MUD SLUNG IN PAPER STAT SPAT
By Adnews Staff
The Toronto Star has claimed a story that appeared in the Globe and Mail's May 4 issue entitled "Toronto Star takes hit in national newspaper war" is both misleading and inaccurate. The Star claims the Globe used figures released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulation to show that the newspaper war between the Globe and the National Post has caused "collateral damage" to the Star. A statement made in the article states paid weekday circulation for the Star fell two per cent in the six months ending March 31, 1999. According to the Star the statement is completely false. The Star claims the Globe compared circulation numbers from different periods (the last half of 1998 and the first half of 1999) instead of following the accepted circulation measurement practice, by which circulation numbers of the same period are compared, for example, circulation figures from the first six months of 1999 being compared to circulation figures from the first six months of 1998. According to the Star, weekday circulation for 1999 is 452,423, compared to the 1998 figure of 453,692. The Star has also added that during the recent six month period during the launch of the National Post, it has retained 99.47 per cent of its seven-day average circulation.