Round One in Battle Among Canada's ëNational' Daily Newspapers Ends with Release of NADbank Readership Numbers; York U. Analysts Assess Damage

TORONTO, October 28, 1999 -- Round One in the year-long battle for circulation among Toronto's major daily newspapers ends Friday with the release of the Canadian Newspaper Association's Newspaper Audience Databank (NADbank) survey. Who will be the loser? Millions of dollars in potential advertising revenues hang in the balance with the Globe and Mail and the National Post in a head-to-head fight for position as Canada's "national" newspaper.

The NADbank figures are the first independent assessment of newspaper readership since the National Post burst onto the scene a year ago this week, muscling into what was once a safely segmented market in which each of the dailies occupied a niche. The figures will reportedly show Globe and Mail readership in Toronto, the major market for advertisers, down from 14 per cent of total readers to 10 per cent, the Toronto Star also down about three percentage points, and the National Post up from five per cent to 8 per cent, according to an article in Maclean's magazine, based on leaked information.

The Toronto Star, an Ontario-based paper that is not competing for national readership, remains the country's largest circulation daily, selling 462,000 papers Monday to Friday, according to the independent Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Globe claims to circulate 318,000 newspapers Monday to Friday, based on reports from its own auditors. The National Post claims a circulation of 275,000.

Numbers aside, other questions remain. Is the fight -- for circulation, for revenue, for reputation -- raising or lowering standards of reportage? What does this all mean to the reading public? The following professors at York University are closely monitoring the changes in writing and reporting at the major dailies, along with the reconfigurations in the newspaper market:

Fred Fletcher is a professor of political science and Director of the York-Ryerson joint graduate program in Communications and Culture. An observer of the Canadian newspaper industry since the 1970s, Fletcher is also a former journalist, and a contributor to the research of the 1980 Kent Royal Commission investigating concentration of newspaper ownership in Canada. He can comment on the market from an historical perspective, assess the changes in newspaper journalism and design brought about by the battle for circulation and whether we are seeing a "dumbing down" of content, Fleet Street-style, in the competition for new readers. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 88819.

Don Thompson is Nabisco Brands Professor of Marketing at York's Schulich School of Business, an expert in strategic market planning, marketing strategy, and marketing and economic regulation. He can comment in detail on the marketing and organizational strategies of each of the newspapers, their relative positions in the market, how they will be affected by the advertisers' response to circulation figures, and how the competition for readership is shaping up. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77961.

Allan Middleton is a professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business and a former advertising professional. He is available from Saturday, October 30 to comment on how the advertising industry is likely to respond to the circulation figures. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 33180.

Arthur Siegel is a professor in the Division of Social Science at York's Faculty of Arts, and author of Politics and the Media in Canada (McGraw-Hill Ryerson Press, 1996) and Radio Canada International (Mosaic Press, 1996). He has done some of the principal research into newspaper ownership in Canada as a member of the 1980 Kent Commission of inquiry and the 1977 Inquiry into Broadcasting in Canada. He says Conrad Black has played a significant role in revitalizing the Canadian newspaper industry, although he has some concerns about Black's level of ownership in the industry. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77805, or at home (416) 495-0190.

David Hogarth is an assistant professor in the Division of Social Science, Faculty of Arts. He teaches and conducts research in the area of news and current affairs as discourse. He has published articles on all-news television, such as CNN and CBC Newsworld, and is now working on a study about documentary television and notions of quality in Canadian public service broadcasting. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 40549.

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For further information, please contact:

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22091
email: sbigelow@yorku.ca
YU/110/99