A report on how we get our news today, and what it means to the broadcast networks.

photo by Martin Howard. Thanks!

In the past week at ABC News, downsizing is all the talk. Within the next couple of months the news division will buyout or layoff 20-25% of the staff - 300 to 400 people.  Who's going or staying, what will be the job responsibilities of the people who stay, how much work, how many hours a person will have to work in a day, is unclear. Supposedly, there is a plan for the ones that remain. It involves the word digital a lot. 

The downsizing is happening because of the overall change in news. Most notably, internet and cell phones, it's growing, so the broadcast networks are now in a scramble not to mirror the newspaper industry.

A report out from Pew Research has put some numbers to these changes. They found that on a typical day:

    •    78% of Americans say they get news from a local TV station.
    •    73% say they get news from a national network such as CBS or cable TV station   such as CNN or Fox News.
    •    61% say they get some kind of news online.
    •    54% say they listen to a radio news program at home or in the car.
    •    50% say they read news in a local newspaper.
    •    17% say they read news in a national newspaper such as the New York Times or USA Today.

Read the whole Pew Report here