Throughout their fabled history, newspapers in the U.S. have told communities’ stories

Editor’s note: Unless noted otherwise, the facts included below are from The Encyclopedia Britannica online.

From the rise of the free press in the late 18th century, to the pushback against over-sensationalized journalism (called yellow journalism) in the 1890s, to Watergate in the 1970s, newspapers have a long and storied history in the U.S.—and varying degrees of popularity. 

Newspapers in the United States did not have a good start. The very first paper that was planned to be published at regular intervals, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, out of Boston, didn’t survive more than one issue before its publisher was ordered to stop printing it. That was 1690. 

Over the next few decades, a number of weeklies began publishing, with the first independent newspaper considered to be the New-England Currant. 

In 1791, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including freedom of the press, was adopted, and, the following year, The Postal Service Act of 1792 provided substantial subsidies for delivery of newspapers, according to a Wikipedia article. Newspapers were delivered up to 100 miles for a penny. The cost for farther than 100 miles was 1.5 cents. First-class postage ranged from six cents to a quarter.

The telegraph and faster printing presses helped newspapers grow as the U.S. population and economy grew, and newspapers became vehicles for political agendas as well as news. 

“Editors typically became the local party spokesman, and hard-hitting editorials were widely reprinted.” (Source: Wikipedia). 

The first African-American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was published in 1827 and provided a platform for Black voices and an avenue to counter the negative portrayals of African Americans often seen in white-owned newspapers of the time. 

The first Native American newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix, began printing in 1828. 

The New York Times published its first edition in 1851. 

Competition among newspapers led to “yellow journalism” during the 19th century, and a pushback against it. It had declined by the end of the century, as emphasis was placed on more fact-based reporting. 

Your community paper, The Berea Citizen, began printing in 1899 (though it was then known as The Citizen and was produced by Berea College until 1984). (Source: The Library of Congress). 

Though they later faced competition from radio and television and now face a grave threat due to the advent of the Internet and social media, newspapers in the U.S. have brought the news and stories of their communities to print for centuries. 

Throughout their history, the number and circulation of U.S. newspapers have fluctuated. The last few decades have seen by far the furthest reductions. 

In 1980, The New York Times had a circulation of about 1.3 million. But its print circulation as of the end of 2025 was just over 225,000, according to a Wikipedia article. It had anywhere from 9 million to 12 million digital-only subscribers, depending on the source.

In 2022, daily newspapers in the U.S. had an estimated combined 20.9 million daily circulation (print and digital combined), according to the Pew Research Center.

That is about a third of the estimated 62.2 million estimated circulation in 1980. 

“Since 2005, the United States has lost nearly 3,500 newspapers — more than one-third of all newspapers that existed at the start of this century — at a pace that has held steady at more than two closures per week for over a decade,” The World Data, which compiles and reports statistics,  states.

About 50 million Americans live in news deserts, areas with no consistent source of local reporting. No established outlet is reporting on local government, on crime, or on the events and issues that matter to the area’s residents. 

We realize the decline of newspapers is old news. It has been happening for decades now. But we like to think that an issue being “old news” doesn’t mean it can’t change. 

Many do see the continued closure of print news as a foregone conclusion. 

Maybe they’re right. But we like to think they aren’t. On hopeful days, we like to think a shift in consumer behavior is coming, one toward spending more time in the real world and less time in the digital one.

If we’re right, newspapers just might make a comeback.

Editor’s note: Oct. 4 through Oct. 10 is National Newspaper Week. The Citizen plans to run an opinion piece each week up to and including that week on the role of newspapers and the press in our society.