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ABC Board Mandates Day-of-Week Newspaper Reporting, Censures Members

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (March 9, 2005) -- At its March meeting last week, the board of directors of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) approved modification of its rules to require newspaper publishers to report average paid circulation for each day of the week. All publishers will also be required to report a five-day (Monday through Friday) combined daily average.

The new rules are effective April 1, 2005, for newspapers with March-ending annual audits, and thereafter at the beginning of new audit periods for newspaper members with June, September and December audit cycles.

The board also unanimously agreed to censure EBSCO Consumer Magazine Services, an independent sales subscription agent, for improper record keeping. EBSCO must submit a plan of corrective action to the ABC board for consideration at its next meeting in July 2005.

The board of directors also accepted the corrective measures taken by Synapse Group Inc., a magazine subscription sales agent censured in July 2004 for improper record keeping. As a result, Synapse’s censured status has been lifted.

As follow-on to its July 2004 censure of the Chicago Sun-Times, the ABC board also formally censured two other Hollinger International newspapers, the Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, Ill.) and the Star (Tinley Park, Ill.), for similarly misstating circulation figures. Hollinger publicly disclosed these circulation-inflation practices last year, following ABC’s censure of the Sun-Times.

“Our board remains steadfast in its desire to address issues of accountability and reliability,” said ABC President and Managing Director Michael J. Lavery. “The ABC audit process is trusted and respected, and valued by our members now more than ever.”

A recap of ABC board actions taken at the March 2005 meeting is posted as a “Media Alert” on ABC’s Web site.

With more than 4,000 members, ABC is in its 91st year as the first and largest circulation-auditing organization in the world. Its members include the world's leading magazine and newspaper publishers, advertisers, and agencies. ABC maintains the world’s foremost electronic database of audited-circulation information and a growing array of verified readership, subscriber demographics and online activity data. ABC offers reports and services in a variety of flexible formats, including print, spreadsheet, CD-ROM and online at www.accessabc.com.