2008 Top Newspapers, Blogs & Consumer Magazines

BurrellesLuce (the media monitoring service I use at the NKY Convention & Visitors Bureau) is out with its 2008 Top Newspapers, Blogs and Consumer Magazines. The numbers and changes from 2007

Newspapers
1. USA Today
2. Wall Street Journal
3. New York Times
4. LA Times
5. The Daily News (NY-moves up one slot flip-flopping with NY Post)

English Language Blogs
1. Huffingtonpost.com (5 last year)
2. Techcrunch.com (4)
3. Engadget.com (1)
4. Gizmodo.com (3)
5. Boingboing.net (2)

Magazines (all ranked same as in '07)
1. AARP The Magazine
2. AARP Bulletin
3. Readers Digest
4. Better Homes & Gardens
5. National Geographic

Blogs, Social Networking More Important With Newspapers' Decline

I was facilitating a session of the Cincinnati American Marketing Association chapter's newly formed Non-Profit Shared Interest Group this morning led by local blogging guru Michelle Lentz. Michelle talked about the importance and growth of blogging and how it impacts impressions of your organization whether it's a non-profit or for-profit. I was reflecting on this especially in light of the great decline in traditional media, places like the Cincinnati Enquirer (http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/blog-259-bloodletting-at-the-enquirer.html). Pardon the cliche, but the hand-writing has been on the wall for the past year or two as the Enquirer has launched its Get Published initiative. Coverage in standard news media sources is not going to get better/more plentiful. It's going to get worse. Gannett, the Enquirer's parent now considers the daily newspaper a baby-boomer niche publication according to one high-ranking executive to whom I spoke. It really does reinforce the notion that blogging, tweeting and the use of Facebook and other social networking tools is going to grow as businesses and charities alike try to expand their notoriety in the public eye.