• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, July 4, 2016

According to a Demo Memo analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, by the American Consumers Newsletter by Cheryl Russell, Editorial Director, New Strategist Press, thanks to the internet there are fewer media jobs!

Until the introduction of the smartphone in 2007, says the report, the effect of the internet on employment in traditional media, newspapers, magazines, and books, had been minimal. Between 1993 when Mosaic, the first graphical interface for the Worldwide Web was introduced, 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, says the report.

 Employment Changes:

In The Newspaper Industry

   1993 to 2007: -79,000

   2007 to 2016: -168,200

68% of job loss occurred since 2007

 In The Magazine Industry

   1993 to 2007: -300

   2007 to 2016: -48,400

99% of job loss occurred since 2007

 In The 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, says the report. 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.

 And, thanks to the internet says the report, newspaper employment has plummeted over the past two decades, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics' data, with most of the decline occurring since 2007, when the smartphone transformed the internet into something personal and portable. Behind the decline in newspaper employment is the shrinking newspaper audience, notes the report, a trend starkly documented in Pew Research Center's State of the News Media 2016. The percentage of Americans who read a daily newspaper (print or digital) has plummeted since 2007. 

For more from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, please visit here.