On Thursday, Oct. 3, the Pensacola News Journal published its United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation. The report shows the newspaper’s print runs only averaged 6,548 copies from August 2023 through July 2024.
Only 4,928 copies were sold, which explains why it was cheaper for Gannett to mail the newspaper instead of using carriers.
The decline has been steady:
2022: 8,673
2021: 10,855
2020: 8,125
2019: 15,243
2018: 19,473
In 2012, the Gannett-owned newspaper’s paid distribution was 38,653.
Twenty years ago, the News Journal averaged 65,516 paid distribution. The drop over the 20 years from 2004 to 2024 is 92.5%.
- I did cover this in 2010, but I’m shocked their print runs are less than ours. The decline is steep.
County Clerk Pam Childers may be the only person in her neighborhood and office who buys a print edition or pays for an online subscription.
Correction: An earlier version listed the number of paid online subscriptions that I copied from the Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation. I’ve been told that USPS doesn’t track online subscriptions, so that statistic was removed.
My family has subscribed to the PNJ my entire life (61 yrs). We still have a print subscription for Wednesdays and Sundays, and I frequently look at their online e-newspaper that lets subscribers see a “virtual paper”, ads and all. I share some of the negative concerns voiced in Stephanie S’s comments, but I disagree that these factors weigh heavily enough that there’s no point in subscribing. I value their local news items, local opinion pieces, letters to the editor from local readers, and even the local cartoon musings from Andy Marlette. All worthwhile newspapers include regional, national and internationaal news stories. I’m glad they are included and feel those stories are covered in the PNJ in a fair, balanced manner. Some of the features I enjoy are the puzzles, the comics, and Sunday’s feature “On the move,” with news about local individuals in business, non-profits and government. I always read the death notices and obituaries to see if anyone I’ve known through the years has had a death in their family, or have passed away themselves. I do wish the cost of our monthly subscription were lower. I do miss some of the comic strips that are no longer there. I miss journalists and columnists whose work is no longer featured. But having a good local newspaper is important to me and my family. We will continue to subscribe. I hope the PNJ will be available to our community for many years to come.
I love supporting media but have found the quality and depth of reporting to be low since PNJ was bought by a private equity corp. Random South Florida news stories features, maybe 3-5 pieces of local content a week, most of which are not hard hitting. Paper feels like 90% USA Today and 10% local stories, and at that point what’s the value of subscribing?