You wonder if newspapers really believe this stuff or they think readers are so stupid that they will, or if they're just trying to convince themselves.
Unnamed (typical) industry officials blamed the National Do Not Call Registry for part of the decline in circulation. That, and a "shift in strategy among major newspapers away from using short-term promotions to acquire new readers," i.e. that unwanted litter in your driveway you never ordered and the Just-Before-Audit $4.00-For-Six-Months-Subscription promotions.
When was the last time you subscribed to a newspaper when they called you at dinnertime?? Probably never, but when did our media let facts get in the way of their delusions?
2 comments:
I know here on Long Island one of the reasons for a BIG drop in the circulation of Newsday (LA Times owned) is the uncovering of a scandal involving inflated circulation numbers, one which scammed millions of dollars from advertisers.
Maybe others have quietly started to clean up their acts, thus lowering numbers.
Oh, and the Internet might have a little bit to do with it, no?
We don't know how the circulation scandals affected circulation at Newsday for this last quarter. (Figures for Newday were not in the March 2005 report because they are being censured by the auditing bureau so we won't know until next quarter.) Newsday responded admirably with a thorough and lengthy series on the fraud at Newsday and Hoy and they might not be punished by subscribers. Or they might.
The real big declines this quarter were, for instance, at the Baltimore Sun -- down 11.5%. (The Baltimore Sun is also owned by Tribune Co. - which owns Chicago Tribune-down 6.5%, Los Angeles Times-down 6.6%, Newsday, etc.)
http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/tribune.asp
A lot of people read papers on the internet but those are people I suspect never subscribed to papers. I suspect, too, that the reason circulation is down at the majority of papers is because newspapers are on notice after the Newsday/Hoy fiasco that advertisers would take them to court if they didn't come clean. Advertisers are starting to exert pressure on newspapers and are conducting their own audits. And for added incentive, there is the fact that the NY State Attorney General and the Feds are looking at the cases.
Even so, the papers are still counting 'other paid circulation' - giveaways - because ABC audit rules say they can. Drop those and you would see double digit drops at most of the newspapers.
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