The graph presents data on the total number of daily newspapers in the United States from 1985 to 2014. In 2009, there were 1,387 daily newspapers in the U.S.
Newspapers is the United States – additional information
The statistic is a graphic representation of the crisis print media have been suffering from. Over the presented period, the number of daily newspapers shrank by nearly 400, from 1,730 in 1981 to 1,331 in 2011. This is, however, only true for English language newspapers. Ethnic newspapers in languages such as Chinese or Spanish were not hit as hard by the crisis. The number of Spanish-language newspapers fell by only three between 2003 and 2011, whereas Chinese-language newspapers have not reported any losses between 2000 and 2011. The number was stable between 2005 and 2011.
The falling number of dailies is directly connected to the falling readership. In the year 2000, 47 percent of adult Americans read a newspaper every day. In 2012, the share fell to 29 percent. Newspaper publishers can still count on their readers in cities such as Pittsburgh (PA), Albany (NY), Hartford/New Haven (CT), Cleveland (OH), New York (NY), Buffalo (NY) and Honolulu (HI), where on average half of the city population reads newspapers daily. The least rewarding markets for publishers are Bakersfield (CA), Las Vegas (NV), San Antonio (TX), Houston (TX) and Atlanta (GA), where, on average, only a quarter of the population consumes newspapers every day.
As reader numbers crumble, not only the sales revenue is dropping, but also the advertising revenue as companies see their ads reach fewer and fewer people. In 2005, newspaper ad revenue in the United States amounted to 49.4 billion U.S. dollars. In 2012, it amounted to mere 22.31 billion, less than half of the original amount. Interestingly enough, newspaper ads are gaining consumer trust. Between 2011 and 2013, the trust grew by 16 percent. In 2011, 47 percent of North Americans said they trusted ads in newspapers. Two years later, the figure grew to 63 percent.