Newspaper Statistics

Do you read books? How about newspapers?

I read a lot of books (mostly on my Kindle but many in print) though not as many as I'd like. Newspapers? That's a longer story.

Once, I was a devoted newspaper subscriber. I had my morning coffee and read the newspaper.

After buying our house in the country where we spend a lot of time, I canceled my subscription rather than bug my neighbors to pick up the papers from the driveway when we were gone.

I tried subscribing to the digital edition, but it just wasn't the same. I'm not alone in abandoning my subscription. Newspapers have lost a huge number of subscribers in the last decade.

Fewer subscribers, fewer advertising dollars have translated into smaller newspapers and more content that's focused on entertainment news rather than what made newspapers different: thoughtful news articles and tightly-focused local news.

Scary Stats

Like me, most newspaper readers want to read the paper in print. In fact, readership data from Nielsen Scarborough’s 2014 Newspaper Penetration Report showed "56% of those who consume a newspaper, read it exclusively in print, 11% also read it on desktop or laptop computers; 5% also read it on mobile; and another 11% read it in print, on desktop and on mobile. In total, more than eight-in-ten of those who read a newspaper do so in print, at least sometimes. Only 5% read newspapers exclusively on mobile devices."

I hate to think that the daily print newspaper will one day be a thing of the past, but that seems to be the way this beloved institution is headed. I say beloved because I learned the newspaper habit from my mother who learned it from her parents. I remember listening raptly while my grandfather read the Sunday funny paper to me.

I still subscribe to the weekly paper from my hometown, and I think I've talked myself into subscribing to the local paper again.

Takeaway Truth

Do you subscribe to a print newspaper? Leave a comment with your email address and be entered to win an audiobook edition of one of my romantic comedies.