By the numbers. Read it all.

The Pew Research Center reported on November 10, “Newspapers are a critical part of the American news landscape, but they have been hit hard as more and more Americans consume news digitally. The industry’s financial fortunes and subscriber base have been in decline since the mid-2000s, and their website audience traffic has begun to decline as well.”

Let us fact-check that. The total circulation of all newspapers in the United States is 20 million. That is one newspaper sold for every 16 people. Even if 3 people read each newspaper, that means more than 80% of the country does not read a newspaper.

Just 14 years ago circulation was 45 million.

Online readership for the top 50 newspapers topped 13 million in 2020 and slid below 9 million two years later. Perhaps the return of President Trump to the ballot in November will restore the 13 million but even then newspaper circulation in print and online will reach only 33 million.

Pew Research Center also reported, “The total estimated advertising revenue for the newspaper industry in 2022 was $9.8 billion, based on the Center’s analysis of financial statements for publicly traded newspaper companies. This is down 5% from 2021, a slight drop. Total estimated circulation revenue was $11.6 billion, compared with $11.5 billion in 2020.”

A drop of only 5%?

Adjusted for inflation, that’s a big deal.

It took them long enough, but it seems the New Yorker has finally caught up with SDA.