owner: Sale of TV Guide for $1 ‘Needs to be Taken into Perspective’/
Andrew Nikou targets return to profitability by end of ’09,” Foliomag.com, October 26, 2009.

11. Jason Fell, “Behind the Reader’s Digest Bankruptcy Filing,” Foliomag.com, August 18, 2009.

12. Richard Perez-Peña, “Editor & Publisher Finds New Owner,” New York Times, January 15, 2010.

13. The Economist Group, press release, June 22, 2009. Accessed December 17, 2009.

14. The Economist Group, press release, June 22, 2009. Accessed December 17, 2009.

15. Dylan Stableford, “Felix Dennis Says The Week Is for Sale: But don’t go falling off a cliff just yet—he wants £200 million,” Foliomag.com, May 6, 2009.

16. Dennis Publishing, press releases. The Land Rover announcement was made on December 1, 2009, and the Kontraband announcement on July 20, 2009.

A

“ABC News Content Now Available on Hulu,” ABC News’ Press Room, February 4, 2010.

ABC News Now, the news division’s digital cable network, is available on a small number of cable systems in the U.S.

Accenture, “This time, it’s personal: Engaging and interacting with consumers is the content industry’s new battleground.”

David Adams, “César Conde: Univision’s Big Bet,” Poder, September 2009.

Paige Albiniak, “Stations Call March Sweeps ‘Useless,’ ” Broadcasting and Cable, March 2, 2009.

Page Albiniak, “Station Layoffs Continue Apace,” Broadcasting & Cable, July 1, 2009.

“Al Jazeera English launches new blog site,” Judith Townend, journalism.co.uk, October 12, 2009

Al Jazeera English online. Retrieved on October 27, 2009.

Jill Ambroz, “The Plight of the Postal Service;Most publishers are looking at a 3.8 percent increase this spring,” Foliomag.com, April 29, 2009.

American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Sex by Educational Attainment for the Population 25 Years and Over, 2008.

American Urban Radio Networks Website

Nellie Andreeva, “400 jobs cuts at Disney-ABC TV,” Hollywood Reporter, January 29, 2009.

Arab American Institute, Arab American Demographics.

“Arab American Journalists Criticize Mainstream American Media for Selective Coverage,” Arab American Journalism Association Press Release, April 21, 2008.

Tim Arango, “Cable TV’s Big Worry: Taming the Web,” New York Times, June 23, 2009.

Tim Arango, “New Owner for a Magazine as Political Tastes Change,” New York Times, August 2, 2009.

Tim Arango and Richard Pérez-Peña, “Murdoch’s Soft Spot for Print Slows News Corp.,” New York Times, February 23, 2009.

Arbitron Radar, December 7, 2009

Arbitron, “Radio Today: How Americans Listen to Radio,” 2009 Edition, September 23, 2009.

Chris Ariens, “Job Cuts Coming to ABC’s London Bureau,” mediabistro.com: TVNewser, May 7, 2009.

Chris Ariens, “MSNBC Dayside Changes: Return to Single-Anchor Shows; Themed Hours Go Away,” TVNewser, January 26, 2010.

“ARUN is proud to announce Brian Cook won the Salute to Excellence Award at the National Association of Black Journalists,” press release, October 9, 2009.

“Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: May 2009,” U.S. Census Bureau, March 3, 2009.

“The Associated Press and impreMedia Team Up To Deliver impreMedia’s Industry-Leading Hispanic News Content over Mobile Devices via AP Mobile,” impreMedia Press Release, December 1, 2009.

Claire Atkinson, “Ad Execs Wonder How NBC Will Fill Looming 10 P.M. Hole,” Broadcasting & Cable, January 12, 2010.

Claire Atkinson, “A Comcast-Backed Telemundo Could Grow Hispanic TV Marketplace,” Broadcasting & Cable, November 19, 2009.

Claire Atkinson, “Media Trigger Fingers Get Itchy,” Broadcasting & Cable, September 14, 2009.
Mark Fratrik, e-mail communication with PEJ, November 16, 2009.

Claire Atkinson, “Univision to Launch Hispanic Ad Network,” Broadcasting & Cable, November 30, 2009.

Claire Atkinson, “Viewers, Advertisers Are Finding HLN,” Broadcasting & Cable, October 19, 2009.

Audit Bureau of Circulations audit report for the period ending December 31.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Audit Report and Publisher’s Statement, the Philadelphia Tribune, the Sunday Tribune.

Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Dallas Morning News. Publisher’s Statement.

Audit Bureau of Circulations.  El Diario/La Prensa. Newspaper Publisher’s Statement. http://www.impremedia.com/publications/

Audit Bureau of Circulations. El Nuevo Herald. Newspaper Publisher’s Statement.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, FAS-FAX report for consumer magazines, June 30, 2008 and 2009.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, FAS-FAX report for consumer magazines, June 30, 2008 and 2009; December 31, 2008 and 2009.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, FAS-FAX report for consumer magazines, June 30, 2008 and 2009.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, FAS-FAX report for consumer magazines, June 30, 2008 and 2009; December 31, 2008 and 2009.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, FAS-FAX report for consumer magazines, June 30, 2008 and 2009; December 31, 2008 and 2009.

Audit Bureau of Circulations.  La Opinión. 12 Month Audit Report.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Newspaper Publisher’s Statement, the Baltimore Afro-American.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Newspaper Publisher’s Statement, the Philadelphia Tribune, the Sunday Tribune.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Newspaper Publisher’s Statement, the Washington Afro-American.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Paid, Verified & Analyzed Non-Paid Magazine Publisher’s Statement. Jet.

Audit Bureau of Circulations. Paid & Verified Magazine Publisher’s Statement. Essence.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Paid & Verified Publisher’s Statement, Black Enterprise.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Paid & Verified Publisher’s Statement, Giant.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, publisher’s statement.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, Publisher’s Statement, New York Amsterdam News.

Audit Bureau of Circulations, U.S. News & World Report Publisher’s statement.

B

BET News Release, “BET Celebrates Banner Ratings in 2009, December 30, 2009.

“BET J Relaunches as Centric Today.” Channel Guide Magazine. September 28, 2009.

BIA Financial Network and PEJ Research

“BIA/Kelsey Expects TV Station Revenues to End Year Lower Than Anticipated; Levels Last Seen in 1990s Predicted Through 2013,” BIA/Kelsey Advisory Services, December 23, 2009.

