REPELLING PAPER BOARDERS
The press: Paul Johnson
surveys the latest national circulation figures
WHEN I was an undergraduate, a cynical don, discoursing on ambition, said to me: `The great thing in life is to stamp hard on the fingers of chaps trying to climb on the raft.' This may be highly improper advice to give the young, but it is apt for newspapers struggling in the face of intrud- ers produced by the print manpower re- volution. 'All hands to repel boarders!' is the cry. But for some it is easier than others, as the latest ABC figures, for the half-year up to the end of September, show. The Iron Law of Wapping, which gives Rupert Murdoch's papers a cost- advantage over all comers, continues in force. The Times, for instance, appears to have lost little to the Independent, at any rate in terms of sales: at 440,979 it is only 5,811 down on the same period last year, and its September figure compared with the Guardian's, which lost over 25,000, is only 4,561 behind, encouraging news for its editor, Charlie Wilson, who is determined to push the Guardian into third place among the qualities.
Equally, the Sunday Times, with ample cash to spend, appears to feel no pressure at all from the Mail on Sunday, which put on 140,293, a little more than the 133,564 losses suffered by its main rival, the Sun- day Express, now perilously close to slip- ping below the two million mark. Indeed the Sunday Times, with a 113,622 gain in sales, actually had a higher percentage increase (9.2) than the Mail on Sunday, and with a new six-month average of 1,348,020 is close to overtaking the com- bined sales of the Observer (729,724) and Sunday Telegraph (706,013). All the Mur- doch papers, in fact, have done well. The Sun put on 173,934 and its September figure shows it selling 4.3 million. The News of the World added 282,153 and is now close to the 5.5 million mark. Mur- doch's own intruder, Today, made the most dramatic gain of all, a 53.8 per cent leap from 326,281 to 501,920. Its editor, David Montgomery, albeit with the mas- sive backing of the Murdoch organisation, has worked very hard to bring about this change, and with his September figure of 560,783 he must be accounted Britain's most successful editor at present.
The other groups are fighting back, though with varying degrees of success. While the Sunday Express continues to pour out its lifeblood, the Daily Express, under Nick Lloyd, showed a small gain over the six-month period and seems to be stamping on Today's hands effectively. The Mirror group, thanks to the use of some excellent colour, has also stopped slithering in some cases. The Daily Mirror gained slightly and its September figure, 3,200,142, is the best for some time. At the Sunday Mirror there was a further six- month average loss of 139,542, but in September Eve Pollard managed to get the figure well over the three million mark again. On the other hand, the Sunday People, while losing 140,928 on the six months, was unable to make a September comeback. Another big loser was the Guardian, which dropped 25,083, or 5.3 per cent, on the six months, mainly I imagine to the Independent. Its major face-lift has clearly failed. I still like its new masthead but I have been proved wrong about the rest of the changes, especially the so-called modular form of news- presentation, which seems to have de- moralised the journalists and led to a marked deterioration in the quality of the writing, traditionally the Guardian's strong point. Clearly, heads should roll. The Financial Times also produced a disappointing figure, down 16,912 or 5.6 per cent on the half-year, and its Septem- ber sale, 277,630, shows no sign of recov- ery. This may be due in part to competition from the Independent, which with a 52,624 gain to 378,454 (and 397,320 in Septem- ber), threatens all the qualities and has a particularly strong financial section. But I suspect it is mainly due to the City going off the boil, and the figure will readjust itself in due course. The Daily Telegraph, by contrast, has a more serious problem.
'I'd prefer more oxygen and less publicity.'
Vigorous action by Conrad Black and his chief executive, Andrew Knight has made the group commercially secure and even profitable, but in the last six-month period the daily lost 42,703 or 3.65 per cent of its sales, returning an average figure of 1,128,588. The explanation for this decline is not obvious. Thanks to a higher pagina- tion and more resources, the Telegraph's news coverage has never been better. Its foreign reporting is first-class in quality and quantity — Xan Smiley, its Moscow man, has done a superb job covering the Gor- bachev changes and is, in my opinion, the outstanding foreign correspondent today. But home news reporting is also very full and accurate: whenever I make a detailed comparison, the Telegraph usually emerges the best value of the qualities.
On the other hand, the paper still has no sense of editorial direction, and tends to sag into the soft centre whenever Blank takes his eye off it. The leaders are pc._ r and often ill-informed, so that the par,..r has lost the remarkable influence it once possessed over the top echelons of the Tory Party and government. The feitlir ,s are vapid and the few strong sections the arts coverage is the best of any natioinal paper — appear egregious amid the pr‘,.,, vailing grey. A remarkably distinct edit rial personality has vanished, though it occasionally makes a welcome reappew ance, as in a palimpsest, in the writings, signed and unsigned, of its former ediro, William Deedes. As the Telegraph longer stands for anything much, v:11y should not its readers slip away to th.v Independent, which is equally wobbly
the issues but is, or at any rate 10.4 E. smarter?
Black himself and Andrew Knight have been worried about the editorial drift and occasionally lean on the editor, Max H9q- ings. There have also been efforts to drift in sharper writers from the Sunday graph, which has a superahin-vin,e. talent and more coherence. But these palliatives. The decisive move to restore sales was made by transferring the maga- zine from the Sunday to the daily, the Sunday Telegraph being compensated by a photo-supplement, Seven Days. This will help the daily, (the September figure was 1,139,495) but it is hard cheese on the Sunday, which is now the liveliest of the nationals and in September actually over- took the Observer (728,439 to 727,253). Loss of its colour mag is bound to pull it down, especially since Seven Days is fee- ble. I would scrap it in favour of a books and arts supplement, which would trump the Sunday Times's highly successful books section, and reinforce the Sunday Tele- graph's reputation as the paper of the civilised, Left and Right. There are of course other solutions, such as improving the Daily Telegraph's political persona. All these dilemmas must be viewed with satis- faction by Murdoch's men at the Times and Sunday Times.
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