By ERWIN CHLANDA
Spot the difference. None? You’re almost right – only the page folio is different: July 2, 2009 (the one on the left) and the other, today, August 9, 2013.
Yet the ad’s main text says: “Who’s reading what in The Centre?” That suggest it refers to the present. In fact it is quoting a Roy Morgan survey of 2008.
Quite a lot has changed between the ads’ appearances four years ago and today. The Alice Springs News, to which a readership of 44.6% is attributed in the ad well behind the Advocate’s, has undergone a very successful transition to exclusive online publication – in line with what’s happening the world over.
We totally revised our site founded in 1997 among the first online newspapers in this country. The transition began in March 2011, two years and five month before today’s Centralian Advocate ad.
What also happened is that the Advocate’s circulation in 2009 was 6887. Now it is 5991, a drop of 13%. No wonder the American owned paper is quoting figures more than four years out of date, rather than the figures from “Circulation Audit Board SEP 2012, Roy Morgan 2012″ cited on the website “NewsSpace” in relation to News Corp.
The Advocate suggests there may be confusion. It gets that bit right.
For example, on its News Corp page the Murdoch owned paper quotes a readership of 13,000, giving Roy Morgan as the source.
Right next to that appears this: “Our market research shows that more than 85 per cent of people aged over 14 read the Advocate each week – that is more than 17,000 readers per edition.” No source is given for that; nor is distinction made between the Tuesday and Friday editions.
I tried to discuss all this with Advocate editor Bryan Littlely. But alas, after a very brief chat he hung up on me.
We’re happy to share with our readers and advertisers our stats – which are up to the minute and detailed to the accuracy of one: For example, in the month between July 9 and today we had 45,704 page views, 21,895 visits and 11,374 unique visitors. More details are available.