“BIA/Kelsey Expects TV Station Revenues to End Year Lower Than Anticipated; Levels Last Seen in 1990s Predicted Through 2013,” BIA/Kelsey Advisory Services, December 23, 2009. An earlier projection by the Television Bureau of Advertising estimates indicates that revenues will grow in the range of 3% to 5% in 2010.

BIA/Kelsey Group

BIA/Kelsey Group, PEJ Research

BPA Worldwide audit report, via spokesman Glenn Schutz.

Lonnie Barber, interview with PEJ, October 2009.

David Bauder, “Attack on Obama Riles Beck’s Advertisers,”,” Associated Press, August 23, 2009.

David Bauder, “MSNBC Finding Rerun Is Wise Prime-Time Strategy,” Associated Press, March 30, 2009.

Max Benavidez, project director, LA Public Media, Interview with PEJ, December 2, 2009.

Max Benavidez, project director, LA Public Media, Interview with PEJ, December 8, 2009.

Jeff Bercovici, “The Stewart Dip? Ratings Down for CNBC, Cramer,” Portfolio, March 13, 2009

Jeff Bercovici, “Tablets From Above,” the New York Observer, January 5, 2010. http://www.observer.com/2010/media/tablets-above

Jeff Bercovici, “’U.S. News’ Launching Digital Newsweekly,” Portfolio.com, January 23, 2009. http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/mixed-media/2009/01/23/us-news-launching-digital-newsweekly/

Better Black TV Website

Black America Website

Black Television News Channel Website

“Bloomberg acquires BusinessWeek,” BBC, October 13, 2009.

Stephen J. Blumberg and Julian V. Luke, “Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, January – June 2009,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Borrel Associates, “2010: Outlook: Local Interactive Adversting,” October, 2009or landlines.

Susan Braine, interview with PEJ, October 22, 2009.

Jim Browder, interview with PEJ, October 20, 2009.

Curt Brown, “Indian Watchdog Newspaper Issues Its Final Bark,” Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, October 1, 2009.

Mercedes Bunz, “CNN.com relaunch to focus on video,” the Guardian (Britain), October 23, 2009.

Business Wire, “The New York Times Announces Plans for Metered Model for NYTimes.com in 2011,” January 20, 2010.

Mike Butcher, “Updated: A Year Later, AOL Is Contemplating a Bebo Sale,” Washington Post, January 27, 2009.

C

CBS listed 223 in the directory in 2009, up from 220 in 2008.

“CBS News Revamps CBSNews.com,” Radio Business Report/Television Business Report, June 16, 2009.

“CNN Abu Dhabi marks official opening with premier of ‘Prism,’ ” CNN.com, November 3, 2009.

Michael Calderone, “Layoffs at Newsweek,” Politico.com, November 11, 2009. The memo does not specify if the layoffs were in the newsroom or across the company.

Michael Calderone, “Report: Fox cancels Beltway Boys,” Politico, April 30, 2009.

James Calla, “Clear Channel Communications Cuts 590 Radio Workers” Bloomberg, April 28, 2009.

Nicholas Carlson, “CBS News Goes Live On The Internet With Ustream,” Business Insider, Silicon Valley Insider, June 1, 2009.

David Carr, “Newsweek’s Journalism of Fourth and Long,” New York Times, May 24, 2009.

David Carr, “Partnership for CBS News and GlobalPost on Foreign Reports,” New York Times, September 28, 2009.

Jeanne Carstensen, PEJ interview, December 18, 2009.

Bill Carter, “Matthews Renews Contract at MSNBC,” Bill Carter, March 22, 2009.

Bill Carter, “NBC Is Buoyed by a Matrix of Winners,” New York Times, March 8, 2009.

Casey made his remarks at the Pew Research Center’s conference on Millennials in Washington, D.C., February 24, 2010.

Alexa Cassanos, PEJ interview, December 17, 2009.

“Characteristics of the U.S. Population, March 2009: By Race and Ethnicity.” Pew Hispanic Center. Based on tabulations of the March 2009 Current Population Survey. In e-mail from Mark Lopez.

Esther Chavez, interview with PEJ. December 21, 2009.

Talibah Chikwendu, “Tea Party Marches Far Right & White.” the Afro, September 17, 2009.

Jeff Clabaugh, “Radio One Buys Social Networking Company for $38M,” Baltimore Business Journal.

Stephanie Clifford, “A Magazine Promises Ads Will Register,” New York Times, November 9, 2009.

Stephanie Clifford, “Magazines Get Ready for Tablets,” New York Times,

Stephanie Clifford and David Carr, “Bloomberg Buys BusinessWeek From McGraw-Hill,” nytimes.com, October 13, 2009.

Max Colchester, “Vivendi To Sell 20% Stake in NBCU To GE For $5.8 Bln,” The Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2009.

Scott Collins, “At MSNBC, weekends aren’t newsworthy,” Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2009.

John Consoli, “Univision Jumps Back Into Upfront Market,” MediaWeek, January 24, 2010.

John Cook, “Salon Lays Off Six In Pursuit of Becoming a ‘True Web Publication,’ ” Gawker.com. August 17, 2009.

Council for Research Excellence, “How U.S. Adults Use Radio and Other Forms of Audio.” October 29, 2009. Study commissioned by Nielsen.

“Couric Faces Pay Cut; Deep Layoffs Hit CBS News,” Drudge Report, February 3, 2010.

“Katie Couric Debuts New Web Show,” CBSNews.com, September 21, 2009.

D

The Daily Beast. “The Daily Beast Turns One,” October 5, 2009. Accessed December 19, 2009.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-05/the-daily-beast-turns-one/full/.

Sarah Damian, “Native American Newspaper’s Niche Keeps It Afloat,” New America Media, September 25, 2009.

Rebecca Dana, “CNBC Ratings Jump Amid Turmoil,” Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2008.

Christine Delargy, “Weekly Standard Sold to Clarity Media Group, Examiner’s owner,” Fishbowl DC, June 17, 2009.

Paul DeMain, interview with PEJ, October 22, 2009.

Paul DeMain, interview with PEJ, February 17, 2010.

“Demographics of Internet Usage.” Pew Internet & American Life Project, October 30, 2009

Dennis Publishing, press releases. The Land Rover announcement was made on December 1, 2009, and the Kontraband announcement on July 20, 2009.

Bill Densmore founded Clickshare Service Corp. and remains a major stockholder, his name is on the patent cited.

