The O made its employee buyout program -- long a matter of public knowledge -- official yesterday. Lots of experienced staff will be leaving, but will it be the cream of the crop, as opposed to the dead wood? Time will tell.
An interesting sidelight to this disturbing story are the readership numbers the newspaper now gives for its products:
The Oregonian is the largest daily news outlet in the Northwest, reaching more than 700,000 readers in print every day and more than a million unique viewers through OregonLive.com every month.
When last we heard, the paid circulation of the daily O was just over 300,000 and heading steadily downward. How does that translate into more than 700,000 readers? Do they figure that the average copy passes under the eyes of 2.33 people before being trashed or recycled? That number seems high.
Comments (22)
300,000 probably accounts for people who have regular delivery subscriptions. Then they must add in all the papers sold from corner boxes and ones sold out of convenient stores and coffee shops.
This is another one of those numbers that's basically plucked out of thin air. Like Tri-Met ridership numbers. It's certainly possible that 700,000 people see some part of the Oregonian each day - like when they walk by and glance at the front page at Starbucks. There's no "real" way to measure it.
My ex-wife was in advertising and when they sold newspaper ads the number of people that supposedly read each paper was staggering. I think for the Dallas Morning News or Houston Chronicle (when I was living in Texas) the number was almost 9 people who read each paper. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the Oregonian is saying it's only 2.33. And if I think of all the newspapers I see waiting outside of courtrooms and on the bus or in my office lobby, those are read by more than 5 people each so that makes up for a lot that are ready by one person and recycled.
While some home delivered O papers are read by a few or more, mine was read by no one. So while I counted as circulation I guess I would not have been counted as readership? I wish I could offer a good reason as to why it took me till yesterday to cancel. Good economical sense I guess, like the movies I rent and never watch, only to return them late for an additional fee.
I think the most interesting part of the story is the following quote from Publisher Stickel: "Despite this reduction in staff, we will be adequately staffed and will publish outstanding products for our readers and advertisers, in print and online." Really? Then as the steward of this business, why didn't you make this offer some time ago, since all the people who will be leaving apparantly are not necessary to maintain the Oregonian's excellence. If I were Advance Publications, I might be thinking about a separation offer somewhat higher up the chain than the press room.
Doing the math is divisive, I think, not a multiplying product. During a 7-day span, the average day's number is probably 100,000 or fewer, issues which are read in some small part -- counting as little as headlines, or comics, or sports, or astrology corner, or obits. Maybe 1-and-1/2 persons see that issue, or 2 persons give 3/4's attention, or 6 persons give 1/4 of their attention. Bottom line: 150,000 'read' it.
That's half of 'circulation,' not double.
Survey for yourself. Ask 10 people, first, "did you see the paper today?" and then, second, "do you normally get it?"
4 will say they "saw" it.
8 will say they usually "get" it.
Half.
A few years back, ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) found out -- an audit!; who knew? -- that papers, in Dallas, Chicago, and beyond, regularly overstate 'circulation' to charge more for ads. Same as broadcasters.
There's also the distinction between home delivery and paid home delivery. I canceled my subscription to the O about 2 years ago and they kept delivering the paper for about 9 months afterward (without charging me). I don't know if this is an isolated incident, but even the phone solicitors who would call and try to get me to re-subscribe knew that I was getting free delivery.
LCLS 3L, that's standard with a lot of publications (just try to get Entertainment Weekly to stop sending you copies after you've let a subscription lapse), but it's also a great place to get into trouble. Both the Chicago Tribune and the Dallas Morning News were caught up in class-action lawsuits by advertisers because the papers were being delivered to empty lots, apartment complex laundromats, and abandoned houses in the hopes of claiming that circulation was higher than it really was. What's funny was that the Morning News was busted by the Texas Attorney General in the Eighties for similar stunts to jack up its circulation, and the plan then and now was personally endorsed by the CEO of the Morning News parent company.
