In the department of Obvious News, U.S. newspaper circulation has declined 2.6 per cent compared to last year. Some of the biggest losers included the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe. How can old media catch up to new media?
Digital Journal — Daily newspaper circulation took another serious hit this year, as weekday circulation fell 2.6 per cent for the six months ending Sept. 30, according to data released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Sunday circulation dropped 3.5 per cent.
Major papers suffered a steep decline in circulation: the New York Times saw average daily circulation decrease 4.5 per cent to 1,037,828, and its Sunday edition plunged 7.59 per cent, partly due to a price increase.
Washington Post‘s daily circulation fell 3.2 per cent and the Boston Globe tumbled 6.6 per cent. The steepest decline was felt at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which suffered a 9.1 per cent decline.
New York City’s battling tabloids also felt some pain in its circ numbers. As Forbes reported: “News Corp.’s New York Post can no longer trumpet itself as the city’s largest-circulation tab after its average daily circulation fell 5.24% to 667,119. That left it short of the Daily News, which fell 1.73% to 681,415.”
The recent data from ABC points to a larger problem: the newspaper industry’s need to adapt to a changing market. As more readers turn to online news for breaking stories and interactive features, publishers are scurrying to find various paths to recoup revenue. Drastic times call for drastic measures, it seems. As Editor & Publisher notes:
With the business model under extreme pressure, publishers are also choosing to cut back on circulation in outlying areas and instead focus on ‘core’ markets. Of course, the trend points to fewer people reading the paper too as single-copy sales, considered a barometer of the industry, is decreasing at larger rates than the overall top line number — somewhere in the ballpark of 5%.
Business woes continue to affect publishers, evidenced in third-quarter results from Washington Post Co. According to Associated Press, the company suffered a 50 per cent drop in newspaper profits. Print advertising at the Post fell 13 per cent.
What’s to account for this newspaper stiff-arming? As many Web junkies know, U.S. newspaper sites are enjoying increasing traffic. More than 37 per cent of all active Internet users visited newspapers’ Web sites during the third quarter of 2007, according to Reuters. The report cites some statistics of interest to any progressive publisher:
…newspapers and newspaper Web sites reach 77 percent of adults in a given week. They also reach 65 percent of adults aged 18 to 24 and 69 percent of adults aged 25 to 34.
The Reuters and ABC reports come at a time when new media journalism continues to attract news readers, both young and old. Online advertising is giving hope to publishers who want to attract revenues as well as readership. So how can papers like New York Times and the Boston Globe adapt to a changing marketplace and a digital culture?
If they were innovative, more money would be funneled into the papers’ websites and Web 2.0 applications. If they were stodgy and close-minded, their newspapers would continue to face declining circulation and print newspapers may go the way of the rotary phone — quaint and old-fashioned, but hardly worth using often.
For a list of the top U.S. newspapers by circulation, click here.