Glen Dickson, “ABC Lays Off 31 in Broadcast Operations, Engineering,” Broadcasting & Cable, January 27, 2010.

Glen Dickson, “Fox Business Gets a New Look,” Broadcasting & Cable, April 20, 2009.

Glen Dickson, “Mobile DTV Standard Approved,” Broadcasting & Cable, October 16, 2009.

Glen Dickson, “OMVC Claims Consumer Appetite For Mobile DTV,” Broadcasting and Cable, December 9, 2009. Among all adults surveyed, 47% said they would be interested in getting a device with mobile DTV capability if they were shopping for a new mobile device.

Glen Dickson, “Telemundo Taps LSN Mobile for iPhone,” Broadcasting & Cable, February 23, 2010.

Larry Dobrow, “Essence Is No. 6 on Ad Age’s Magazine A-List,” Advertising Age, October 19, 2009.
Economic Notes, Office of the New York City Comptroller, November 2009.

E

“Eat Your Heart Out Brian Williams, Couric Gets Own App,” MediaPost News Brief, January 7, 2009.

The Economist, “Eight questions for Jacob Weisberg,” July 11, 2009.

The Economist Group, press release, June 22, 2009. Accessed December 17, 2009.

John Eggerton, “Broadcasters to FCC: Digital Age Increasing Competition, Ownership Rules Harmful,” Broadcasting & Cable, November 4, 2009.

John Eggerton, “Cross-Ownership Changes: Wait Till Next Year,” Broadcasting & Cable, December 7, 2009.

John Eggerton, “Nielsen Moves Feb. 2009 Sweeps To March,” Broadcasting and Cable, April 30, 2008.

John Eggerton, “Public Interest Groups Argue Against Loosening of Ownership Rules,” Broadcasting & Cable, November 3, 2009.

Haya El Nasser, “U.S. Census Reports on Arab-Americans for First Time,” November 20, 2003.

E-mail from Steven Chin, director, Reznet, Oct. 22, 2009, and Reznet Website

E-mail from Neil Foote, February 16, 2010

E-mail from Odette Keeley, November 16, 2009.

E-mail from Leah Kosin, office manager, Asian Fortune, November 17, 2009.

E-mail from Yukai Liu, January 5, 2010.

E-mail from Mark Lopez, November 30, 2009.

E-mail from Greg Macabenta, November 16, 2009.

E-mail from Monica Talan, Univision, October 8, 2009.

eMarketer, “Consumer Magazines: Rethinking Paper and Pixels.” March, 2009.

eMarketer reports that 60% of the mobile ad market is in text-messaging. Veronis Suhler Stevenson reports 70%.

eMarketer, “U.S. Online Ad Spending Turns a Corner,” December 11, 2009. http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007415

Juan Esparza. Interview with PEJ. January 26, 2010.

“Essence Lays Off Digital Team,” Journalisticks, November 4, 2009.

Kenneth “KC” Estenson, note to CNN.com staff, posted on WebNewser, November 12, 2009.

“Estrella TV Touts November Sweeps Performance,” RBR.com, December 9, 2009.

Ethnic Media Study 2009 Topline, New America Media.

F

Antoine Faisal, interview with PEJ, November 23, 2009.

William Falk, PEJ interview, December 4, 2009.

Jason Fell, “Behind the Reader’s Digest Bankruptcy Filing,” Foliomag.com, August 18, 2009.

Jason Fell, “Buyout Window Closes, Layoffs Loom at Time Inc.,” FolioMag.com, November 18, 2009.

Jason Fell, “CQ-Roll Call Group Reorganizes, 44 Editorial Positions Eliminated
Changes come nearly two months after acquisition, merger,” Foliomag.com. September 24, 2009.

Jason Fell, “FOLIO: Show Panel: Magazines No Longer ‘Center of the Universe,’ ” Foliomag.com, October 27, 2009.

Jason Fell, “McGraw-Hill Sells BusinessWeek to Bloomberg: Acquisition will ‘yield huge benefits for users of the Bloomberg terminal,’ ” Foliomag.com, October 13, 2009.

Jason Fell, “New Owner: Sale of TV Guide for $1 ‘Needs to be Taken into Perspective’/ Andrew Nikou targets return to profitability by end of ’09,” Foliomag.com, October 26, 2009.

Jason Fell, “The New Republic Sold to Former Editor,” Foliomag.com, March 9, 2009. http://www.foliomag.com/2009/new-republic-sold-former-editor.

Jason Fell, “Why Are Successful Magazines Folding?” Foliomag.com, March 31, 2009.

Mark Fitzgerald, “Black Business Monthly to Distribute Through ‘Chicago Defender,’ ” Editor & Publisher, December 9, 2009.

Joe Flint, “Current TV’s cuts acknowledge a strategy that didn’t catch fire,” Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2009.

Neil Foote, interview with PEJ, December 18. 2009.

Foreignpolicy.com, “About FP,” accessed January 5, 2010. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4609

Jack Fowler, interview with PEJ, January 6, 2010.

Mark Fratrik, e-mail communication with PEJ, November 16, 2009.

Wayne Friedman, “Comcast-NBC Integration To Come Long After Other Marketplace Changes,” MediaPost Publications, December 8, 2009.

Wayne Friedman, “Disney Strikes Deal With YouTube,” MediaPost News, March 31, 2009.

Wayne Friedman, “GroupM May Appeal Local TV’s ‘Live-Only’ Death Sentence,” MediaPost Publications, November 11, 2009.

Wayne Friedman, “Major Ad Groups Endorse Live-Only Ratings, Reject Nielsen Stance,” MediaPost Publication, January 25, 2010.

Wayne Friedman, “Reach Out: AT&T Entertainment Streams TV, Movies,” MediaPost News, September 10, 2009.

Amanda Fung, “CBS launches residential real estate site,” Crain’s New York Business, September 24, 2009.

G

Glenn Garvin, “Pedro Sevec Leaves Telemundo,” Changing Channels, a Miami Herald Blog, December 14, 2009.

Felix Gillette, “Bloomberg’s Newbie Newsies,” New York Observer, March 5, 2009.

Felix Gillette, “NBC Universal Seeking Another Round of Voluntary Buyouts from News Staff,” New York Observer, September 15, 2009.

“Newt Gingrich Launches Bilingual News Site,” Latino Perspectives, October 10, 2009.

David Goetzl, “Bankers To Buy Young Broadcasting For $220 Million,” MediaPost News, July 15, 2009. The deal was completed through an equity-for-debt exchange, in which Young’s debt holders took the company’s assets in exchange for the cancellation of its sizable debt.

