The American newspaper industry has a new circulation scandal. This time, it is the Dallas Morning News, which is admitting overstating circulation, and thereby cheating advertisers. Correcting its erroneous figures, parent company Belo no admits that the paper has suffered a 5% daily circulation decline and and 11.5% Sunday circulation decline in just the last 6 months.

In recent months, the Tribune Company—owned Long Island Newsday and Spanish language daily Hoy, along with the Chicago Sun Times have all admitted hyping their circulation numbers.

I have been receiving unordered and unpaid copies of the San Francsico Chronicle for quite some time. Others I know report similar phenomena in other cities. It looks to me as though a circulation crisis is hitting America's major dailies, forcing them to meet circulation guarrantees by handing out free copies.

Part of the problem is undoubtedly the growth of the internet and cable news (especially the dreaded Fox News Channel). But by leaning so heavily to the left, and opening a gap with the political inclinations of middle America, newspapers are cutting their own throats.

I grew up reading daily newspapers in the morning and evening. There have been times when I have read four or five of them every day, and until a few years ago, I still subsribed to three. No more. Why pay to be enraged? Especially when all the news that I want is just a click away, and fresher news at that.

Posted by Thomas 8 5 04