by Tatiana Repkova

Weekday circulation at U.S. daily newspapers fell 2.1 percent in the latest six-month reporting period, according to figures released April 30, in the latest sign that people are turning to the Internet and other media for news. Comparable figures for Sunday newspapers fell 3.1 percent for the six months ending in March, according to the Newspaper Association of America, an industry group. The calculations are based on reports that newspapers deliver to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Performance was mixed among the 10 largest newspapers, with several showing declines of 2 percent to 4 percent and a few showing gains, most notably The New York Post, which is locked in a fierce competition with the New York Daily News. Those two papers had the largest gains among the major dailies, with the Post’s average weekday circulation rising 7.6 percent over the same period a year earlier, while the Daily News rose 1.4 percent. The New York Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate News Corp., recently announced that it would double its weekday price as of Monday to 50 cents from 25 cents. The Daily News, owned by the real estate developer Mortimer Zuckerman, charges 50 cents on weekdays. Gannett Co.’s USA Today remained the largest daily in the country, with circulation of 2,278,022, up 0.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, ahead of The Wall Street Journal at 2,062,312, up 0.6 percent. Online readership of newspaper sites continues to grow. The NAA pointed to recently released data from Nielsen/NetRatings showing a 5.3 percent increase in the number of people who visited newspaper Web sites in the first quarter of 2007. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18401504/; April 30, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

The size of The Sydney Morning Herald will be reduced from its current broadsheet size next year as part of a significant restructure by publisher Fairfax Media. The changes will include another round of redundancies at the Herald and The Sun-Herald, the third in less than three years.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Poynter unveiled the initial findings of its most recent study of reader behaviour at the ASNE convention in Washington, D.C., in April. There's a twist: the reading-deep phenomenon is even stronger online than in print.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Quebec City's first free daily newspaper, MédiaMatin Québec, made its appearance this morning. Published from Monday to Friday in a run of 40,000 copies, the new daily is the initiative of locked-out Journal de Québec staff.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The publishers of London's free evening newspapers have resorted to cutthroat tactics in the latest battle of an increasingly bitter war between Lord Rothermere's London Lite and Rupert Murdoch's thelondonpaper. Associated Newspapers, the Daily Mail and General Trust subsidiary that publishes London Lite, yesterday posted footage on YouTube, the video sharing Web siteWeb site, which it claimed showed distributors of thelondonpaper dumping "thousands of copies" in refuse bins and on buses.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3a38d1c2-f201-11db-b5b6-000b5df10621,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=httppercent3Apercent2Fpercent2Fwww.ft.compercent2Fcmspercent2Fspercent2F3a38d1c2-f201-11db-b5b6-000b5df10621.html&_i_referer=; April 24, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

UAE evening newspaper Emirates Evening Post has ceased publication due to licensing issues, Arabian Business has reported. A source was quoted as saying staff were given no warning that the paper was closing down. The tabloid was published by the Sharjah-based Press Centre and Art Productions. http://www.ameinfo.com/117694.html; April 24, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Company (MDC) is gearing up to launch a daily English-language newspaper that will be part of an ambitious new media empire, ArabianBusiness.com has revealed. The government-owned investment company is currently head-hunting for senior editorial staff to work on a broadsheet-style general news title. A tentative launch date of Nov. 2007 has been set. MDC is also thought to have plans for a dedicated business newspaper, although it would probably launch this after the general news title. http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11524; April 24, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

"The first quarter is a seasonally weak quarter for Metro International and is usually loss making. However, the first quarter 2007 results also reflect the disappointing performance in some of our key markets, such as Sweden, Spain, France and the United States,” Pelle Törnberg, President and CEO of Metro International, has announced.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Agence France-Presse and Italian news agency ANSA announced a cooperation deal for an economic and social news Internet portal for Mediterranean basin countries. AFP will join 18 other national agencies that have been supplying news to the ANSAmed portal since 2004.

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by Tatiana Repkova

UK digital publishers experienced an average 60 percent increase in turnover in 2006, and are predicting an average of 72 percent growth for 2007 – double what they were forecasting this time last year.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Globe and Mail has introduced a host of significant changes and enhancements to its print and digital products.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The number of people visiting U.S. newspaper Web sites rose 5.3 percent during the first quarter, an industry group said, even as publishers reported slower online advertising sales growth. More than 59 million people, or 37.6 percent of all active Internet users, visited the sites in the quarter, the Newspaper Association of America said, citing an analysis it commissioned to Nielsen/NetRatings.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The newspaper group Independent News and Media is creating 60 jobs at a new printing press in Newry. The £20m plant was opened by chief executive Sir Anthony O'Reilly and former MP for the area Seamus Mallon. The company prints more than 30 newspapers, including the News of the World and the Daily Express.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Chicago Tribune has launched a community journalism Web site encouraging readers in nine suburbs to post their own articles, photos and blogs.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Dato – the first new door-to-door distributed freesheet to hit the streets at the start of the Danish freesheet war last August – has become the second free title to be withdrawn from the market. Berlingske Officin, Mecom's Danish division, has decided to merge Dato with Urban, the newspaper group's pre-freesheet-war freebie, and Dato will cease to exist as an independent newspaper as of April 19. http://kristinelowe.blogs.com/kristine_lowe/2007/04/montgomerys_dat.html; April 19, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Thousands of children across South Africa receive a free newspaper via email in a language they easily understand, an education conference heard on April 18. Editor Duncan Guy told the Meraka Innovate Conference for Educators in Pretoria the innovation started two years when he made a newspaper for his son.

