Newspapers are different in Canada, with more readers favoring national papers like the Globe and Mail than in US. But the trends are similar, as this new book by the former editor of the Globe and Mail points out. One interesting revelation: fully 40 percent of the paper is read by fewer than 1,000 people. Web journalism, with its advanced metrics, has figured this out. That may well explain why arts coverage has vanished from papers and websites. I know in the early days of Crosscut we thought there was a gap to fill in arts coverage, and we ran excellent critics. Very small readership, to my dismay.
It’s no secret the media industry is in turmoil. But could the story have been different?
THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM