Skip to main content

Newspapers finally eclipsed by online news and ad revenue

Newspapers and print publishing have been wondering how they can compete meaningfully with online media for years—and now the question is truly coming to a head. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism State of the News Media report for 2011 finds that, for the first time, online news readership and advertising revenue in the United States has exceeded that of traditional print newspapers. The study finds that traditional newspapers’ businesses are caught on the horns of two forces: the general economic downturn that dramatically reduced advertisers’ spending, and consumers’ increasing choice to look online for news and information rather than in print publications.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

According to the report, some 46 percent of Americans surveyed get their news online at least three times per week, compared to just 40 percent who get news from traditional newspapers or newspapers’ Web sites.

Recommended Videos

Overall, the study found that advertising revenue for newspapers was down by some 46 percent in 2010 compared to 2006, although it still accounted for some $22.8 billion in revenue. However, while television has started to see a rebound in advertising sales as the economy shows signs of recovery, newspapers have yet to see any uptick in their ad sales. Furthermore, with smaller audiences, newspapers can’t sustain their ad rates.

According to the study, newsrooms are currently about 30 percent smaller than they were in 2000. and news operations are hurt even more by conversion to online advertising, where nearly half the money spent is in search advertising, comparatively little of which targets news. However, the study also notes online news outlets are starting to add reporters, which may be offsetting jobs lost in traditional newsrooms: before recent layoffs, AOL was estimated to have some 500 journalists employed in its Patch operation for local news, and major outlets like Bloomberg and News Corp have added online reporting positions.

Newspapers weren’t the only media outlet to suffer during 2010, according to the report. While online media saw a 17.1 percent increase in its audience during the year, cable television saw a drop of 13.7 percent, and magazines saw an 8.9 percent drop. Audio (like AM/FM radio) saw a 6 percent drop, whereas newspapers only saw a 5 percent drop during the year. Network TV dropped 3.4 percent, and local TV saw the smallest decline of all: 1.5 percent.

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
1Password vs. NordPass: which password manager is best in 2025?
1Password and NordPass reviews appear beside one another on a PC monitor.

1Password and NordPass are among the most popular and best password managers available. Both offer significant improvements over the built-in solutions you get from Microsoft, Apple, and Google, making it hard to choose between them.

I've reviewed the latest versions of 1Password and NordPass in 2025 and can share some insights into the differences and compare prices to help you discover which offers the best value for you.
Specs

Read more
This iBuyPower gaming PC with RTX 4060 is under $1,000 — for now
The iBUYPOWER Trace 7 Mesh gaming desktop on a white background.

Gaming PC deals worth buying still usually cost more than $1,000 after the discounts, but here's an offer from Best Buy that's available for a more affordable price. The iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh, which is originally sold for $1,300, is down to just $900 following a $400 discount. We're not sure how much time is remaining before this bargain ends, so if you're interested in this gaming desktop, you need to push forward with your purchase immediately if you want to secure the savings.

Why you should buy the iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh gaming PC
The iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh is a relatively affordable gaming PC, but it doesn't sacrifice much in terms of performance. It runs on the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, which is in our list of the best graphics cards as our recommendation for 1080p gaming. It has 16GB of RAM, which is the best place to start for a gaming PC, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need. With these components, you won't have trouble playing the best PC games, though you'll have to go with medium settings for the more demanding titles.

Read more
Google gives memory superpowers to Gemini for more natural chats
Google Gemini running on an Android phone.

Google is finally bringing a crucial new feature to Gemini that will solve a key pain point of interacting with its AI chatbot. The company is enabling a memory feature which allows Gemini to pull up details from a past conversation.

“Whether you’re asking a question about something you’ve already discussed, or asking Gemini to summarize a previous conversation, Gemini now uses information from relevant chats to craft a response,” says a Google update.

Read more