Then came movies, Radio and TV. There were new things to take up the former reading time. So first the smaller cities and finally the bigger ones became one newspaper towns. At the same time the number of magazines declined. There was a time (pardon the pun) when Look, Life, and the Saturday Evening Post had large circulations.
Eighteen years ago Talk Radio hit the scene as the Reagan appointed FCC removed the regulations making political talk radio illegal. That made the way for Rush and other talk shows that gave the right a voice and reduced the time people spent reading news and listening to main stream media news and commentary.
In the last decade the Internet has competed for a reader's time. And the print media as well as the major networks have lost audience.
We are almost back to the days before Radio.. when the media consisted of both left and right biased outlets. The days of the left only outlets are nearly gone.
It is interesting to note that during the days when both left and right wing newspapers existed in most markets, the Republicans dominated politics. From its birth in the 1860s until the 1930s Republicans mostly dominated national politics. Then came the move to a media that was biased to the left. During that period the Democrats mostly held sway in national politics.
Now we are getting back to a media where both the left and the right positions are available to all those who are interested. Once again Republicans have become the dominate party in national affairs.
That should tell the Democrats something.. but I doubt if they get the message.
Excellent analysis.
MSM, as other industries, either keep up with technology and consumer demand or cease to exist in that form. It's as simple and as complicated as that.
Another factor is the Balkanized younger market - the market MSM are trying to lure - spend more time on computers, video games and with friends then on newspapers, network news or news magazines.
Think Couric is going to appeal to that demographic?