Newspapers in the United States have been published since the 18th century and are an integral part of the culture of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Although a few newspapers including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' are sold throughout the United States, most U.S.

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

s are published for city or regional markets. ''The New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' are often referred to as the United States' " newspaper of record".

History

The history of American newspapers dates back to the early 18th century, when the first

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

newspapers were published. In the beginning, newspapers were a sideline for printers, but they eventually became a political force and played a role in the campaign for

American independence The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom of the press, and the U.S. Postal Service Act of 1792 provided subsidies for the delivery of newspapers. During the

First Party System The First Party System is a model of American politics used in history and political science to periodize the political party system that existed in the United States between roughly 1792 and 1824. It featured two national parties competing for ...

(1790s-1810s), both parties sponsored papers to reach their loyal supporters. In the 1930s, the

Penny press Penny press newspapers were cheap, Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid-style newspapers mass-produced in the United States from the 1830s onwards. Mass production of inexpensive newspapers became possible following the shift from hand-crafted t ...

began to play a major role in American journalism, and technological advancements such as the

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and faster printing presses helped to expand the press of the nation. In the early 20th century, newspapers were profitable and influential, but with the rise of

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

in the 1920s, the role of newspapers began to shift. In the late 20th century, many American journalism outlets became part of big media chains, and the rise of digital journalism in the 21st century has caused a business crisis for newspapers, as readers and advertisers shift to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

Demographics

All major metropolitan regions have newspapers, with some of them having multiple papers, though this has declined in modern times. Many smaller cities have had local newspapers, again, this having declined over time.

Ownership

Media conglomerates like Gannett Company,

The McClatchy Company The McClatchy Company, commonly referred to as simply McClatchy, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law and based in Sacramento, California. It operates 29 daily newspapers in fourteen states an ...

, Hearst Communications and others, publish a large percentage of the nation's papers.

Publication

Most general-purpose newspapers are either printed one day a week, or are printed daily. They are in part advertising-driven, including

classified ads Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...

, but also receive income from newsstand sales and subscriptions. Major cities usually have alternative weeklies (New York City's ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' or Los Angeles' '' L.A. Weekly'', for example), which rely entirely on advertising, and are free to the public. A newspaper meeting particular standards of circulation, including having a subscription or mailing list, is designated as a newspaper of record. With this designation, official notices may be published, such as fictitious business name announcements. The number of daily newspapers in the United States has declined over the past half-century, according to '' Editor & Publisher'', the

trade journal A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

of American newspapers. In particular, the number of

evening newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s has fallen by 50% since 1970, while morning editions and Sunday editions have grown. For comparison, in 1950, there were 1,772 daily papers (and 1,450, or about 70%, of them were evening papers) while in 2000, there were 1,480 daily papers (and 766—or about half—of them were evening papers.Editor & Publisher International Yearbook as cited on naa.org, Newspaper Association of America website

References

External links

19th Century Historical United States Newspapers
archive at Indiana University
US newspapers searchable database
University of Chicago
List of US Newspapers with Rates
University of Chicago

* ttp://www.usnewsspot.com "Unite State News Spot" {{US-newspaper-stub