InkBlots

Walt Disney, Warren Buffett, H. Ross Perot, James Cagney, “Bing” Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Ernie Ford, Bob Hope, Willard Scott, “Red” Skelton, Ed Sullivan, Danny Thomas, John Wayne, J. Edgar Hoover, John Glenn, Alan Shepard Jr., Tom Brokaw, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman and Martin Luther King Jr.: All one-time newspaper carriers, aka paperboys.

Michael King, circulation delivery manager for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal pays homage to carriers past and present in honor of National Newspaper Day.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX report for the six-month period ending September 2006 released Monday confirmed yet again that major metros are struggling to show growth. The losses are steep while the gains are meager.

Here are the top 25 daily newspapers in the U.S. by circulation (with percent change) for the six-month period ending September 2006. This list does not include the Chicago Sun-Times and The Dallas Morning News. (NOTE: Two of only three papers showing an increase are tabloids.)

The Los Angeles Times keeps getting it on the chin or in the shins: declining advertising revenue, an ousted publisher, impending job cuts, wealthy locals angling for ownership, displeased staffers, and now this. Circulation at the L.A. paper, according to the FAS-FAX released this morning, took one of its biggest drops ever with daily down 8% and Sunday down 6% for the six-month period ending September 2006.

Meanwhile, NAA is reporting an actual increase in the newspaper audience, taking Internet readership into account: An analysis by the Newspaper Association of America shows that newspapers are extending their audience reach beyond the core print product by attracting new readers to their Web sites and specialty publications, redefining the traditional newspaper audience. This analysis continues to demonstrate the importance of applying measurement techniques that more accurately reflect the total newspaper audience.