Newspaper Industry Revenue Surpasses 4 Trillion Won for the First Time Last Year... Subscription Income Increases

Korea Press Foundation Conducts Newspaper Industry Survey... 28,686 Reporters
Print Newspaper Companies Down 11.5%, Internet Newspaper Companies Up 13.6%
Comprehensive Daily Sales 1.3349 Trillion Won, Up 2.1% Year-on-Year

Newspaper Industry Status Survey Revenue Scale (2019~2021) Data provided by Korea Press Foundation

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] It has been confirmed that the number of print newspaper businesses has decreased, while the number of internet newspaper businesses has increased.

According to the Newspaper Industry Survey results announced by the Korea Press Foundation on the 29th, as of December 31, 2021, there were 5,397 confirmed operating newspapers, an increase of 319 from 2020 (5,078). The number of print newspaper businesses was 1,313, down 11.5% from the previous year, while internet newspaper businesses increased by 13.6% to 4,084.

According to the '2022 Newspaper Industry Survey' released by the Korea Press Foundation on the 29th, the newspaper industry's revenue in 2021 was 4.0573 trillion KRW, a 2.6% increase compared to the previous year (3.9538 trillion KRW). The Korea Press Foundation explained that this is the first time since the newspaper industry survey began in 2010 that revenue has exceeded 4 trillion KRW.

Among total revenue, daily newspapers accounted for 73.6%, weekly newspapers 9.9%, and internet newspapers 16.6%. The share of internet newspaper revenue showed a gradual increase from 14.2% in 2019 to 15.7% in 2020. The nationwide comprehensive daily newspapers, which hold the largest share of newspaper industry revenue, recorded 1.3349 trillion KRW, a 2.1% increase from the previous year, but still below the 2019 revenue (1.3752 trillion KRW).

Newspaper Industry Revenue Changes (2012~2021)

Newspaper business revenue was ranked as advertising (60.6%), other businesses (17.4%), subscriptions (16.8%), and content sales (3.9%). Advertising revenue was 2.4599 trillion KRW, down 2.4% from the previous year, while subscription revenue increased by 1.4% to 682.1 billion KRW. The number of newspaper businesses was 5,397, up 6.3% (319 businesses) from 5,078 the previous year. Print newspaper businesses decreased by 11.5% to 1,313, while internet newspaper businesses increased by 13.6% to 4,084.

Number of Reporters in the Newspaper Industry Survey

The total number of employees in the newspaper industry was 43,328, a 3.1% decrease from 44,693 the previous year. Journalists accounted for 28,686, representing 66.2% of all employees. On average, 50 journalists worked at each daily newspaper, 4 at each weekly newspaper, and 3 at each internet newspaper. Regarding gender distribution among journalists, there were 19,304 males (67.3%) and 9,382 females (32.7%), with males more than twice as many as females.

The number of non-regular employees in the newspaper industry increased annually over the past three years: 5,566 in 2019, 9,123 in 2020, and 9,705 in 2021. Last year, regular employees numbered 33,623, accounting for 77.6% of all employees. For newspapers with revenue exceeding 10 billion KRW, the proportion of regular employees was high at 91.3%.

The average business longevity of newspaper companies was 8.9 years, with significant differences depending on the newspaper medium. Nationwide comprehensive daily newspapers had the longest average longevity at 51 years, followed by economic dailies (30 years), regional comprehensive dailies (22 years), sports dailies (19 years), and internet newspapers (6 years). Last year, more than one in ten print newspapers (14.5%) experienced a temporary suspension of publication. Regarding the newly introduced reporting support system in this year's survey, 84.8% of print newspapers and 47.2% of internet newspapers had a code of journalistic ethics. Reader rights committees existed in 41.6% of print newspapers and 22.0% of internet newspapers.

This survey was conducted as a full census from July 4 to August 31 targeting newspaper businesses (print and internet newspapers) confirmed to be publishing newspapers. The population was 5,397, with 4,420 respondents. The results were compiled based on responding companies, and revenue and employee status were estimated for the population based on responses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.