Now, if you want to figure out where those extra copies are going, start looking to hotels. USA Today has inflated its circulation numbers for years by claiming those free copies left at every hotel door every morning, and a lot of daily newspapers are even more aggressive. I was recently in Tampa for business, and not only did I get a copy of the Tampa Tribune out front whether I liked it or not, but the maids actually brought it inside when they cleaned the room. My wife is allergic to newsprint, and hotel management simply didn't want to understand why we wouldn't want a nice fresh free paper.
"... the Chicago Tribune and the Dallas Morning News were caught up in class-action lawsuits by advertisers ..." -- I can't remember when my memory doesn't work. ... but I thought it was the Chi. Sun Times ... since I thought they were still in business.
"... USA Today has inflated its circulation numbers for years by claiming those free copies left at every hotel ..."
A variation on that is, (you might like this one, Jack), free bundles delivered -- unsolicitied -- to schools and public buildings, and then the 'subscription value' deducted (above the line) from taxes.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
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Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
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La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
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Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
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Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
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Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
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Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
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Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
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La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
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Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
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Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
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Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
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Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
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Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (22)
300,000 probably accounts for people who have regular delivery subscriptions. Then they must add in all the papers sold from corner boxes and ones sold out of convenient stores and coffee shops.
Posted by leinad | August 23, 2008 8:22 AM
I'm sure that's not right. Total paid circulation is around 300,000 -- that includes newsstands, etc.
Posted by Jack Bog | August 23, 2008 8:30 AM
Readership numbers are extrapolated from the thought that more than one person reads each copy of the paper. This is standard practice.
Posted by Toho | August 23, 2008 9:40 AM
For what it's worth, I once lived in a household where a daily Oregonian would pass through four sets of hands before landing in the recycling bin.
Posted by Brandon | August 23, 2008 9:40 AM
This is another one of those numbers that's basically plucked out of thin air. Like Tri-Met ridership numbers. It's certainly possible that 700,000 people see some part of the Oregonian each day - like when they walk by and glance at the front page at Starbucks. There's no "real" way to measure it.
Posted by John Fairplay | August 23, 2008 9:49 AM
Sounds about right. Those were the readers-per-copy numbers from a couple years ago:
http://abcas3.accessabc.com/files/56467.pdf
Posted by mark | August 23, 2008 9:49 AM
My ex-wife was in advertising and when they sold newspaper ads the number of people that supposedly read each paper was staggering. I think for the Dallas Morning News or Houston Chronicle (when I was living in Texas) the number was almost 9 people who read each paper. Quite frankly, I'm surprised the Oregonian is saying it's only 2.33. And if I think of all the newspapers I see waiting outside of courtrooms and on the bus or in my office lobby, those are read by more than 5 people each so that makes up for a lot that are ready by one person and recycled.
Posted by jake | August 23, 2008 9:51 AM
Circulation numbers have always been newspapers' greatest work of fiction.
Posted by Pat Malach | August 23, 2008 9:59 AM
If the O could only figure out how to get those extra readers to pay, they wouldn't have to buy out so many PR people.
Posted by DB Cooper | August 23, 2008 10:40 AM
What's amazing is how Canary droppings blend with the O's printed message.
Cage cleaning thus becomes a scheduled task as visual inspection proves inadequate.
Posted by Abe | August 23, 2008 10:41 AM
While some home delivered O papers are read by a few or more, mine was read by no one. So while I counted as circulation I guess I would not have been counted as readership? I wish I could offer a good reason as to why it took me till yesterday to cancel. Good economical sense I guess, like the movies I rent and never watch, only to return them late for an additional fee.
Posted by Gibby | August 23, 2008 10:48 AM
I think the most interesting part of the story is the following quote from Publisher Stickel: "Despite this reduction in staff, we will be adequately staffed and will publish outstanding products for our readers and advertisers, in print and online." Really? Then as the steward of this business, why didn't you make this offer some time ago, since all the people who will be leaving apparantly are not necessary to maintain the Oregonian's excellence. If I were Advance Publications, I might be thinking about a separation offer somewhat higher up the chain than the press room.
