The internet-driven fall in classified-ad revenue is only one of the reasons for the decline of newspapers in America, which started decades ago. The advent of television news, and then cable television, lured readers and advertisers away.
Newspapers in western Europe are having to manage long-term decline rather than short-term pain.
In Japan, home to the world’s three biggest-selling daily newspapers (the Yomiuri Shimbun alone has a circulation of more than 10m), circulation has held up well, in part because over 94% of newspapers are sold by subscription. But there is trouble on the horizon. Young Japanese do not share their elders’ enthusiasm for newsprint, and advertising revenues are dropping as the population ages.
There is certainly no sign of a news crisis in India, now the world’s fastest-growing newspaper market. Television news is also booming: of more than 500 satellite channels that have been launched in India in the past 20 years. China is another market where news media are growing rapidly.
Read more at The Economist
