The State of the News Media 2014 report is out, and there's lots of interesting information about how the landscape is evolving ... or, in some cases, not. The ones that stand out for us at CA:
You've come a long way, baby.
- Print advertorials have long been a client staple. They're cheaper than straight ads, offer the freedom of more text, and are sometimes mistaken for "real" magazine and newspaper articles. Now we are seeing the rise of the online advertorial, or "native ad". From Pew Research: "The New York Times, The Washington Post and most recently The Wall Street Journal have now begun or announced plans to begin devoting staff to this kind of advertising, often as a part of a new 'custom content division.' eMarketer predicts that native ads spending will reach $2.85 billion by 2014."
- Online subscription is still a tough sell. Print media may be struggling in the digital age, but people are more likely to pay money for it.
- Despite all the new ways that companies and brands are communicating with stakeholders, the press release is still the most-trusted source of company-generated news -- over ads, and even blogs and op-eds "penned" by executives.
What aspects of media evolution do you find most interesting? The rise of clickbait? Online video consumption? How social media might be strangling our news consumption?