Reflections of a Newsosaur takes a look at print newspapers and makes some conclusions, including this:
From the available data, we know with a reasonable degree of certainty that half of the newspaper readers today are 50 years of age or older, even though this age group represents only 30% of the total population. We can conclude from the demographic distribution of the newspaper audience that individuals under the age of 50 are far less likely to read newspapers than their elders. And we know everyone eventually will die, with the oldest readers statistically likely to expire sooner than the younger ones.
Unless something unforeseeable happens to change the news-consumption habits of younger readers, it stands to reason that the total audience of newspaper readers will shrink as the older generation dies off.
Bottom line, he concludes that print newspaper readership will drop from 89 million (today) to 44 million (2040).
A commenter at the site points out the disproportionate amount of coverage given to Jay Leno vs. Simon Cowell. To most Americans, which is the bigger deal? But you’d never know from reading the printed news.