By: Wayne Robins No Minimum Editorial/Advertising Standards Set
The Audit Bureau of Circulations has clarified its standards for
counting electronic editions of newspapers for paid circulation.
The liberal regulations should provide an easy circulation boost
to any newspaper Web site that charges appropriately.
In a July 27 letter to a newspaper circulation director obtained
by E&P, it was made clear that almost any current Web site
that charges a "qualifying price" -- usually interpreted as 25%
of a single issue's retail cost -- would count as paid
circulation. Neither the look nor the content of the electronic
newspaper would seem to have any bearing on its acceptability.
"The Board confirmed an existing interpretation of Rule C 2.4
Separate Editions, for electronic editions," wrote Ken Shultz,
vice president of field auditing for the Schaumburg, Ill.-based
ABC. "Copies of geographic or demographic editions may be
reported as paid circulation provided the basic identity of the
newspaper is maintained in the newspaper's nameplate/masthead. As
a result of this action, there are no minimum editorial or
advertising qualification standards for electronic editions."
In another boon to papers looking to boost their numbers, the ABC
board "allows CD-ROM, e-mail and Web site-based electronic
editions to be claimed as paid circulation" as long as these
"copies" are sold at a qualifying price and reported separately
in Paragraphs 1B, 2 and 3 of ABC reports.
Even more enticing for those online newspapers looking to move to
a subscription basis, "the number of electronic editions sold to
schools and/or universities may be based on the number of user
licenses/subscriptions sold, not the actual volume of CD-ROM or
e-mail products distributed." So if the newspaper sends one
electronic package, say a CD-ROM or e-mail, to a classroom, and
25 students in that classroom (or the school) pays the minimum
required per issue fee for that classroom, the newspaper can
count the 25 as paid circulation.
The clarification raises only one question: why would any
newspaper continue to offer its content for free online when it
can sell it at a reduced price for ABC-authorized circulation?
"ABC isn't the only measuring tool for newspapers,'' said Mary
Jacobus, publisher of the Duluth (Minn.) News-
Tribune and secretary of the Audit Bureau's board of
directors. "My newspaper believes that free availability online
offers us a much wider audience." Jacobus also added,
optimistically, that ad revenue for some online newspaper sites
may make the current dominant business model -- free --
worthwhile.
Wayne Robins (wrobins@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor covering new media for E&P.
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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