Newspaper circulation declines

MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown Journal’s print circulation has declined over the last six months according to a new report, although it is faring better than the national average and its overall audience proportion remains stable.

The Audit Bureau of Circulation released its 2009 fas-fax report Oct. 26 with circulation figures for the last six months at daily newspapers across the country. For the Middletown Journal, the report showed that the paper’s Sunday circulation is down 3.95 percent compared to the national average of 7.4 percent. In terms of daily circulation, the loss was 8.4 percent compared to the national loss of 10.6 percent, according to the report.

That’s slightly more than the 5 percent loss the Middletown Journal had last year, according to the report.

In addition, Scarborough Research, which measures lifestyle and media consumer behaviors, reported the newspaper and its online counterpart to be 62 percent of the Middletown market, flat compared to the same time in the previous year.

“The Middletown Journal continues to be the top source for local news in our market,” said Edwina Blackwell Clark, Journal publisher. “We appreciate our readers and are committed to providing the audience that our local advertisers desire.”

In response to market feedback, the newspaper will release in November its first-ever $10 a month, four-day subscription package for the Middletown market. In addition, the newspaper remains committed to exploring all channels of news and content delivery to its marketplace including a continued emphasis in growing its online audience.

Within the last week, the Journal finalized a research panel looking at a new digital newspaper product that is expected to launch in early 2010.

In terms of national newspaper circulations, the report cited that the biggest losses were felt by the San Francisco Chronicle with its circulation down 25.8 percent and at The Newark Star-Ledger and the Dallas Morning News, which were both down 22.2 percent.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

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