"Newspaper ad revenues have fallen 23% in the last two years. ... By our calculations, nearly one out of every five journalists working for newspapers in 2001 is now gone, and 2009 may be the worst year yet," reads the summary of the "State of the News Media 2009" report. In local television, "revenues fell by 7% in an election year -- something unheard of -- and ratings are now falling or are flat across the schedule." News "audience migration to the Internet is now accelerating," but "online ad revenue to news websites now appears to be flattening; in newspapers it is declining. ...

As the climate change debate heats up, energy-related companies are spending millions of dollars to influence state-level politics in the U.S. Between 2003 and 2007, energy-related companies such as Chevron contributed $151 million to state-level politics, according to a new study by FollowTheMoney.org.