Australian newspaper readership sinks to all-time low

Canberra, Aug 18: Newspaper readership in Australia has sunk to an all-time low, according to a new study released on Thursday.

The data revealed that just seven newspapers were bought daily in Australia per 100 people, down 45 per cent since 2011, Xinhua news agency reported.

The data found that Japan leads the way in newspaper readership with 34 newspapers bought in the country per 100 people while the UK registered at 16, Canada 14 and the US 12 per 100 people.

Fairfax Media has contemplated discontinuing printing its two major mastheads The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald after posting a $680 million loss in financial year 2015-2016.

Eric Beecher, a former editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and News Corporation, said trouble at Fairfax "constitutes a crisis in civic journalism in our country, because the resources will no longer be there."

"The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have always done the heavy lifting of civic journalism and investigative journalism."

Only 7 out of 100 people brought dailies in Australia, the report said

Despite the latest data, News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson said that print media would continue to play a part in multi-platform publishing.

"We have to confidently exert the values of all our platforms and our people," Thomson told staff at Sydney's Daily Telegraph in comments published on Thursday.

Enhanced Media Metrics Australia data released on Thursday revealed that News Corp publications reach 16.2 million Australians, or 89 per cent of the population, every month.

IANS