After Latest Ad Results, Fish No Longer Want to be Wrapped in Newspapers

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Newspaper readers with a masochistic streak will want to check out the always interesting Reflections of a Newsosaur blog (newsosaur.blogspot.com) for the latest news on the industry, which comes in two formats: bleak and bleaker.

The Newspaper Association of America ("NAA") Wednesday released results showing newspapers' advertising revenues in 2011 totaled $23.9 billion, a 7.3 percent decline over the previous year and the lowest figures since 1984 sales of $23.5 billion, according to Newsosaur. Combined digital sales and print last year were less than half the all-time high in 2005 of $49.4 billion, NAA revealed.

Putting it all in context, which Newsosaur does skillfully and depressingly, combined ad sales for all U.S. newspapers in 2011 were only two-thirds of Google's $37.9 billion in revenues last year. One bright spot--newspapers' digital revenues climbed 6.8 percent last year, totaling $3.2 billion.