Looks like the game is up

The headline at Editor & Publisher is "Circ Drops at 'The Boston Globe,' Some Gains at 'NY Times' and McClatchy" but the real story is several paragraphs down.

Janet Robinson, president and CEO, New York Times Co., warned the declines would continue for the second half of the year ,especially as the company migrates away from bulk sales. "Advertisers are becoming better informed of circulation analysis," she said while adding that the Times is in the process of converting to a readership model.

Translation: Newspapers have been routinely covering up their circulation decline by giving away papers in bulk, some paid for by a single advertiser, most of them dropped at deeply discount rates on hotels, restaurants, and airports. Or newspapers that were dumped into the trash. But advertisers got wise. They pay advertising rates based upon circulation to actual subscribers, people who supposedly read the paper, not 5-cent-a-copy bulk rate drops or throwaways.

Had any other business been so deceitful the MSM would crucify them. This is another example of their unwillingness to hold themselves to standards they demand of others.