Matea Gold, “ABC News prepares major restructuring; between 300 and 400 staffers could be cut,” Company Town blog, Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2010.

Matea Gold, “CNN downplays ratings slump,” Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2009.

Matea Gold, “Layoffs to hit CBS News next week,” Los Angeles Times, Company Town blog, January 29, 2010.

Bill Gorman, “BET Posts +37% Total Viewership Increases in July 2009,” TV by the Numbers, July 30, 2009.

Marc Graser, “MySpace cuts 30% of staff,” Variety, June 16, 2009.

“Gray Selected as Management Advisor for Seven Television Stations,” Gray Television press release, July 30, 2009.

Ben Grossman, “Rupert’s main man: Q&A with News Corp.’s Chase Carey,” Broadcasting & Cable, October 24, 2009.

Sam Gustin, “The Comcast-GE deal includes NBC local stations—triggering regulatory scrutiny,” Daily Finance, December 1, 2009.

Marisa Guthrie, “Candy Crowley to Helm ‘State of the Union,’ ” Broadcasting & Cable, January 31, 2010.

Marisa Guthrie, “Chris Cuomo to Co-Anchor ‘20/20,’ ” Broadcasting & Cable, December 10, 200

Marisa Guthrie, “MSNBC.com Acquires EveryBlock,” Broadcasting & Cable, August 17, 2009.

Marisa Guthrie, “More Advertisers Pull Ads From Glenn Beck’s Fox News Show,” Broadcasting & Cable, August 13, 2009.

Marisa Guthrie, “Dylan Ratigan Joins MSNBC,” Broadcasting & Cable, May 6, 2009.

Marisa Guthrie, “Telemundo Announces News Initiative,” Broadcasting & Cable, December 14, 2009.

Félix Gutiérrez, Interview with PEJ, December 1, 2009

Sandra Guy, “Jet Redesigns to Get More Readers On Board,” Chicago Sun Times, February 3, 2010.

H

Shirin Hakimzadeh and D’Vera Cohn. “English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States.” Pew Hispanic Center. November 29, 2007.

Ray Hanania Biography, Media Oasis.

Harrington Associates LLC, via e-mail from John Harrington, February 8, 2010. The figures include the United States and Canada.

Hearst Corporation press release, “Skiff E-Reading Service To Launch In 2010,” December 4, 2009. http://www.hearst.com/press-room/pr-20091204a.php

Thomas Heath, “Radio One Continues Rebound With Profitable Quarter,” The Washington Post. October 30, 2009.

Dave Hendricks, “Is the Bell Tolling for Clear Channel?” San Antonio Express News, June 27, 2009.

James Hibberd, “Fox News set for best year yet, despite Obama,” Reuters, June 24, 2009.

“Hispanic Broadband Access: Making the Most of the Mobile, Connected Future,” the Hispanic Institute & Mobile Future, September 15, 2009.

Hispanic Radio Today 2009: How America Listens to Radio, Arbitron.

Hispanics in the News,” Project for Excellence in Journalism. December 7, 2009.

Brian Ho, interview with PEJ, November 20, 2009.

Robert D. Hof. “Why is Google Buying AdMob?”  BusinessWeek, November 9, 2009. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2009/tc2009119_588360.htm

“Hopi Council Budget Shuts Down Newspaper,” Arizona Daily Sun, December 1, 2009.

Jason Horowitz, “An extended Q&A with Glenn Beck,” GQ, June 16, 2009.

Jeffrey M. Humphreys, “The Multicultural Economy 2008,” The Selig Center for Economic Growth.

Samir Husni, PEJ interview, December 8, 2009.

I

Sergio Ibarra, “HLN’s Growth Validates Programming Strategy, Jautz Says,” TVWeek, April 5, 2009.

“ImpreMedia and AOL Latino announce alliance for content exchange.” impreMedia press release. November 12, 2009.

ImpreMedia to Tap Into Hyperlocal Blogs,” El Diario/La Prensa, December 2, 2009. Translated by New America Media. (Original)

“The Infinite Dial 2009,” Arbitron, April 2009

InterActiveCorp, third quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers “Internet Ad Revenues at $10.9 Billion for First Half of ’09,” October 5, 2009.

J

Eliza Jacobs, associate director, PBS Research, e-mail communication on February 18, 2009.

Elizabeth Jensen, “Stressing the Web, ‘NewsHour’ Begins an Overhaul,” New York Times, November 30, 2009.

Elizabeth Jensen, “Stressing the Web, ‘NewsHour’ Begins an Overhaul,” New York Times, November 30, 2009.
PBS NewsHour website, July 1, 2008-January 31, 2010. Overall Traffic, Absolute Unique Visitors.

Bobbie Johnson, “TV websites must begin charging, says Murdoch lieutenant,” the Guardian (Britain), October 23, 2009.

Jordan, Edmiston Group, press release, “Positive Signs of M&A Recovery in Second Half of 2009,” January 2, 2010.

Tom Junod, “Because They Hate Shepard Smith and Want Him to Fail,” Esquire, February 10, 2009.

K

Peter Kafka, “CBS Digital Exec Quincy Smith Eyes New Role in Investment Banking,” All Things Digital, May 11, 2009.

Peter Kafka, “With an Eye on the iPad, Condé Nast Declares Its $39,000 iPhone Magazine a ‘Success,’” All Things Digital, January 21, 2010.

Ashkan Karbasfrooshan, “Will Online Video’s Ad Revenue Ever Surpass Search Advertising’s?” MediaPost Video Insider e-mail newsletter, February 3, 2010.

Odette Keeley, interview with PEJ, November 13, 2009.

Brian Kelly, PEJ interview, December 10, 2009.

Keith J. Kelly, “Glamour, Wired take latest hits,” New York Post, October 20, 2009.

Kevin Kingsbury and Sarah McBride, “Cox Enterprises Launches Cash Tender Offer for Cox Radio Shares,” Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2009.

Michael Kinsley, “Backward Runs ‘Newsweek,’ ” New Republic, May 21, 2009.

John Koblin, “The Last Magazine Standing,” New York Observer, November 10, 2009.

Verne Kopytoff, “Gore’s Current Media scraps plan for IPO in face of weak economy,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 11, 2009.

Staci D. Kramer, “CBS Interactive Sees Opportunity In The Downturn; Launching MoneyWatch.com,” paidContent.org, January 27, 2009.

