As reported by the Guardian on 29 August: Archant has not been able to publish circulation figures for 14 of its regional newspapers, including the Eastern Daily Press, after dismissing a senior circulation executive over the filing of inaccurate figures to the official industry auditor.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations, which publishes audited figures for the UK's 1,000-plus regional newspapers twice a year, was unable to provide official certificates for Archant's paid-for newspapers in Norfolk and Suffolk in its latest report, published on Wednesday, for the first half of 2012.
A spokesman for Archant said the publisher dismissed Don Williamson, the circulation director for the company's Anglia operation, last week after discovering irregularities in the numbers to be submitted to ABC.
"We can confirm that a senior circulation manager has been dismissed following an internal investigation," he said. "We are working with ABC in reviewing the reporting of certain bulk copies in the second half of 2011."
Bulks are copies sold to airlines, rail companies, hotels and gyms for a nominal fee and given free to the public.
Archant's Norwich-based Eastern Daily Press sold 53,548 copies a day in the last six months of last year, but reported a total circulation of 59,802 when bulks were included.
The ABC certificates for 14 Archant titles – including the East Anglian Daily Times, Evening Star in Ipswich and the Evening News in Norwich – have been pulled for the second half of 2011, while no certificate has been issued for the first half of 2012 for these papers.
Archant's free and weekly titles audited by the ABC remain unaffected. The company publishes 54 titles, including four dailies.
"Our auditors have been unable to complete their internal procedures for both the Norfolk and Suffolk paid-for circulations in time for the ABC deadline," said the Archant spokesman. "We will publish the new audited numbers shortly, once the auditors have finished their internal procedures."
