Only one of the 50 largest audited U.S. newspapers increased average daily print circulation year on year in the six months to March 2026, according to Alliance for Audited Media figures supplied exclusively to Press Gazette.
The top 50 titles by combined print and digital circulation posted a collective average year-on-year print decline of 15%. Together they circulated 1.99 million copies a day on average in the period — only about 250,000 more than the 25 papers included in the previous six-month analysis to September, despite twice as many titles being counted.
AAM cautioned that its figures do not capture all digital newspaper subscriptions.
The organization introduced new digital reporting rules in February 2026. Some newspapers that might belong in a U.S. top 50 list also may not report data to AAM. The group typically provides figures for 25 papers; this year it supplied 50.The only gainer was Florida’s Villages Daily Sun, up 1.7% to 54,900.
The steepest year-on-year drop was at The Baltimore Sun, down 24.9% to 11,800 from 15,721. Media mogul David Smith bought the paper in 2024, saying he intended to attract subscribers, serve a greater public interest and improve profitability. Subsequent reports said the paper had become more conservative, alienating some readers.
In June, Washington politics and sports reporter Jeff Barker resigned and said the paper had “changed since its purchase by David Smith.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune recorded the second-largest decline, down 24.2% to 54,800 from 72,265, even after triple-digit month-on-month growth in online visits in January, likely tied to coverage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the state.
The Washington Post had the third-largest fall, down 23.9% to 77,900 from 102,394. During the six-month period the paper cut one-third of its staff. Executive editor Matt Murray said “the company’s structure is too rooted in a different era, when we were a dominant, local print product.”On a half-on-half basis, 44 of the 50 papers declined. The combined average drop was 5.77%.
The largest half-on-half decline was at Hearst’s San Francisco Chronicle, followed by The Baltimore Sun (down 15.7%) and the Minnesota Star Tribune (down 14.8%).Six titles rose half on half: Villages Daily Sun (up 12.8%), USA Today Co.’s Sarasota Herald-Tribune (up 6% to 12,000) and The Palm Beach Post (up 3.4% to 12,400), the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (up 2.9% to 13,400), Arizona Daily Star (up 1.8% to 13,900) and Indiana’s The Journal Gazette (up 1.6% to 14,800).The Tampa Bay Times reports averages from Wednesdays and Sundays only.
USA Today Co. accounted for five of the ten worst performers on both half-on-half and year-on-year measures: Arizona Republic (down 0.8% half on half and 20.2% year on year to 32,600), The Courier-Journal (down 10.6% and 21.5% to 11,900), the Democrat and Chronicle (down 10.1% and 17.8% to 11,400), Indianapolis Star (down 9.9% and 19.4% to 14,900) and The Record (down 9.8% and 16% to 11,400).