Neal Manser
J440, PR Writing
04/21/08
Newspaper Circulation News Release

Newspaper industry adapting to emerging marketplace trends

	The American Bureau of Circulation has completed its audit of newspaper circulation nationwide to reveal a strong positive trend in readership in the industry despite cost of living increases and a decline in overall economic strength in the United States.
	Clearly showing industry adaptability to emerging trends, newspaper website viewership actually increased 12 percent in a time of declining circulation.  Newspaper website traffic now averages 66.4 million visitors a month, which is nearly 50 percent more than the 45 million subscribers of print editions that submit circulation numbers to the ABC.  Over the last year, online readership of industry sites increased a staggering 16 percent and totaled to 3.1 billion page views per month.  In fact, the portion of the study conducted by Neilsen Online showed that forty percent of all active web users visited newspaper websites during the last six month period!
	"When you look at newspaper readership and circulation, it's not one versus the other," said Jack Strong, NNC President.  "In this fragmented media market, true comparability between different media demands an increased focus on total audience, and by providing readership data with circulation data, newspapers are able to demonstrate their effectiveness relative to other media."
	The analysis of U.S. daily circulation shows that 789 newspapers declined overall during a six-month period ending on March 31, 2008.  The total decline was 2.6 percent for the period, up slightly from the 1.9 percent decline in the previous six months.  This demonstrates that overall readership is up despite dips in circulation.
	Headquartered in Vienna, Viriginia, the National Newspaper Coalition is an industry group that represents 2,000 newspapers in the United States and Canada.  Member newspapers make up 87 percent of daily circulation in North America.  The organization focuses on current issues facing the industry and is routinely audited by the ABC.