The State of the News Media 2008 is the fifth edition of our annual report on the health and status of American journalism.

Its goal is to gather in one place as much data as possible about all the major sectors of journalism, to identify trends, mark key indicators, note areas for further inquiry and provide a resource for citizens, journalists and researchers.

For each area we have produced original research and aggregated existing data into a narrative. Statistical data also exists in an interactive format (see our index of charts), which allows users to customize their own graphics. This year, we also offer A Year in the News, a content analysis of more than 70,000 stories from 48 news outlets across five media sectors; a Survey of Journalists, produced with the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press; a Special Report on the Future of Advertising and a content study of Citizen Media Sites, 64 in 15 communities.

The study is the work of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a non political, non partisan research institute that is part of the Pew Research Center in Washington. The study is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and was produced with the help of a number of partners, including Rick Edmonds of the Poynter Institute and a host of industry “readers.”

The full report is comprehensive, totaling more than 180,000 words.

Click here for info about printing the report.