The inter-media project by the magazine “Medium and Message” finished a survey of performance by the advertising market in 2004, and the result is good for news organizations. According to the survey, advertising revenues at newspapers grew 15.41% last year. Another survey, by Ibope Almanac, showed even better results, at 20.2%.
This is good news. The bad news is that newspaper circulation stagnated in 2004 at a level of lower sales. According to a calculation concluded by the National Newspaper Association (ANJ) starting with data from the Circulation Verification Institute (IVC) and estimates collected from newspapers not audited by the institute, average circulation last year grew a miserly 0.8%.
Newspapers sold an average of 6.470 million copies in 2003 and 6.522 million in 2004. If the comparison was to 2000, the drop is 17%. In other words, the curve is decreasing, and it is still not possible to assert that sales have stopped falling.
The situation at the three biggest newspapers is even worse. They have been falling without interruption since 1996. In 1995, Folha sold on average of 606,000 copies per day. It ended last year with an average of 308,000. Since it was an average of 315,000 copies daily in 2003, the drop in one year was 2.3%.
The performance at “O Estado de So Paulo” and “O Globo” was not much different. The Rio daily, which in 1995 managed to sell 412,000 copies per day, ended 2004 with an average of 257,000. Compared to 2003, it had insignificant growth of 4,000 copies per day, and it was the only one. “Estado,” which at its peak reached 385,000 copies, ended 2004 with 233,000, 10,000 fewer than the previous year. If we use 2000 as a base, the three newspapers together lost 31%.
Sales of Sunday editions, stimulated artificially by gifts and encyclopedias, surpassed 1 million copies, and Folha reached the point of one of the biggest newspapers in the western world in circulation. The latest list of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) in 2003 had no Brazilian newspaper among the 100 biggest in the world. None. No. 100 on the list, “The Arizona Republic” in the United States, has a daily average of 597,000 copies.
These data should make the big newspapers reflect. Circulation declines can’t be explained only by the financial crisis that was being experienced. Economic conditions have even less effect now.
In the United States, newspapers are also losing circulation. But there, as opposed to here, they are having a big debate about the future of newspapers. It involves not only news organizations, but society as a whole.
Citizens of the United States, Europe and Brazil no longer depend so much on newspapers for information. There are increasingly faster options to obtain information, such as TV (regular and news channels), web sites and news blogs on the Internet.
This competition more clearly exposes the deficiencies of newspapers; defects stand out conspicuously. I daily read a litany of complaints by readers: the newspaper is boring, information is incomplete, the topics are always the same, the reporter did not understand the case, the newspaper is uninformed, the information is wrong, the editorial arguments are cynical, and so on.
One of the causes they use in the United States to explain the exodus of readers is the loss of credibility of newspapers. Various recent episodes, such as the discovery of invented stories and biased coverage of the war in Iraq, question the seriousness of newspapers.
And in Brazil? One of the points that companies and journalists must ask is whether the lack of confidence is one of the factors corroding credibility, and, indirectly, sales at big newspapers.
I won’t deny that other factors must be contributing to this, such as the lack of investment by news organizations in covering political campaigns, mainly, in terms of good staffing, and competition from other news organizations. But it is probable that this little word, credibility, should have a big impact on the exodus of readers. It is more than time for this debate to arrive on newspapers’ pages.
INTERVIEW
The influence of the press
Sociologist Alzira Alves de Abreu, pollster for Cpdoc (Center for Polling and Documentation of Contemporary History of Brazil), at the Getlio Vargas Foundation in Rio, is the co-organizer of the book “They changed the press” and co-author of “Media and Politics in Brazil,” both by Getlio Vargas Publishing.
Ombudsman — Is the press crisis visible to readers?
Alzira Alves de Abreu — I don’t know how to respond to whether it is visible. I understand that many readers today seek “impartial” information, want a diversity of opinions, want a pluralistic newspaper. But we can’t forget there also are also readers who seek confirmation of their ideas and political convictions in the newspaper.
Frequently I hear negative commentary about the way newspapers report certain events: whether they give excessive importance to banal events or give information with a certain ideological bias by taking a position concerning the facts. I believe that this question could be the objective of a survey you take with your readers. Journalists could also debate this topic.
Ombudsman — With so many new ways to access information, is there still room for the written press?
Alzira Alves de Abreu — The press continues to exert influence on the formation of political and social thought, even when there are profound differences between the concerns of the public and that of the press.
Even with the new types of information, such as cable TV and the Internet, the press still affects a large number of people who seek more analytical information. Television can be for many people a faster and easier way to get informed about political events or for topics tied to daily life, but to understand political complexities, social relations and the quality of life of individuals, reading the newspaper is more comprehensive than information given by television.
Ombudsman — Do you read newspapers? Do you like them? What criticism do you have?
Abreu — I read various newspapers daily and I like them a lot. On the weekend I have the great pleasure of spending several hours reading newspapers.
A forum for readers
Folha should think seriously about new space to safeguard readers’ contributions. They are critical or praise the newspaper, analyses and commentary about topics that are of interest that demonstrate the respect they have for Folha and the willingness to show it. Fewer than 100f the messages that arrive are approved for “Letters to the Editor.”
On some days, as occurred this week on Thursday and Friday, besides little space, the contributions were consumed by letters with requests for responses sent by authorities or their advisers. On those two days there was no space left. One letter from a regular reader was used Thursday and another one on Friday.
I commented in my internal critique on Thursday: “Today is one of those days in which letters are not from readers.” It did no good. I repeated the commentary on Friday: “Today is one of those days in which letters are not from readers.” Will it do any good?
I received some messages protesting against use of this space for letters from companies and authorities. I reproduce a passage from one, for reflection in the newspaper: “In Letters to the Editor today only one letter belonged to a mere mortal (such as me). All the others are from department heads, members of Congress, important figures etc. … From the viewpoint of Folha, does the reader have any importance?”
Another one, good humored, said: “Letters to the Editor has turned into a mouthpiece for those ‘elected’ in detriment to the readers/electors.”
Translation by John Wright
