Stop the Presses

• Since 1972, the percentage of Americans who read a newspaper every day has dropped from 70% to less than 40%.
• Between 1990 and 2004, daily newspaper circulation dropped 11%, from 62 million to 55 million.
• 2/3 of independent newspaper owners have shut down in the past three decades.
• Less than one-fifth of the nation's 1,500 daily newspapers are independently owned.
• Nearly 40% of newspapers, accounting for almost 70% of daily circulation, are owned by major newspaper chains.

• A Blogger Says: Save The MSM!

  There's an intriguing paradox at the heart of the modern trend toward media consolidation, one that my great-grandfather probably would have appreciated.

• Breaking the News

• Reckless Disregard: Gutting the Los Angeles Times

  Dean Baquet on the gutting of the Los Angeles Times

• More than half of all U.S. markets are dominated by one paper.
• Newspapers are expected to make $50 billion from advertising in 2007.
• Online advertising is expected to account for around 6% of newspapers’ total ad revenues in 2007.
• The newspaper industry has cut 2,800 full-time newsroom jobs this decade.
• The value of the United States’ airwaves has been estimated at $367 billion.
• The number of companies owning TV stations has dropped 40% since 1995.
• 1/3 of independent TV owners have left the business.
• Less than 4% of television stations are owned by minorities.
• The number of radio station owners has dropped by 34% since 1996, when ownership rules were relaxed.
• 1/3 of local radio stations are owned by out-of-town conglomerates.
• Comcast and TimeWarner serve 40% of households with cable TV.
• Since the passage of the Telecom Act of 1996, cable TV rates have gone up 40%.
• Nearly one-fifth of Americans get their Internet access via AOL/TimeWarner.

Sources: Common Cause, Isp-Planet.com, Newspaper Association of America, Project for Excellence in Journalism, StopBigMedia.com