The Washington Post Walkout and Why There’s No Stopping the Newspaper Death Spiral - POLITICO

The death spiral...my wife worked for Parade magazine.  30 years ago 37 million weekly circulation.  Last month was their last print publication.

The once essential {for New Jersey lawyers} New Jersey Law Journal on the Editorial Board has ended print publication. 

- GWC

The Washington Post Walkout and Why There’s No Stopping the Newspaper Death Spiral - POLITICO

***As press baron Rupert Murdoch once said, newspapers are “rivers of gold.” But as he also later acknowledged, “Sometimes rivers dry up.” After a decade of supporting and expanding the paper, Bezos must fear that his entire newspaper investment will be swept out to sea. That’s not fearmongering. Newspaper trend lines are cratering and may prove to be too steep for Bezos’ tastes. According to the Pew Research Center, national weekday circulation peaked in 1972 at 63 million and has recently fallen to below 21 million. Newspaper advertising revenue peaked in 2006 at $49 billion and has now dropped below $10 billion, with only about 50 percent of it coming from the digital side. Meanwhile, Google alone pulls in about $76 billion in U.S. ad revenue a year.

Not only are the industry’s revenues and circulation gone to swirl in the toilet, but there are also fewer newspaper newsroom workers to organize. According to Pew Research, total newspaper newsroom jobs fell 57 percent between 2008 and 2020, and those losses are predicted to continue in the coming years.