Newspapers in Massachusetts and across the nation are seeking new ways to measure readership as the traditional measure, paid circulation, continues to decline.
For the six months ended March 31, average daily paid circulation fell 5.2 percent in Massachusetts from the same period a year earlier, and 2.1 percent nationally, according to data reported yesterday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, an independent monitor of newspaper circulation. Sunday circulation fell 5.4 percent in Massachusetts and 3.1 percent nationally.
Paid newspaper circulation has dropped sharply in recent years as more readers get news from the Internet, including from newspapers’ own websites. Analysts have attributed the sharper circulation declines in Massachusetts to the proliferation of high-speed Internet connections and a tech-savvy population.
Newspapers, meanwhile, want advertisers to pay more attention to the audiences they reach through all their products, including those on the Internet. The Newspaper Association of America recently released data that showed more than 59 million people visited newspaper websites in the first three months of the year, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier.
By fall, when the next semi-annual circulation report is released, the Audit Bureau of Circulations is expected to include readership estimates based on audited market surveys and Web traffic counts, in addition to paid circulation. The organization’s directors recently gave preliminary approval to the expanded report and will consider final approval in July.
‘‘The challenge is to get advertisers to buy into this new model of counting readers,’’ said Stephen Burgard, director of Northeastern University’s School of Journalism. ‘‘This is a transition period. The question is, ‘Will revenues recover?’’’
Print newspapers continue to generate the vast majority of revenue, despite the rapid growth of online advertising. For example, The New York Times Co., parent of The Boston Globe and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, recently reported that first-quarter Internet revenue jumped 22 percent from a year earlier, to $74 million. Still, that represented only about 10 percent of total revenue.
Many newspapers have had to cut jobs because of slumping circulation and ad revenue. The Globe, for example, recently completed a buyout program that cut about 60 jobs.
In the last six-month period, the Globe’s daily circulation fell 3.7 percent, to 382,500 from 397,300, while its Sunday circulation fell 6.9 percent to 562,300, from 604,100. Daily circulation at the Boston Herald plunged 11.5 percent, to 201,500 from 227,600 a year earlier. Its Sunday circulation fell 9.7 percent, to 110,800 from 122,700.
The state’s other large dailies also experienced circulation declines.
Susan Hunt Stevens, the Globe’s senior vice president of circulation and marketing, said circulation declines are moderating. A year ago, the Globe’s daily circulation fell 8.5 percent, more than twice the rate of this year’s decline. Meanwhile, the Globe, through Boston.com, its print and online affiliate, is reaching more than 70 percent of the market, up from 55 percent in 1995, Stevens said.
‘‘I’m cautiously optimistic we’re servicing readers in both print and online, and working to grow our overall reader base.’’
Nationally, big metropolitan dailies sustained some of the biggest circulation losses. Circulation fell 14.3 percent at the Dallas Morning News; 6.9 percent at Newsday, the Long Island, N.Y., paper; 6.6 percent at San Diego Union-Tribune; and 4.2 percent at The Los Angeles Times.
Among national papers, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal posted small circulation gains. The New York Times’s circulation slipped 1.9 percent.
Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.
