4.5 Current Popular Trends in the Newspaper Industry

Popular media such as television and the Internet have forever changed the newspaper industry. To fully understand the impact that current technology has on the newspaper industry, first examine the current state of the industry.

Major Publications in the U.S. Newspaper Industry

Although numerous papers exist in the United States, a few major publications dominate circulation and, thus, exert great influence on the newspaper industry. Each of these newspapers has its own unique journalistic and editorial style, relying on different topics and techniques to appeal to its readership.

The Wall Street Journal

Established in the late 1800s, The Wall Street Journal has the largest print circulation of any American newspaper. An international paper that focuses on business and financial news, The Wall Street Journal primarily uses written narration with few images. Recent changes to its layout, such as adding advertising on the front page and minimizing the size of the paper slightly to save on printing costs, have not dramatically shifted this long-standing focus. The paper runs between 50 and 96 pages per issue and gives its readers up-to-date information on the economy, business, and national and international financial news. The Journal has successfully implemented a paywall for its online content, expanded its international presence by launching Asian and European editions, and invested in digital tools and technologies like interactive graphics and data visualizations to enhance its reader’s experience.

USA Today

USA Today’s  easy-to-read content and visually focused layout contribute to its high readership numbers. The print version consists of four sections: news, money, sports, and life; for the ease of its readers, the newspaper color-codes each section. Owned by the Gannett Company, the paper caters to its audience by opting for ease of comprehension over complexity. Like many newspapers, USA Today has experienced circulation drops, though it has focused on expanding its digital presence and invested heavily in its website and mobile applications. It underwent its first major redesign in 2012 to commemorate its 30th anniversary, and has worked with other news organizations like The Weather Channel to supplement its content. 

The New York Times

Founded in 1851, the New York City-based paper owned by the New York Times Company also publishes several smaller regional papers. The flagship paper contains three sections: news, opinion, and features. Although its articles tend to be narrative-driven, the paper does include images for many of its articles, creating a balance between the wordier layout of The Wall Street Journal and the highly visual USA Today. The New York Times publishes international stories along with more local stories in sections such as Arts, Theater, and Metro. The news organization has also successfully established itself as one of the the premiere digital news organizations based on its high-quality journalism and exclusive content. 

Los Angeles Times

First published in 1881, the Los Angeles Times—currently the only West Coast paper to crack the top 10 circulation list—has also contributed much to the newspaper industry. Column One, perhaps the most unique feature of the paper, focuses on sometimes bizarre stories meant to engage readers. Known for its investigative journalistic approach, the Los Angeles Times demands that its journalists “provide a rich, nuanced account” of the issues they cover (Los Angeles Times, 2007). By 2024, the paper had won 52 Pulitzer Prizes, including six gold medals for public service (Los Angeles Times). The Times has undergone several ownership changes in the past decade, with current owner Patrick Soon-Shiong investing in digital innovations and focusing on local news and community issues.

The Washington Post

First published in 1877, The Washington Post represents Washington, DC’s oldest and largest paper. According to its editors, the paper aims to be “fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men (Washington Post).” In this vein, The Washington Post has developed a strong investigative journalism style, perhaps most exemplified by its prominent investigation of the Watergate Scandal. The paper also holds the principle of printing articles fit “for the young as well as the old (Washington Post).”  Like the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post holds numerous Pulitzer Prizes for journalism. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos purchased the news organization in 2013.

Declining Readership and Decreasing Revenues

Despite major newspapers’ large circulations, newspapers as a whole have experienced a dramatic decline in both subscribers and overall readership. For example, on February 27, 2009, Denver’s Rocky Mountain News published its final issue after nearly 150 years in print. The front-page article “Goodbye, Colorado” reflected on the paper’s long-standing history with the Denver community, observing that “It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to you today. Our time chronicling the life of Denver and Colorado, the nation and the world, is over (Rocky Mountain News, 2009).” Publications like The Modesto Bee shifted from offering daily print editions to three days a week. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has limited its print offerings to Sunday only, shifting their focus to digital formats. The Seattle Times and The Denver Post have also shifted their focus away from print offerings. The industry continues to find its place in the digital news world.

Readership Decline

The story of Rocky Mountain News has become more common with each passing year. For nearly a half-century, critics have predicted the disappearance of print newspapers. The fear of losing print media began in the 1940s with the arrival of the radio and television. Indeed, the number of daily papers has steadily decreased since the 1940s; in 1990, the number of U.S. dailies was just 1,611 (Newspaper Association of America). In 2005, that number had shrunk to 1,472, and in 2023 only 1,212 daily papers were left in the country (Medill Local News Initiative).  But the numbers do not paint the entire picture. As one report observed, “The root problems go back to the late 1940s, when the percentage of Americans reading newspapers began to drop. But for years the U.S. population was growing so much that circulation kept rising and then, after the 1970s, remained stable (State of the Media, 2004).” During the 1970s when circulation stopped rising, more women entered the workforce. By the 1990s when “circulation began to decline in absolute numbers,” the number of women participating in the workforce had never ranked higher (State of the Media, 2004). With women at work, there were fewer people at home with leisure time for reading daily papers for their news. This, combined with television journalism’s rising popularity and the emergence of the Internet, meant a significant decrease in newspaper circulation. With newer, more immediate ways to get news, the disconnect between newspapers and consumers deepened.

Newspapers continue to struggle to attract younger readers, which has compounded the problem. Many young readers simply did not grow up in households that subscribed to daily papers and so they do not turn to newspapers for information. However, the problem goes deeper “than fewer people developing the newspaper habit. People who used to read every day now read less often. Some people who used to read a newspaper have stopped altogether (State of the Media, 2004).”

