A report on local news in the United States revealed that 3,200 weekly publications closed or merged with other papers between 2004 and 2024, with the number of non-daily papers falling from over 7.4 thousand to less than 4.6 thousand in that period. Dailies also saw a decline, with just over 1,000 in publication in 2024. Whilst this is evidently bad news for papers now out of print, the loss of local news also impacts communities reliant upon it. News deserts: the state of play News deserts are counties without access to or with very limited access to local news. As the number of local newspapers in publication continues to fall, many smaller, rural communities are left without coverage of their immediate area. Although some companies are attempting to preserve local news, many outlets have been merged, acquired by investors outside the industry, or have dissolved completely. Impact on the consumer Local news is overall more trusted than national news, and not only for its impartiality. Looking at U.S. opinions of national news, over 70 percent believe that national news has the resources to report the news accurately, however only around a third feel that national news operates in the interests of its readers or can be relied upon for important information. Without local news outlets, audiences in non-urban areas without relevant coverage may choose not to engage with news at all if they feel their only options are those they do not trust and do not represent them – a bad sign for publishers given that news avoidance is already on the rise.

The newspaper with the highest print circulation in the United States in the six months running to September 2023 was The Wall Street Journal, with an average weekday print circulation of 555.2 thousand. Ranking second was The New York Times, followed by The New York Post. The paper in the ranking with the highest year-over-year drop in circulation was The Denver Post with a decline of 25 percent (although Buffalo News recorded a higher drop, data does not refer to September 2022 to September 2023, see notes).

From 2006 to 2022, both print and digital newspaper readership decreased in Italy. While in 2006 almost 13 million people read newspapers on a regular basis (at least five times per week), in 2022, only 4.9 million people were doing so. The decrease is even sharper where occasional readers are concerned - i.e. those who read newspapers at least once a week, with the number falling from over 33 million in 2006 to just over 15 million in 2022.

Written articles? No, thanks

This sharp decline could be explained in different ways. One of the most obvious reasonings could be attributing it exclusively to the fall in print press sales. Beside the overall decline of print newspapers however, a mild decrease occurred in online news consumption as well. This is clear evidence of the fact that not only sales of printed newspapers decreased, but also that this decline has not been counterbalanced by an increase of online copies. Because of this reason, it is possible to conclude that Italians are, in general, less and less interested in reading written articles. Instead, they prefer to inform themselves through social networks and TV, as this statistic shows.

A different trend across Europe

The conclusion proposed in the previous paragraph cannot be generalized for all European countries. Indeed, across Europe, the share of people reading online newspapers and magazines increased by almost ten percent from 2013 to 2017 , while Italy seems not to follow such European trend.

According to the Information Community for the Assessment of the Circulation of Media (IVW), the average paid circulation of weekly papers was around 1.63 million copies in 2023. This was a slight decrease compared with the previous year and back to the level of 2021. Since 1995, however, the general trend has shown a decrease in the number of weekly papers circulated. Are newspapers dying out? It is not just in Germany that newspaper sales are decreasing, the same is true in the U.S. which has seen a consistent decrease since 2010. Life for most people is relatively fast-paced, and so perhaps sitting down with a broadsheet and coffee is no longer conducive to the lifestyles that people lead. A good share, however, still trust the media to provide them with reliable information, so media companies must find new formats to do so. A popular option is to read the newspaper online, most newspaper companies now offer a subscription system in which the subscribers pay a fixed fee and can access exclusive newspaper content on the internet. In the second quarter of 2024, the New York Times Media Group made around 439.32 million U.S. dollars from subscriptions alone, showing that there is room for lucrative profits in the sector. When people in Germany were asked about their online newspaper subscription habits, around 20 percent of respondents stated that they actually took out additional news subscriptions. This perhaps indicates there is still a bright future for newspapers and journalism, but it will just have to take on a new form. Social media news For some, social media is a convenient alternative method to access the news. There is still a large discrepancy, however, between countries that favor social media as a news source and those that do not. In countries such as Kenya, Nigeria and Thailand, 75 percent or more of adults used social media platforms to keep themselves apprised of current events; in Germany, this figure was only 34 percent in 2024. Despite this, around 78 percent of 16- to 29-year-olds in Germany said that social networks gave them the quickest access to updates about what is going on in the world. 32 percent of them believed that it gave them the ability to influence politics. Therefore, although it may appear that Germans are not reliant on social media for the news, perhaps the younger generations will continue to turn towards online sources for their news consumption. Although modern methods of obtaining the news may be more convenient, there are constant questions about the trustworthiness of these sources because it is often unclear where the information comes from. As AI becomes more developed and intelligent, it is more difficult to separate reliable from unreliable information on social media.

