After four tumultuous years in American politics and a tense relationship between the American press and former President Donald Trump, news media in the United States are again experiencing a decline in viewership, readers and visitors.

After the so-called ‘Trump bump’ caused an increase in viewers at CNN and readers of The New York Times, those media, among others, are now experiencing a decline.

The viewership of news channel CNN, which Trump regularly dropped out against, is 50 percent lower during primetime this month than in March 2020. Data from market researcher Nielsen shows that channels Fox News and MSNBC are experiencing a lighter decline.

Website visits to The New York Times decreased by 30 percent between November and February. At the Washington Post, the decrease in the number of visitors is 27 percent, reports research firm ComScore.

Part of the decline can be explained by the fact that the US elections are over, but according to Adam Chiara, a professor of communication sciences at the University of Hartford, the decline in news consumption is a pre-Trump trend.

While the Trump years gave a “temporary boost” to news outlets such as The New York Times and CNN, the trend is now reappearing that people are making less and less use of cable TV and newspaper subscriptions. Instead, people are increasingly consuming news through online platforms, Chiara said.