The Broadsheets' Broad Decline

Continuing their long climb down the ladder of success, newspapers have been replaced by--you guessed it--the Internet--as the second most popular source for news. Television for the moment remains the leading news source for most people.

This according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press.

The findings, as reported by Media Post News, are interesting:

• 40% of the survey's respondents say they stay current on world and national events via the Internet, as opposed to 35% who keep up with events through a daily newspaper
• The 40% mark is up a startling 16% increase in one year, from 24% in 2007
• For newspapers the long-term trend is a death spiral: The Internet's share has tripled from 13% since 2001, while newspapers have dropped almost 25% in the same period.
• While television continues to take home the gold medal as a news source, its share of news hawks continues to plummet as well--70% in 2008, but down from 82% in 2002
• The percentage of 20-something respondents who claimed that TV was their primary source of news dropped in one year from 68 to 59%

A couple of dynamics drive these trends. First, the use of the Internet as a news source continues to grow because it allows us to disintermediate the information process.

On TV and in newspapers we're pretty much stuck with whatever the anchorhead tells is we need to know today, or whatever the assignment editor feels is important for us to know. On the Internet, we as news gatherers decide what's important to us. We've removed the mediator from the process.

Second, readers and viewers who are clearly centrist or right of center appear to be tuning out and rejecting the left-leaning news mandarins who are no longer satisfied with reporting the news, but who want to conform the news to their own world view.

The fact that the most coveted demographic in media is migrating to the Internet means that advertisers dollars will continue to follow them. That means less money for newspapers and TV, fewer metropolitan dailies, fewer and leaner news operations, and an even less desirable news product.

As an old newsie, and someone who remembers the sound of 12-year old paper boys flinging the afternoon paper on the front steps, that's a bit sad. But in the end it is the continued democratization of information, and that's a good thing overall.

Just thought you might like to know.