In his newest column at the "Reflections of a Newsosaur" blog, E&P columnist Alan D. Mutter muses on the new rules instituted by the Audit Bureau of Circulations that will surely boost newspapers' circ numbers, but don't allow for an apples-to-apples comparison when it comes to year-over-year gains.
In the second major overhaul of circulation rules in two years, publishers are now able for the first time to include certain types of free products in their top-line circulation totals. This change follows last year's new rule that permits newspapers to count print or digital products sold for as little as a penny as 'paid' circulation.
"Given the dramatic drop in newspaper readership in the last decade, you can’t blame publishers for wanting a do-over," Mutter writes. "While there are good and valid reasons for many of the changes in the complex circulation rules adopted by publishers in the last couple of years, a not-so-unintended consequence of these changes is that they will make it all but impossible to compare newspaper circulation in March, 2011, with circulation in March, 2010."
Mutter goes on to detail the "targeted" and "requested" circ -- the two types of "verified circ" -- and what those numbers will mean for publishers. Will it be a boon, or just a transparent attempt to pump up numbers?
Check out the full column, here.
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