Some of the 93 topics in the January edition of the SFN Flash include
- Several leading industry forecasters have issued optimistic forecasts, including one by Zenith Optimedia which forecasts a 4.6 percent increase in advertising expenditure, in current prices, in 2004 and 2005.
- The Wall Street Journal has begun counting online subscribers in its circulation figures, and led the United State's biggest newspapers with a 16.1 percent circulation gain for the six-month period ending in September.
- Quality newspapers in many markets are abandoning broadsheet formats for smaller tabloid -- and, in the case of the United Kingdom, selling tabloid versions alongside the broadsheet.
- The International Herald Tribune will no longer accept advertising for escort services.
- Categorizing people's interests according to their age is becoming a marketing faux pas as the notion of youth, and "youthful habits," is no longer so clear-cut, claims Howard Beale, a partner at communications agency TheFishCanSing.
- China has suspended the publication of 673 state-run newspapers as part of its shake-up of the media industry. Under the new regulations, newspapers must be financially independent from the central government.
- The online search industry may reach nearly $7 billion in worldwide revenue by 2007, compared to $1.4 billion in 2002. The industry will grow at a compounded rate of 35 percent annually, according to 'Golden Search' report by U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Equity Research.
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