The Changing Times of Local Journalism

Those of us who pay attention to local search, know that newspapers are dying — at least in print form. Business Insider posted this chart mapping the growth and decline of total workers employed by news papers over the 62 years. And while it seems like it could be a banal point, the graphic depiction of the contraction of the print industry is somehow still shocking.  It appears as if there are the same amount of newspaper employees as there was in 1950.  This trend will continue to fall off the cliff.  Businesses better jump on the local search bus.

Jay Yarow and Kamelia Angelova write for Business Insider:

Newspapers had a nice run from the 1970s to the 1990s. Unfortunately, as this chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics makes clear — by way of Marketwatch — it’s over.

Newspaper employment has utterly collapsed in the last 15 years, with employment numbers now around where they were in the mid-1950s.

The good news: It’s a great opportunity. The next decade will give birth to new forms of reporting, more in tune with today’s technology and news consumption habits.