For about 20 years, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism has been tracking newspapers across the country to conduct local news research. This week, the school published a story about that research, covering data of the industry for the past two decades.
The report, titled “The State of Local News,” documents a continued decline of local sources of journalism across the country, despite national and fundraising efforts. It was the 10th report issued, with the first published in 2016.
According to the report, almost 40% of local newspapers in the United States have vanished since 2005, leaving 50 million Americans with limited or no access to a reliable source of local news.
The report also indicates newspapers disappeared this year at the same rate as 2024, with more than 130 papers shutting down in the past year alone.
Included on the report’s website are interactive maps of each county within the U.S. that identify which counties are news deserts with no source of local news, which are in jeopardy with only one source, and those that have two or more.
We are proud to be one of two outlets covering Lincoln County, which is identified as not being in jeopardy. This is in contrast to our western neighbor, Sagadahoc County, which is an identified news desert, one of five such counties in Maine and 213 across the 50 states.
One of the maps included on the report indicates the number of newspapers lost over the past decades in all states as well as Washington, D.C. The five states with the largest loss of newspapers in this period are Maryland (70.5% lost); New Jersey (66.5%); Maine (65.1%); Hawaii (57.1%); and Ohio (54.4%). The leading geographic area in this category is Washington, D.C., having lost 76.9% of its newspapers since 2005.
In 2005, the estimated combined circulation of newspapers was around 120 million, or one newspaper produced for every two and a half Americans. Now, that number was estimated at 38 million, or one newspaper for every nine people, a reduction of nearly 70%.
With the world going more and more digital, an increase in readers’ preference to get their news from websites over print is to be expected. The report presents the examination of web traffic to the 100 largest newspapers, as analyzed by the company Comscore. The top 100 largest newspapers had a decline in monthly average page views of more than 45% over the past four years. Only 11 newspapers of these 100 experienced any growth in readership over this period.
The report cites the widespread integration of generative AI into search engines, consuming the news from websites and providing headlines and summaries without the users being directed to the news website while pushing the actual source of information lower in the search results.
In 2005, there were 8,891 newspapers with 3,995 unique owners. Today, there are 5,428 newspapers with ownership of under 1,900 entities. Daily newspaper ownership transformed the most, going from 459 unique owners in 2005 to 165 today.
In case you are interested in reading the full report, it can be found at localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2025/.
So, with all this report, data, and industry doom and gloom, where do we fit in?
Well, in the same place we have been for nearly 150 years, as the Nov. 13 edition will complete our 150th year. We are a locally owned independently publishing weekly newspaper.
We remain committed to using local reporters to cover the town affairs and community events. We remain committed to covering local sporting events and celebrating the accomplishments of local people of all ages. We remain committed to promoting our local advertisers in print and digital form.
Along these lines, this weekend, we celebrated the state’s newspaper industry at the Maine Press Association’s annual conference. At the awards banquet, we received first place awards in six categories, second place in four categories, and third place in 12 categories. These accolades include third place recognition in General Excellence – Print and second place in General Excellence – Advertising categories for the state’s larger weeklies.
Our staff works hard and does an amazing job of finding the stories and covering this community. So do our friends at the Boothbay Register, who help keep this county out of danger from becoming a news desert.
What the industry trends show are concerning. We hope to continue to earn your trust through honest local journalism. We ask that you make an effort to support those who choose to advertise with the newspaper, and let them know that their support of this newspaper is one of the reasons you support them. This is one of the best ways to help ensure your community newspaper is here for generations to come.
Literally and figuratively, our future is in your hands.
