As newspapers sink, publishers propose new measurement methods.

This article presents an update on newspaper circulation in the U.S. as of November 2005. As paying newspaper readership dwindles--or, to be charitable, stagnates--publishers are trying to heave the emphasis elsewhere, to nascent metrics like total audience and reader engagement. But analysts and others are warning that the industry may actually face more pressing problems. The semiannual report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations shows that paying readers will not prop up the business. It revealed a 2.6% top-line decline in paying weekday readers among 786 papers across the country, according to an analysis of the report by the Newspaper Association of America. The drop-off, from the six months ended September 30, 2004, represented a loss of nearly 1.2 million readers.