Newspapers

A declining share of U.S. adults are following the news closely, and audiences are shrinking for several older types of news media.

The transition of the news industry away from print, television and radio into digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. Today, an overwhelming majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices.

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

In 2021, 11% of high-circulation newspapers experienced layoffs, compared with three times that share the year before (33%).

Local newspapers have been hit particularly hard by the transition to digital news consumption in recent years, with many forced to shutter their doors permanently.

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

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

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

Though this figure is a sliver of all PPP loans lent out to small businesses as of August, it represents a large segment of U.S. newspaper companies.

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