Em 2019, Robert G. Picard escreveu:

“A common argument, accepted by many for its simple narrative, is that digital news killed print news. But the reality is more complicated.

Newspaper print circulation number rose until about 2005 in most Western countries, along with rising populations. That increase, however, masked the fact that household penetration began declining in the 1970s, reaching about 25-35% in those countries at the millennium. This household trend began 3 decades before the appearance of the internet news and led to advertisers to progressively reduce newspaper advertising. Advertisers were unhappy with newspapers long before the internet. (…)

Digital news did effect print circulation, but not as dramatic as some suggest. Most news readers who were not heavy consumers left newspapers between 1970 and 2000, opting to get smaller doses of news from radio, television, and cable.  When digital news appeared, many began giving up those other sources of news as well.”

Agora, Benedict Evans, da a16z, propõe os seguintes gráficos, alguns dos quais complementam estas afirmações:

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Em resumo, desde a II Guerra Mundial que os jornais têm vindo a perder negócio. Tradicionalmente, desde a I Guerra Mundial, as audiências tendiam a interessar-se pelos jornais (eram o equivalente ao Twitter para os norte-americanos…) ou a aumentar o consumo de media, de forma mais geral, captando o referido interesse publicitário.

Em complemento, ver também Evans na a16z Summit, em Novembro de 2018: