Global newspaper circulation is rising, conference reports

Associated Press
June 15, 2008

GOTEBORG, Sweden - Global newspaper circulation is rising, buoyed by demand in Asia and South America - belying predictions of the demise of print journalism, officials said at a recent international newspaper conference.

Circulation of paid newspapers rose 2.6 percent worldwide in 2007, with the biggest jump in India and China - now the largest market for newspapers with 107 million copies sold daily, according to a report by the World Association of Newspapers.

The increased circulation in India and other Asian cultures was tied to increasing literacy, more free time and greater income, said Larry Kilman, a spokesman for the association.

But readership continued to slip in the United States and Europe, where traditional dailies face stiff competition from free newspapers and digital news media, the study showed.

Officials said the findings were cause for a degree of optimism about the industry.

"They say newspapers and print are dead. Well, I just don't see it," the association's president, Timothy Balding, told more than 1,800 publishers, editors and other senior newspapers executives at the three-day conference this month.

The strong sales in Asia, which is home to 74 of the world's 100 best-selling dailies, contrasted starkly with declining newspaper readership in the West.

Last year, circulation fell 3 percent in the United States and 1.9 percent in Europe, the report showed; in the past five years, circulation was down 8 percent in the U.S.

Advertising followed a similar trend. Newspaper advertising revenue rose in all regions except the United States, where it fell 3 percent in 2007, the report said.

Meanwhile, Internet advertising revenue worldwide was up 32 percent, showing the rapid growth of online media.

Research presented at the conference also indicated an accelerating shift from print to online media and that editors are increasingly aware of the need to develop multimedia platforms to reach new audiences.

At a panel discussion, Associated Press Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explained AP's new model for news delivery.

Called "1-2-3 filing," it starts with a news alert headline for breaking news, followed by a short present-tense story predominantly for the Web and broadcasters. The third step is to add details and format stories in ways most appropriate for different news platforms.

"I can't emphasize to you the importance of present tense both in the newsroom and for the end user. It's very much about news that is happening. It gives the news a sense of immediacy," Carroll said. "The 3 then can become any number of things: a longer story, a multimedia presentation or nothing at all."

A study commissioned by the AP showed that young adults have profoundly different news consumption patterns from previous generations.

"People don't walk out to the driveway to collect their newspaper. They open their e-mail," Jim Kennedy, AP's director of strategic planning, said in presenting the study.

The research project, carried out by the Context-Based Research Group, also showed young adults experience news fatigue from being inundated by facts and updates and have trouble accessing in-depth stories.

A worldwide survey of 704 newspaper editors by Zogby International and Reuters showed 44 percent believed most people would be reading their news online in 10 years. That was up from 41 percent in a similar study last year.

Balding said a survey of Nordic newspaper editors suggested they see free newspapers as their main competitors, followed by the Internet. Free dailies account for nearly 7 percent of global newspaper circulation and 23 percent of circulation in Europe, the report said.

The newspaper association gave its annual Golden Pen of Freedom award to Chinese journalist Li Changqing, who was released in February after two years in prison for reporting on an outbreak of dengue fever.

Li could not travel to Sweden to accept the award because he was unable to obtain a passport, WAN said. Li Jianhong, an exiled Chinese writer, accepted the award on the winner's behalf.

"In China, being a journalist is full of risks," Li Changqing said in an acceptance speech read by Li Jianhong.

It was the second consecutive year that the prize went to a Chinese journalist, underscoring China's continuing harsh press restrictions despite a flourishing economy and rapid social change.

The 2007 award went to Shi Tao, who was serving a 10-year-sentence after e-mailing the contents of a government propaganda circular to a human rights forum in the United States.

"Despite the promises it made in its successful Olympic bid to improve conditions for journalists, China has continued its repressive policies," World Editors Forum President George Brock said in presenting this year's award.

He said 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents are now in Chinese jails, and he reiterated calls for their release.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf opened the congress saying a free press was "crucial to the development of democracy" but cautioned that it also must be exercised with responsibility.





WAN: Web will replace papers as top news source
The internet is poised to become the primary news and information source in some countries within the next five years, while newspapers will lose the dominant position they have held for more than a century. That’s not some self-promoting online group’s forecast but rather the projection of a newspaper group as part of the annual World Digital Media Trends report. The report, released yesterday at the World Association of Newspapers meeting, also says that revenues for digital and mobile advertising could reach $150 billion worldwide, a 12-fold increase since 2002, as the world and newspapers increasingly go online. While the report found that newspapers can’t rely on their print editions to stay financially solvent, experts warn that publishers shouldn’t ignore their print product while pursuing new digital platforms, at least not until the online revenue streams can be solidified. The report also found that wireless device subscriptions are expected to rise threefold to 3.4 billion from 2002 to 2011 and the number of homes with broadband is likely to rise 10-fold during the same time.
Source: Media Life Magazine


New Research on Media Habits of Youth Breaks Stereotypes
June 3, 2008
A new study on the media habits of young people in three countries found that television continues to be the most important source of news and information for the young, despite the rise of the internet - and newspapers can win their attention as well.