Staci D. Kramer, “Interview: Bloomberg’s Pearlstine: Buying BusinessWeek Matches Need — And Desire,” Paidcontent.org, October 13, 2009.

Steve Krakauer, “Campbell  Brown Returns: No More ‘No Bias, No Bull,’ ” TVNewser, June 2, 2009.

Alissa Krinsky, “Joy Behar: New HLN Show ‘an Infusion of Humor’ During Serious Times,” TVNewser, September 28, 2009.

Howard Kurtz, “Business Is Slow for Fox Channel,” Washington Post, July 26, 2008.

Howard Kurtz, “Fox Ferreting Out Fans,” Washington Post, March 30, 2009.

Howard Kurtz, “O’Reilly: You Still Have Me to Kick Around,” Washington Post, October 22, 2009.

Howard Kurtz, “Washington Post Will Pair With Bloomberg,” Washington Post, October 2, 2009.

L

LA 18 Asian American Media Overview 2009.

Mark Landler and Peter Baker, “Bill Clinton and Journalists in Emotional Return to U.S.,” New York Times, August 5, 2009.

Latino Print Network, The State of Hispanic Print 2008.

Alice Lee, interview with PEJ, November 12, 2009.

Jason Lee, interview with PEJ, October 2009.

The Long Tail, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, 2008.

Dyna Lopez, “Filipinos Among the Biggest Spenders in U.S.,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 16, 2009.  Accessed via NewAmericaMedia.org.

M

Macrovision Solutions Corporation, 8-K filing with SEC dated January 5, 2009.

“Magazines, the medium of action,” MPA Handbook, 2009-2010. The handbook estimates subscription revenue at $6.7 billion and single-copy revenue at $3.1 billion for 2008.

Michael Malone, “Fox’s NY Duop Cuts 20,” Broadcasting & Cable, June 22, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Freedom Communications Implements Furloughs,” Broadcasting & Cable, March 23, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Gannett Mandates Round 2 of Furloughs,” Broadcasting & Cable, March 23, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Granite-Barrington Partnership Hits Stations Hard,” Broadcasting & Cable, March 3, 2009.

Michael Malone, “KTTV Source: Fox L.A. to Cut 117 Sept. 10,” Broadcasting & Cable, September 8, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Media General Furthers Furloughs,” Broadcasting & Cable, September 18, 2009.

Michael Malone, “NBC Restructures Creative Services at O&Os,” Broadcasting & Cable, August 7, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Newport TV Mandates Furloughs,” Broadcasting & Cable, June 8, 2009.

Malone, Michael, “Station Websites to Make $1.3 billion in 2009,” Broadcasting & Cable, April 2, 2009.

Malone, Michael, “Stations Come Out Swinging,” Broadcasting and Cable, August 24, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Station Websites: New Platform, New Name,” Broadcasting & Cable, November 15, 2009.

Michael Malone, “Study: Stations ‘Have a Long Way to Go’ on Web,” Broadcasting & Cable, October 6, 2009.

Michael Malone, “WPTV Outsources Sports to ESPN Radio,” Broadcasting and Cable, December 4, 2009.

Suzanne Manneh, interview with PEJ, November 20, 2009

Jacqueline Marino, “Salon CEO Richard Gingras: ‘It Was a Mistake to Think of Ourselves As a Magazine,’ ” PoynterOnline, September 9, 2009.

“Marketing to Asian Americans,” AdweekMedia, May 26, 2008.

Laura Martinez, “Q&A: Kevin Conroy, President, Univision Interactive Media,” Multichannel News, October 20, 2009.

Laura Martinez, “Mega TV, WRNN Sign Affiliation Deal,” Multichannel News, February 4, 2010.

Julia Mayes, “Positively Black: NBC Launches The Grio,” NBCNewYork.com, September 18, 2009.

The Maynard Institute, “Minority Radio Ownership at a Standstill,” November 2, 2009.

Sarah McBride, “In a First, Sirius XM Posts Subscriber Drop,” May 8, 2009. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124169866938795801.html

MediaBuyerPlanner.com, “GQ,’ ‘Esquire’ Offer iPhone Editions,” December 20, 2009.

Mediafinder.com, via e-mail from spokeswoman Lisa Hendrickson, December 22, 2009. The figures are for the United States and Canada.

MediaWeek, accessed November 11, 2009. Figures are year-to-date totals.  http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/data-center/magazine-monitor/index.jsp

Mediaweek, “Titles mine Web for subs: Hearst, Condé Nast and Rodale see gains via online,” May 11, 2009.

Memo from ABC Television group president Anne Sweeney to ABC News employees obtained by the MediaBistro website, January 29, 2009.

Diane Mermigas, “Digital Transition: Going Hyper Local,” MediaPost Blogs, July 2, 2009.

Diane Mermigas, “TV Station Revenue Crisis: Mind the Gap,” MediaPost Blogs, July 6, 2009.

Bill Mickey, interview with PEJ, December 9, 2009.

Carol Morello, “Census Gets Some Latino Help and Needs It,” Washington Post, October 2, 2009.

Lucia Moses, “Maghound still a pup: Time Inc.’s year-old circ service yet to post solid sale,”  Mediaweek, July 6, 2009.

Alan Mutter, “Holy Moses! Media need to gear up for tablets,” Reflections of a Newsosaur, January 8, 2010.

“MySpace and FOX News launch “uReport” community on world’s leading social portal,” Fox News Channel media relations, press release, April 20, 2009.

N

NBC e-mail communication with PEJ, October, 29, 2009

Ryan Nakashima, “5 publishers plan rival to Kindle format,” Associated Press, December 8, 2009. Accessed from washingtonpost.com on December 21, 2009.

Ryan Nakashima, “5 publishers plan rival to Kindle format,” Associated Press,  December 8, 2009. Accessed from washingtonpost.com on December 21, 2009.

NPR Press release, July 2009

New America Media. Ethnic Media Study 2009 Topline.

New York State Department of Labor online records. Accessed December 4, 2009.

“New World Gets Pappas TV for $260 M,” TVNewsCheck, January 16, 2009. New World is backed by private equity companies Fortress Credit, Cerberus Capital Management and Angelo Gordon & Co.

Ngoc Nguyen, interview with PEJ, November 9, 2009.

Nguoi Viet 2008 Media Kit

“Nielsen Ad Intelligence Spotlight on Multi-Cultural Advertising.” October 2009.

