In light of the financial crisis and plummeting advertising revenues, between 20 and 40 magazines are predicted to shut down in Russia, gipp.ru reported Friday.

The assumption is based on trends seen across the printing industry that indicate declining production of publications and feature not only magazines, but newspapers and books as well. The data was obtained by studying nine months out of 2007 and a part of 2008, revealing that the total growth of the printing industry amounts to 1.6 percent since last year.

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Russian publishing group Afisha announced in a corporate letter that its magazine Bolshoi Gorod will no longer be distributed for free, Lenta.ru reported Tuesday. The decision was made following the possibly worsening advertising industry in Russia.

Afisha can no longer afford printing costs and free distribution of 11 of its regional magazines, the letter said. Starting early next year there will be a single “centralised” edition of Bolshoi Gorod in Russia, which will cost between RUB 30 (US$1.1) and RUB40 (US$1.5).

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Free Swiss newspaper News will publish its last Mittelland edition December 5, just one year after the paper launched, Newspaper Innovation reported Wednesday. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, free dailies are faring better, as 15 minut and Obzor took second and third place in autumn readership numbers.

Paid newspaper Segodnya had the most daily readers in Ukraine, at 519,000, but 15 minut and Obzor were up in the autumn over the previous survey, at 394,000 and 314,000 respectively, according to Newspaper Innovation.

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Free newspaper thelondonpaper, owned by News International, announced it may pull out of the National Readership Survey (NRS). However, until a new chief executive is assigned, the decision will not be finalised, Brand Republic reported Tuesday.

Managing Director Ian Clarke urged the NRS to change its analysis method, suggesting that the current sample size should be larger and should include online surveys, as current methodologies cause data to be "misleading" and "increasingly irrelevant" for free titles. “There were 312 respondents for thelondonpaper for the last six-month survey, during which time more than 30 million papers were distributed,” he said.

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The United Kingdom's top three free titles have watched their readership numbers rise in the past few years, according to the last National Readership Survey (NRS), Newspaper Innovation reported Sunday.

Metro saw its readership increase to about 3.2 million, up from less than two million readers three year ago. Compared to the entire year of 2007, Metro saw a 20 percent increase in readership in 2008.

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Although the Daily Sun saw its largest growth ever in the third quarter, almost 70 percent of daily newspapers in South Africa saw circulation drop compared to figures the same time last year, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations data released Thursday, BizCommunity Africa reported.

Although dailies and weeklies are down compared to 2007, and the hybrid category (The Times) is unchanged, “within this general performance, we still see specific titles delivering significant growth, which provides proof of consumer or reader vitality and support,” ABC Vice President Gordon Patterson said in an ABC presentation in Johannesburg Thursday, according to BizCommunity.

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As Australian consumer confidence and spending has declined, so has overall newspaper circulation for the country's Fairfax Media Ltd, which reported decreased circulation at most of its titles in the third quarter, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Weekday editions of the Sydney Morning Herald experienced a 1 percent year-on-year decline in circulation to 209,508 copies. According to a Fairfax statement, sales of the Sun-Herald, the Sunday Telegraph, the Sunday Times and the Australian Financial Review also dropped.

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The Sunday Herald's sales figures dropped 15.6 percent year-on-year in October, the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures for the independent Scottish newspaper show, AllMediaScotland reported Tuesday.

The paper’s average sale in October, measured by Average Net Circulation, was 43,095. This is also down 527 from its average September sales, according to ABC figures.

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The London Evening Standard grew its full-price sales numbers by 9,000 copies in October, a 4.85 percent year-on-year increase to 306,747 copies a day, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures, out Friday, Press Gazette reported.

The evening paper, owned by Daily Mail & General Trust, has faced stiff competition from London freesheets since 2006, but also managed to post a 3.02 percent month-on-month increase last month.

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Newspapers across the United States sold out quickly on Wednesday, as people everywhere snatched up copies reporting on Tuesday night's historic victory for Barack Obama.

In Chicago, the site of Obama's presidential election-night rally, copies of the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune and its free daily the RedEye were gone by the time the last waves of commuters stepped onto trains and buses in the morning. Even home-delivered copies, sometimes still waiting at front doors when workers returned home in the evening, were snatched up and brought inside not long after delivery.

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The Philadelphia Tribune will publish a special newsstand edition on Wednesday for the first time in its 125-year history. The newsstand edition will contain full coverage of Tuesday's U.S. presidential elections, Editor & Publisher reported Friday.

The paper is home delivered five days a week, Tuesday through Friday and on Sunday. The special edition will also be delivered to home subscribers.

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The Albany, New York Times Union has boosted its combined print and online audience by 9 percent in the six months ending in September, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations data, Editor & Publisher reported.

“We committed ourselves to increasing our customer base in print and online during the past three years at a time when most media companies began cutting back and focusing exclusively online,” Mark Aldam, Times Union publisher, said in a statement.

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The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations show print circulation is plummeting across the United States; however, newspapers' reach is continuing to grow.

At the Baltimore Sun, for example, the newspaper's print version and Web site reach 53 percent of its market, or about 1.2 million people, according to the ABC, The Sun reported Tuesday.

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Standard weekday circulation at 507 newspapers across the United States saw circulation numbers dive by 4.6 percent in the six-month period ending Sept. 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Reuters reported Monday. Circulation numbers are falling at an accelerating rate, as the drop from September 2006 to 2007 was just 2.6 percent.

Daily circulation during the week at the 507 newspapers was at 38 million copies. Meanwhile, Sunday circulation for 571 titles was 4.9 percent lower than in 2007, amounting to 43.6 million copies. From September 2006 to 2007, the drop in circulation for Sunday editions was 3.5 percent.

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Due to a highly competitive market and a recession, Spanish free dailies are down 20 percent in circulation over the past year, from 3.9 million in September 2007, to 3.3 million last month, 24/7 reported Monday.

20 Minutos distributed 815,600 copies in September, a 39 percent drop.

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