Global newspaper circulation rising

(June 03, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Global newspaper circulation is rising, buoyed by demand in Asia and South America -- belying predictions of the demise of print journalism, officials said at the start of an international newspaper conference.

The officials said circulation of paid newspapers rose 2.6 per cent worldwide in 2007, with the biggest jump in India and China.

Both the countries are the largest market for newspapers with 107 million copies sold daily, according to a report by the World Associated of Newspapers.

However, readership continued to slip in the US and Europe, where traditional dailies face stiff competition from free newspapers and digital 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 yesterday.

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 per cent in the United States and 1.9 per cent in Europe, the report showed; over the past five years, circulation has been down 8 per cent in the US.

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

Meanwhile, Internet advertising revenue worldwide was up 32 per cent, showing the rapid growth of online media.
- Sri Lanka Guardian