It comes as no surprise that newspapers had their worst year in 2009 of any year since the Great Depression. Advertising revenue has dropped dramatically and once loyal readers have opted to end their decades long subscriptions. Online advertising revenues make up only 10% of newspaper revenues. The call to paid content is being rejected by most Internet users who like all of their stuff, including the news, for free.

A recent New York Times article states the following facts:

Advertising revenue fell 27.2 percent, or more than $10 billion, from 2008 – which was, at the time, the industry’s worst year since the Depression. From its peak in 2005, newspaper ad revenue dropped 44.2 percent, from more than $49.4 billion to less than $27.6 billion last year. The last time advertisers spent less on newspapers was in 1986.

Online ad revenue, long the fast-rising hope of a deeply troubled industry, fell 11.8 percent last year, though some publishers say that it is growing again in 2010. Internet ads accounted for 10 percent of all newspaper ad revenue.

So with these facts in mind, where will you be getting your news when newspapers are gone?

Comments welcome.

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