World Association for Newspapers: Industry ‘Vibrant and Growing’

So I’m not the only one sick of hearing TribCo and others kowtowing to Wall Street’s unnecessarily irrational expectations.

Last week, Gavin O’Reilly, President of WAN, presented “the facts, not the myths, about newspapers” to a group of investors, analysts, and correspondents at WAN’s first Capital Markets Day in London.

Among the findings (PDF):

• Paid-for circulations grew 1.9 percent over 12 months and 8.7 percent over five years. With free newspapers, global circulation grew 4.3 percent year-on-year.
• Free daily newspaper circulation more than doubled over five years, to 40.8 million copies a day
• More than 1.4 billion people now read a newspaper daily
• Paid-for daily titles surpassed 11,000

Thanks to JoHo for the heads up and Center for Media Research. CC-licensed photo by Sarah.