PressEthic

Readership is down, and newsrooms are laying off employees left and right. Journalists and editors everywhere are all asking the same question: how do we get our readers back? The Los Angeles Times is talking about raising their level of Hollywood coverage; the New York Times has started charging for its editorial content.

Th Newspaper Association of America is trying a different approach: selling new numbers. Not quite cooking the books, the Newspaper Association of America is looking at a new set of statistics, to be updated yearly, which newspapers can use to sell advertising.

Beginning this year, they'll be putting together a database reporting the newspaper readership of over 100 major newspapers. Says NAA:

The new report is the latest step in a multilevel industry initiative to answer advertisers' needs for measurement data that reflects newspapers' true reach and audience.

The data will measure total audience, including print as well as online media. Currently, newspaper advertising is sold based on net paid readership. This is in contrast to television advertisement pricing, which is based on Nielson ratings-- total audience. Most important, the NAA will attempt to to measure pass-along readership.

The main question is: will it work? Well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The NAA is trying o provide a new spin on the numbers. They hope this will enable newspapers to charge more for advertising, thus saving the failing print industry. Honestly though, aren't the advertisers the masters of spin?

I hate to be a wet blanket, but newspaper readership is down. There's just no doubt around it. It's not that people are just looking online-- they're looking to a variety of different sources. Unless newspapers can find a way to get the public reading, all the numbers in the world won't keep them in business.