Audit Bureau of Circulation

News Media Management
A GUIDE TO ABC AUDIT
AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS

Wakefield House, Sprott Road, Ballard Estate, Mumbai - 400 001 Tel: 91 22 2261 18 12 / 2261 90 72 Fax: 91 22 2261 88 21 E-mail: abcindia@vsnl.com Web Site: httpp://www.auditbureau.org
Miss Abhilasha Yadav
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PREFACE
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is a voluntary organization constituted in the year 1948. Going back six decades when the concept of circulation audit was yet to be established in our country, advertisers had no means to know the actual circulation numbers of publications that they used for advertising and had to depend more on their own judgment. Publishers also found it difficult to convince advertisers of the relative values of their publication for the purpose of advertising. It is with this background, eminent
representatives of the advertising profession and publishing industry came together to establish an organization which could serve common interest. Since then the benefit of ABC certificate of circulation have been availed by advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers and organizations connected with print media advertising.
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The primary objective of the Bureau is to secure accurate circulation figures and data relating to all periodicals and media that sell advertising space and in regard to such publications to obtain information as to area of distribution and fix standard forms and methods for ascertaining the circulation figures and to record such information and circulate it to members of the ABC.
Bureau certifies circulation figures of member publications for a six-monthly audit period i.e. January to June and July to December. The system envisages a comprehensive audit of printing, distribution, financial and production records of member publications by a panel of approved auditors as per the audit guidelines laid down by the Bureau from time to time.
This Guide has been updated up to July 2009.
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News Media Management LOGO OF AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION
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News Media Management About Us - What is ABC

Audit Bureau of Circulations
Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is one of the several organizations of the same name operating in different parts of the world.
The ABC founded in 1948 is a not for profit, voluntary organization consisting of Publishers, Advertisers and Advertising Agencies. It has done pioneering work in developing audit procedures to verify the circulation data published by those newspapers and periodicals which have earned the right to display its emblem.
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ABC as it is called and understood by all is a founder member of the International Federation of Audit Bureau of Circulations. The main function of ABC is to evolve, lay down a standard and uniform procedure by which a member publisher shall compute its net paid sales. The circulation figure so arrived at is checked and certified by a firm of Chartered Accountants which are approved by the Bureau. The Bureau issues ABC certificates every six months to those publishers whose circulation figures confirm to the rules and regulations as set out by the Bureau.
From a modest beginning it has grown to remarkable proportions. ABC's membership today includes 411 Publishers of national and regional importance, 151 Advertising Agencies, 51 Advertisers & 20 New Agencies and Associations connected with print media and advertising. It covers most of the major towns in India.
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Facts and figures which are checked and certified by an independent body is a very important tool in the hands of the advertising business community. The details of ABC certified circulation figures are available online to all Members of the Bureau
(http://www.auditbureau.org) at no extra cost.
An Advertiser would like to know the facts and figures before investing his money in advertising. An Advertiser ought to know how many people buy a publication and in which area. The ABC gives all these vital facts every six months. The ABC figures are not the outcome of opinions, claims or guesswork, but they are the result of rigid, in depth and impartial audits of paid circulations of member publications by independent and leading firms of Chartered Accountants working in accordance with the rules / procedures prescribed by the Bureau.
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News Media Management About Us - The Working of ABC

