Can Newspapers Survive?
Between 2004 and 2009, the U.S. newspaper industry lost 34 per cent of its readers; the U.K. industry lost 22 per cent. Since then, the speed of the downturn has increased.
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During 2009, it was difficult to find anybody inside the newspaper business who was not profoundly depressed about the future of the industry. All the trend lines were downwards. The migration of readers and advertisers towards digital media was already a long-standing headache for the industry. Then came the credit crunch, whose aftermath brought recession, further decline in sales, and a sharp downturn in advertising. The result was industry-wide gloom. … In the last few months, however, the tone of the conversation in the business has changed. It’s now not so much ‘We’re doomed!’, more ‘Quick, what’s the plan?’
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