The circulation of America's daily newspapers plunged over the last year in one of its sharpest declines in recent history, according to data released on Monday.
The slide continues a decades-long trend and adds to the woes of a mature industry already struggling with layoffs and facing the potential sale of some of its flagships.
Overall, average daily circulation dropped by 2.8 percent during the six-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with the same period last year, according to an industry analysis of data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation for Sunday papers fell by 3.4 percent. The figures appear to be the steepest in any comparable six-month period in at least 15 years. They come after the sale of Knight Ridder newspapers this year and in the midst of a possible sale of the Tribune Co, whose assets include 11 newspapers.
The circulation losses also follow recent sour earnings reports, raising questions about why anyone would want to buy a newspaper now. The losses have accelerated as the industry tries to adjust to the steady migration of readers and advertisers to the Internet. Papers in major metropolitan areas, where more homes are wired for broadband, fared worse than those in smaller markets. Newspaper executives also attribute some of the decline to deliberate strategies to eliminate so-called bulk sales to third-party sponsors that offer papers free in places like hotels. Advertisers view them as having little value because the people taking them did not want them enough to pay for them.
The Los Angeles Times lost 8 percent of its daily circulation and 6 percent on Sunday. The Boston Globe, owned by The New York Times Co, lost 6.7 percent of its daily circulation and almost 10 percent on Sunday. The New York Times, one of the few big papers where circulation had held steady over the last few reporting periods, lost about 3.5 percent of its circulation both daily and Sunday. The Washington Post's declines were nearly the same. The Wall Street Journal's daily paper fell by less than 2 percent but its Weekend Edition, which comes out on Saturday, reported a 6.7 percent drop. As of Sept. 30, total circulation for the nation's dailies had dropped to 43.7 million. Daily circulation peaked in 1984, at 63.3 million.
Nonetheless, three billionaires in Los Angeles have said they are interested in buying the Los Angeles Times, which is owned by the Tribune. Jack Welch, the former chief executive of General Electric, has mused about buying the Globe, although the New York Times Co has said it is not for sale. Others have expressed interest in papers elsewhere.
Prospective buyers are interested, in part, because despite their problems, newspapers generally still turn a profit and remain attractive to advertisers who want to reach a mass audience. Many papers have higher profit margins than the average Fortune 500 company. Moreover, many companies see promise in their online publications, which are drawing an increasing number of readers each year. At the New York Times, for example, the number of people who read the paper online now surpasses the number who buy the print edition.
The newspaper association said that for the third quarter of this year, 57 million people visited a newspaper Web site, an increase of 24 percent over the period a year ago. And revenues from online advertisers are growing.
"The fundamentals say to me that there is a future for a well-run newspaper," said Conrad Fink, who teaches newspaper management at the University of Georgia. "But short range, it looks dismal and nobody knows exactly what to do about it."
One immediate problem is that although online revenues are growing, they still make up only a small portion of overall newspaper revenues. And it could take at least two decades for online revenues to equal half of current revenues, Lauren Rich Fine, an analyst with Merrill Lynch, wrote last week. Still, there is the vanity aspect of owning a newspaper.
"If you're Jack Welch, you've already made a ton of dough," Fink said. "You want to buy the Boston Globe because you want a voice at the top."
He also said there was an "element of altruism" by some people, "who believe they can buy these papers and return them to their local roots."
But he pointed to the recent acquisition of the Inquirer and the Daily News in Philadelphia by Brian Tierney, a local advertising executive, as an example that was "not all that impressive." The Inquirer lost 7.6 percent of its daily circulation and 4.5 percent on Sunday, according to the new data.
Some of the papers owned by McClatchy, which acquired Knight Ridder, also lost circulation in this period. The Star-Tribune in Minneapolis was down more than 4 percent daily and the Sacramento Bee was down more than 5 percent daily.
Nonetheless, Elaine Lintecum, treasurer of McClatchy, said the firm was optimistic. McClatchy's online sites now account for 8 percent of the firm's revenue, Lintecum said.
"It's a small portion, but it's growing more in importance each year," she said. "As that transition is taking place, we have to look at our total audience" online and in print.
She also said that like many other publishers, McClatchy was in the process of cutting back on third-party sales, "and until that's weaned out, the circulation numbers won't look so good."
One of the few increases in circulation was scored by the New York Post, which eked past its main rival, the Daily News, by about 10,000 copies and trumpeted the news on a giant billboard in Times Square.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.