5 key takeaways about the state of the news media in 2018

Some key findings about the state of the news media in 2018:

1. US newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940, the first year with available data. 
2. Cable news was a bright spot in another down year for the US news media industry’s economic fortunes. Revenue rose 4% over the past year for Fox News, CNN and MSNBC combined. 
3. Digital ad revenue has grown exponentially, but a majority goes to Facebook and Google rather than to publishers. Revenue from ads placed on digital platforms – counting all platforms, not just news sites – rose by 23% in 2018, and now makes up nearly half (49%) of all ad revenue in the US. When it comes to display ad revenue – a form of digital advertising that include banners, videos and other advertisements that news organizations and other websites typically run alongside their content – half of all digital revenue went to just two tech companies: Facebook (40%) and Google (12%). 
4. The audience for local TV news has steadily declined. The average audience fell in key time slots in 2018, down 10% for morning news and 14% for late night and evening news.
5. Traffic to news websites seems to have leveled off. Unique visitors to the websites of both newspapers and digital-native news sites showed no growth between the fourth quarters of 2017 and 2018, the second year in which there was no notable growth.