One fourth of adults worldwide read a daily newspaper everyday, according to the annual "World Press Trends" report, explained Editor & Publisher.
The report from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers was generally optimistic, Editor & Publisher said.
Other highlights from the report:
* Newspaper circulation worldwide fell .8% last year, but remained up 5.7% over five years. In North America, circulation dropped 3.4%, and in South America it decreased 4.6%.
* Most countries, 61%, saw stable or increased circulations over one year.
* The number of newspaper titles worldwide grew 1.7% between 2008 and 2009, to 12,477 total.
* Newspaper ad revenue worldwide plummeted 17% in 2009, but is expected to grow 3.5% this year.
* While North American newspapers lost 25% of their ad revenue last year, newspapers in Latin America saw just a 2.9% decline.
When it comes to online media, the report found that digital ad revenues will never replace print ad revenues, making a new business model key for survival.
Also, mobile news delivery seems to hold more promise than Internet delivery because of its penetration rate, but the downside of mobile technology is its lack of an advertising model, according to the report.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
