Consumers abandoning some media outlets as content dwindles
Media organizations continued to see a rapid decline in reporting resources and staff, while demand for news continues to grow, according to the Pew Research Center's annual report on the state of American journalism released Monday.
Read the post-show takeaway
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The decline has led many readers to abandon their traditional news outlet for lack of content as traditional news space is filled with advertising to make up for lost revenue.
"Pew also notes that the public is much more savvy about choosing a news outlet now, and 31% of U.S. adults have stopped using a particular outlet because it didn't give them what they want," reported Fast Company. "More men than women switch outlets, and more high-educated news consumers and high earners too--typically folk that Pew rates as high news consumers."
We talked to two media experts about the state of the news and what we can expect to appear on the new media horizon.
THE TAKEAWAY: Digital sources threaten the hold of local TV news.
Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, agreed with Kerri that television news is still the top source of news and information. But he cautioned that people go to TV news for just three things: traffic, weather and breaking news. Those, he said, are the kinds of news that people want every day.
"TV news has been very adaptable over the years by focusing on the news people wanted often," Rosenstiel explained. "Interestingly, those are now topics that you can get pretty easily from other apps that would not be associated with the local television station. You can check the weather at your convenience, whenever you want, probably faster than it would be to watch your local news on television. Media habits tend to die hard, but I think that local TV is really in a kind of vulnerable spot, particularly when you look at the demographics. Younger people, only a quarter of them are really watching local television."
He said the distinction between televisions and computers is becoming blurred.
"We are really reaching the point where there will be three kinds of screens, and they will really be the same device," he said. "You'll have a smart phone; you'll have a tablet or a computer; and then there will be a device formerly known as a television set hanging on your wall that will receive all of the data that you also receive on these two other devices.
"Essentially what we're waiting for is an interface that's easy, and it may even be oral, where you speak to the television set and then you get what you want. Right now, going on the clicker — first you have to decide which of the 11 clickers, and then you have to do a lengthy typing-in process. That interface is what's holding back the television as a digital device."
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STATE OF THE MEDIA:
• 5 Key Takeaways from Pew's State of the News Media 2013. While video advertising and targeted ads continue to grow, paywalls see mixed success. (PBS)
• Borrell predicts digital revenue will rise 30% next year at some newspapers.A digital advertising analyst sees possible growth online for newspapers. (Poynter)
• Pew Finds Digital News Consumption Up but Revenue Dwindling. Larger digital audience don't necessarily bring more ad revenue. (AdWeek)
