Even as the U.S. economy reels from the mortgage mess, the media economy appears to be holding up, with the upfront TV market expected to see another year of growth and the internet in for more double-digit gains.

But underneath it all, the ad economy is beginning to suffer along with the general economy, in the view of media planners and buyers.

A Media Life poll last week found that nearly half of respondents think the media economy is already in a recession, and just under two thirds report that their clients have already begun paring back on their ad spending.

Indeed, advertisers are a nervous lot these days.

"The mood is foul," wrote one respondent.

"Everyone is tentative," wrote another. "With the threat of gas prices hitting $4 a gallon, everyone is looking at ways to cut back spending across the board."

Another wrote of his agency's clients: "Cutting budgets in half, extreme focus on R.O.I."

Media Life asked readers: Are we headed into an ad recession? They were given three choices, and choice no -- as in "No, and we won't be. The problems of the overall economy will not spread to media"--got zero responses.

Choice No. 2 got 54 percent, with those readers agreeing with this statement: "Too early to say. We're not seeing it yet, but it's sure to come if the turmoil in the U.S. economy gets any worse."

The remaining 46 percent agreed with this statement: "We're already in an ad recession."

Media Life then asked: In your dealings with clients, are you sensing a desire to cut back on ad spending?

Two thirds, 65 percent, agreed with this statement: "Yes, and we're already seeing budgets being cut."

A fourth, 24 percent, agreed with this statement: "Yes, I sense a certain hesitancy, though there have been no cuts as yet."

Just 11 percent saw no troubling signs, agreeing with this statement: "No, it's still full speed ahead."

But there is still some optimism among media planners and buyers. More than half, 54 percent, see a short-lived showdown.

They agreed with this statement: "It will be a modest, short-lived recession, lasting no longer than it takes the country to work through the real estate debacle, a year at the outside."

But some 37 percent see it running longer and deeper. They agreed with this statement: "It will last a good year or two. The turmoil in the general economy runs deeper than many think, and the ad economy typically takes longer to recover."

Just 9 percent see a showdown to match the dot.com bust of seven years ago. They agreed with this statement: "We'll be right back to 2001. Folks then thought it would be a brief ad recession, but it took several years to climb out of."

Newspapers will take the biggest hit as the ad economy slows, believe media planners and buyers.

Asked to identify the medium to be hardest hit, and given one or more choices, newspapers were the top choice at 70 percent. Magazines and broadcast tied for No. 2 at 59.5 percent, with radio just behind at 57 percent.

Those thought to be least affected were cable, at 32 percent, out of home at 27 percent and online at 11 percent.

No surprise, asked to name the media least affected by a slowdown, online came out tops at 73 percent, followed by cable at 45 percent and out of home at 24 percent. Broadcast and radio tied at 21 percent, and magazines came in at 11 percent. Newspaper came in at just 8 percent.

Within particular ad categories, drugs and remedies will continue to see the strongest growth, believe media planners and buyers, who were asked to choose one or more.

It scored 54 percent, followed by food and food products at 43 percent and technology at 38 percent. Direct response came in fourth at 30 percent, with financial fifth at 24 percent. Former longtime leader automotive came in at just 11 percent.

Media Life asked one question about election ad spending, curious whether it was keeping pace with projections.

The question: So much has been made of the impact of political spending this year, but how strong do you think it will really be?

Nearly half, 47 percent, thought it was very strong, agreeing with this statement: "Very strong with all the spending by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fighting it out over the Democratic nomination."

But a third, 33 percent, saw weakness in spending, agreeing with this statement: "About the same as in 2004. I hear spending in local markets is not living up to expectations."

And 19 percent thought spending was falling far short, agreeing with this statement: "Much weaker than projected. The same thing happened in 2004--lots of talk of heavy primary spending but far less actual spending."