The survey of 3,500 young people between 15- and 29-years old in the United States, the Netherlands and Finland found that young people get their news and information from a wide variety of sources, but that television continues to be their preferred medium.

“Young people do not seem to understand the inherent value and difference in newspaper content versus other news media. TV still dominates even in perceptions of credibility and depth of coverage,” said Robert Barnard, Partner and Founder of Canada-based DECODE, which conducted the survey for the World Association of Newspapers and national partners in each country. .

Nevertheless, the study, released Tuesday at the World Newspaper Congress in Göteborg, Sweden, showed that newspaper companies are well placed to attract young readers if newspapers are committed to the task. The study, commissioned by WAN to help publishers better understand and meet the needs of younger readers, found:

-  Young people are interested in news and see the value of being informed.

-  Loyal newspaper readers are more informed, engaged and connected to community than non-readers.

-  Parents (especially mothers) and teachers have successfully influenced young people to become newspaper readers - peers are not influential.

-  Newspapers must start earlier to establish how the brand of news emanating from newspapers is different from and superior to other media options. This strategy should be multi-platform, accentuating content, not format.

-  Young people leaving home provides an important opportunity for newspapers. The study shows a significant drop in readership at this life-stage at a time when interest in news is peaking.

-  Newspaper editorial content, in general, is disconnected from youth interests -- and when it is about youth, it is mostly negative. Music and film top the list of interests while politics ranked in the lower than 30th.

-  Social networks can be allies of newspapers, not the enemy. Social network users are more supportive of all media generally, but also show a higher increase of support for newspapers than non users.

The data was collected in early 2008 through online panels provided by TNS Global Research. It used a variety of recruitment methods, including telephone surveys, direct mail, and internet advertising, allowing for a variety of key demographic groups to be sampled.

WAN and DECODE are seeking to extend the survey into additional countries. National newspaper associations interested in participating should contact Mr Barnard by e-mail at robert@decode.net.

Study development was supportd by Norske Skog, the Norway based paper producer, with national studies supported by the Newspaper Association of America (USA), Helsingen Sanomat Foundation (Finland) and, in The Netherlands, Stichting Krant in de Klas and School of Media VU / Windesheim with funding from two foundations, The Netherlands Press Fund and the Foundation for Democracy and Media.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.


Digital media growing fast, study says

By DOUG MELLGREN – AP Via Yahoo News (June 3, 2008)

GOTEBORG, Sweden (AP) — As readership and revenues shift onto the Internet, experts said on Tuesday that top news media executives must seek new digital opportunities without neglecting their traditional print publications by rushing headlong into cyberspace.

The second annual World Digital Media Trends report, released at a meeting of the World Association of Newspapers, said the digital platforms of newspapers are growing at a double-digit rate worldwide, as the world increasingly goes on line. The report, compiled with the help of 71 research groups, said digital and mobile advertising revenues are expected to increase 12-fold from 2002 to 2011, to about $150 billion worldwide.

The report said the number of wireless device subscriptions is expected to increase threefold to 3.4 billion from 2002 to 2011, the number of homes with broadband is likely to rise 10-fold in the same period, and the mobile telephone customer base has increased from 945 million in 2001 to 2.6 billion in 2006.

The report said one study says that in some countries "the Internet will become the primary news and information source within five years, while newspapers will lose the dominating position they have held for more than a century." Newspapers cannot count on their print editions alone to keep them solvent, the report said.

However, association President Gavin O'Reilly warned that newspapers should not rush unprepared into new mobile and Internet markets and said about 60 percent of the new revenues goes to two companies, the search engine giants Google and Yahoo.

"The Net is a wonderful place if you know what you are looking for," he said at a panel debate about digital media's impact on newspaper revenues. "But we run the risk that running headlong into digital will turn our dollars into pennies."

Newspaper companies must also continue to invest in the medium they know best — printed editions — since there are few accurate overviews of the impact of Internet revenues on newspapers, he said.

But O'Reilly dismissed the notion that newspapers would soon be a relic of the past because they "are not up for the challenge — or indeed, the many opportunities — that the digital world offers."

"All of us in the industry know the big strategic issues and challenges at play in the fast evolving digital world; and, the really successful publishers are those who recognize and capitalize on the newspapers' relative position in the busy media matrix. Happily, that is the majority of publishers today," he said.

At a separate panel debate for newspaper editors, Jim Roberts, editor for digital news at the New York Times, said "I expect our print edition to be around for a long time."

Even after newspapers generate enthusiasm among their traditional print staff for new media, they still have to find and provide the resources and qualified personnel for doing both, he said at the three-day meeting 1,800 publishers, editors and other senior newspapers, which started Monday.