Alan Mutter provides an arresting chart on quarterly newspaper ad sales since 2006. According to Mutter, “In the worst quarter in modern history for American newspapers, advertising sales fell by an unprecedented 28.3% in the first three months of 2009, plunging sales by more than $2.6 billion from the prior year.” This only confirms what we all know: we are in the midst of historic transition in journalism. We are seeing Schumpeter’s “creative destruction” at work, in newspapers all around America, and it’s not at all clear what will eventually emerge from it.
(h/t: Michael Calderone, Politico.com)