Salem Statesman Journal daily circulation in steep decline

Everybody knows that daily newspapers are in trouble.

Declining readership and shrinking advertising revenue are causing layoffs, along with stimulating papers to redefine their journalistic mission in an increasingly online world. That 2014 piece is pretty amazing:

Here’s a quick reminder that, despite the upbeat story lines we’ve heard about the greater media business during the past year or so, most newspapers are still very much in free fall. At the American Enterprise Institute’s Carpe Diem blog,

Mark J. Perry finds that print ad revenues are now the lowest they've been since 1950, when the Newspaper Association of America began tracking industry data. Again, that's 1950, when the U.S. population was less than half its current size and the economy was about one-seventh as big. Revenues are down more than 50 percent in just the past five years alone.

Circulation figures for individual newspapers are difficult to come by. Trade secret, I guess. I also suspect that newspapers aren't eager to let current and prospective advertisers know how much their circulation is dropping.

Thus I was pleased when someone with access to several sources of circulation data for Willamette Valley newspapers sent me circulation figures for 2008 through 2014. 

These figures are as comparable as possible between newspapers, but not completely so. They represent subscribers and single copy sales for daily circulation, which doesn't include Sunday. In short, they're the best this knowledgeable source of circulation data could come up with. 

The overall trend during the seven years is what I find most interesting.

Portland Oregonian:
2008 - 309,464
2014 - 162,599
47% decline

Salem Statesman Journal
2008 - 46,826
2014 - 27,859
41% decline

Eugene Register-Guard
2008 - 68,727
2014 - 43,663
36% decline

Corvallis Gazette-Times
2008 - 11,768
2014 - 8,607
27% decline

Each of the daily newspapers had a marked decline in circulation from 2008 to 2014. The Statesman Journal, here in Salem, dropped 41%.

I'm not sure if online-only subscribers are included in these figures. Regardless, it seems virtually certain that the number of people ditching their daily print community newspaper is much higher than those who choose to read the paper solely online.

Comments

[Harry Vanderpool]

Here is what I would like to see:
More "fair and balanced" articles in Salem Weekly such as Helen Caswell's minimum wage article.
Then, Salem Weekly buys the Statesman Urinal facility and becomes "Salem Daily"
Printing presses and all.
Print copy is not out of date.
Piss-poor journalism is!

[Richard van Pelt]

It is a decline of their own creation.

I spend several hours a week pouring over century-old editions of the Statesman and Capital Journal.

The writing may be somewhat stilted in the manner of 1914-1918, but the editorials are well thought out and not dumbed down. Readers of the period following the Great War were kept abreast of the news and the analysis holds up to this day.

Reporters covered local news with a diligence absent today. And each paper did it with between eight and 12 pages.

Yes, they could get snarky, but it was not as cheap as that coming from Dick Hughes.

[Terri]

I love the Statesman Journal. I start everyday reading it with my breakfast. I love knowing what's going on around town even if I can't always take part in the activities, I find comfort in knowing they're there when I want them! I love the support that the Statesman Journal gives to small and local businesses and to non-profits too!

[Harry Vanderpool]

Over 1700 comments on the Fishwrapper's (Oregonian)article about pumping our own gas.
When did you last see 1700 comments on the Urinal's website?
Never.
That is because their posting rules are ridiculous.
Just say NO to FacePage & MyBook!