Yet the Internet provides the most significant challenge to newspapers. As print readership declines, online readership has grown; fast, free access to breaking information contributes to the growing appeal of online news. Despite the increase in online news readers, that growth has not offset the drop in print readership, which has led to an exodus of print advertisers. In 2012, the Pew Research Center conducted a news media consumption survey in which only 29 percent of participants claimed to having read a newspaper (23% in a print format) the day before (Heimlich, 2012), which demonstrates a drop from 43 percent in 2006 (Dilling, 2009). By 2022, only 12% of the population turns to newspapers for daily news consumption (Konopliov, 2024).

A 2009 study observed that younger generations bear primary responsibility for this shift to online reading. “The changes in reader habits seem to be similar amongst both Generation X and Y demographics, where marked increases in consulting online news sources were observed (Dilling, 2009).” Baby boomers and older generations do, for the most part, still rely on printed newspapers for information. Perhaps this distinction between generations should not surprise. Younger readers grew up with the Internet and have developed different expectations about the speed, nature, and cost of information than have older generations. However, this trend suggests that online readership along with the general decline of news readers may make printed newspapers all but obsolete in the near future.

Decline of Print Advertising

With advertising playing a key role in newspapers’ financial survival, revenue loss has delivered a critical blow. Additionally, “the Internet has thrown an even more dramatic wrench into the equation. Classified advertising has migrated to Internet sites like craigslist.org while traditional retail advertisers…can advertise via their own web sites (Milstead, 2009).” The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that print publication’s total revenue dropped 52% from 2002 to 2020. Legacy print media outlets have struggled to adapt with the rise of digital media, especially the Internet and cell phones. The industry depends on print advertising revenue but contends with several modern factors. Digital advertising from platforms like Google Ads and social media has diverted advertiser’s budgets away from more traditional modes of delivery. Consumers increasingly seek news and information from online sources, which reduce their reliance on print newspapers.

Some newspapers have adapted by investing in digital platforms and content, but the overall trend indicates a significant decline in print advertising revenue from decades past. This had led to many newspapers closing or scaling back their production of journalistic resources. Some publications have adopted strategies to serve niche communities, build up digital subscriptions, and use creative advertising strategies to increase audiences, but despite some successes, the future remains uncertain about the overall landscape of print advertising revenue.

Newspaper Chains

As newspapers diminish in number and as newspaper owners find themselves in financial trouble, a dramatic increase in the consolidation of newspaper ownership has taken place. Today, many large companies own several papers across the country, buying independently owned papers to help them stay afloat. The change has occurred for some time; in fact, “since 1975, more than two-thirds of independently owned newspapers…have disappeared (Free Press).” However, since 2000, newspaper consolidation has increased markedly as more papers have turned over control to larger companies.

In 2002, the 22 largest newspaper chains owned 39 percent of all the newspapers in the country (562 papers). Yet those papers represented 70 percent of daily circulation and 73 percent of Sunday. And their influence appears to be growing. These circulation percentages are a full percentage point higher than 2001 (State of the Media, 2004). As a further testament to the rapid pace of media consolidation, by 2023 ten companies owned a majority of the newspaper publishing industry, which has led to concerns about diversity of voices and the disappearance of local news coverage. Among the 10 companies that own the largest percentage of the papers,  Gannett/Gatehouse, Tribune/MediaNews Group, Adams Publishing Group, and Lee Enterprises represent the four largest chains.

Recent Ownership Trends

In addition to consolidation, the decline of print newspapers has brought about several changes in ownership as companies attempt to increase their revenue. In 2007, media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation purchased The Wall Street Journal with an unsolicited $5 billion bid, promising to “pour money into the Journal and its website and use his satellite television networks in Europe and Asia to spread Journal content the world over (Ahrens, 2007).” Murdoch has used the buyout to move the paper into the technological world, asking readers and newspapers to embrace change. In 2009, he published an article in The Wall Street Journal assuring his readers that “the future of journalism is more promising than ever—limited only by editors and producers unwilling to fight for their readers and viewers, or government using its heavy hand either to overregulate or subsidize us (Murdoch, 2009).” Murdoch said he believes that the hope of journalism lies in embracing the changing world and how its inhabitants receive news.

Still, the news seems bleak for those pursuing the profession. In 2023, the news industry shed 2,681 jobs, demonstrating a continued downward trend operating since the spread of the Internet. The years 2018 and 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic hit the industry particularly hard, with annual job losses totally 11,878 and 16,160 during those years (Fu, 2023). With the dual challenges of layoffs and decreasing readership, some in the journalism industry have begun to explore other options for ownership, such as nonprofit ownership. As one article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy puts it, “It may be time for a more radical reinvention of the daily newspaper. The answer for some newspapers may be to adopt a nonprofit ownership structure that will enable them to seek philanthropic contributions and benefit from tax exemptions (Stehle, 2009).” Some news organizations have taken their cues from William Randolph Hearst and sought billionaire benefactors to subsidize the business through ownership. Besides the aforementioned Jeff Bezos, John Henry purchased the Boston Globe in 2013 and the former Sheldon Adelson owned the Las Vegas Review-Journal. With the decline of print advertising, newspaper organizations need to stay creative to stay in business as the newspaper industry continues to shrink; Axios estimated that one-third of all newspaper that existed in 2005 will have ceased publication by 2024 (Fischer, 2023).

Over the next several years, the newspaper industry will likely continue to experience a complete upheaval brought on by dwindling readership and major shifts in how individuals consume news. As newspapers scramble to find their footing in an ever-changing business, readers adapt and seek out trustworthy information in new ways.