Three of every four households that receive The Citizen are reading the newspaper.
That’s the report from the Circulation Verification Council (CVC) that in late 2014 completed an audit of The Citizen newspaper.
The CVC is an independent, third-party reporting company that audits 3,856 editions nationwide with a combined circulation of more than 55 million. The CVC is funded by the Community Papers of Michigan (CPM), a trade association representing more than 100 community newspapers and shopping guides throughout the state.
According to the audit results, 99 percent say they receive The Citizen, with 75 percent, or three in every four, indicating they read the paper. In addition, 73 percent said they frequently purchase products or services from advertisements in The Citizen. Of those respondents, 47 percent keep the paper for 1-2 days with an additional 31 percent holding on to editions for up to four days. The Citizen audit period covered July 1, 2012 -June 30, 2014, where 11,542 newspapers averaging 28 pages were distributed weekly.
‘The key statistic regarding The Citizen’s audit is more than seven in 10 households that receive the paper read it,? said Tim Bingaman, President and CEO of Circulation Verification Council (CVC). ‘The Citizen is at the national average and has stayed there for the past decade. For weekly community newspapers like The Citizen, the 75.1 percent of regular readers denotes the significant difference between weekly and daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 50,000. Over the past years the average readership for weekly papers has declined by less than 1 percent ‘a significant contrast to the sharp decline in daily newspaper readership that we’ve heard so much about.?
The Citizen newspaper has been audited by the CVC since 2004 and has remained at or above the national average for readership over that time, added Bingaman.
According to the 2014 audit, 49 percent of readers of The Citizen are between the ages of 29-54.
‘The greatest factor in maintaining the readership is young people will continue to read the community newspapers, like The Citizen as they become more involved locally,? he added. ‘When they purchase a home in the community or look to shop local or send their children to school’they still depend on the local newspaper for news.? dmf