Circulation figures of daily newspapers in the US have dropped again.
The country's Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), citing preliminary figures, said on Monday that the circulation for 507 daily newspapers fell 4.64 per cent in the six months ending September to 38.16 million copies from 40.02 million in the same period last year.
The Associated Press gave some figures about specific newspapers: [Link]
Consider the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where circulation declined 13.6 per cent, the largest drop among the 25 largest papers. The paper increased prices and reduced its distribution footprint by a third to 49 counties. Some of the counties dropped weren't even in Georgia and were more expensive to reach.
Among the nation's largest newspapers, USA Today remains the top seller with average daily circulation of 2,293,310, just 173 more than last year. The No. 2 daily, the Wall Street Journal, also reported flat circulation — up just 117 copies to 2,011,999. The New York Times' circulation fell 3.6 per cent to 1,000,665, while circulation at the Los Angeles Times fell 5.2 per cent to 739,147. All other papers in the top 25 also saw declines.
The New York Times remains the top paper on Sundays, when USA Today and the Journal do not publish, with a circulation of 1,438,585, down 4.1 per cent. The Los Angeles Times follows at 1,055,076, down 5.1 per cent, and the Post at 866,057, a decrease of 3.2 per cent. Among the top 25, only the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Petersburg Times reported Sunday gains, of 0.8 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) had something about the US economic scenario and its impact on newspapers: [Link]
US newspapers have been struggling in recent years with steady declines in circulation and a loss of readership and advertising to online media.
Two websites, LAObserved.com and MediaBistro.com, reported Monday that Los Angeles Times editor Ross Stanton had announced plans to cut editorial staff at the paper by about 10 percent because of the "growing economic downturn."
"I deeply regret to report that today, 75 of our friends, colleagues and capable staff members in Editorial will be told that they are losing their jobs," the websites quoted Stanton as saying in an internal memo on Monday.
