“Saying ‘I don’t need newspapers; I get my news from the Internet’ is the same as saying, ‘I know, right? And I don’t need farmers because I get my food at the supermarket.’”

That is a message that newspapers across the country have been trying to drive home in recent months as the industry continues to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of our digital world.

Although that may sound like commonsense, it is surprising how many people don’t realize that newspapers generate the bulk of the digital content, and certainly when it comes to creating objective and professional news.

The Newspaper Association of America has compiled a list of “20 Tweetable Truths” that includes important facts and figures about the state of print and digital newspapers and examples of the many positive developments taking place in the industry.

Although Leader Publications is sharing those with our Twitter followers and digital readers, we want to make sure those reading our print editions don’t miss out on this eye-opening information.

 

AUDIENCE

> Approximately 2.5 billion adults around the world read print newspapers.

> Today, newspaper digital media reaches more Americans than ever — 8 in 10 read it

each month.

> In August 2015, newspaper digital audience reached a new peak with 179 million adult unique users in the U.S.

> 92 percent of women ages 25-44 read newspaper digital media — the highest among any age or gender group.

> The exclusively mobile newspaper audience is skyrocketing. It increased by 53 percent in just one year.

> Millennials are 39 percent more likely to read newspapers on a mobile device than any other age group.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

> Newspaper content is 50 percent more likely to be retweeted than all other local media, including television and radio.

> Social media and search are the most common ways for millennials to find news — 88 percent encounter news on Facebook.

> 46 percent of Twitter users follow news organizations, reporters or commentators.

> After accessing news through social media, 30 percent of people subscribed to a news outlet.

> Facebook referrals to top news sites have grown 42 percent in just one year.

 

ADVERTISING

> 8 in 10 adults took action after seeing a newspaper print ad in the last month.

> 57 percent of adults use print and online newspaper media for weekly shopping planning and purchase decisions.

> Newspapers are the no. 1 consumer source for coupons — 7 in 10 adults use newspaper-delivered coupons.

> Mobile ad spending is expected to surpass that of desktop in 2016 with an estimated spend of $40.5 billion.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

> The newspaper digital audience grew two times as fast as the Internet audience in the past year.

> Newspaper media is more trusted by consumers than both local television and social media.

> 84 percent of people follow the news because they want to know what is going on in the world around them.

> 85 percent of millennials say keeping up with the news is at least somewhat important to them, and 69 percent get news daily.

> People today have more control over the info they consume, the sources they seek and the pathways they use.

 

So don’t write off newspapers yet. As an industry we are still doing what we have always done — informing the public — and reaching more people than ever.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.