The Policy formation body of the Bureau is the Council of Management consisting of elected representatives from publishers (8), advertisers (4) and advertising agency (4) members of the Bureau. To assist the Council of Management an Executive Committee is appointed by the Council, to guide and oversee the day-to-day working of the Bureau. The Executive Committee consists of Publishers, Advertisers and Advertising Agency Members of the Council. The Council of Management and the Executive Committee meets regularly as often as required. The Chairman is elected annually by the Council of Management.
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The Bureau certifies audited NET PAID circulation figures of publications enrolled with it for a continuous and definite six-monthly audit periods and supplies copies of the ABC Certificates issued for such publications to each member. Free distribution and bulk sales are also shown on the certificates provided the relevant records are adequately maintained.
Records are checked and rechecked at every level for authenticity. Facts and figures are scrutinized by impartial Auditors, and only then is the CERTIFICATE OF NET PAID CIRCULATION issued. The day to day working of the bureau is handled by its secretariat which is headed by the Secretary General.
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News Media Management About Us - ABC & the Publisher
ABCs primary objective is to arrive at and certify authentic circulation figures representing Net Paid Sales of member publications and disseminate the data for the use of space buyers. Together with the ABC Certificate, data on territorial distribution of copies in various states, major cities and small towns is included as add on.
As ABC Certificates are regularly referred to for media selection, the publisher has a far better chance of being selected by space buyer members of ABC. By enjoying the confidence of space buyers, publishers are able to increase their Ad revenues and also improve their services.
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Publisher members must maintain essential books and records to facilitate a proper ABC audit and also appoint an independent firm of Chartered Accountants from amongst the approved panel of auditors named by ABC. Admission of publishers to ABC membership is subject to a satisfactory admission audit. ABC has a system of recheck audit and surprise check audits of publications to be carried out as and when ABC deems appropriate.
ABC adds to the Publications success by providing advertisers the information they need to evaluate print media. The Publishers fully participate in ABCs efforts to help them gain the credibility advertisers are looking for. Advertisers normally place their advertisements with publications that can substantiate their Circulation claims through authentic sources which is easy to understand.
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The Publisher should be a Member of Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and the Publications should be registered with Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI).
New Membership:
Membership of ABC entails certain obligations in respect of books and records to be maintained to facilitate a field and proper ABC audit as per the information given below:
Permanent information form and Membership application form should be filled up and sent to the Bureaus office along with one years annual subscription plus the same amount as one time entrance fee.
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News Media Management New Membership - Publishers
Membership Application Form
DAILY NEWSPAPERS
Schedule of fees Specimen of Check -list Specimen of Publication Confirmation Form Specimen of Letter of Authority
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WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS

MAGAZINES

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ESSENTIAL STAGES OF THE ABC AUDIT

FIRST STAGE: NEWSPRINT CONSUMPTION - Check:
a. Opening Stock of Newsprint with stock Register or Bank Certificate. b. Purchases with invoices, Transport Documents, Goods Inward documents and Payment Vouchers c. Print Orders, Newsprint issue Sheets, Machine Room Returns and Newsprint Stock.
Reconciled Newsprint Consumption with copies printed.
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SECOND STAGE: DISTRIBUTION - Check:
a. Cash Sales - Cash Sales Records. b. Subscription Sales i. ii. Subscribers' Register with Postage Book. and Subscribers' Register with Hand Delivery Book c. Agency Sales . Agents' Sales Register with Railway / Air / Postage Book etc. i. Agents' Sales Register with Returns Register.
ii. Agents' Sales Register with Duplicate Bill Copies
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THIRD STAGE: FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION - Check:
a. i. CASH SALES :
Cash Book with Cash Sales Register or Cash Sales Records. ii. Cash Book with Sales Account in General Ledger. b. SUBSCRIPTION SALES : . i. Cash Book with Subscriber's Register.
Cash Book with Sales Account in General Ledger. c. AGENCY SALES :
Agents' Sales Register with Agents' Ledger
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i. Agents' Sales Register with Sales Account and Agents' Account in General Ledger. ii. iii. Cash Book with Agents' Ledger
Cash Book with Agents' Account in General Ledger. Agents' Ledger with Credit Note Books.
iv.
Totals of Credit Note Books with Agents Accounts and Sales Account in General Ledger v. Journal with Agents' Ledger and General Ledger.
Cash Book with Bank Pass Book
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News Media Management About Us - ABC & the Advertising Agency
ABC provides its member advertising agencies with up to date audited circulation data every
six months relating to member publications in the country. This circulation data covers
distribution of copies in various states, major cities and even smaller towns which are
potential markets. The half-yearly ABC Certificates are used for media planning. To get
maximum value for their clients, the ABC Certificates enable advertising agencies to
compare the circulation trends of various newspapers and periodicals.
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ABC provides reliable, accurate and audited circulation figures which normally forms a
sound foundation for media recommendation.
ABC has been the foundation for all print media buyers providing the advertising industry
with an even playing field. Advertisers are assured through ABC that each Rupee spent is
correctly invested in media that provides accurate circulation numbers while extending
creditability to publishers circulation claims.
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New Membership:
An advertising agency seeking membership of the Bureau should be accredited to Indian Newspaper Society (INS). New Delhi or a Member of AAAs of India, Mumbai The new advertising agency member should fill up Membership application form and the information form in detail and send the same along with a cheque/demand draft as per the schedule of entrance fees and annual subscription.
New members should remit their annual subscription as well as equivalent amount as one time entrance fee.
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News Media Management About Us - ABC & the Advertiser
Advertisers require knowing to what extent any advertising medium is an effective sales promoter and consequently must have knowledge of two factors (1) cost of the advertisement and (2) the results which he expects from the advertisement. Any calculation of results must necessarily be based on the scope of audience which the advertiser is addressing and in the case of a newspaper or a periodical this is directly related to number of copies which are in circulation. As far as the advertisers are concerned, more and more effective distribution of their advertising investments is ensured by the circulation data provided by the ABC. This ABC data is by far the most accurate information on circulation of important publications, which is available. It also shows the changes in the circulation trends and its coverage of circulation.
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Advertisers can access the purchase preference in that area thereby obtaining valuable clues in locating potential markets. ABC Certificates can be used as a reliable and a dependable guide for finding the right markets for the advertisers products. ABC.s concept of circulation audit is accepted in many advanced countries for authentic and accurate circulation figures.
New Membership:
New advertiser member should complete the information and the membership form and send the same to the Bureaus office along with annual subscription and equivalent amount as one time entrance fees.
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News Media Management About Us - ABC & the Organization

