Circulation is up for Deseret Morning News

As newspapers nationwide continue to report declines in circulation, the Deseret Morning News is seeing its readership lean into the wind, according to information released by the Newspaper Agency Corp.

For the six months ended Sept. 30, the Morning News saw modest gains in its weekly and weekend subscribership, the NAC reported. The NAC handles advertising sales, printing and distribution for the Deseret Morning News and The Salt Lake Tribune.

Compared to the same period a year ago, the Morning News' numbers were up 330 papers for Monday through Friday editions, 1,406 papers on Sunday and 2,150 for the Saturday paper. The Salt Lake Tribune saw increases in those same categories of 746, 432 and 21.

"The Deseret Morning news fared better than the national average," said Kelly Roberts, vice president of circulation at NAC. "National trends have daily (numbers) down 2 percent to 3 percent, and down 2 percent to 3 percent on Sunday. Major metros throughout the country seemed to experience above-average loss in volumes."

Last week, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported that the industry's average daily circulation dropped by 2.8 percent for the same six-month period ended Sept. 30. Some notable dailies were especially hard-hit: The Los Angeles Times reported that daily circulation plummeted 8 percent, while the San Francisco Chronicle saw its daily circulation fall 5.3 percent.

Jim Wall, the Morning News publisher, cited several factors for the paper's growth — from its move to morning publication in 2003, to its partnership with KSL television and radio, to allocating additional resources to providing coverage in Southern Utah and Utah County.

Looking ahead, Wall said, the Morning News will continue to focus on and devote resources to the growing Internet market — which the industry agrees is critical to its survival.

"Going forward, we will continue to invest in our business," Wall said. "We'll add additional features to our Web site to include video, easier-to-use search tools, more frequent updates, expanded photos, user-friendly dialogue and more.

"Our goal on the Web is to be more useful and easier to use," Wall said. "Our Internet team working with the newsroom has already shown the payoff that comes from giving this kind of attention to our local news coverage."