Newspapers slipping as news source

Online news sources and continued growth by cable outlets are seemingly conspiring to take a bite out of newspaper uses – just over a third of those queried in the latest installment of a longstanding Pew study read a newspaper "yesterday."

Broadcast television and radio suffered only minor slippage. Like all things internet, its trajectory has been up steeply since Pew began tracking it as a news source in 1995. It stood at 31% in 2006 and is up to 37% now, ahead of radio (35%) and newspaper (34%). It still trails cable TV (39%) and the king of the hill, local TV news (52%).

However, local TV had its poorest showing going back to 1993, and was far behind that year’s 77% high water mark. Radio also reached a low point, but lost only 1% since 2006. Newspaper, by contrast, hit a -6% pothole.

Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

RBR/TVBR observation:  Radio can regain itself and TV can stop the slow down turn – it is called local – so be local. First recommendation is review the above data again as it tells a story.

Radio – Think what made radio successful in 1993 that the medium is not doing today. One answer is to take the clue from the cable news channels – when the viewer reports – in this case the listener reports and then use your analog signal and website.

TV – Yes you too take the clue from cable news – your viewers carry the same cell video phone as the cable viewers – put them to work for you. Beats having just an anchor taped to a chair reading copy. Get those anchors on the street. Get your viewers involved. Cable does not rule the news world – local does – we at RBR/TVBR call it interactive programming.