VERBATIM
Total revenue for print newspapers stood at $20.6 billion in 2011, according to the Newspaper Association of America. Revenue stood at $2 billion in 1950 and rose steadily through the years, reaching $20.5 billion in 1983 and topping out at $48.6 billion in 2000.
But it has been on the decline since that time, when some papers began to offer online versions and web-only news sites gained in popularity.
The sharpest drops came in 2009 (down 28.6 percent) and 2008 (17.7 percent).
Classified advertising revenue in particular has taken a huge beating in recent years, dropping from $19.6 billion in 2000 to just $5 billion last year.
The situation is even worse for print newspapers when inflation is taken into account. The $2 billion in revenue earned in 1950 is equal to about $20 billion today, so revenue in inflation-adjusted dollars has now fallen back to 1950 levels.
Online revenue for newspapers, meanwhile, has risen from $1.2 billion in 2003, the first time figures were reported by the Association, to $3.2 billion in 2011.
Newspapers haven’t been able to compensate for the drop in total ad revenue by increasing revenue from circulation. That revenue stood at $9.98 billion last year, compared to $9.96 billion in 1996 and $10.2 billion in 2007.
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