The ABC plays an important role together with DAVP, Press Registrar and Publicity Officers of the various State Governments and Public Sector undertakings to improve promote and project nationally accepted objectives through the medium of the press.
The ABC with the active co-operation and expertise of its member publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies, can assist the Union and the State Governments in reaching their targets in rural and semi-urban areas effectively and fruitfully.
New Membership:
The Membership of small and medium newspapers in ABC gives the Government agencies a wide field for operation and helps them reach the remote comers of the country.
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News Media Management AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS

Wakefield House, Sprott Road, Ballard Estate, Mumbai- 400 001
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

NEWS AGENCIES /ASSOCIATIONS/ ORGANISATIONS/ GOVT. PUBLICITY DEPT.
The Secretary General Place Audit Bureau of Circulations Wakefield House, Ballard Estate, Date Sprott Road, Mumbai - 400 001 I/We, the undersigned, hereby apply to the Council of Management of Audit Bureau of Circulations for enrolment to membership of the Bureau.
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I/We undertake to abide by the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company, and to observe the rules and regulations governing the working of the Bureau as laid down by the Council from time to time.
(The Audit Bureau of Circulations is a company limited by Guarantee and not having a share capital. The only possible financial liability attached to members, other than their entrance fee and annual subscription is one of not exceeding Rupees fifteen per member in the event of winding up of the Company.)
I/We further agree that in the event of any differences of disputes arising between me/we and the Bureau and / or its Council of Management at any time from the date of this application, whether during the period of my /our membership of the Bureau or after its cessation, these shall be subject to the jurisdiction of Courts in Mumbai only.
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I/We declare that, according to the schedule of fees fixed by the Council of Management, from time to time the amount of my/ our Entrance fee is Rs. and the amount of my / our Annual Subscription works out to Rs. (Applicants may apply at any time during the year. Membership subscription will thereafter fall due on 1 April every year) Cheque /DD for Rs. (Rupees) are enclosed.
st
Signed (Please affix Rubber Stamp / Seal)
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For & on behalf of
Address Proposed by
(Please affix Rubber Stamp / Seal)
Seconded by
(Please affix Rubber Stamp / Seal ) (To be proposed and seconded by any two members of the Bureau.)
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News Media Management AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS

Wakefield House, Sprott Road, Ballard Estate, Mumbai- 400 001
INFORMATION FORM
NEWS AGENCIES /ASSOCIATIONS/ ORGANISATIONS/ GOVT. PUBLICITY DEPT.
1. Name and Address 2. Telephone, Fax & Email Details: 3. Date of Establishment 4. Type of Organization (i) Company under the Companies Act (ii) Partnership firm (iii) Proprietary concern
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5. Is the Applicant Organization a subsidiary?
If so, state the name and address of the holding Company:
6. Name and designation of the Representative on the Bureau: ________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Are any of the owners or persons referred to in (6) above directly or indirectly financially connected with any newspaper and /or periodicals? If so please give details:
8. Branch Offices:
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9. State the purpose for which you desire to avail the bureaus Services: 10. Is the applicant Organization a member of any other professional Organization? If so, please state its name 11. Name and Address of your Bankers:
Place: For and on behalf of Date: Designation (Please affix Rubber Stamp/Seal)
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News Media Management Audit Bureau of Circulations

