Print Circulation of ProJo Falls Under 20,000 a Day During the Week

Print Circulation of ProJo Falls Under 20,000 a Day During the Week

Newspapers are seeing dramatic declines in circulation  — and the Providence Journal is being hit as hard as any.

According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the print circulation of the Providence Journal has now fallen below 20,000 a day Monday through Saturday.

Just 1.8% of Rhode Islanders subscribe to the print version of the paper.

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Only on Sundays, does the Providence Journal exceed 24,000 in print — totaling just 24,417.

 

Nearly 90% Decline in 20 Years

In less than 20 years, the Providence Journal’s weekday papers have declined by 88%. On Sundays, that drop off has been 89%.

In 2005, circulation was 164,000 on weekdays and over 231,000 on Sundays.

The digital version of the paper, during the work week averages just 5,500 per day and the digital Sunday version is 5,400. The data is as of October of 2023.

The decline of the once “newspaper of record” is dramatic. The paper is often the last to report important stories and the paper contains more and more wire stories from outside the market.

 

Newspapers Print Hit Across the Country

According to the Alliance for Audited Media, as first reported by PressGazette.

The following are the top 20 print titles, their circulation numbers, and their declines year-over-year: 

1. Wall Street Journal—555,200 (-14%) 
2. New York Times—267,600 (-13%)
3. New York Post—131,200 (-8%) 
4. Washington Post—127,700 (-13%) 
5. USA Today—121,600 (-16%)
6. Los Angeles Times—105,700 (-17%)
7. Star Tribune—86,900 (-12%)
8. Newsday—83,500 (-10%) 
9. Chicago Tribune—73,000 (-16%)
10. Seattle Times—71,700 (-13%) 
11. Honolulu Star-Advertiser—71,600 (-7%)
12. Tampa Bay Times—62,600 (-24%) 
13. Boston Globe—56,900 (-11%)
14. Dallas Morning News—52,200 (-13%) 
15. San Francisco Chronicle—50,800 (-6%) 
16. Houston Chronicle—48,100 (-17%) 
16. Arizona Republic—46,700 (-14%
18. Philadelphia Inquirer—45,300 (-19%)
19. Daily News—41,500 (18%)
20. Buffalo News—38,400 (-32%)

 

Beyond Print Newspapers -- Some Trouble in Digital

Three weeks ago, the digital news startup The Messenger closed.

The news platform had raised more than $50 million and was closed before making it to its first-year anniversary.

The Wall Street Journal reported on January 31, 'Digital news startup The Messenger is shutting down less than a year after it launched. Founder and Chief Executive Jimmy Finkelstein delivered the message [that day] to the company in an internal memo. 'I am personally devastated to share that we have made the painfully hard decision to shut down The Messenger, effective immediately,' Finkelstein said in the memo to staffers, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal."

Now, The Messenger is gone except for some threatened lawsuits.

 

Media Layoffs Hit Hard in January

"Over 500 journalists were laid off from news outlets in January, according to a new report released Thursday, as many organizations continue to struggle financially," reported Politico. Those numbers do not include more than 150 laid-off at The Messenger

"The layoffs reflect the grim state of the news business. In January alone, the industry — including print, broadcast and digital media — saw 538 announced layoffs, according to the report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas," according to Politico.

The pace is increasing. According to a report published by Nieman Reports, "In 2023, the news sector cut 2,681 jobs — nearly double the jobs lost in all of 2022 and 2021 combined."