Circulation

Within the context of journalism, the term circulation has traditionally referred to the number of printed newspaper copies issued by a specific news publisher. As such, it was an important measure both for the sale of advertising and for social impact. In addition to a material process of dissemination, such as the paperboys’ rounds and the single-issue sales at the news agent, the term thus arguably also carried undertones related to content becoming socially significant through circulation. Linked to that, another and related measure [Page 316]was also important, namely that of readership.Circulation numbers were for the most part of the 20th century the main so-called currency connecting news publishers and advertisers. In relation to this, the formation of the Audit Bureau of Circulation in the United States and Canada in 1914 was pivotal—as publishers prior to that were more lenient or sloppy with their circulation numbers. Around this time, the United States also made its full transition into a consumer society, which—along with other developments—boosted not only the number of newspaper titles but also their circulation, which made the market much more competitive. The Daily News (New York), for instance, started in 1919 and had after its first year a circulation of more than 100,000 and, by 1925, more than 1 million. It reached its peak in 1947 with 2.4 million daily copies; in 2018, its circulation of print copies had fallen to approximately 200,000, whereas its digital products reached 23 million people. While the total number of circulated newspapers in the United States peaked in the 1980s, the example of the Daily News illustrates both the overall decline in circulation and the overall shift in how print news reaches its audiences.

Thus, while the circulation of news in a digital news landscape still refers to the material dissemination and the social significance of content, this has become part of much more complicated processes in terms of movement, measurement, control, and meaning, and this has important implications for both the economic and social aspects of news circulation. This entry consequently highlights some of the most important and interrelated technological, economic, and social aspects of the overall changes in how news is circulated digitally.