O

Eric Olander, interview with PEJ, November 17, 2009

Noreen O’Leary. “Hispanic Market Is Set to Soar,” BrandWeek, November 2, 2009.

John J. Oliver, interview with PEJ, December 9, 2009.

John J. Oliver, interview with PEJ, December 18, 2009.

Gavin O’Malley, “CBS Launches MoneyWatch, Partners With LinkedIn,” MediaPost News, April 7, 2009.

“$1B In Political Spending Possible in 2009,” TV NewsDay, May 14, 2009.

Hayg Oshagan, interview with PEJ, November 24, 2009

Shira Ovide, “Fortune Magazine Cuts Back Number of Issues,” Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2009.

Shira Ovide and Russell Adams, “Media Firms to Unveil Joint Venture for Digital Devices,” Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2009.

P

Robert Papper, RTNDA/Hofstra University Annual News Director Survey, “News Staffing and Profitability,” RTNDA Communicator, September/October 2008

Robert Papper, “TV and Radio Staffing and News Profitability Survey 2009,” RTNDA/Hofstra University Survey, RTNDA Communicator, April 2009.

Christi Parsons, “Obama Stumps for Student Loan Plan, Hails New Web Rules,” LA Times, September 21, 2009.

Jeffrey Passel and D’Vera Cohn.  “Mexican Immigrants: How Many Come? How Many Leave?” Pew Hispanic Center, July 22, 2009.

Jeffrey S. Passel and D’Vera Cohn, “U.S. Populations Projections: 2005-2050,” Pew Hispanic Center, February 11, 2008.

PEJ interview with CBS RADIO.

PEJ Interview with Jim Farley, vice president of news and programming at WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., 2008.

PEJ interview with David Sit, vice president, NewsHour, February 8, 2010.

Pew Hispanic Center computations based on 2000-2009 population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau in December 2009.

Pew Hispanic Center, “Latinos Online, 2006-2008: Narrowing the Gap,” December 22, 2009.

Richard Pérez-Peña, “Editor & Publisher Finds New Owner,” New York Times, January 15, 2010.

Richard Pérez-Peña, “Glimmers of Progress at a Leaner Newsweek,” New York Times, November 15, 2009.

Richard Pérez-Peña, “Newsweek Plans Makeover to Fit a Smaller Audience,” New York Times, February 8, 2009.

Personal communication with Derek Baine, SNL Kagan analyst, January 4, 2009

Personal communication with Loren Hynes, Fox News Channel publicist, February 25, 2010.

Personal communication with Gina Stikes, MSNBC.com publicist, January 28, 2010.

Personal communication with MSNBC spokesperson Jeremy Gaines, February 2, 2010.

Julie Pham, interview with PEJ, November 11, 2009

Phone interview with Paul DeMain, editor in chief, News From Indian Country.

Vivian Po, “Birth of a Newspaper in an Age of Print Decline,” New America Media, April 19, 2009.

David Pogue,  “HD Radio Crying Out to Be Heard,” New York Times, April 8, 2009.

Richard Prince, “Ebony Puts Its Fashion Fair on Hold,” Journal-isms, September 8, 2009.

Richard Prince, “Giant Magazine to Fold as Print Publication,” Journal-isms, November 30, 2009.

Richard Prince, “Comcast-NBC Merger Not Expected to Affect TV One,” Journal-isms, November 16, 2009.

Publishers Information Bureau, Magazine Titles Data, January 12, 2010.

Publishers Information Bureau, “PIB Ad Revenue and Pages,” October 9, 2009.

Publishers Information Bureau, “PIB Ad Revenue and Pages,” January 12, 2010.

Brett Pulley, “Magic Johnson in Talks to Buy Publisher of Ebony, Jet Magazines,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, February 13, 2010.

Q

Que Pasa Media

Que Pasa Publication Audit Report. Circulation Verification Council.

R

Radio Advertising Bureau, “09 Year-End Results Confirm Positive Signs for Radio Digital Sector Continues To Gain Importance,” February 19, 2010

Radio Online, “Michael Savage Is Out at KNEW-AM/San Francisco,” September 9, 2009.

Mary Ratcliff, interview with PEJ, December 17, 2009.

Reported Internet Usage for Households, by Selected Household Characteristics, Current Population Survey, October 2007.

John Reynolds, “Economist Group buys Congressional Quarterly,” mediaweek.co.uk, July 22, 2009. http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/922218/Economist-Group-buys-Congressional-Quarterly

Mike Reynolds, “Hispanic TV Summit: Telemundo’s Browne—Count On Census 2010 Being a ‘Game-Changer,’” Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable, September 24, 2009.

Motoko Rich, “Daily Beast Seeks to Publish Faster,” New York Times, September 28, 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/books/29beas.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=The%20Daily%20Beast&st=cs

Kelly Riddell and Justin Blum, “Justice Department to Study Comcast Takeover of NBC,” Bloomberg.com, January 6, 2010.

Phil Rosenthal, “ ‘Monsters and Money in the Morning’ to Debut on WBBM-Ch. 2 in February,” Chicago Tribune, December 3, 2009.

Phil Rosenthal, “Tribune Co. Launches Cross-Platform Sales Effort Targeting Growing U.S. Hispanic Population,” Tower Ticker: The Media Business in Chicago and Beyond, a Chicago Tribune Blog, December 7, 2009.

Betsy Rothstein, “TNR’s Layoffs Up to Six,” FishbowlDC, December 16, 2009.
Arbitron Radar, December 7, 2009

James Ryu, interview with PEJ, November 5, 2009.

S

SNL Kagan, “Economics of Basic Cable Networks,” August 2009.

Saigon Broadcasting Television Network Website

St. Louis American Website

Salon Media Group, 10-K/A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.

Catherine J. K. Sandoval. “Minority Commercial Radio Ownership in 2009: FCC Licensing and Consolidation Policies, Entry Windows, and the Nexus Between Ownership, Diversity and Service in the Public Interest,” November 2009.

David Sarno, “CNN’s new iPhone app takes mobile news to the next level,” Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2009.

Erik Sass, “More E-Reader Deals, Courtesy ‘WSJ,’ Sony,” MediaDailyNews, December 18, 2009. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=119414

Michael Schneider, “No news is bad news,” Variety, October 23, 2009.

Anne Schelle, telephone interview with PEJ, December 22, 2009.

Eric Scigliano, “Phamily Newspaper,” Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, September 2009.

SEC Filing, September 30, 2009.

