Just look at the latest circulation figures for the UK’s “unrivalled” stable of national newspapers. Now look at the headline of the article that included these numbers in the main body.
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|
Per cent change year on year |
|
Daily Titles |
|
|
Daily Mirror |
-3.94% 
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|
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Daily Star |
-10.20% |
|
The Sun |
-13.15% |
|
Daily Express |
-13.31% |
|
Daily Mail |
-6.86% |
|
The Daily Telegraph |
-4.63% |
|
Financial Times |
-13.03% |
|
The Guardian |
-11.59% |
|
i |
11.16% |
|
The Independent |
-18.82% |
|
The Times |
-2.29% |
|
|
|
|
Sunday Titles |
|
|
Daily Star Sunday |
-29.05% |
|
The Sun (Sunday) |
-14.37% |
|
Sunday Mirror |
-4.68% |
|
The People |
-7.78% |
|
Sunday Express |
-11.10% |
|
The Mail on Sunday |
-10.21% |
|
Independent on Sunday |
-8.65% |
|
The Observer |
-12.94% |
|
The Sunday Telegraph |
-6.15% |
|
The Sunday Times |
-8.27% |
The headline probably says more about the real problem at the heart of the media establishment than anything that was said during last year’s Leveson enquiry.
The circulations of Britain’s national newspapers are in terminal decline. This has been obvious for some while and you only have to speak with the millions of well-informed, articulate people under 30 years old to know why. The numbers presented in the report show quite how badly the circulations are falling. The dailies are down about 8 per cent, year on year and the Sundays by more than 11 per cent.
So you have to wonder what inspired the headline ” Telegraph enjoys summer lifts in June”?
More importantly, could the article have looked at the issues that newspaper publishers face? Take distribution, for example. Delivering newsprint all around the country is costly and getting more so with every week. And papers like the Guardian are already loosing millions every year.
There will come a time when publishers calculate that the costs simply outweigh the return. Thus there are two dilemmas. First, is to calculate exactly when the newspaper groups will cease trying to sell papers at the news stand. Second, is to ask why the UK’s supposedly diligent and rigorous cadre of journalists is so reluctant to investigate why an industry in such trouble is getting such misleading headlines?
The answer to the first question is: sooner than you think. The answer to the second probably doesn’t matter.
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