The traditional news media in the US are in a state of turmoil. Some of the biggest newspaper chains – first Knight Ridder and now Tribune Company – have put themselves up for sale. Network news broadcasters are slashing their budgets, the latest and most savage example being the cuts heralded by NBC Universal two weeks ago. No wonder there is a siege mentality in newsrooms around the land. Investors seem to be concluding that this is an industry with no future.

Annual Wincott Foundation

Richard Lambert lectures on ‘The future of the news in the digital era’. Read full speech

As is often the case, though, the mood swing has gone too far. It is true that revenue growth is stagnating, as readers and viewers spend more time with digital media and advertising is spread across a wider range of media outlets. Even among an older audience readership is falling: 10 years ago, 70 per cent of Americans aged 65 or more were regular newspaper readers, whereas the figure today is 58 per cent.