The Fourth Estate is braced to get more bad news about itself next week. On Monday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations releases its semiannual figures on circulation -- and they are expected to show that paying readers continue to disappear at an alarming rate during the latest six-month period.
Challenged by online rivals, a dearth of younger readers and an advertising downturn, newspapers are suffering through their worst slump in years. The last ABC figures, which were released in May, were the worst for the industry in nine years, showing that average daily circulation had dropped 1.9% in the six months ended March 31 from a year ago. Indications from the biggest newspaper publishers show many expect similar plunges for the six months ended in September.
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