U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for May 31.

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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TUESDAY, MAY 31: DAILY PAPER

Profile America -- Tuesday, May 31st. The nation's first daily newspaper, the Pennsylvania Evening Post, began publication this week in 1783, printed by Benjamin Towne in Philadelphia. Americans' hunger for news was such that by 1850, there were some 250 dailies. The number of newspapers peaked a hundred years ago, when there were 2,600 dailies published across the nation, with a circulation of over 24 million. Today, with increasing competition from the Internet, television, and radio, the number of daily newspapers in the U.S. has dropped to just over 1,400, with close to 49 million subscribers. About a half million more buy Sunday editions. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2011, 295

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 810

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 1134, 1135

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau