Oregonian Circulation Down 1.8% from a Year Ago

The Oregonian got a little bit of good news. After shedding 19,000 in circulation from March to September 2009, the newspaper gained back 14,000 from September 2009 to March 2010. Oregonian circulation is still down almost 5,000, but that's a lot better than being down 19,000.

The Oregonian has been aggressively pursuing former subscribers. One tactic has been to give former subscribers a few months of free delivery to woo them back.

The blip of good news is a welcome sign after a disastrous five years in which the Oregonian lost 20% of its circulation base.

Fall off in advertising revenue has also taken a big toll.

Sharply declining circulation and ad revenue resulted in the cutting of a third of the Oregonian's work force in just the last two years.

Here's Editor & Publisher's circulation stats for the top 25 newspapers in the U.S.

Newspaper Circ as of 3/31/10/ % Change [from March 2009]

1. The Wall Street Journal 2,092,523 +0.5%
2. USA Today 1,826,622 -13.58%
3. The New York Times 951,063 -8.47%
4. Los Angeles Times 616,606 -14.74%
5. Washington Post 578,482 -13.06%
6. Daily News (New York) 535,059 -11.25%
7. New York Post 525,004 -5.94%
8. San Jose Mercury News* 516,701 N/A
(1/1/10 To 3/31/2010)
9. Chicago Tribune 452,145 -9.79%
10. Houston Chronicle 366,578 -13.77%
11. The Philadelphia Inquirer** 356,189 N/A
12. The Arizona Republic 351,207 -9.88%
13. Newsday 334,809 -9.07%
14. The Denver Post*** 333,675 N/A
15. Star Tribune, Minneapolis 295,438 -7.71%
16. St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times 278,888 -1.49%
17. Chicago Sun-Times 268,803 -13.88%
18. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland 267,888 -8.14%
19. The Oregonian 263,600 -1.83%
20. The Seattle Times*** 263.468 N/A
21. The Dallas Morning News 260,659 -21.47%
22. Detroit Free Press 252,017 -13.31%
23. San Diego Union-Tribune 249,630 -4.45%
24. San Francisco Chronicle 241,330 -22.68%
25. The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J. 236,017 -17.79%

UPDATE: The Oregonian registered an additional 22,335 in e-edition circulation. It is 23rd of the top 25 newspapers in e-edition circulation.