Herald circulation dips below 200,000

Some 11 months ago, I posted an item on this blog about the Herald's declining circulation.

At the time I wrote, "The inescapable truth is that if the Herald continues to lose 10% of its circulation every six months then how long will it be before their circ dips below 200,000?"

(In 1963 Dade County had a population of about 1,050,000. The Herald's daily circulation was about 330,000.

(In 1999 the New York Times reported "The Herald's daily circulation peaked at 442,560 copies in 1985. Last year, [1998] The Herald's circulation was 341,212, and El Neuvo's circulation was 79,738. Since about half of El Nuevo's copies are delivered in tandem with The Herald, the Miami Herald Publishing Company's two newspapers had a combined daily circulation of about 381,000 last year."

("While circulation nationwide slid about 10.5 percent between 1985 and 1998, the Herald newspapers' circulation fell by about 13.8 percent.")

In this morning's story on the shake-up at el Nuevo Herald, writer Andres Viglucci drops this bombshell:

"Its [el Nuevo Herald] circulation has been holding relatively steady as The Miami Herald's -- now at around 190,000 daily and 275,000 Sunday -- has plunged."

The official Audit Bureau of Circulations report will be released sometime next month.

But for the Herald, the writing is already on the wall.

UPDATE: Bob Norman of Broward New Times has more here on today's shake-up at el Nuevo along with an interesting memo from Anders Gyllenhaal.

That sinking feeling

Here's how bad things have become at the Miami Herald.

Posted below is the Herald's "Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation" as it appears on page 4A of today's paper.

According to the statement, the Herald's average paid daily circulation for the preceding 12 months (Sept, 12, 2012 - Aug. 13, 2013) was  84,224 copies.

Add to that number, 14,425 copies that are either given away or sold at a nominal rate, and the paper's daily circulation is now just 98,649. Put another way, even when they give papers away, they can't crack the 100,000 mark.

Or put yet another way, that's a yearly attrition rate of 20,000. The Sunday numbers are worse.

The previous year's paid circulation was 103,608 daily, 172,540 Sunday.

The paper that was once the largest in the state - it's now number five - and had a daily circulation of almost a half-million, now has less than 100,000 print readers daily.

Source: Miami Herald, Oct. 8, 2013, page 4A.

Why the declining numbers? Anyone who's been a regular reader of the paper for the past 5 or 10 years  can answer that question.

The only people who don't seem to know the answer are the people who run the show at 3511 NW 91 Ave.

For instance, since the beginning of the year a half-dozen or more experienced reporters and editors have either quit or retired. They aren't being replaced.

Proof: Today we learn that veteran reporter Curtis Morgan, most recently the paper's environmental reporter, has been promoted to assistant metro editor and will now oversee reporters who cover the courts and education beats.

Who will replace Morgan?

See the last paragraph of managing editor Rick Hirsch's email below.

From: "Hirsch, Rick"
Date: October 7, 2013, 5:27:39 PM EDT
To: MIA Newsroom
Subject: Congratulate Curtis Morgan

Staff:

Twenty-six years ago, Curtis Morgan joined The Herald as a copy editor in our Broward Bureau.

In the years since, Curtis has distinguished himself as a news and feature writer. From advisory-to-advisory coverage of approaching storms to explaining the complexities of sea level rise, Curtis excelled in explanatory storytelling, often on complex environmental issues.

He also has an unmatched record as our hurricane writer-- he's steered every major threat away from South Florida during his tenure on the beat.

Curtis is a reporter whom peers consult when they are stuck on the lede of a story or are seeking a suggestion or a special touch. He's also pitched in from time to time as a hit-and-run editor.

I'm pleased to report that Curtis will be taking on that role full time, overseeing our education team and criminal and federal courts reporters.

Curtis has a deep knowledge of South Florida. He grew up in South Florida, attended Palmetto High and the University of South Florida. He worked for Gannett papers in the Virgin Islands and Cocoa before joining The Herald in 1987.

As an editor, we know Curtis will continue The Herald's storytelling tradition that he's helped shape during his years as a reporter.

Please congratulate him.

Curtis' shift to editing creates the need for a new environmental reporter -- as well as someone who can take the lead in covering hurricanes. If you are interested, please reach out to Amy Driscoll.