Eric Seitz,  “Sirius Gets Nasdaq ‘Minimum Bid’ Warning; Could Lead to Reverse Split.”  Barron’s, September 17, 2009.  http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2009/09/17/sirius-gets-nasdaq-minimum-bid-warning-could-lead-to-reverse-split/

Danny Shea, “CBS News President Praises Katie Couric, Says No Discussion of Pay Cut,” Huffington Post, February 3, 2010.

Mike Shields, “TV Nets Boost iPhone Presence,” AdWeek , October 15, 2009.

Mike Shields, “TV Nets Boost iPhone Presence,” AdWeek , October 15, 2009. Users will also be able to view full episodes of several original CBS News Web series, including the Tomorrow Show, Washington Unplugged and Doc Dot Com.

Osama Siblani, interview with PEJ. November 23, 2009.

MG Siegler, “Pandora (And Other Internet Radio) Has Officially Been Saved,” TechCrunch, July 7, 2009.

SiriusXM press releases

Slate.com, “about us.” Accessed December 18, 2009.

Connie Louise Smith, interview with PEJ, October 2009

Some revenue fluctuations from 2007 to 2008 are attributable to the number of local TV stations a group owns, which can vary based on the sale or purchase of stations.

Spanish Broadcasting System press release, “Spanish Braodcasting System, Inc. Granted Continued Listing on Nasdaq,” February 16, 2010.

Spanish Broadcasting System press release, “Mega TV Launches New Weekly Show: ‘Conversemos,’” February 10, 2010.

Dylan Stableford, “Felix Dennis Says The Week Is for Sale: But don’t go falling off a cliff just yet—he wants £200 million,” Foliomag.com, May 6, 2009.

“Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United States, 2007,” Pew Hispanic Center, March 5, 2009.

Brian Stelter, “Fox Business Needs a Lift. Could It Be Don Imus?” New York Times, August 16, 2009.

Brian Stelter, “John Stossel Leaving ABC for Fox Business Network,” New York Times, September 10, 2009.

Brian Stelter, “MSNBC Expands Its Liberal Lineup,” New York Times, April 2, 2009.

Brian Stelter, “MSNBC Extends Keith Olbermann’s Contract,” New York Times, November 10, 2008.

Brian Stelter, “NBC-Comcast Deal Puts Broadcast TV in Doubt,” The New York Times, December 6, 2009.

Brian Stelter, “Switch to Digital TV Wins a Delay to June 12,” New York Times, February 4, 2009.

Brian Stelter, “Yes, Stewart, CNBC Still Trusts Cramer,” New York Times, March 23, 2009.

Brian Stelter and Bill Carter, “Fox News’s Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star,” New York Times, March 30, 2009.

Brian Stelter and Bill Carter, “News Units at ABC and CBS Try to Navigate Uncertain Times,” New York Times, February 28, 2009.

Denise Stewart, “Two Black Groups Looking to Buy Ebony,” BlackAmericaWeb.com, October 12, 2009.

Brad Stone and Brian Stelter, “ABC Will Add Its Shows to Hulu Site,” New York Time, April 30, 2009.

Lauren Streib, “Winning The Week,” Forbes Magazine, October 22, 2009.

“Syndicaster to put local TV on YouTube,” BNET blogs, April 14, 2009.

Georg Szalai and Paul Bond, “Everybody’s Business,” Hollywood Reporter, April 16, 2009

T

TNS/CMAG forecast, September 2009.

TVK24 press release, “Television Korea 24 (TVK24) Announces Launch of TVK2 Throughout the Los Angeles, CA Area on Time Warner Cable Channel 655,” November 13, 2009.

Kenji G. Taguma, interview with PEJ, December 17, 2009.

David Tanklefsky, “ABC News Launches Branded YouTube Channel,” Broadcasting & Cable, May 16, 2009.

Elinor Tatum, interview with PEJ, December 15, 2009

Loris Taylor, interview with PEJ, October 18, 2009.

Television Bureau of Advertising, “Forecast Conference: A Look at 2010,” September 10, 2009.

Television Bureau of Advertising, “2009 TV Ad Revenue Figures, Top 25 Local Broadcast TV Categories, Jan.-Sep. 2009,” December 18, 2009.

Telephone interview with PEJ, December 10, 2009.

“Telemundo Reorganization Could Mean Job Losses,” Richard Prince’s Journal-isms: An Online Column, November 25, 2009.

Derek Thompson, “Facebook Turns a Profit, Users Hits 300 Million,” The Atlanntic.com, September 17, 2009.

“Time Warner Cable Spinoff to Finish Next Month,” New York Times, February 27, 2009.

“Time Warner profit slips 14%,” Associated Press, April 29, 2009.

“Time Warner to complete cable spin-off on March 27,” Reuters, February 26, 2009.

TNS Media Intelligence

Evan Tracey, e-mail communication with PEJ, December 1, 2009.

Jason Turbow, “It’s Official: Anschutz Buys Weekly Standard,” Baynewser.com, August 4, 2009.

“275 New Magazines Launch And 428 Fold In 2009 According To Mediafinder.Com,” Mediafinder.com press release, December 14, 2009.

2008 American Community Survey, “Asian Alone by Selected Groups,” retrieved February 12, 2010.

2009 Mendelsohn Affluent Survey, data obtained from Bloomberg Television.

2009 State of the News Media.

2010 Media kit, Black Enterprise.

U

U.S. Census Bureau, “American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2009,” October 15, 2009.

U.S. Census Bureau, “Census Bureau Estimates Nearly Half of Children Under Age 5 Are Minorities,” May 14, 2009

U.S. Census Bureau: Fact Finder

U.S. Census Bureau, Median Household Income.

U.S. Census Bureau, National Population Projections, released 2009 (based on Census 2000).

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program.

U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey

U.S. Census Bureau, “U.S. Hispanic Population Surpasses 45 Million,” May 1, 2008.

“US Online Advertising Spending, by Format, 2008-2014,” eMarketer, December 2009.

“U.S. Population Projections: 2005-2050.” Pew Hispanic Center. February 11, 2008.

“US Senate panel to discuss Comcast/NBC deal Feb. 4,” Reuters, January 20, 2010.

“U.S. to Review Comcast-NBC Deal,” The Associated Press, Janury 6, 2010.

Understanding the Participatory News Consumer, March 1, 2010,

Univision Communications Inc. press release, “Univision Announces 2009 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results, February 25, 2010.

