State of the News Media in 2021: “It may be best remembered as a transitional year away from the frenzied news pace of the Trump years”

From an AP story by David Bauder headlined “Outlets hurt by dwindling public interest in news in 2021”:

The presidential election, pandemic and racial reckoning were stories that drove intense interest and engagement to news outlets in 2020. To a large degree, 2021 represented the inevitable hangover.

Various metrics illustrate the dwindling popularity of news content.

Cable news networks were the main form of evening entertainment for millions of Americans last year. In 2021, weekday prime-time viewership dropped 38% at CNN, 34% at Fox News Channel and 25% at MSNBC, according to the Nielsen company.