Rick and Mindy

When Hirsch announced the retirement last month of 25-year veteran writer Ellie Brecher, the last line of his email was "Ellie's retirement means we are seeking an obituary reporter. [...] We're looking for someone who digs deep, is compassionate, and can write a hell of a story. If you are interested, please contact Rick Hirsch or Jay Ducassi."

At this late stage, there's probably nothing the Herald honchos can do to stop the paper from hemorrhaging subscribers.

But watching people walk out the door without replacing them certainly won't solve the problem.


________


April 2013: Circulation figures released for Florida newspapers

Oct. 2012: Here are the latest circulation figures for major Florida newspapers

Nov. 2011: Miami Herald circulation dips slightly; St. Petersburg Times is still Florida's largest newspaper

A sinking feeling....

One of my favorite Saturday afternoon activities as a kid was going to downtown Miami to see a movie. (Yes, that's where all the movie theatres were.)

One movie I will never forget was 1958's (No pun intended) A Night to Remember. The movie was a very factual depiction of the sinking of the Titanic.

I sat on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film. It was a classic disaster picture.

We all know the story; The Titanic, on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg and eventually sank and over 1500 people lost their lives. A little over 700 survived even though there were lifeboats for almost 1200 people.

Many of those on board that night believed that it was impossible for the Titanic to sink; it was unsinkable after all. The Titanic was warned of icebergs in the area it was sailing but some of those warnings never reached the captain. Once the ship struck the iceberg; leadership and rational behavior took a back seat to confusion and panic.

---

After reading the latest report on circulation declines at the Herald I have this suspicion that many who work at that once great newspaper must have some sense of what it must have been like to have been on board the Titanic that cold night in April of 1912.

The Herald continues to experience circulation losses in the range of 10%--more or less--every six months.

Other newspapers are experiencing losses but on a smaller scale. Only the Dallas Morning News, which has a much larger circulation, experienced a decline of something close to 11%.

By comparison the state's largest newspaper, The St. Petersburg Times lost a little over 2%.

The inescapable truth is that if the Herald continues to lose 10% of its circulation every six months then how long will it be before their circ dips below 200,000?

Comparisons between the Titanic's demise and the Herald's predicament are unavoidable.

Like the Titanic, people who run the Herald -- and other newspapers -- were warned about the dangers that lay ahead. And like the Titanic, people in the newspaper industry either didn't get the message or when they got it they chose to ignore it or at the very least, downplay the harsh reality. And when they decided to act, they acted too slowly.

And now, confusion and panic are setting in. And it appears, that no one at One Herald Plaza knows what to do next.

Case in point...people with dozens of years of newspaper experience can't even make a simple everyday editorial decision without screwing it up.

---

As everyone knows, the future of journalism is on the Internet.

But the Herald's website is an absolute disaster and has been for a very long time.

It's evident that no one there has the desire or expertise to change it.

Instead they are trying to make up for circulation losses with Internet page views silly features; some of them looking very much like soft porn.

All this from a newspaper that's won close to 20 Pulitzer Prizes.

No one has called for the lifeboats to be launched yet. But when they are launched it will be interesting to see who gets in and who goes down with the ship.

If the Herald is to survive they have to figure out what they've done wrong in the past and try not to make the same mistakes again.

And, as in the case of the Titanic, they might not get a second chance.

Footnote: The Herald carried an AP story about the just released circulation figures but conveniently left out out their own dismal numbers.

Miami Herald circulation dips slightly; St. Petersburg Times is still Florida's largest newspaper

From the St. Petersburg Times:

The St. Petersburg Times saw Sunday circulation increase 6.6 percent in new figures released for fall 2011 by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Weekday circulation dipped 1.4 percent in the figures, which were the second set of numbers this year released under new counting methods established by the ABC.
[...]
Some more numbers:

Sarasota Herald Tribune: 83,140 Sundays, 63,864 daily.

Miami Herald: 209,116 Sunday, 160,505 daily.

Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale): 224,763 Sundays, 147,860 daily.

Orlando Sentinel: 286,982 Sunday, 171,418 daily.

Here are the numbers for the same newspapers from May, 2011:

Tampa Tribune: 262,218 Sundays, 164,568 daily.

Sarasota Herald Tribune: 106,127 Sundays, 83,085 daily.

Miami Herald: 217,163 Sunday, 173,555 daily.

Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale): 253,247 Sundays, 174,641 daily.

Orlando Sentinel: 287,845 Sunday, 187,841 daily.