About this time every year, I write a column about our annual circulation and readership audit. I use this audit to talk about the number of papers we print and deliver, and more importantly, how many people regularly read The Laker or Lutz News.
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.
Well, it’s audit time again, and our numbers are even better than they were a year ago. Our circulation has increased by 3.8 percent to 42,600, and our readership grew by 3 percent to give us 79 percent household penetration.
Most newspapers would be thrilled with 60 percent household penetration — a percentage most publishers have not seen since before the Internet explosion of news. For our papers to be at 79 percent household penetration is enviable, and one we’re very proud to report.
To put our circulation growth in perspective, earlier this month most daily newspapers in Florida reported circulation drops by the auditing company they use. Close to home, the Tampa Bay Times reported its mid-week circulation was down 7 percent, while The Tampa Tribune showed no growth after accounting for the circulation gain of a weekly paper it bought in Clearwater April 2013.
As proud as we are about our audit and the gains we’ve made this past year, I realize you may think these numbers a bit boastful and not really relevant to your life.
It probably doesn’t matter to you whether we throw 10,000 papers or 50,000, just as long as your paper is thrown in your driveway or dropped at your newsstand every Wednesday. You get to decide each week if you want to take the time to read the stories and look at the ads from local businesses.
It’s our job to make sure your paper has stories and information that are relevant and you find interesting to read. And it’s our job to make sure you can count on your paper to be delivered every week so reading it becomes a habit.
In addition to circulation verification, the audit gives us demographical information about our readers, which we use to choose the stories we write.
We know that 57 percent of our readers are women, that 42 percent are between the ages of 35 and 54, and another 41 percent are over 55. Our readers are well educated (74 percent have attended or graduated from college) and affluent (30 percent have household incomes above $100,000, and another 20 percent above $75,000).
The audit also surveys readers and asks what types of stories they want to read. That’s why we write a lot about growth and development, things to do and stories about people and organizations in our communities. We’ve worked hard this past year to bring you more stories about topics that interest you.
This year’s audit is, as they say, proof in the pudding that we’ve improved. It’s independent confirmation that we’re doing a good job, and that the changes we’ve made in our news coverage this past year have resulted in increased readership.
And this is tremendously gratifying to my staff and I because we love what we do. Nothing is more emotionally satisfying than to know that our hard work is appreciated, and that we make a difference in the community where we work and live.
Published May 14, 2014
