{"id":10481,"date":"2019-07-23T14:01:57","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T19:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/key-takeaways-state-of-the-news-media-2018\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T01:40:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T06:40:44","slug":"key-takeaways-state-of-the-news-media-2018","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2019\/07\/23\/key-takeaways-state-of-the-news-media-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"5 key takeaways about the state of the news media in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year since 2004, Pew Research Center has issued an assessment of the state of the news media<\/a>, tracking key audience and economic indicators for a variety of sectors within the U.S. journalism industry. Here are some key findings about the state of the industry in 2018:<\/p>\n\n

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\"Newspaper<\/figure>\n\n

U.S. newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940, the first year with available data. Total daily newspaper circulation<\/a> (print and digital combined) was an estimated 28.6 million for weekday and 30.8 million for Sunday in 2018. Those numbers were down 8% and 9%, respectively, from the previous year, according to the Center\u2019s analysis of Alliance for Audited Media data. Both figures are now below their lowest recorded levels, though weekday circulation first passed this threshold in 2013.<\/p>\n\n

Digital circulation for daily newspapers is harder to track. It did rise in 2018, though not enough to fully reverse the overall decline in circulation.<\/p>\n\n

Revenue from circulation was steady in 2018, but ad revenue for newspapers fell 13%, according to an analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Though some national publications have seen growth in revenue<\/a> and in digital subscriptions<\/a> over the past few years, the newspaper sector overall continues to face challenges.<\/p>\n\n

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\"Key<\/figure>\n\n

Cable news was a bright spot in another down year for the U.S. news media industry\u2019s economic fortunes. Revenue rose 4% over the past year for Fox News, CNN and MSNBC combined<\/a>, according to estimates from Kagan, a media research group. That made cable news one of the only sectors with a revenue increase in 2018.<\/p>\n\n

Cable news revenue has grown by roughly a third (36%) since 2015, with ad revenue up 58% over the same period. And unlike some other sectors that typically see revenue declines in non-election years, cable news has been on a steady rise since the 2016 election. Some of this revenue has flowed back into newsroom spending, which has risen 22% since 2015. However, employment in cable TV newsrooms has not risen<\/a>, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and neither have wages.<\/p>\n\n