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) of North America is a non-profit circulation-auditing organization. It is one of several organizations, operating in different parts of the world, that audits circulation, readership, and audience information for the magazines, newspapers, and other publications produced by their members.
ABC is a forum of the magazine and newspaper publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies, similar to BPA Worldwide. As a non-profit association, ABC is funded by dues and service fees by advertisers, advertising agencies and publishers.
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ABC provides credible, verified information critical to the media buying and selling process by conducting independent, third-party audits of print circulation, readership and Web site activity. ABC also maintains an electronic database of audited circulation and readership media.
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News Media Management History
At the turn of the 20th century, publishers were ungoverned. A practice of inflating circulation figures to win advertising dollars was common. With little recourse, advertisers were forced to buy advertising based on exaggerated circulation claims.
Determined to end deceptive industry practices, advertisers, advertising agencies and responsible publishers banded together to establish an industry organization to
independently verify circulation. In 1914, ABC was created.
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News Media Management Governance
ABC is governed by a tripartite board of directors composed of 17 publishers and 19 advertisers and advertising agencies. The board meets three times a year (March, July and November) to review existing rules, establish new rules and consider member requests.
ABC also has 14 advisory committees. The advisory committees meet throughout the year and discuss member-initiated topics. The committees consider the topics and make recommendations to the ABC board of directors.
The organization has its headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, and additional offices in New York City and Toronto.
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News Media Management Membership
Membership is open to all publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. Additionally, any individual, firm or corporation who requires access to circulation data may apply for an associate membership.
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News Media Management Newspaper circulation

A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day.
Newspaper circulation rates are currently experiencing a downward trend. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the reader. Readership figures are usually higher than circulation figures because of the assumption that a typical copy of the newspaper is read by more than one person.
In many countries, circulations are audited by independent bodies such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations to assure advertisers that a given newspaper does indeed reach the number of people claimed by the publisher.
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News Media Management World newspapers with the largest circulation

