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Newspapers Are The Fastest Shrinking Industry In The U.S.

Good heads up over at Business Insider on this one...

On a percentage basis, newspapers shed the most jobs, down 28.4% between 2007 and 2011.


Not surprising given ad revenue at news papers has been demolished...


What stands out to me though is the ad rev crash seems to happen around 2000.

Hmmm... right around the time of the tech bubble crash and beginning of the housing bubble. 

I guess people who buy homes don't advertise much, unlike corporations, who advertising tons.

Which seems to support the thesis many hold that we've been in 'recession' since around 2001, which was hidden by the rise in home values.

What does this mean for PR folks? It's pretty simple really, the reporter you are dealing with is most likely over worked and under resourced, so PR folks that have their ducks in a row will gain preferential treatment.

What do I mean by ducks in a row?


  • You are easily reached via phone or email
  • You can set up interviews quickly with your executives
  • You have additional information at your finger tips (reports, statistics, etc.)
  • You have additional contacts outside your organization to reference to journalist to flush their stories out further (customers, analysts, other execs in other organizations, etc.
PR folks should steal the scout's motto - Be Prepared - to thrive in a world where journalists are working in very stressful environments and don't have the time or patience to figure your story out for you.  

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