Newspapers

While newspapers have seen steep job losses from 2008 to 2020, digital-native news organizations have seen considerable gains.

Newspapers are a critical part of the American news landscape, but they have been hard hit as more and more Americans consume news digitally.

Among the six publicly traded newspaper companies studied, second-quarter advertising revenue fell by a median of 42% year over year.

Newspaper circulation in the U.S. reached its lowest level since 1940, and the audience for local TV news has steadily declined.

One-in-five U.S. adults often get news via social media, slightly higher than the 16% who often do so from print newspapers.

Western Europeans have a clear preference for television as a source of news. And while use of online and radio outlets for news is also widespread, print trails the other formats.

When we asked people if they regularly got news about the 2016 presidential election through either the print or online version of four specific U.S. newspapers, three of these papers – The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal – attracted more adults younger than 50 than 50 and older as regular readers.

When asked whether one prefers to read, watch or listen to their news, younger adults are far more likely than older adults to opt for text – and most of that reading is occurring on the web.

The past year brought pressures to America’s newspaper newsrooms not seen since the Great Recession. From broadcast to print to digital and more, this year’s annual report takes stock of the state of the news media.

Even in the digital era, many local news consumers still rely on the print product for their news.