Most of the largest US newspapers registered falls in print circulation in the six months up to September, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations report. But a Wall Street Journal article argues that "the reality is in some ways less bleak than the latest numbers indicate".
It points out that some papers have raised cover prices, curtailed discounted copies and stopped serving the least profitable customers (by axing deliveries to faraway locations). And, of course, most papers have won huge new audiences on the web.
The problem is that newsprint issues command higher ad rates than online editions so, despite more people reading newspaper content, the papers are pulling in less money.
Among titles with double-digit sales declines are the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (down 13.4%), the Orange County Register, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe.
The New York tabloids - the Daily News and the Post - have tended to defy declining circulation trends. But they also recorded significant weekday circulation falls.
Meanwhile, retrenchment continues apace. New Jersey's largest paper, the Star-Ledger, is to cut about 40% of its editorial staff over the next couple of months by making 150 people redundant, reports the New York Times.
The paper's publisher, Advance Publications (ultimate owner, the Newhouse family), says the paper is on track to lose about $40m (£25m) this year.