Posted by Bob W | August 23, 2008 11:09 AM
Most of the best journalists at the O work at the NY Times or the AP
Posted by Mike | August 23, 2008 11:17 AM
Doing the math is divisive, I think, not a multiplying product. During a 7-day span, the average day's number is probably 100,000 or fewer, issues which are read in some small part -- counting as little as headlines, or comics, or sports, or astrology corner, or obits. Maybe 1-and-1/2 persons see that issue, or 2 persons give 3/4's attention, or 6 persons give 1/4 of their attention. Bottom line: 150,000 'read' it.
That's half of 'circulation,' not double.
Survey for yourself. Ask 10 people, first, "did you see the paper today?" and then, second, "do you normally get it?"
4 will say they "saw" it.
8 will say they usually "get" it.
Half.
A few years back, ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) found out -- an audit!; who knew? -- that papers, in Dallas, Chicago, and beyond, regularly overstate 'circulation' to charge more for ads. Same as broadcasters.
Posted by Tenskwatawa | August 23, 2008 12:17 PM
I'm in the PR business and we use a x3 formula to convert circulation to impressions. That's not universal, but pretty standard.
Posted by Pete | August 23, 2008 1:00 PM
An awful rag is only going to get worse! Greeeeat! Bring back the Journal!!
Posted by biden's hair plugs! | August 23, 2008 2:00 PM
There's also the distinction between home delivery and paid home delivery. I canceled my subscription to the O about 2 years ago and they kept delivering the paper for about 9 months afterward (without charging me). I don't know if this is an isolated incident, but even the phone solicitors who would call and try to get me to re-subscribe knew that I was getting free delivery.
Posted by LCLS 3L | August 23, 2008 2:48 PM
Dead fish inside the wrap count as readers, too.
Posted by Allan L. | August 23, 2008 3:07 PM
The Oregonian goes through four sets of hands in this family, for what its worth.
Posted by Aaron | August 24, 2008 12:13 PM
LCLS 3L, that's standard with a lot of publications (just try to get Entertainment Weekly to stop sending you copies after you've let a subscription lapse), but it's also a great place to get into trouble. Both the Chicago Tribune and the Dallas Morning News were caught up in class-action lawsuits by advertisers because the papers were being delivered to empty lots, apartment complex laundromats, and abandoned houses in the hopes of claiming that circulation was higher than it really was. What's funny was that the Morning News was busted by the Texas Attorney General in the Eighties for similar stunts to jack up its circulation, and the plan then and now was personally endorsed by the CEO of the Morning News parent company.
Now, if you want to figure out where those extra copies are going, start looking to hotels. USA Today has inflated its circulation numbers for years by claiming those free copies left at every hotel door every morning, and a lot of daily newspapers are even more aggressive. I was recently in Tampa for business, and not only did I get a copy of the Tampa Tribune out front whether I liked it or not, but the maids actually brought it inside when they cleaned the room. My wife is allergic to newsprint, and hotel management simply didn't want to understand why we wouldn't want a nice fresh free paper.
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | August 24, 2008 1:14 PM
Tri-Met is a perfect simile in more ways than just circulation numbers.
Posted by David E gilmore | August 25, 2008 7:49 AM
"... the Chicago Tribune and the Dallas Morning News were caught up in class-action lawsuits by advertisers ..." -- I can't remember when my memory doesn't work. ... but I thought it was the Chi. Sun Times ... since I thought they were still in business.
"... USA Today has inflated its circulation numbers for years by claiming those free copies left at every hotel ..."
A variation on that is, (you might like this one, Jack), free bundles delivered -- unsolicitied -- to schools and public buildings, and then the 'subscription value' deducted (above the line) from taxes.
Posted by Tenskwatawa | August 25, 2008 1:04 PM