The Shift Becomes A Landslide: Newspaper Circulation Plummets

I can't write a post here on declines in newspaper circulation without quoting the New York Times on the one year anniversary of this site. "When it launched, The Huffington Post seemed like a remarkably bad idea."

Yesterday, newspapers all across America reported dramatic declines in circulation, again. Every six months, the subscription numbers are losses compounded on top of losses. Here in Boston, The Boston Globe reported a 6.7% decline in circulation. Virtually every major newspaper around the country reported either modest or severe declines.

The impact of the continued decline in newspaper circulation, and the concurrent decline in evening news readership, should not be underestimated in the political process.

At current rate of declines, by the time of the New Hampshire Democratic Primary in New Hampshire in 2008 for example, Globe circulation will be approximately 325,000 copies in a metro area of ten times that. It will be a full 25% less than what it was in 2004.

Of course, that's not the end of the story. Of the 325,000 copies, it is fair to project that 30% are died-in-the-wool Republicans. When all is said and done, The Boston Globe is reaching a smaller and smaller percentage of the target audience - just over 200,000 copies are headed into Democratic households and hands. Still influential? Absolutely. Still an important part of the mix? Yes. But just a part.

Mainstream Media can thumb its nose at citizen journalists who post on blogs. Joe Klein can dismiss bloggers going to Las Vegas for YearlyKos with a curt "can't we just stop this crap?"

But Joe, why would we? Our traffic is skyrocketing. We can raise awareness, and money. We work together and guess what? What you're writing about next week, I read about last week on mydd.com, or crooksandliars.com or rawstory.com.

Th facts are clear. Voter are getting their news from where they want, when they want.

And increasingly, they don't want to read the Globe today.