Newspaper circulation decline

The decline in newspaper circulation is a topic I’ve begun to explore for the forthcoming book on the history of the Internet. In May 2009, the Newspaper Association of America issued figures revealing a 29.7% decline in US newspapers’ print advertising revenues in a single quarter at the beginning of 2009. This presumably is partly due to a gathering economic crisis affecting the economy at large. Indeed, the newspapers’ online advertising revenue also declined, but by only 13.4%. Yet figures for the first quarter of the previous year, 2008, reveal the trend: print advertising had declined 14.38% while the newspapers’ online advertising rose by 7.20%.

Data on the rise and fall in newspaper circulation between 1940 and 2008 reveals a trend that correlates with Internet expansion. Newspaper circulation grew steadily from the 1940s to the 1990s. In 1989 newspaper circulation reached over 62,000,000 and remained in this bracket until 1995 when it began a gradual annual decline. Note here that 1995 marks the privatization of the Internet and an explosion in the number of computers connected to the Internet from 3.8 million in late 1994 to 12.8 million in mid 1996. Between 1995 and 2003 circulation fell to 58,500,000. In 2004 the decline gathered pace, plummeting to 49,115,000 in 2008.

By 2008 the number of newspapers sold in the United States was the same as in 1966. More anon…

Quick note on ‘Openness’

The word ‘Openness’ is attractive as the keystone of the book‘s title. And yet it is controversial.

It may even be inaccurate. The ‘Open’ word as I am using it first came to me when I read interviews with Paul Baran in which he talked about two startling things: first, how RAND published his secret research because they believed it necessary to share it with the Soviets, and thereby limit the possibility of a nuclear conflagration; and second,

Interview with Tim Wu

Tim Wu was speaking at the IIEA in Dublin on 25 May. I had a talk with him on the record about Theodore Vail, AT&T Bell, net neutrality, Internet regulation, Google and “the temptation of Goolge”, norms on the Internet, and the future of mobile networks.

Silicon Valley Landmark: Zott’s and the packet radio test

San Francisco features disproportionately in the history of the digital age. Yet despite the historical coverage it receives, little attention has been given to one of its landmarks, a small wood paneled tavern known as “Zott’s” – officially named “The Alpine Inn”

Models of state research spending: Vannevar Bush v Mike Mansfield

A new statement from Ireland’s Science Advisory Counsel calls for an exploration of how “Ireland can maximise the revenue potential of its investment in STI”. The Irish Science Advisory Counsel is composed of senior figures in industry and research including Sean Baker of IONA and Roger Whatmore of the Tyndall Institute. The question coming to the fore is to what extent should Government direct strategic research funding to advance the national economic interest? Two examples worth examining for its pros and cons is the post war US  model established by Vannevar Bush, and also the countervailing approach that embodied in the Mansfield Amendment introduced of 1969.

Internet growth before WWW

Some figures on Internet growth from 1981 to 1993. This is growth in the Internet before WWW.

Date—-Hosts
08/81—213
10/85—1,961
10/89—159,000
10/93—-2,056,000