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On average, the decline in newspaper circulation plummeted another 10.6 percent during the April-September period, on top of declines last year.
That just isn't happening here. Nor is it happening to other small-town newspapers. Our circulation is down just 1.9 percent for Tri-County Sunday and 2.9 percent for the Courier-Express - and we are in the middle of a recession with high unemployment, and a year ago, the price of subscription delivery went up.
We always lose circulation during recessions, 3 percent on average.
We always lose circulation for awhile when subscription prices increase, 4 percent on average, though it usually rebounds within a year.
But we just aren't seeing the huge drops in circulation that are being recorded by the ABC auditors at the nation's largest newspapers.
Why?
Of course, we like to think that while the "big boys" got self-important and focused on "important" news, small-town newspapers kept on reporting on births, deaths, honor rolls, fire departments, snowplowing, yard signs, local sports, local crime/court stories. They became irrelevant; we have stayed relevant.
But we think other factors are at work, too.
Smacked by the soaring costs of gasoline, many newspapers have pulled back and no longer deliver to hard-to-reach areas. For us, we stopped a daily run to Emporium, losing fewer than 50 customers. We deeply regret that loss, and we continue to ship Sunday editions up there. But we never did grow way past our "core area," so we didn't need to cut way back. Pittsburgh papers, by contrast, tried at one time to become western Pennsylvania newspapers, reaching all the way up to near Bradford. Put high gasoline costs together with winter weather, and that became an unsustainable luxury.
So they lost thousands. The New York Times lost tens of thousands.
We lost our 50 or so.
We can't tell for certain what the circulation is for some other newspapers in our area, because their circulation is ... well, it is whatever they say it is. It can be the number of newspapers they print. There's no way to check.
Our circulation is audited by outside auditors.
We belong to that Audit Bureau of Circulations, and boy, do they audit. They call our customers: "Did you receive a newspaper today? Did you start buying it last week?" If we fudge our figures, we are subject to hefty fines - and to the "fudgers" being fired. We like our jobs. We don't do that.
We duly report the nationwide declines in circulation because they reflect on the economy and the national scene.
But, to quote the superb philosophers in "Fortunate Son," the 1970s-era Creedence Clearwater Revival hard-rock classic - "It ain't me, it ain't me!"
- Denny Bonavita
