The slow death of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is no secret. What once stood as a pillar of journalism in Wisconsin is now on a steep decline, both in print and digital readership. Recent figures paint a bleak picture for once giant. According to Urban Milwaukee, the paper lost 81% of its daily subscribers between 2003 and 2022, falling from 257,599 to just 48,158. And things haven’t improved. This year, the Sentinel’s daily circulation—including both print and digital—dropped again to a mere 39,641, a 16.7% decline from the previous year. The papers influence is declining and its power to shape the news and educate readers continues with it.
What’s particularly troubling is that even digital subscriptions, the supposed future of journalism, have plummeted. The paper saw a 13% decline in digital subscribers in just one year, leaving it with only 4,480 digital readers in a metro area of 1.6 million people. These figures raise a critical question: Can the Journal Sentinel recover, or is this just the beginning of the end?
The rise of independent media like Substack and podcasts seems to be filling the void. Readers are flocking to platforms where niche interests are covered in depth, often by independent journalists free from corporate oversight. This shift highlights a broader trend of distrust in legacy media, where corporate ownership—such as Gannett’s grip on the Journal Sentinel—has led to gutted newsrooms and a perceived loss of editorial integrity.
Bias and talk radio in reporting hasn’t helped either. Many readers feel that traditional newspapers like the Journal Sentinel no longer offer balanced perspectives, pushing them toward alternative media outlets that reflect their own viewpoints. This erosion of trust has further accelerated the paper’s decline. The Journal Sentinel’s circulation fell by 57% in the past five years alone, a sign that even its digital push has failed to capture the modern reader.
The media landscape is evolving, and the Journal Sentinel’s inability to keep pace, both in content and format, suggests that it may not hit bottom until more readers migrate to independent platforms. The irony is clear: A once-great newspaper, founded by Lucius Nieman, is now part of the same downfall his family’s foundation, Nieman Lab, documents in its analysis of Gannett’s mismanagement of local papers.
As the Journal Sentinel fades, Milwaukee’s news consumers are left wondering where to turn next. The answer increasingly appears to be independent media, which is rapidly gaining the ground legacy outlets are losing. Whether or not the Journal Sentinel can stabilize remains to be seen, but it’s clear the paper is far from reaching a new dawn. The only question left: How much further can it fall? If you’re in the prediction business, you can be assured it will only decline further.