Newpaper circulation

Here's a list of the nation's largest newspapers and their circulation growth or lack there of.

1. USA Today, 2,278,022, up 0.2 percent

2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,062,312, up 0.6 percent

3. The New York Times, 1,120,420, down 1.9 percent

4. Los Angeles Times, 815,723, down 4.2 percent

5. New York Post, 724,748, up 7.6 percent

6. New York Daily News, 718,174, up 1.4 percent

7. The Washington Post, 699,130, down 3.5 percent

8. Chicago Tribune, 566,827, down 2.1 percent

9. Houston Chronicle, 503,114, down 2 percent

10. The Arizona Republic, 433,731, down 1.1 percent

11. Dallas Morning News, 411,919, down 14.3 percent

12. Newsday, Long Island, 398,231, down 6.9 percent

13. San Francisco Chronicle, 386,564, down 2.9 percent

14. The Boston Globe, 382,503, down 3.7 percent

15. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., 372,629, down 6.1 percent

16. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 357,399, down 2.1 percent

17. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 352,593, up 0.6 percent

18. Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 345,252, down 4.9 percent

19. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 344,704, up 0.5 percent

20. Detroit Free Press, 329,989, down 4.7 percent

I find it interesting that papers with a reputation for being conservative, the Wall Street Journal, New York Post actually have increases in growth while the liberal papers, the NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post and Minneapolis Star Tribune are all down.

I'm not familiar with the other paper's reputations. Maybe someone could clue us in as to whether this holds up for the others as well.

If you read my post, PBS Hatchet Job II, I noted how the media has become more and more a tool for the insider than it is an actual news reporting vehicle. I love newspapers, there's just something about going to a quiet place (ie the hopper) and combing through all articles. But I have to admit, I'm getting tired of puff pieces and the lack of depth in a normal news article.

It occurs to me that most papers are now nothing more than a conglomeration of AP news releases. I can have that all with one click to Drudge.

When newspaper go by the wayside, it will be from their own hands.