At the 2010 Colorado Business Economic Outlook, the forecast for newspaper publishing industry was the following:
"the recession has accelerated the dilemma facing newspapers in Colorado and across the nation.... Businesses and consumers have substantially reduced spending on traditional advertising.This suggests that the newspaper's business model has become obsolete."
Since the 2010 presentation in Denver in early December, denverpost.com reported that Affiliated Media Inc. received permission to seek court approval of its bankruptcy plan to cut debt by about $751 million at a hearing set for March 4, 2010. The company is the holding company for the Denver-based MediaNews Group, the owner of the Denver Post.
Social media is at the heart of the structural changes taking place in the way information is shared. The following sampling of social media statistics illustrates the shift that is occurring:
- There are more than 50 million LinkedIn members worldwide, and membership is growing rapidly.
- 15% of bloggers spend 10 or more hours each week blogging.
- 70% of bloggers are talking about brands on their blogs.
- Twitter has about 15 million active user accounts.
- Facebook current has in excess of 350 million active users on a global basis.
While the absolute accuracy of some of the data regarding social media usage may be questioned, it is clear that the movement toward social media is much more than a passing fancy. The BRD learned the value of social media this past fall when we made our first effort at promoting our economic forecast on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With certainty, the stories about the BRD's research will have a greater presence in these media in the months ahead.
