Newspaper Circulations Tumble in Crisis-Hit Romania

The circulation of most of Romania's daily newspapers and weeklies suffered a dramatic fall in the autumn of 2012, as the country struggles with the economic downturn but also with a crisis in the newspaper industry.

The sales of the leading broadsheet Romania Libera dropped by 10,000 copies between October and December compared to the same period in 20011, selling on average 27,000 copies in October last year, the Romanian Audit Bureau of Circulation, BRAT, announced on Monday.

The second runner, Jurnalul National, had a smaller drop, from 24,500 copies sold per issue in October 2011, to 19,000 copies in October last year.

Sales of tabloids were higher but also show significant declines. The top seller remains Click!, with almost 130,000 copies sold on average in October 2012, down on 153,000 copies in October 2011.

Advertising has also fallen for the dailies, whose average circulation is now about 1.2 million copies a day among a population of around 19.5 million people.

As a result of crisis in the mass media, delays in paying wages to journalist are common. Last week, journalists at “Romania Libera” staged a brief strike over unpaid salaries.

The crisis has also seen sweeping reductions in staffing. More than 6,000 journalists have lost their jobs over the past few years after hundreds of small publications closed.

Analysts say the decrease in newspaper circulation is also down to the fact that more people now turn to the internet and mobile phones for news.