Print media research firm Scarborough last week started releasing circulation figures that included both print and online readers, according to BtoB Online. The addition of the online audience failed to provide much in the way of surprises. There were plenty of online readers who didn't show up in the print circulations figures, and they tended to be younger. For example, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution grew its weekly footprint from 51 percent of adult Atlantans to 56 percent when the online figures were tacked on, a gain of about 223,000 readers.
Last year, audit firms faced pressure from newspapers, especially those in Britain, to include the online figures in statistics.
More recently, a spat between audit firms ABC and BPA brought to light complaints that their methods for counting online circulation are too permissive.
