European report shows newspapers globally are on the rise
A new report from the World Association of Newspapers brings good tidings at Christmastime. Called “Shaping the Future of the Newspaper,” the reports a “surge of new daily newspapers” in global markets, including every continent but North America.
Calling it “a quiet revolution in the number of daily launches,” the expansion has not been talked about or even noticed as far as I can tell, other than this WAN report. Between 2001 and 2005, the total number of paid newspapers grew by 1,179, and the number of free dailies grew by 109. In fact, in 2005, the total number of paid-for daily newspaper titles worldwide passed the 10,000 threshhold for the first time in history.
Even more encouraging, not only are the numbers of newspapers on the increase but circulation figures, as well. Total free daily circulation worldwide has more than doubled from 2001 to 2005, from 12 million copies in 2001 to 28 million in 2005. How can this be?
The report posits that a proliferation of new genres of newspapers has fueled growth, identifying new audience segments. The growth in free papers also has grown readership, but it has forced many papers to re-think their revenue models. The trend to tabloid size from the broadsheets, in full force in the United Kingdom, also is credited with increasing readerships.
Here at home, the Wall Street Journal has gone to a smaller format, and free newspapers also are on the rise, particularly those aimed at younger, mobile readers. Niche readerships flourish here, as well, but the rush of readers online coupled with the aging of America has meant a long-term circulation decline. Since the high point in the mid-1980s, circulation for U.S. newspapers is down more than a third.
What is WAN? “The global organisation for the newspaper industry,” representing 18,000 newspapers and 76 national newspaperassociations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives.
