Online readership and advertising revenue has surpassed that of print newspapers in the US for the first time, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The State of the News Media study also found that more people - 46 per cent of Americans surveyed - said they get news online at least three times a week, versus 40 per cent who said they get their news from newspapers and their companion websites.
The latest findings show that newspapers suffered not only from the economic downturn when advertisers snapped shut their wallets, but that more people are choosing to go online for news and information and advertisers are following them.
Indeed, newspaper companies such as Gannett, the New York Times and McClatchy are still reporting declines in advertising revenue when other media such as television are enjoying a rebound in ad sales.
Newspaper ad revenue in the US last year fell 46 per cent in four years to an estimated $22.8 billion, with an additional $3 billion more for online advertising according to the report.
Meanwhile online advertising is at $25.8 billion in 2010 the study said citing data from researcher eMarketer.
"A challenge for news organisations is that much of this online ad spending, 48 per cent, is in search advertising, little of which finances news," according to the study.
Newspapers felt that impact over the last decade resulting in shrinking staffs including reporters and editors. Newsrooms are currently 30 per cent smaller than they were in 2000, the study said.
To make up for lost advertising revenue and fewer people reading copies of print papers, newspapers are beginning to charge for online access to their websites.
The New York Times, for instance, is preparing to start charging for some of its content later this quarter. However of the three dozen newspapers that have moved to some sort of online pay model, only 1 per cent of users opted to pay.
Some 23 per cent of those Americans surveyed said they would pay $5 a month for an online version if their local newspaper ceased to exist.
Reuters