Univision Communications press release

“Univision Creates TV Production Company,” New York Times, December 7, 2009.

“Univision has its best broadcast season ever,” Univision Press Release, May 21, 2009.

“Univision Interactive Media and Flock Develop Spanish-Language Social Web Browser,” Trading Markets.com, October 31, 2009.

“Univision Maintains Programming Leadership During November Sweep,” Univision e-Release, November 25, 2009.

“Univision Readies Launch of WXNY X96.3/New York,” Radio Online, October 14, 2009.

V

VSS press release accompanying the release of the forecast, August 3, 2009.

Jimmy Vega. Interview with PEJ. December 7, 2009.

Verified Audit Circulation audit report for the period ending June 2008.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson, “Community Industry Forecast 2008-2012”

Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Communications Industry Forecast, 2008-2013.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson, 2009-2013 Communications Industry Forecast.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast 2009-2013, August 3, 2009.www.vss.com/forecast09.

Veronis, Suhler, Stevenson, 2010 Communications Industry Forecast, August 2009.

“García Villa Named ImpreMedia News Director,” Media Moves, February 22, 2010.

Veronica Villafañe, “Estrella TV Expands to Chicago,”v Media Moves, February 23, 2010.

Veronica Villafañe, “Liberman Buys Denver Station for $6.5 Million,” Media Moves, February 3, 2010.

Veronica Villafañe, “Univision Creates Telenovela Web Site,” Media Moves, February 24, 2010.

“ ‘Vidas Cruzadas’ (Crossed Lives) Delivers Record-Breaking Video Streams on Univision.com,” Press Release.  21 Sept. 2009.

David Von Drehle, “Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?,” Time, September 17, 2009.

V-Me Website.

W

Washington Post Company SEC filing, third quarter 2009

Washington Post Company, 10-Q filing with the SEC, November 6, 2009.

Robin Wauters, “Report: 44% of Google News Visitors Scan Headlines, Don’t Click Through,” TechCrunch, January 19, 2010.

The Week, Accessed December 4, 2009.

The Week, audience information. Accessed from the company’s website.

Jacob Weisberg, PEJ interview, December 22, 2009.

Laurel Wentz, “Ad Spending in Spanish-Language Media Falls by 6.3%, Nielsen Says,” Advertising Age, October 29, 2009.

Laurel Wentz, “Banking on Univision: Paying Down the Debt,” Advertising Age, December 7, 2009.

Alex Weprin, “John Stossel Fox Business Bound,” Broadcasting & Cable, September 10, 2009.

Alex Weprin, “Network News – One Click Away,” Broadcasting & Cable, July 18, 2009.

Laura Wides-Munoz, “Univision, Feds Team Up to Boost Hispanic Ed,” Washington Post, February 23, 2010.

David B. Wilkerson, and Goldstein, Steve, “Comcast scores controlling stake in NBC Universal,” MarketWatch, December 3, 2009.

Wireless Internet Use, Pew Internet & American Life Project, July 22, 2009.

Nat Worden, “Sinclair Warns of Bankruptcy If Debt Isn’t Restructured,” Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2009.

The World Journal, Echo Media.

Y

Deborah Yao, “Forecaster Boosts US Ad Revenue Outlook for 2010,” The Associated Press, January 19, 2010.

“A Year After Obama’s Election: Blacks Upbeat about Black Progress, Prospects.” Pew Research Center. January 12, 2010.

Leslie Yngojo-Bowes, interview with PEJ, November 17, 2009.

“YouTube Inks Deal With Univision (But Skips the Telenovelas),” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2009.

Z

Zinio.com, press releases.

Many partners contributed to this report.

Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute co-wrote the chapter on newspapers with PEJ staff.
From the Project, researchers conducted the data aggregation and did initial drafting in the following areas: Josh Appelbaum for the network and local television chapters, Jon Morgan for the magazine chapter, Kenny Olmstead for the online and audio chapters, Emily Guskin for the ethnic media chapter and parts of the newspaper chapter, and Jesse Holcomb for the cable television chapter.  Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute co-authored the newspaper chapter and the Pew Internet and American Life Project co-authored the online chapter. Mark Jurkowitz co-authored the report’s content analysis. The content analysis team included supervision by Hong Ji and Paul Hitlin; graphical analysis by Tricia Sartor and Mahvish Shahid Khan; and content execution by the content staff of PEJ with special help from Laura Houston Santhanam and Nancy Vogt. Vadim Nikitin assisted with the creation of the media ownership tool. Cheryl Elzey managed the budget. Dana Page supervised public relations and visual displays.

Jon Morgan served as senior editor of the report. Amy Mitchell and Tom Rosenstiel supervised the project, edited the chapters and wrote the analytical components.

Irv Molotsky was the copy editor.

Michael Piccorossi, the Pew Research Center’s director of digital strategy and IT, and Michael Keegan, graphics director, were instrumental in the design and creation of the new interactive tools: Who Owns the News Media and A Year in the News. Russell Heimlich, PRC’s Web Developer, was the programmer for the Year in the News tool. Wendy Kelly of WLK Design redesigned the web site and will produce the executive summary. The Project’s staff put the design into effect. Programming consultant Don Bell designed and programmed the interactive tools and charts components.

Among the three dozen people who served as readers of the chapters were Derek Baine, Tom Bettag, Charles Bierbauer, Jim Browder, John Carroll, Wally Dean, Bill Densmore, Ken Doctor, Rick Edmonds, Jim Farley, Lauren Fine, Neil Foote, Mark Fratrik, John Horrigan, Samir Husni, Odette Keeley, Bill Kovach, Mark Lopez, Diane Mermigas, Dick Meyer, Bill Mickey, Victor Navasky, Hayg Oshagan, Robert Papper, Deborah Potter, Adam Powell, Markus Prior, Alan Seraita, Frank Sesno, Chris Sterling, Loris Taylor, Andrew Tyndall, Dale Willman, Clint Wilson II, Evans Witt, and Judy Woodruff. Their thoughtful insights and suggestions greatly improved the chapters, but the readers are in no way responsible for the analysis or narrative accounts in this report. Moreover, the readers were not sources for information, unless explicitly cited in footnotes. In no case did a reader serve as an anonymous source for anything in the report.

Finally, the project could not have been completed without the extraordinary support, both financially and personally, of the Pew Charitable Trusts, particularly Don Kimelman, a trusted editor, and Rebecca Rimel, whose idea this report was in the first place.