What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism

Columbia Journalism School | Tow Center for Digital JournalismChapter OneNews from Everywhere: The Economics of Digital JournalismIn early 2005, a researcher at the Poynter Institute published a column that wasinstantaneously read and—by many—misunderstood. 1Rick Edmonds, who studies the financial side of the news business for Poynter’swebsite, speculated about how long it would take for online newspaper revenueto match the dollars brought in by the print side. He estimated that digitalads accounted for around 3 percent of the total revenue for an average U.S. paper.Edmonds assumed an optimistic online growth rate, around 33 percent a year,and what seemed then to be a reasonably sober estimate of print growth, around4 percent.High hopesIn 2005, an analyst projected how long it might take for a typicalnewspaper’s online revenue to match its print revenue.Even assuming optimistic annual growth of 33.3% online and 4% print,it would take 14 years.Revenue in millions$180$160$140Print$120$100$ 80$ 40Online$ 20$ 02004 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18SOURCE: Poynter.org analysisNews from Everywhere: The Economics of Digital Journalism 7