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) publishes a list of newspapers with the largest circulation. In 2005, China topped the list in term of total newspaper circulation with 93.5 million a day, India came second with 78.8 million, followed by Japan, with 70.4 million; the United States, with 48.3 million; and Germany, with 22.1 million. Around 75 of the 100 best selling newspapers are in Asia and seven out of top ten are Japanese newspapers.
The Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and Seikyo Shimbun are still the best-selling newspapers in the world.
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Germany's Bild became the only entry in the top ten from outside of Asia. Reference
News () is the most popular paper in China. The highest selling from the United
States is USA Today, which is 13th in the world.
According
to
the Guinness
Book
of
Records, in 1990,
the while
daily the
circulation Soviet
of
the
Soviet
newspaper Trud exceeded
21,500,000
weekly Argumenty
Fakty boasted a circulation of 33,500,000 in 1991.
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INDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES
India
The 2009 Indian Readership Survey findings show that the largest read local language newspapers to be Dainik Jagran (with 55.7 million readers) and Dainik Bhaskar (with 31.9 million readers), both published in Hindi. The Times of India is the most widely read English language newspaper (13.3 million), followed by Hindustan Times (6.3 million), The Hindu (5.2 million). The New Indian Express is another widely-read English language newspaper (1.8 million}. Eenadu news paper which is published in Telugu crossing 1.32 million has the largest circulation in regional languages.
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Belgium
The Belgian institution CIM (Centre for Information about Media) publishes national circulation figures for all written, audiovisual and web-based media in Belgium. The top ten best selling papers according to their website are Het Laatste Nieuws, 317,715; Het Nieuwsblad, 245,209;SUD Presse (group of papers focused on community specific content), 147,749; Het Belang van Limburg, 121,428; Le Soir, 113,780; Vers lavenir, 109,287 (group of papers focused on community specific content); La Dernire Heure, 107,583; De Standaard, 104,758; Het Volk, 77,025 and De Morgen, 73,784.
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Japan
The 2004 circulation figures for the morning and evening editions of Japan's largest newspapers: Yomiuri Shimbun, 14,067,000; The Asahi Shimbun, 12,121,000; Mainichi
Shimbun, 5,587,000; Seikyou Shimbun, 5,500,000; Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 4,635,000; Chunichi Shimbun/Tokyo 2,757,000; Nikkan 1,711,000; The Shimbun,4,512,000; Tokyo Sports, Nikkan Sports, 2,425,000; Sankei 1,896,594; Sports 1,683,000; Yukan 1,368,000; Hochi Shimbun, Nippon, Fuji,
1,965,000; Hokkaido Gendai,
Shimbun,
1,686,000; Akahata, Sports,
1,559,000; Shizuoka
Shimbun,
1,479,000; Sankei
Shimbun,
1,354,000; Daily Sports, 999,000;
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Turkey
Best-selling paper in English as of April 18, 2008, according to the BPA World Wide,
Today's Zaman
United Kingdom
Best-selling papers as of July 2, 2006, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, are the News of the World (Sunday only), 3,471,415;The Sun, 3,148,700 and The Daily Mail, 2,340,255.
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United States
The heyday of the newspaper industry was the 1940s, but the percentage of Americans reading newspapers began to decline with the increased competition from radio, television and, more recently, the Internet. A growing population helped the absolute circulation numbers continue to increase until the 1970s, where it remained stable until the 1990s, when absolute circulation numbers began declining.
Newspaper circulation numbers are reported to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Bestselling papers as of March 31, 2009 in the U.S.A., according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, are USA Today, 2,113,725; The Wall Street Journal, 2,082,189 and The New
York Times, 1,039,031.
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Canada
The most widely read paper in the country is the Toronto Star, which, as of the six-month period ending on March 31, 2007, averaged 634,886 copies sold on Saturday, 436,694 Monday to Friday, and 442,265 on Sunday. The second most widely read paper is Torontobased national newspaper The Globe and Mail, which averaged 410,285 copies on Saturdays, and 322,807 Monday to Friday. The most widely read French-language newspaper is Le Journal de Montral, which averaged 319,899 copies on Saturday, 267,404 Monday to Friday, and 264,733 on Sunday. It should be noted that unlike in the United States, newspapers in Canada published their biggest and mostly widely read editions on Saturdays, and that most papers don't publish on Sundays.
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JULY 2009
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PART I NEWSPAPERS
INDEX
1) DEFINITIONS:
1.1 Audit 1.2 Average 1.3 Back Copies 1.4 Combo Offer 1.5 Daily Newspaper 1.6 Distribution Cost 1.7 Distributing Trade 1.8 Edition 1.9 Excess Circulation
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1.10 Free Copies 1.11 Institutional Sales 1.12 Joint Subscription Offer 1.13 Local Agent 1.14 Net Realization Rate - NRR 1.15 Normal Circulation - NRR 1.16 Non Compliant Week - NRR 1.17 Principal Agent 1.18 Printing Centre 1.19 Publication 1.20 Publishing Day 1.21 Qualifying Sales 1.22 Returns
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1.23 Single Copy Sales 1.24 Subscriber 1.25 Trade Term
2) CONCEPT OF NET REALISATION RATE NRR:

2.1 Net Realization Rate (NRR) 2.2 Qualifying Sales 2.3 Normal Circulation 2.4 Excess Circulation 2.5 Treatment of non compliant week: 2.6 Exemption for subscription copies from the concept of NRR 2.7 Weekly Newspapers 2.8 Facets of New Certification Criteria
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News Media Management 3) SUBSCRIPTION SALES:

3.1 Subscription Offers (Single & Joint): 3.2 Institutional Subscription Sales:
4) NON-SUBSCRIPTION SALES includes Single, Institutional, Combo copies etc.

4.1 Combo Offers (Non Subscription) 4.2 Single Copy Sales 4.3 Institutional Sales:
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News Media Management 5) SCHEMES FOR READERS - Non subscription copies:

5.1 Incentive / Gifts Schemes for Readers (Non subscription copies): 5.2 Calculation of excess circulation in case of gifts valued at over 50% of the cover price of a newspaper (Non subscription): 5.3 Gift of a publication on newsstand sales (Non subscription): 5.4 Cash Gifts not permitted:
6 COPIES DISTRIBUTED THRU DISTRIBUTION TRADE:

6.1 Distribution Cost 6.2 Trade Terms: 6.3 Gift Schemes for Agents
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News Media Management 7 SUBMISSIONS OF CIRCULATION FIGURES:

