Pew Research Center’s latest assessment of the news media found that newspaper circulation reached its lowest point since 1940 in 2018.
This news comes after findings that newspaper newsrooms saw the worst decline across media newsroom jobs in the last decade.
“Total daily newspaper circulation (print and digital combined) was an estimated 28.6 million for weekday and 30.8 million for Sunday in 2018,” Pew Research Center announced Tuesday. “Those numbers were down 8% and 9%, respectively, from the previous year.”
That statistic applies only to traditional newspapers. Digital circulation is harder to track.
“It did rise in 2018, though not enough to fully reverse the overall decline in circulation,” the Center noted.
Downward trends in news media, especially at newspapers, have underscored the need for creative solutions. Some outlets have turned to paywalls and ads. Others, like Cleveland.com, are using text messaging-based subscriptions to compete in the digitally-savvy world.