The Globe and Mail of Toronto says it will rejoin the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) after a

By: Staff reports 15-year hiatus, Reuters reports.


The paper says it left ABC because its rules allow for below-average paid sales to be tallied in

circulation figures. The Globe and Mail has been audited by KPMG in recent years.



'We are joining ABC specifically to serve the best interest of advertisers and to work from

within ABC to advocate meaningful standards in circulation reporting,' said Phillip Crawley, the

Globe's publisher and chief executive, in a statement.


The ABC audits the overwhelming majority of newspapers in North America and is considered the

standard. 'The buying community felt the Globe and Mail was somewhat out of step with the rest

of the industry by not subscribing to this piece of research,' Peter Swain, chairman and CEO of Media Buying Services Ltd., told Reuters. His firm spends about $345 million on advertising

annually.


The Globe and Mail is in a fierce battle with Conrad Black's National Post, which is audited by

ABC.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Staff Reports



(c) Copyright 2000, Editor & Publisher