Newspaper Circulation Down, as Americans Prefer to Obtain News on the Internet

Online news articles, such as the one you are reading now, are quickly becoming the primary source of news for Americans and people around the globe. Most traditional newspapers have seen a decline in their circulation (the number of people buying a paper either via subscription or at the newstands). Overall, weekday circulation at U.S. daily newspapers fell 2.1 percent in the latest six-month reporting period, ending March 2007. Sunday circulation fell 3.1 percent. USA Today, the largest daily in the country, continues to barely hold it's own, with an increase of 0.2% in circulation.

Conversely, viewer at major news sites such as MSN and CNN are climbing rapidly. Nielsen/NetRatings reported a 5.3 percent increase in the number of people who visited newspaper Web sites in the first quarter of 2007.

One possible reason for this change is the increasing desire for instant gratification. Online news can be updated as fast as the reporter can type, and can be published faster than any print media. Another possibility is consumer boredom with print media, in an increasingly multi-media age. Since television news viewing is also on the decline, this may or may not support such a conclusion. In fact, to retain viewers, television news has been drifting more and more towards entertainment, which is more "exciting" and thought to be more easily understood by viewers. Recently, all of the major networks announced major, cost-cutting staff reductions. Network news now relies much more on outside sources for news and videotape. Referring to the news media in general, New York Times columnist Frank Rich says, "...[we have seen] a 20-year trend in which the media...have steadily replaced journalistic standards with those of show business."

Whatever the reason, the population is increasingly getting news information, and editorials, from the Internet. Even major news sites are sometimes scooped by bloggers (web loggers) who can quickly update anyone with Internet access on breaking news that they have discovered. Advertisers need to consider how and why their advertise - their audience is moving, are they following? Those who work in print media need to find ways to stay current and appealing. The rest of us can simply enoy the variety. As conglomerates have taken over the major news media outlets, there is still no end to the individual sources of information on the Internet. Just pay careful attention to the reliability of the source. The fact that anyone can publish on the Internet is a double-sided coin.