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NEWSPAPERS
In 1989, a total of 9,144 newspapers (daily, Sunday, weekly etc.) appeared in 6,516 towns
in the United States. Including the 85 foreign-language newspapers published in 34
different languages, the daily newspapers in the United States sell over 63 million copies
a day.
The record for a Sunday paper is held by
The New York Times. One issue on a
Sunday in 1965 contained 946 pages, weighed 36 pounds, and costs 50 cents. Reading the
Sunday paper is an American tradition. The Sunday newspapers have an average circulation
of 57 million copies.
Most daily newspapers are of the "quality" rather than the
"popular" (that is non-quality) variety. Among the twenty newspapers with the
largest circulation only two or three regularly feature crime, sex, and scandal. The paper
with the largest circulation,
The
Wall Street Journal, is a very serious newspaper
indeed.
It is often said that there is no "national press" in the
United States as there is in Great Britain. Most daily newspapers are distributed locally,
or regionally. People buy one of the big city newspapers in addition to the smaller local
ones. A few of the best-known newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal can be found
throughout the country. Yet, one wouldn't expect The Milwaukee Journal to be read in
Boston, or The Boston Globe in Houston. There has been one attempt to publish a truly
national newpspaper - USA Today. But it still has only a circulation of 1,2 million and,
in its popular form, can only offer news of general interest.
LARGEST DAILY U.S. NEWSPAPERS
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The Wall Street Journal -
1,985,000 |
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MAGAZINES
There are over 11,000 magazines and periodicals in the United States. More than 4,000 of them appear monthly, and over 1,300 are published each week. They cover all topics and interests, from art and architecture to tennis, from aviation and gardening to computers and literary criticism. Quite a few have international editions, are translated into other languages, or have "daughter" editions in other countries. Among the many internationals are National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Time, Newsweek, Scientific American, and Psychology Today.
The weekly newsmagazines - the best known are Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News World Report - serve as a type of national press. Time appears each week in several international editions. Several news magazines were modeled on Time. Among these are the leading newsmagazines in France, Germany, and Italy. Time also offers news, news features, interviews, photographs, graphics, and charts to other publications throughout the world.
The newsmagazines are all aimed at the average, educated reader. There are also many periodicals which treat serious educational, political, and cultural topics. The best known of these include The Atlantic Monthly, Harvard Educational Review, Saturday Review, The New Republic, National Review, Foreign Affairs, Smithsonian, and, of course, The New Yorker.
National Geographic has an average circulation of over 10 million, Consumer Reports some 3 million, Smithsonian over 2 million copies, Scientific American over 7 million.
Over the past two centuries the means of communication - "new media" have grown immensely. Cables and satellites are expanding. Nearly each home in the USA has more than one TV-set. People can watch about 1,200 stations. TV works on four major networks: CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN.
