Column: A Eulogy to the Newspaper Industry?

By Noah Hickman

Investigative journalist Carl Bernstein’s new memoir “Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom” brings back good memories of a time where the newspaper industry was more prominent and journalist Jill Abramson supports that claim in her book review.

“Nearly 25 percent of the 9,000 U.S. newspapers that were published 15 years ago are gone, leaving behind a vast news desert and signs of a weakened democracy,” Abramson said. “So it’s bittersweet to read Carl Bernstein’s “Chasing History,” a rollicking memoir about the golden age of newspapers.” The big picture that Abramson is looking at is correct because even though we are in the digital age, people do not take the time to read the top stories from certain news outlets. People reading newspapers on weekdays and Sundays have decreased exponentially in the 21st century. The Pew Research Center reported that the circulation of daily and Sunday U.S Newspapers is at its lowest level since 1940. The data shows that the estimated circulation of print and digital newspapers combined was 24.3 million on weekdays and 25.8 million on Sunday in 2020. For some perspective, the chart shows that Sunday newspaper circulation was 32.4 million and weekday newspaper circulation was 41.1 million in 1940; both total circulations reportedly the lowest of the 20th century for U.S newspapers.

Though people who worked in the newspaper industry are nostalgic about the days when newspaper circulation numbers were sky-high, there was somebody who said that digital media would significantly decrease the number of newspapers circulated. “In 2008, as the digital revolution was destroying newspaper advertising and circulation, Clay Shirky, an influential media analyst at New York University, warned in a widely read article called “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable” against spilling tears for the past,” Abramson said. “He argued that the survival of journalism was crucial, but that print newspapers could — and would — fade away.”

Bernstein got a start to his career at the Washington Evening Star, a paper that ceased publication in 1981. Bernstein said in “Chasing History” he knew wanted to be in the newspaper industry because he took pride in wanting to be part of the hustle. “People were shouting. Typewriters clattered and chinged. Beneath my feet I could feel the rumble of the presses,” Bernstein said. “In my whole life I had never heard such glorious chaos or seen such purposeful commotion as I now beheld in that newsroom. By the time I had walked from one end to the other, I knew that I wanted to be a newspaperman.” At age 77, Bernstein is now witness to the newspaper industry losing ground due to digital media taking over. Abramson said that Bernstein’s memoir points out what it takes to be a good journalist. ““Chasing History” vividly captures the bonds between a local newspaper and the community it covers,” Abramson said. “Reporters truly knew the people and territory they wrote about.” 

The bond is all but lost since there are now limited newspapers from the printing press. Adaptability is something people need to get used to and Bernstein has done so just fine, but it must be tough for him since he grew up around typewriters and hard copies of newspapers. It is like everything he knew has been taken away from him and transformed into something completely different. If we know anything about how the world works, not everybody reacts to change well. Some changes are for the better, some have unintended consequences, and some have both. I do not see how the newspaper business can possibly rebound based on the data I see. If media outlets are to thrive, it will be because of its audience reading online articles and subscribing to them.