One area of the world where newspapers are doing well....

Newspapers as we know them may be dying in the West, but look to the East and there things are looking good.

"Depending on their position around the globe, The World Press Trends report will be taken in quite different spirits by media kingpins. To the West, all is gloom. In the East, however, more people paid up for a newspaper in 2012-13 than did the year before.

The Economist blog analyses the data for their Daily Chart: "Since 2008 circulation in America has fallen by 15% to 41m while advertising revenue has plummeted by 42%, accounting for three-quarters of the global decline in advertising revenue in the same period.

"In Europe, circulation and advertising revenue have both fallen by a quarter.

"In Asia, however, circulation has risen by 10%."

A Wan-Ifra press release fills in more details of exactly what rises are being seen in Eastern countries:

"The Middle East data shows a direct correlation between newspaper success and their appeal to female readers. As readership levels rise, so too does the ratio of female to male readers. In Iraq 1/3 of readers are women, compared to Kuwait where more women read papers than men."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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