US newspapers suffered predominantly flat or declining circulation in the last six months, according to data released by the US Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Average daily circulation for the 820 titles on the audit declined by 0.6% across the period. Whilst New York papers were boosted by a heightened interest in news following the 11 September attacks, the broader industry did not feel this benefit; some titles suffered from a decline in business travel readers as a result of the attacks, the report says.
“The circulation numbers are not surprising in a down economy,” said John F. Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), in his analysis of the ABC data.
“Many newspapers have scaled back their promotional spending, as well as pulling back physically from some sales locations on the outer edges of their markets,” added Sturm.
