An Industry in Transition: Entry and Exit in Daily Newspaper Markets, 1987–2003

Abstract

Contrary to the general impression of the daily newspaper industry as a dying industry, data from 1987 to 2003 showed an industry in transition. Although 305 newspapers ceased daily publication during this period, 64% of these newspapers continued to serve their markets as weeklies, merged dailies, or zoned editions. The 111 dailies that went out of business were offset by sixty-three dailies that started publication. In effect, the newspaper industry lost service in forty-eight markets during seventeen years.