• by Michael Shields , September 10, 2004

The Tribune Co. announced on Friday that its initial assessments of circulation discrepancies at both Newsday and Hoy were incomplete. Further investigations of each paper's circulation have uncovered new sources of discrepancy, meaning that these papers' circulations during the period in question are actually lower than originally reported.

The company issued revised circulation figures on Friday for each paper for both the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2003, and the six-month period ended March 31, 2004. These revisions arrive in anticipation of the release of the Audit Bureau of Circulations' (ABC) final audit report for Newsday covering the period ending Sept. 30, 2003, which is expected in mid-October (The ABC's audit for the six-month period ended March 31, 2004 is expected to be completed and released by mid-November).

The Tribune says this advance revision is being issued in order to provide advertisers and the public with the most accurate information possible.

Back in June, Newsday reported that its daily and Sunday circulation figures were off by 40,000 and 60,000 copies respectively. Now, based on information gathered from ABC's ongoing audit as well as an internal investigation, it is more likely that these numbers will be down by roughly 100,000 from initial reports for both editions.

For the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2003, daily circulation is expected to be between 480,000 and 490,000, and Sunday circulation is expected to be between 570,000 and 580,000, says the Tribune. Originally, Newsday had reported daily and Sunday circulation figures of 579,729 and 671,819 respectively for that period before the scandal came to light.

As for the six-month period ended March 31, 2004, daily circulation is expected to be between 480,000 and 490,000, and Sunday circulation is expected to be between 540,000 and 550,000. The Tribune is saying that the 12-month period ending on Sept. 30, 2004, will be somewhat below the March 2004 range.

Though smaller in terms of total numbers, on a percentage basis, Hoy'sstory is worse. In June, Tribune said Hoy's weekday circulation of 92,604 would be reduced by about 15,000 copies.

Now, the company is saying that daily circulation is expected to be between 45,000 and 55,000 for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2003 and between 40,000 and 50,000 for the six-month period ending March 31, 2004. That represents a potential decrease of over 50,000, or a 57 percent inflation.

ABC audits for both time periods are expected to be completed and released in November.

Tribune officials are admitting that a wider range of issues has contributed to these discrepancies than what was first believed.

"The ABC audit and our internal investigation at Newsday and Hoy, New York revealed a range of issues affecting circulation, including poor documentation, records mismanagement, and programs that deliberately violated ABC regulations and Tribune policies," said Jack Fuller, president of Tribune Publishing. "Since these discoveries, the publishers of both newspapers have left the company, we have changed the circulation management at both newspapers and implemented tougher circulation controls."

Fuller went on to say that both papers will be working closely with ABC to ensure compliance.

At the moment, Newsday is embroiled in a lawsuit with 50 car dealers who have claimed that the paper deliberately drove up rates to gouge advertisers. Only recently have these dealers returned to the newspaper as advertisers.

These scandals have also led to the dismissal of several circulation managers as well forcing the retirement of Newsday publisher Ray Jansen.

Friday's announcement comes during a time of seemingly continuous bad news in the newspaper world. On Thursday, Belo Corp., the owner of the Dallas Morning News, said its CEO is recommending that he and certain executives not receive bonuses in 2004, nor salary raises in 2005 after it was revealed that the Dallas Morning News inflated readership statistics, which resulted in a substantial refund to advertisers.