National Hug A Newsperson Day is a holiday that was formerly known as National Hug A Newsman Day but received its new moniker a few years ago to be more inclusive. It’s a holiday that’s observed on the 4th of April annually and encourages people to show just a little bit of appreciation to the people who bring them their news. News is extremely important, and its main utility is to inform and empower the people consuming it. Without quality sources of information, people can’t make informed decisions about their lives, their communities, or their governments.

The History Of Journalism

Try as we might, we were unable to uncover the history of National Hug A Newsperson Day, so we changed our focus and decided to investigate the history of journalism instead. What we discovered is that one of the first newspapers was printed by the government of Venice and was named Notizie Scritte. It cost one Gazzetta—a Venetian coin that would eventually be used to describe newspapers themselves (think gazette). Of course, since these were printed by the government of Venice, they weren’t officially newspapers as we have come to know them. Many people point to the first English-language magazine that was printed during the 17th century as the first newspaper. During the 18th and 19th centuries, newspapers began to pop up everywhere and became important sources of information for people.

Facts About Journalism

Over the course of our research for National Hug A Newsperson Day, we’ve come across some interesting facts about journalism and newspapers in general. We’d like to share these nuggets of information with everyone reading about this holiday, and that’s exactly what we did below.

• Journalism class enrollment increased by 44% between 2019 and 2020.
• Viewership of cable news networks has increased dramatically over the last couple of years.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, three out of four people expressed concern over fake news about the coronavirus.
• It’s estimated that by 2027, journalism will shrink by over 10%.
• Journalists are notoriously underpaid, and their salary falls below the national pay average.
• Every year, more than 20 billion newspapers are published around the world.
• The average newspaper contains approximately 30% recycled fiber content.
• The largest English-speaking newspaper in India is The Times of India.
• Over 2 million copies of The Times of India are distributed every day.
• In the U.S., The Wall Street Journal has a daily circulation of over 2 million copies.
• TV news broadcasting is on the rise.
• Unfortunately, women are still in the minority among journalists.
• Freelance journalism has been growing steadily since 2008.

Observing National Hug A Newsperson Day

You don’t have to literally hug a newsperson on this day to celebrate this holiday. You can thank them for what they do in person, or you can give a shout-out to all journalists using the hashtag #NationalHugANewspersonDay. You can also support them by buying and enjoying some of their work. If you don’t want to buy a physical newspaper, you can purchase access online to a digital newspaper. Regardless of how you celebrate this holiday, just be sure to take the time to appreciate the importance of news in your life and in society in general.