According to the most recently available data, there were 1,279 daily newspapers in the United States in 2018. The number of daily newspapers in the U.S. has been on the decline since 1970, when there were 1,748 daily news publications in the country. However, given the ongoing struggle of print media around the world, a decrease of around 460 newspapers over several decades is more positive than many might expect.

Daily newspapers in the U.S.

Whilst the actual number of daily newspapers has remained comparatively stable since the 1970s, the same cannot be said for circulation figures. In 2017, the paid circulation of daily newspapers in the United States amounted to 30.92 million, more than half the figure recorded for 1985. Even the major players in the industry are suffering – Chicago Tribune’s daily circulation fell from just over 438 thousand in September 2017 to 238 thousand in early 2019. Household names like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal also saw a sharp drop in circulation figures, leaving little hope for smaller publications.

News consumers and the reluctance to pay

Media markets across the world have become saturated with digital alternatives to print, and U.S. consumers can now access news content, gossip columns and reports on the latest sports games from a variety of sources, rendering daily newspapers in particular less valuable and sought after than ever before. The reasons to pick up a newspaper on your daily commute when the information you seek is available online are becoming hazy – why pay for print when you can get the digital version for free? In fact, a 2018 study revealed that the vast majority of surveyed U.S. adults had not paid for any local news content in the last year.

However, a small solace for print-only news outlets is that even digital news providers are not completely safe from consumers’ reluctance to pay. A report revealed that the wealth of free content available was the main reason why U.S. consumers were unwilling to pay for online news.

Sadly, the future situation for print outlets does not look bright, and for news providers in general there lies a constant uphill struggle to maintain integrity, prove accuracy and capture the attention of new and current consumers alike.

Data on newspaper reach in Canada in November 2023 revealed that 78 percent of Boomers read newspapers each week. This marks a decrease of six percent of Boomers who reported weekly print or digital newspaper readership in December 2021. Meanwhile, 83 percent Millennials interviewed were reading newspapers on a weekly basis, the same as Gen X adults.

In 2023, the average weekday print circulation of The New York Times was approximately 279,000 copies, less than half the figure recorded in 2014. In that year, the company ceased publishing its figures based on weekday circulation for print, online, and other digital platforms, and published only its print circulation. The New York Times The New York Times was founded in 1851 and has been a household name in the United States for decades. The newspaper has adapted well to changes in the media industry, and between the final quarters of 2014 and 2020, paid subscribers to The New York Times’ digital only news product increased from 910 thousand to over five million. The New York Times is also one of the world’s leading podcast publishers, with unique streams and downloads of the company’s podcasts reaching tens and sometimes even hundreds of millions per month. Popularity and reliability As one of the most popular news websites in the United States, the NYT has been known to achieve 70 million unique monthly visitors, outperforming the likes of NBC News, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. That said, like many news publications, The New York Times has been the subject of controversy over the years. From accusations of liberal bias to its hiring practices, the newspaper has faced challenges regarding not only its published content but also its employees. In spite of this, just 15 percent of respondents to a survey seriously doubted the credibility of The New York Times, with most finding the publication to be a reliable source.

The findings of a study held in Canada between October 2019 and September 2020 revealed that 32 percent of Canadians only read print newspapers on a weekly basis, whereas six percent read newspapers via computer only. Despite surges in digital usage across various media formats, print newspapers remain popular among Canadian audiences.

Leading local newspapers recorded the highest circulation among Norwegian newspaper types as of 2021, at over 631 thousand copies. City papers had the second largest amount of copies, at about 484 thousand. Third came local newspapers published two to three days a week.

In 2022, Politiken was the largest daily newspaper in Denmark, with 501 thousand weekly readers that year. Jyllands-Posten had the second highest reach in Denmark.

The media company Berlingske Media

B.T. reports on general news, for example politics and sports. Its headquarter is in Copenhagen and belongs to Berlingske Media. The media company also publishes the newspapers Berlingske and Weekendavisen, as well as the financial news website Euroinvestor. Additionally, it operates the news and debate radio channel 24syv. In 2023 the title became a digital-only therefore it is no longer reported in this study.

Print vs. online newspapers

As in other media types, the traditional way of newspaper reading is by and by replaced by the digital medium. While more than half of the people in Denmark read print newspapers in 2010, the share amounted to only 38 percent in 2017. By contrast, 84 percent of individuals stated to use the online version that year.

In the year to March 2021 in Australia, the Saturday edition of the Sydney Morning Herald sold 496 thousand copies on average, and the Monday to Friday editions of the paper sold an average of 354 thousand copies. It's nearest rival, the Daily Telegraph, sold 495 thousand copies on average of its Saturday edition and 453 thousand during the week.

