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ABC President Tells Publishers Circulation Accountability Critical to Brand Building
NAA Panel Addresses ABC Compliance Issues

SAN FRANCISCO (April 19, 2005) – Michael J. Lavery, president and managing director of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), told attendees at the Newspaper Association of America’s annual convention that circulation will continue to be a highly visible, critical concern for the foreseeable future.

“One thing of which I am certain is that circulation accountability has become as important as financial accountability to all publishers—including their advertisers,” Lavery told a packed room at the Fairmont San Francisco hotel yesterday afternoon.

Given its high visibility, Lavery believes circulation has a big impact on a publisher’s brand. “I see brand enhancement as the proverbial ‘silver lining’ inherent in circulation compliance,” he said. “To the extent that your circulation is trusted and credible, the better the perception of your brand.”

Following high-profile circulation problems at three major newspapers last year, ABC and its board moved aggressively to reinforce the reliability of ABC-audited information, Lavery noted. “The board’s actions included a comprehensive review of record-keeping requirements and rules that may be subject to abuse, as well as in-field circulation verification for many newspaper and magazine audits,” he said. “In this new world of accountability, any significant audit adjustments [by one] will, unfortunately, call into question the circulation accounting practices of everyone.”

Lavery recommended that publishers set the “tone at the top” and reinforce with employees that rule circumvention would not be tolerated. He also advised strengthening internal controls over circulation incentive programs and distributor business relationships. “Independently verify subscription orders and distributor claims of retail sales,” he said.

Lavery also noted that ABC is reviewing the quantitative auditing of pre-printed advertising inserts. A task force of ABC board members and the NAA/ABC Liaison Committee has agreed to develop and test insert verification audit methods this year.

Lavery’s comments at the NAA convention came during a breakout session entitled Circulation: Managing for ABC Compliance. He was joined on the panel by David Dadisman, vice president of circulation at the Washington Post, and Vince Cassanova, vice president of circulation at Tribune Publishing Company.

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 http://www.accessabc.com.