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.