Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Fewer Media Jobs: Thanks Internet!

Until the introduction of the smartphone in 2007, the effect of the internet on employment in traditional media—newspapers, magazines, and books—had been minimal. Between 1993 (when Mosaic was introduced—the first graphical interface for the Worldwide Web) and 2007, newspaper employment had fallen some, but the worst was yet to come. Employment in the magazine and book industries was almost unchanged during those years. Not so after the smartphone transformed the internet into something personal and portable...

Employment change in newspaper industry
1993 to 2007: –79,000
2007 to 2016: –168,200
68% of job loss occurred since 2007

Employment change in magazine industry
1993 to 2007: –300
2007 to 2016: –48,400
99% of job loss occurred since 2007

Employment change in book industry
1993 to 2007: 700
2007 to 2016: –20,700
100% of job loss occurred since 2007

Traditional media jobs are disappearing, and new jobs are emerging in internet publishing and broadcasting—but not enough to fill the gap. Internet media employment grew by 125,300 between 2007 and 2016, or a little less than half the 237,300 jobs lost in the newspaper, magazine, and book industries. Even including job growth in television and film, there has been a net loss of 159,200 media jobs since 2007.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Employment Trends in Newspaper Publishing and Other Media, 1990-2016

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