Vocus Releases Annual Study: State of the Media in 2011

Report sees the media industry stabilizing; layoffs and closures slow, digital and mobile see growth, Patch.com sites pressure competitive local news

Although there are still losses within the industry, successful organizations are adapting to move forward.

Lanham, MD, (PRWEB) January 26, 2011

Vocus, (NASDAQ: VOCS) a leading provider of on-demand software for public relations management, today has released its landmark study titled: State of the Media Report 2011. The report covers the four traditional media segments including newspapers, magazines, television and radio, and finds that the media industry has revived in the last 12 months and it continues to experiment with new digital and mobile distribution models.

“Twelve months ago, the media appeared to be in freefall. Mass layoffs, bankruptcies and a general sense of demise blighted the media landscape. Much of our industry was on its knees,” reads the report, written by theinVocus Media Research Team. “Then, something changed. In 2010, the layoffs and closures began to slow down. The industry began to stabilize.”

The report analyzes media trends from 2010, makes forecasts for 2011 and looks at what this means from a high-level – from PR professional to publisher. The report is numbers-driven and key findings include:

• Approximately 151 newspapers folded in 2010; about half the number in 2009
• 724 online newspapers that launched this past year; all but 36 were Patch.com sites
• Magazine launches lean toward local and regional focus; the “hyperlocal” concept grows in popularity
• More than 60 television stations added the 4:30 a.m. newscast.
• Terrestrial radio use is down 15% over the last five years
• Nearly 2,000 radio stations now broadcast in HD,
• There are more than 1,000 new local FM HD2/HD3 radio stations

The 2011 State of the Media report forecasts that as the media attempts to survive in an increasingly digital world, the industry will continue to experiment with ideas such as the metered paywall.

“The media appears to be evolving. Online staffs are growing and social media editors are becoming a mainstay in newsrooms,” says the report. “Although there are still losses within the industry, successful organizations are adapting to move forward.”

The report is based on ongoing research by the Vocus media research team. The report is freely available for download online (with registration) here: http://www.vocus.com/resources/state-of-media/index.asp

Vocus is also hosting a Webinar a free, one-hour webinar will be held on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. EST. To register for the webinar, or for more information, please click on the following link: http://bit.ly/e5pN62

About Vocus
Vocus, Inc. (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a leading provider of on-demand marketing and PR software. Our web-based software suite helps organizations of all sizes to fundamentally change the way they communicate with both the media and the public, optimizing their visibility and increasing their ability to measure its impact. Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of earned marketing including media relations, news distribution, news monitoring and social media. We deliver our solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Vocus is used by more than 30,000 organizations worldwide and is available in seven languages. Vocus is based in Lanham, MD with offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit vocus.com or call (800) 345-5572.

This release contains "forward-looking" statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These are statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "may," "will," "expects," "projects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "intends," "plans," "should," "seeks," and similar expressions. This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Vocus’ expectations and assumptions concerning future financial performance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted by certain risks and uncertainties described in Vocus' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The risks and uncertainties referred to above include, but are not limited to, risks associated with possible fluctuations in our operating results and rate of growth, our history of operating losses, interruptions or delays in our service or our Web hosting, our business model, breach of our security measures, the emerging market in which we operate, our relatively limited operating history, our ability to hire, retain and motivate our employees and manage our growth, competition, our ability to continue to release and gain customer acceptance of new and improved versions of our service, successful customer deployment and utilization of our services, fluctuations in the number of shares outstanding, our ability to integrate acquisitions, foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates.

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