Terminal Media Delusion

[Geee]

American Thinker:

Among the most myopic of the various factions within the American ruling class is what is generically known as the mainstream media. Over the past ten years it has become painfully obvious that as a group they are determined to self-destruct while willing to accommodate, promote, or as necessary, turn a blind eye towards the devastating policies of the Left that will be the catalyst for their potential demise.

A majority of the media chooses, either deliberately or out of ignorance, to obscure the reality that the American Left and Barack Obama are destroying the viability of the economy and culture, and ultimately their own future and standard of living.

This lack of coherence was never more manifest than the media's slavish fawning over an unknown, but politically correct, Barack Obama in the 2008 election. Their continued loyalty despite his myriad failings, his palpable disinterest in the job of President and his obstinate dedication to disastrous policies reveals their ideological blindness. Meanwhile the landscape of the once mighty journalism community is one of utter devastation brought about in great part by their overt liberal bias and this kind of sycophantic behavior over the past twenty plus years.
Among many examples of this unreported decline and fall are:

The New York Times Company, often considered the bellwether of the national media, has reduced its labor force by 47% (6,600 jobs) since 2000. The average daily circulation for the Times has dropped by over 20% (226,000 readers) during the same period. The Company has been liquidating as many assets as possible in order to stay afloat -- they now have few viable assets left to sell.

The Washington Post, the other most influential newspaper in the country, has seen its average daily circulation drop by 30% (237,000 readers) since 2000. More devastating has been the plummet in print advertising revenue which has dropped by over 55% since 2000. They too have made major reductions in their labor force.

Among the largest chain of newspapers in the country, the McClatchy Company has experienced a similar downturn. Since acquiring the Knight-Ridder chain in 2006 the Company has seen its average daily circulation decline from 2.84 million readers to 2.05 (a drop of 28% in only four years). Many of the individual papers within the group have resorted to massive layoffs and selling assets as not only circulation but ad revenue has dropped precipitously.

The Gannet family of newspapers (the largest in the country) has lost over 2 million in paid circulation since 2000 (28%) while their ad revenue has dropped by 44%.

Since 2000 total U.S. newspaper circulation has fallen by nearly 11 million readers (20%).

The traditional news magazines (Time, Newsweek and US News & World Report) have experienced even more devastating results since 2000. Their readership has declined by over 3.6 million (40%). Advertising revenue has dropped by nearly 65%. A clear indicator of the demise of this media sector is the sale of Newsweek by the Washington Post Company for $1.00.

The three network evening news broadcasts have suffered a similar fate. (Since 1991 they have lost 12.6 million viewers (34%).