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by Tatiana Repkova

A Wellesley, Mass.-based newspaper company called 365 Media USA has secured a trademark for the name DenverNow, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The company recently launched BostonNow, a free tabloid that incorporates content generated by bloggers and by staff reporters.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Most markets in the Netherlands, like in most western cities, are served by one dominant paid newspaper. This one paper per city model, except for most capitals, is the norm. But free dailies could increase competition in the Netherlands, like in many other countries.

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by Tatiana Repkova

According to an NSK annual poll on the current state of the electronic media, 86 NSK member companies - up one from the previous survey - are operating a combined total of 168 Website services.

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by Tatiana Repkova

As China's elderly population continues to surge, Chinese publications catering to seniors are seeing their circulation figures grow and advertising revenue soar. Statistics released by the Council of Senior Publications show that China currently has 28 newspapers aimed squarely at older readers, with aggregate annual circulation of 4 million copies and more than 60 million yuan of advertising revenue.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Corporate loyalty programs have been around for more than 20 years – one of the first big ones being American Airlines Advantage Program – but newspapers have been slow to catch on.

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Singapore Press Holdings reported a 27.7 percent year-on-year rise in net profit for the second quarter. The publishing giant said net profit for the three months to the end of February was 108 million Singapore dollars (71 million US) compared with 84.6 million in the same period last year. Higher print and circulation earnings drove revenue in the main newspaper and magazine operations up 4 percent to 218.1 million dollars, the company said. The 14 Singapore newspapers published by the firm in four languages include the English-language The Straits Times. Revenue in the property sector rose 9.0 percent to 27.3 million dollars, it said. SPH owns and manages Paragon, a retail and office complex in the prime Orchard Road area, and is developing an upmarket condominium. Group investment income rose 61.7 percent to 31.6 million dollars compared with the same period a year ago, it said. Alan Chan, SPH's chief executive officer, said positive business and consumer sentiments are expected to continue sustaining print advertising revenue. Circulation is expected to remain "at sustainable levels" while Paragon generates healthy rental yields, Chan said. AFP; April 12, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Metro International S.A. announced that it has entered into a joint venture and franchise agreement with Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação, one of the leading television broadcasters in Brazil. A new edition of Metro will be launched in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 7, 2007.

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by Tatiana Repkova

U.S. financial publisher Dow Jones is poised to buy the London-based investment banking newspaper Financial News for about £27 million.

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by Tatiana Repkova

As part of a large process of modernizing its local daily network Deník in the Czech Republic, German-owned publishing house Vltava-Labe-Press (VLP) kicked off a massive marketing campaign April 2 aimed at consolidating the daily’s position in the country’s towns.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Following several successful experiments in editorial and newsroom management, JoongAng Ilbo initiated South Korea's first major Sunday newspaper March 18, 2007. JoongAng Ilbo pioneered the use of horizontal copy layout, topical sections and specialist reporters with investigative reporting teams in Korea. Since April 15, 1995, JoongAng Ilbo has been laid out horizontally. At that time it also became a morning newspaper. http://www.nikkei.co.jp/events/asiamedia/speakers_en.html; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joongang_Daily; April 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

Ukraine free daily 15 minut launched an edition for Donetsk with an initial circulation of 15,000 on April 3. Donetsk is the second city in Ukraine with a population of about 1 million.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Thailand's decision to ban the video-sharing site YouTube highlights how aggressively the kingdom has tried to rein in the media since the military coup last year, analysts said.

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by Tatiana Repkova

Hundreds of newspapers joined forces today to launch the industry’s 2007 trade campaign with simultaneous publication of print and online ads that communicate to advertisers the value of the engaged audience delivered by today’s newspapers in all their forms. With the tagline, “Newspaper: The Multi-Medium,” the campaign communicates to media planners and buyers that the brand power, content and credibility of newspaper media – from print and online to niche publications and wireless products – serve the needs of advertisers better than any other medium.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Arran Voice of Scotland hopes to attract the island's 5,000 residents away from the Arran Banner, which was set up in 1975 and bought by the Oban Times in 2003. The Banner is featured in record books for once having the most sales per head of population anywhere in the world. The new paper was the brainchild of disgruntled Banner readers who said the paper had lost its local identity. The Arran Voice costs 65p and promises "a fresh new look and hi-tech advertising." The 50p Arran Banner has reacted to the challenge by undergoing a makeover and launching an online presence, which will be unveiled at the same time as The Voice hits newsstands. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6531741.stm; April 6, 2007

by Tatiana Repkova

The success of free weekly Sport and the general craze about sports in the UK has led Chris Mackintosh, former marketing director of Sport First (folded in 2004) to think about a free evening sports paper with the working title Sportsnight.

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by Tatiana Repkova

The Newspaper Audience Database (NAdbase) report, issued by the Newspaper Association of America shows that during the second half of 2006 unique visitors to newspaper Websites averaged 57.3 million visitors a month or one in three of all Internet users, a 15 percent increase over the same period a year ago (49.8 million) (Nielsen//NetRatings).

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by Tatiana Repkova

au fait is the first free daily to be launched in Morocco, which already has several free weeklies.

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