The news that's fit to print ain't fun to print. Not that we could come up with a paper to print it in, mind you.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations released this morning the spring figures for the six months ending March 31, 2009, showing that the largest metros continue to shed daily and Sunday circulation -- now at a record rate.
According to ABC, for 395 newspapers reporting this spring, daily circulation fell 7% to 34,439,713 copies, compared with the same March period in 2008. On Sunday, for 557 newspapers, circulation was down 5.3% to 42,082,707. These averages do not include 84 newspapers with circulations below 50,000 due to a change in publishing frequency. [More]
It is not mere hyperventilating to imagine an America with a handful of newspapers. Just like Pontiac, Wachovia, and (I suspect) one or more tractor companies, this is a time of endings.
I know I'm writing to the choir here, but the dislocation for regular newspaper readers could be really traumatic.
Wait - I just realized there aren't that many of them. Which is the problem.
The larger issue, of course, is what about the comics?
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