THE Limerick Post newspaper has filed a complaint with ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) about claims made by the Limerick Independent.
The certified ABC door-to-door figures for the Limerick Post for the period June 29, 2009, to Jan 3, 2010, are 17,450.
Certified ABC Bulk Distribution for the Limerick Post, for the same period, is 30,069, giving a combined total of 47,519
Certified ABC door-to-door figures for the Limerick Independent for the period June 29, 2009, to Jan 3, 2010, are nil.
The Limerick Independent is not registered with ABC for Bulk Distribution; they recently obtained Consumer Magazine Classification of 25,000 copies for the period October 1, 2009, to Dec 31, 2009, and which does not take into account returned or not picked up copies.
Certified ABC figures confirm that Limerick Post, is the leading newspaper in the Mid West region. The complaint is currently under investigation.
Following a complaint made earlier this year by the Limerick Post against the Limerick Independent, the following judgement was upheld by ABC:
Complaint – against the Limerick Independent relating to “An advertisement carried in the 23 December and 13 January issues incorrectly implied non-ABC figures were ABC certified and incorrectly claimed the newspaper is the ‘New No. 1’.”
Result – Upheld.
Judgement from ABC – “Whilst the Limerick Independent’s door to door distribution figure of 25,821 is ABC certified (Jan to June 2009), the distribution figure of 25,132 for shops and businesses and the combined total of 50,953 were not ABC certified and should have been sourced as publisher statements. The use of the terms ‘approved’ and ‘certified’ in a box in the style of the ABC logo were considered to incorrectly imply all the figures quoted were ABC certified. The ‘No.1’ claim was deemed to refer to distribution in the context of the advertisement. However when comparing the ABC certified figure for the Limerick Independent with the ABC certified door to door and bulk distribution of the Limerick Post, the No.1 claim was contradicted by the ABC data, and no alternative source was identified as required by ABC publicity rules. As well as being required to ensure future material complied with the relevant publicity rules, the Limerick Independent is required to publish a clarification in the Wednesday 9 March issue.
