They must be approved by the U.S. Justice Department. The number of daily newspapers continues to drop. In 1980, there were 387 morning papers and 1,388 evening newspapers a total of 1,745. In 2000, Editor and Publisher magazine counted 736 morning papers and 760 evening newspapers a total of 1,496. All-day newspapers are counted twice in these totals.
Most American newspapers are fairly small.
Only 16.1 per cent of dailies have circulations of more than 50,000. The number of weekly newspapers, on the other hand, has increased in the last 10 years. Some are distributed free conduits for advertising with little real news. The weekly figures count any newspaper that is not distributed daily. . . . It lists the 12 largest newspaper groups and the combined circulations of the papers they own. . . .