For decades, newspapers reigned as the predominant medium for distributing news and information. But over the last 20 years, the print newspaper industry has faced steady decline due to the digital revolution and emergence of online news. This transition from print to online has drastically changed how people consume their news.
Declining Newspaper Circulations
Since the late 1990s, newspaper circulation in the U.S. has been on a consistent downward trend. According to the Pew Research Center, weekday print circulation fell from 62 million papers in 1990 to 40 million in 2014. From 2004 to 2020, newspaper sales plummeted by more than half. As print readership wanes across all age groups, newspapers have struggled to maintain their subscriber base and advertising revenues. Many major city newspapers that once boasted massive circulations, like the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, have seen precipitous declines.
Rise of Online News Outlets
As newspapers decline, digital outlets have been filling the news consumption void. These days, 70% of U.S. adults regularly get their news online via Facebook. Online news allows instant access to constantly updated content on computers and mobile devices. Popular national outlets like CNN, Fox News, New York Times, and the Washington Post have invested heavily in their digital operations to compete in the online landscape. Additionally, native digital news companies like BuzzFeed, Vox, Vice and HuffPost have emerged strictly as online-based operations.
Closing of Print Newspapers
The rapid shift to digital hit print newspapers hard, forcing many into bankruptcy, acquisitions, or outright closure. Prominent papers like the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News significantly downsized due to financial troubles. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Rocky Mountain News both completely ceased their print editions. Ownership consolidation has also been rampant, with companies like Gannett, New Media Investment Group, and Digital First Media scooping up newspapers across the country. Some analysts predict that within a matter of decades, print newspapers may disappear entirely.
Rise of Mobile News Consumption
Another major disruption in the news industry is mobile technology. With growing ubiquity of smartphones and tablets, people can access news anywhere instantly. According to Pew Research Center, 86% of people in the U.S. accessed news via online sites/apps and social media respectively on mobile devices. Mobile provides convenience for on-the-go news consumption and allows push notifications to update users as stories develop in real time. This mobile disruption has forced news companies to adapt their design and strategy with “mobile first” approaches.
The shift from print to online journalism is something students at the UF College of Journalism explore as part of a Master of Arts in Mass Communication.
While newspapers still retain loyal readership, they will likely never regain the sweeping influence they once held in the media landscape. Online and mobile outlets have filled the gap newspapers left behind. However, questions remain about whether the quality of journalism can be maintained in the digital age. Only time will tell if online journalism evolves into the trusted news source that print journalism once represented.
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