Fraters Libertas

They Say These Eyes Are Goin' Boys And They Ain't Comin' Back

From the WSJ:

The Fourth Estate is braced to get more bad news about itself next week.

On Monday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations releases its semiannual figures on circulation -- and they are expected to show that paying readers continue to disappear at an alarming rate during the latest six-month period.

Challenged by online rivals, a dearth of younger readers and an advertising downturn, newspapers are suffering through their worst slump in years. The last ABC figures, which were released in May, were the worst for the industry in nine years, showing that average daily circulation had dropped 1.9% in the six months ended March 31 from a year ago.

There are a few bright spots:

Not all chains are expected to report such big drops. Sacramento-based McClatchy Co. says daily circulation was down 0.7% as of September, to just under 1.4 million copies. But it also expects circulation for the full year to fall around 1% -- ending 20 consecutive years of circulation growth.

The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones & Co., expects circulation to be up slightly, because of increases in online readership. ABC in recent years has allowed the inclusion of certain online readers in circulation figures.

And this has to be one of the best "glass is half full" statements of all time:

"By one measure the newspaper business is facing this crisis," says Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a think tank that's part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. "But by another it is also looking at the best opportunity for growth that it's had in two generations."

Is the popularity of newspapers waning?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no...no, no, not at all. I, I, I just think that the.. uh.. their appeal is becoming more selective.

Update--Tom e-mails to report on a daily double on fish wrap:

This morning my wife stopped at the Holiday Station near our home for some items. She decided to "feed the beast" - buy a Star Tribune - exclusively for the coupons. (We cancelled the Strib a few months ago due to objectionable content...Nick Coleman, The Boondocks, the Editorial Page, etc.)

The clerk told my wife she should take advantage of a special offer - Double the Coupons for $2.22. My wife asked how they accomplished getting more coupons in one paper. The clerk told her it was simple, they just gave out two papers for $2.22 (I'm not certain if this is a Holiday promotion or a Strib promotion).

My wife's concern was environmental - what a waste of paper, trees, etc. My
concern was circulation - if every outlet was promoting this the way Holiday is - with signage, clerks promoting it, etc., that's a lot of copies sold that aren't really additional sales. May be the Strib lets its advertisers know about the practice - I don't know. It seems to me that there is a lot of room for inflating circulation numbers without increasing the number of people who are actually reading the paper and/or seeing the ads.