Newspapers in [deathly?] decline

One might have thought that with an election campaign underway in the US - and such a highly visible one at that - that the circulation of newspapers wouldn't decline. Not so, according to the latest stats as revealed by Editor and Publisher:

"For those holding out for some improvement in print circulation, this morning brings disappointment. The Audit Bureau of Circulations released the latest figures for the six- month period ending September 2008 and the report shows major drops in circulation at the big metros.

According to ABC for the 507 newspapers reporting in this period, daily circulation slipped 4.6% to 38,165,848 copies. For the 571 papers, Sunday dropped 4.8% to 43,631,646 copies.

For comparison purposes, in September 2007 reporting period, daily circ fell 2.6% and Sunday was down 4.6%.

Across the country, publishers have put in place plans to cater to core readers and subscribers. It's too expensive to bulk up circulation in unprofitable areas such as third-party, newspapers in education, and bonus day copies. Not in the core market defined by the newspaper? You are out of luck, at least for the print edition."

It is difficult to believe that the figures aren't replicated in many parts of the globe.

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