Before reading the Pew Research Center’s State of the Media report, I didn’t realize that the majority of digital-native news outlets actually focused on having apps for either Apple iOS or Android users.

According to the data, 61% of the digital-native news outlets have apps for one of the two main mobile platforms and a large portion (42%) have both. Digital dominance has increased greatly as technology has increased. Digital news outlets want to get their news out there as efficiently as possible. With the dominance of smartphones, it is easier for these outlets to do so by having an app. The news is on the go and people with access to smartphones can get the news at any time.

At first, I thought it was somewhat surprising that these news stations were focused on having an app on both platforms. I always thought of the news coming from a television, but then I realized the generation I am growing up in mobile devices are dominating so providing access to the news through apps on a smartphone is extremely important.

Dominance in Mobile Digital Advertising

Upon looking at the data for the digital advertising revenue on desktop and mobile, I wasn’t surprised by the immense growth from 2015 to 2016 of mobile use. According to the data, mobile advertising revenue experienced rapid growth from 2015 to 2016. This increase went from $32 billion in 2015 to $47 billion in 2016.

Even more, mobile advertising comprised 65% of all digital advertising revenue. Mobile is becoming so dominate because many digital platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) have the accessibility to be used on a desktop computer and a mobile device. With a mobile device, it becomes much easier because users are able to use these apps on the go. They have the access to everything they could get on a desktop computer right in their hands. It’s no wonder that mobile advertising has increased so much.

Digital Newspaper Advertising Revenue Increase and Newsroom Employment Decrease

As seen from the Newspaper Fact Sheet, I wasn’t too surprised at the increase in revenue for digital newspaper advertising. In 2016, digital advertising accounted for 29% of the newspaper advertising revenue. This is up from a quarter from 2015. Even so, the newsroom employment has decreased significantly in the last twelve years or so. In 2004 the total number of newsroom employees was 65,440 and in 2014 it declined to 41,400. The digital world is leading the way in how people receive their news. Since it is everywhere and so many people have become reliant on it, I am not shocked by the sharp decrease in newspaper revenue and newsroom employment. I wonder if newspaper companies will be able to make some sort of comeback. Could newspaper companies actually make enough from the digital advertising revenue to save themselves?

Wrapping It Up

I thought this reading was very insightful and I learned a lot about the current condition that news media is in. I actually spent a lot of time reading through the digital news media and newspaper fact sheets because I found those the most interesting.

Much of the information presented I didn’t find too surprising because I am currently a part of the generation where digital news is becoming so popular and dominant. I would love to read through some of the others thoroughly because I feel that these facts sheets have information that I might have not known. I’m sure there is a significant amount of facts and data that is compelling.