Newspaper ad freefall depicted in graphic simplicity

Sometimes a graphic cuts through the crap with such clarity that it's a work of art. Gawker, the Manhattan gossip site and celebrity-thrasher, has published a simple chart illustrating the freefall of the newspaper industry in the U.S. -- using industry supplied figures. The table shows the ebb and flow of advertising sales since 2000; but the second, darker, bars show the results adjusted to show constant 2000 dollars. It demonstrates that ad sales are down an astounding, terrifying almost 40% from where they were 8 years ago.

Also interesting was some analysis published by AdAge magazine and reproduced by the blog TechCrunch: it shows that the top 100 advertisers in the United States shifted about $1 billion in advertising from TV and newspapers to the web. Interestingly, consumer magazines seem to be doing better than holding their own in this environment.