By Diane Kortus
Owner and Publisher
There are many ways to measure the quality and impact of a community newspaper. But none is more important or more valid than the annual audit conducted by an independent, third-party firm.
In the free newspaper industry, Circulation Verification Council has been verifying circulation and readership since 1992. Today it audits more than 2,000 publications with more than 55 million in circulation, including The Laker and Lutz News.
Publishers like myself can’t wait to get the result of their audit because it gives us information about readership and tells us what readers like best about their paper.
I am proud to report that we have some very good news at The Laker and Lutz News.
First, we have more loyal readers than ever before. Our 2012 audit shows that in Lutz, almost 80 percent of households indicate that they regularly read or look through the Lutz News. This compares to 72 percent in 2010, an 8 percentage point increase in just two years.
This is a remarkable increase in readership, one that we can be very proud of, according to Tim Bingaman, founder and chief executive officer of CVC.
“To increase your readership by more than 8 percentage points in just two years is something we rarely see,” said Bingaman. “You obviously are doing a lot of things right to see such an increase in loyal readers.”
Readership also increased for The Laker in Pasco County. The audit reports that 75 percent of households regularly read or look through the paper, up from 72 percent in 2010.
The reason we can boast about our readership is because our editorial staff works hard to give you stories that are pertinent to you and stories about your community that you cannot get anywhere else.
This year’s audit asked readers to rank the top four areas of the paper that they enjoy reading and read the most. Here’s what we learned:
Top 4 Areas of Interest
1.) What’s Happening/Things to Do
2.) Growth and Development
3.) Feature stories about people and organizations
4.) Business briefs and stories
This research is important because it helps us determine what you want most in your community paper. Over the next several months you will see more stories in these four areas because we want to give you a paper about the things that interest you most.
We will continue to report on other areas — prep sports, health, education and government. Our staff will be focusing more on the types of stories you want so that The Laker and Lutz News become even more valuable to you.
The audit also verifies that we print and deliver the number of papers we claim in our marketing materials.
This is important because advertising sales are based on circulation. If you want to promote your business or service, placing an ad in an audited publication means you are guaranteed that the number of papers being printed, and where they are delivered, is accurate and not exaggerated.
The audit also determines how many people read each paper, which is called the pass-along rate. In our case, there are 1.7 readers for every paper that is read on a regular basis.
With a total audited circulation of 39,935 for our four editions (Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills), the audit reports that our combined readership is 77 percent of total circulation, or 31,000 papers. Multiply this 31,000 papers by our 1.7 pass-along rate and you get 52,275 loyal readers who turn to The Laker and Lutz News every week for community news, local advertisements and inserts like Publix and Michaels.
No other print publication comes close to reaching so many people in our area. In most zip codes that we serve, we deliver up to four times the number of households than the daily papers.
This is important to advertisers who want to reach as many residents as they can in specific neighborhoods. For example, if you are a dentist and want to target Meadow Pointe in Wesley Chapel, The Laker delivers to virtually every home, where paid subscription newspapers go to only one in three or four homes.
My staff and I are always open to ideas and comments from readers on stories and issues you would like to see covered and ways we can become more involved in our communities. I invite you to contact me at , or call (813) 909-2800.
CVC Audit Highlights
– Readership increases 8 percentage points
– 52,275 loyal readers every week
– More stories about things to do, local people and growth and development
