We recently saw the demise of the Rocky Mountain News.  The Chicago Tribune and the LA Times have declared bankruptcy.

Real Clear Politics put together a list of the top 10 newspapers in trouble stating “papers are suffering silently, with certain death just around the corner for some.”  And “The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Rocky Mountain News and Tucson Citizen all might not see April Fools Day. Then yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle hinted that it could be going away soon as well. Even the Washington Post, one of the most stable papers, reported a 77% drop in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2008. In today’s gloomy newspaper landscape, no one is safe.”

The Rocky Mountain News is already gone and the if the San Francisco Chronicle  can’t reduce expenses dramatically within the next few weeks, the Hearst Corp. said it will close or sell the Chronicle, northern California’s largest newspaper. “Is San Francisco really the frontrunner in the race to become the first major U.S. city to go without a major daily?” asks the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

The other 9 on their list are:

• New York Daily News – Circulation: 632,595 (10% Decline Since 2007)
• Los Angeles Times – Circulation: 739,147 (4% decrease since 2007)
• St. Paul Pioneer Press – Circulation: 184,973 (3% decrease since 2007)
• Chicago Sun-Times – Circulation: 313,176 (.2% increase since 2007)
• Detroit News – Circulation: 178,280 (5% decrease since 2007)
• San Francisco Chronicle – Circulation: 339,430 (8% decrease since 2007)
• Miami Herald – Circulation: 210,884 (12% decrease since 2007)
• Philadelphia Daily News – Circulation: 97,694 (9% decrease since 2007)
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Circulation: 117,572 (9% decrease since 2007)

ITV, Britain’s largest commercial free-to-air broadcaster,  has lost 80% of its value over the past two years as they  lost viewers  and advertising crumbled amid the economic downturn.   “As newspaper presses grind to a halt, it’s not unlikely that local TV stations may follow suit, as viewers pack up their loyalties and head online in search for news and entertainment. That transitioned audience can now receive the same content via smartphones and portable internet-capable devices, thus media outlets are scrambling to reach that new viewership to accommodate for a changing industry,” reports Tom’s Guide.

So for those of us who rely on the mainstream media for coverage, quo vadis? (That’s Latin for Where do we go now?)

A free webinar about on Tuesday March 10th with Chris Abraham has some clues.

Another resource is the Proactive Report: Media Relations in the Internet Age