Three newspaper publishing companies controlled over 90 percent of the national newspaper market in the United Kingdom in 2022, an investigation found. DMG Media accounted for the biggest weekly circulation with 12.12 million copies, which equates to a circulation share of 42 percent. While News UK followed in second position with 9.49 million copies (33 percent), the publisher Reach came in third with 4.55 million copies or a share of 16 percent.

In Italy, between April 2021 and April 2022, over 3.85 million Italian millennials read a daily newspaper copy. The readership of weekly magazines amounted to nearly three million, whilst the number of monthly magazines readers was almost at the same level as the millenial readership of daily newspapers, at more than 3.76 million.

A survey held in February 2022 revealed that most consumers never use newspapers as a source of news, and only 21 percent of adults aged 65 or above (those who engage with newspapers the most) reported reading newspapers every day. Newspapers are less popular as a news source than radio, and are also among the least used daily news sources among adults aged 18 years or older.

As of the first half of 2010, over 1.3 million people in Denmark read reagional and local newspapers on weekdays. This number had decreased to only 731 thousand readers in the second half of 2018.

As of January 2025, La Prensa – published by Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM) – had an average daily circulation of 172.4 thousand, ranking third on a list of paid daily newspapers. It was estimated that overall newspaper revenue in Mexico would add up to 996 million U.S. dollars in 2027. The future of newspapers in Mexico Almost one out of five internet users surveyed in Mexico paid for digital news in early 2024, the second-highest percentage in the Latin America region. The willingness to pay for quality information also paves the way for the segment at large. The print newspaper revenue in Mexico was forecast to decline by 6.5 percent between 2022 and 2025, whereas the digital subsegment was projected to grow by more than 20 percent. There is also a sign that the prestige of print has translated into the online environment. At the beginning of 2024, the leading online news brands in Mexico by weekly reach were the web versions of physical newspapers, such as El Universal or the websites of local newspapers. News consumption in Mexico also going digital News consumption in Mexico remains high, especially via digital platforms. Early 2024 data shows that the internet, including social media, is the go-to news source for 79 percent of respondents in the country. In comparison, only 18 percent of news consumers in Mexico used print media for this purpose and 39 percent watched TV to get the news. Facebook leads the pack among other social networks used to access news, followed by YouTube and WhatsApp.

In 2023, the newspaper Le Monde ranked as first among national daily newspapers, with more than 488,000 copies released. Le Figaro came in second with more than 350 thousand copies daily.   Daily newspaper consumption in France  According to the Statista Global Consumer Survey from 2024, about a quarter of the respondents declared having read the free daily newspaper 20 Minutes in the past two weeks, while paid newspapers as Le Figaro and Le Monde were mentioned by 16 and 23 percent of French respectively. In the same survey, French also stated purchasing daily newspapers as single issues rather than as part of a subscription. Moreover, regarding the amount of printed copies of the daily press, it seems that the printed press slightly declined since around the second decade of the century.   Online news consumption in France  In a context of decline of the printed press and spreading internet use, news media appear to diversify their reach also online: among the online newspapers in France, the most visited news websites on which French spent money were lemonde.fr, leparisien.fr and lefigaro.fr as of 2024. In addition to this, smartphone was the most used device to read news online thanks to the offered mobility and adaptability. However, these new consumption habits have their own ups and downs as many consumers reported having already spotted or been fooled by false news.

A 2023 survey conducted among news consumers aged 16 years old and above in the United Kingdom (UK) noted that Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday papers were the most read print papers, with 20 percent of the respondents saying they used print versions of these papers to keep up to date. Free paper Metro ranked second, followed by The Guardian/Observer.

Thanks to digital advancements and the Internet, both local and global news are just a click or a tap away. As of 2019, the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia emerged as the country’s leading newspaper in terms of both its print and online editions.  Newspaper readership in Australia  Aside from the two national newspapers, Australia’s print news sector is populated by a variety of regional daily and weekly newspapers. The Sunday Telegraph, a weekly publication In the state of New South Wales, boasted of a readership comprising 587 thousand subscribers in period between March 2019 and March 2020. During the same period in Victoria, the newspaper readership had almost been monopolized by the Herald Sun and its Sunday edition.  Accessing news in Australia
While print media struggles to sustain itself, the Internet caters to the more tech savvy, news hungry masses. As of February 2018, about 29 percent of Australians under the age of 35 had paid subscriptions for online news. News media outlets have also tapped this potential and use YouTube to publish daily news content, the most successful channel being that of the Sydney Morning Herald with 11 million views as of June 2019.

This statistic shows the development of the e-paper circulation of Der Spiegel in Germany from the first quarter of 2014 to the second quarter of 2024. In the second quarter of 2024, the weekly news magazine had a sales volume of roughly 309,522 digital copies.