Readers and Viewers

Australia's leading publishers have established an $2 million independent industry body tasked with promoting newspapers to advertisers and finding ways to boost readership. The Newspaper Works, founded by News Ltd, John Fairfax Holdings, Rural Press, APN News and Media and West Australian Newspapers Holdings, aims to modernise the public perception of newspapers. News chairman and chief executive...

It is a newspaper with a circulation of only 20,000 copies, and having online and cable television operations, in the middle of a cornfield in the state of Kansas in the US, which provides a classic case study for newspaper publishers incorporating elements of the practical convergence philosophy into their operations. SAME WORK: Radio journalist Lars Kryger in Ringkjøbing, right, records a radio...

The print media in India is a long way from being dead if the official report on the state of the print publications is anything to go by. The Press in India 2004-5, the annual report of the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), says the print media claimed a substantial share in the information space in the country registering 1,948 new newspapers and over a two crore increase in circulation...

A Florida newspaper has increased readership 20 percent without spending a dime on printing or distribution. How? By offering the entire paper online for free. Publisher Craig Swill wanted to get more people reading the Boca Raton (Fla.) News — and its ads — yet avoid any increase in the printing and distribution costs which already squeeze newspapers. He found a solution in the PDF sent by the...

The concept of the free commuter newspaper which dawned at the turn of the millennium is alive and well — and growing worldwide. Yet the concept has grown beyond its original point of distribution, beyond its original business model, and even beyond its content model, says a new report by the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA). The INMA report, Free and 'Lite' Newspapers: The...

The latest readership polls have been reported in Spain, with the free paper 20 Minutos coming out on top. The sports paper Marca had been first on the list, but even in this World Cup year it has lost an astonishing 104,000 readers. 20 Minutos, published by the Norwegian group Schibsted, was the only free paper to gain readers (41,000 since the last count in December). Two other popular free...

The struggles of the French press are well documented. Not only have many papers been losing circulation and money, but many of their investors come from private businesses often connected to the government that raise suspicions of not-so-independent editorial boards. In fact, the Economist says that by some counts "70% of the French press is in the hands of defence firms." For instance, the...

It's no secret that free papers have been expanding exponentially across the European newspaper market for several years, already comprising close to 20% of total newspaper distribution in a number of countries and over 50% in Spain and 75% in Iceland while causing an uproar in Germany. Most recently, the success of freesheets has caused a war in London and a practice that began in America with...

NEW YORK: The "Sunday paper" remains very popular but a recent poll for Parade magazine turned up some of the obstacles cutting into circulation lately. Almost one in three Americans said they had not read the Sunday newspaper in the past six months. When asked why, the following reasons topped the list: 15% said they don’t have the time; 14% can’t get home delivery; 11% get their news from...

The big fish always eat the small fish. Just the way, big newspapers elbow out small newspapers. Yet, grassroots, community newspapers can survive – as some in South Africa have been doing. And the mantra is the same for all of them: editorial content must have a local focus and should be relevant to members of the newspapers' communities. COMMUNITY-OWNED: Rose Stephenson, co-owner of the North...