NAA President and CEO Caroline Little comments on today's ABC FAS-FAX report on newspaper circulation
Marina Hendricks
Director of Communications
(571) 366-1009
marina.hendricks@naa.org
May 01, 2012
Arlington, Va. – Caroline H. Little, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, issued the following statement on today’s release of the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ FAS-FAX report:
"These new FAS-FAX tallies, which for the first time incorporate a metric for ‘total circulation,’ are certainly a welcome change. Although they don’t yet capture all of the various digital platforms that newspaper companies are using to expand their audience reach, they are a step in the right direction. In particular, they provide advertisers with more transparent and useful information about the various components that showcase the increase in readership of newspaper content, and the strong market reach for buyers of newspaper advertising. We’re particularly gratified to note that newspapers’ embrace of digital platforms as well as smart and efficient circulation strategies for print products are reflected in the numbers, which clearly demonstrate positive trends in total circulation growth for publishers.
"These numbers are in line with Scarborough’s data, which reveal that nearly 162 million adults read a newspaper in print or online during the average week. Our new multiplatform study by Magid shows that 74 percent of all Internet users rely on local newspaper media, digital as well as print, as key sources of news and information. And newspapers’ website traffic continues to grow, as indicated by comScore’s data for the first quarter of 2012: a 4.4 percent increase year-over-year in adult unique visitors (113 million), and a 10 percent increase in adult average daily visitors (25 million).
"In today’s multiplatform world, it is important to look at the total picture to appreciate the continued strength and importance of newspaper media as local information providers.”
About NAA
NAA is a nonprofit organization representing nearly 2,000 newspapers and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and Canada. NAA members include daily newspapers, as well as nondailies, other print publications and online products. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., the association focuses on the major issues that affect today's newspaper industry: public policy/legal matters, advertising revenue growth and audience development across the medium's broad portfolio of products and digital platforms. Information about NAA and the industry also may be found at www.naa.org.