Total local ad spending for newspapers, radio and broadcast TV has plunged 32% since the first quarter of 2005, says Mediapost.

Figures for the first quarter of 2009 were $8.5 billion, down from $12.5 billion in the comparable 2005 period. One billion of the decline came before 2008, suggesting that structural changes, and not just the recession, are to be blamed.

–Elizabeth Jensen