7.1 COMPILATION OF INCOMING CERTIFICATES Certification of a new edition / printing centre for part audit period Copies indented locally but distributed abroad Option to avail a separate and/or a combined ABC certificate for a multi-edition publication Procedure for compilation of combined ABC certificate Publishing Days multi edition / centre publications Reasons for increase in circulation Sunday circulation/Weekly editions of Daily Newspapers 7.2. COMPILATION OF AREA BREAKDOWN STATEMENT: Area Breakdown Statement
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Compilation of Area Breakdown Statement (In case of new edition started during the audit period) Details of town-wise distribution under section 'B' to be provided as under 7.3 NEWSPRINT WASTAGE 7.4 BUREAU MEMBERSHIP Enrolment of new editions / printing centers Return of Application for Bureau Membership Re-admission to Bureau Membership Starting of new printing centre and / or edition Surprise Recheck Audit by Bureaus Auditors prior to admission to Bureau Membership
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News Media Management 8. GUIDELINES COVERING TITLES HAVING AVERAGE CIRCULATION LESS THAN 15,000 COPIES
Advance written indents / monthly confirmations Agents Supply Register Agreement with outside printers Banking of cash collection Cash covering Notes Cash sales records Machine Room Returns Newsprint Consumption Register Newsprint Stock Register Postage / dispatch record for subscribers
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Print Order Returns Register
9 OUTSTANDING / ADD BACK OF COPIES:

9.1 Adjustment of agents deposits against outstanding dues 9.2 On account payments by agents 9.3 Outstandings
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FOR DAILY AND WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS
VARIOUS TERMS USED - BUREAUS AUDIT GUIDELINES:
1. DEFINITIONS:
1.1 AUDIT:
Examination of publishers as well as his principal agency/agencies (local or otherwise) distribution, and financial records and corroborative evidences in order to establish the Qualifying Sales and non Qualifying Sales and to verify whether the publisher and his
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concerned principal agency/s has complied with all Bureaus audit guidelines from time to time.
1.2 AVERAGE:
Means average per day, per week as the case may be, of the relevant audit period.
1.3 BACK COPIES:

Any issue of a publication which is not a current issue. The current issue is defined as follows: a) Daily Publication - Day of the date of imprint only (In the case of evening Newspapers including copies dispatched prior to the issue for the following date is published) b) Weekly - Upto the date of imprint of the next issue
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1.4 COMBO OFFER:
More than one publication available under a scheme (other than subscription) to readers at a combined price
1.5 DAILY NEWSPAPER:

A daily newspaper which is printed and published daily for at least 5 working days in a week except approved holidays
1.6 DISTRIBUTION COST:

An amount paid to the distribution trade by whatever name called plus any additional incentives / benefit which is directly connected with selling / distribution of the newspaper
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paid to the trade, the same shall be totaled to arrive at the gross trade term payable to the trade for distributing copies.
1.7 DISTRIBUTING TRADE:

A general term applied to agents, hawkers, principal agent (local or otherwise) and any other person engaged in distribution of a publication.
1.8 EDITION:
A publication/title separately registered with Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) and having a separate registration number, serial No. & Volume Number
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1.9 EXCESS CIRCULATION - NRR:
Excess circulation is the incremental circulation for any non complaint issue as compared to the average normal circulation of the immediate previous week or such another week during an audit period where all relevant issues are compliant with the qualifying criteria and the corresponding circulation qualifies for certification.
1.10 FREE COPIES:

Voucher, exchange and complimentary copies, and copies (if any) given to agents for onward free distribution for which records are available.
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1.11 INSTITUTIONAL SALES:
Copies of newspapers (Dailies & Weeklies) which are either sold directly by the publisher and/or his distributing trade to organizations not connected with newspaper distribution trade provided bona fides of the organization(s) involved in Institutional Sales are established to the satisfaction of the auditors (Unless Auditors/Bureau having any evidence to the contrary). Institutional Sales are accepted for certification only to the extent of 10% of Qualifying Sales.
1.12 JOINT SUBSCRIPTION OFFER:

A subscription offer for more than one publication for which subscription at the prescribed rate is received in advance for a specified term
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1.13 LOCAL AGENT:
An agent appointed by a publisher to effect distribution of copies within the town of publication or any of its printing centers
1.14 NET REALISATION RATE (NRR):

Net Realization Rate (NRR) is the term used for value of newspaper in waste computed on the basis of waste rate per kg. as fixed by the Council from time to time .
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1.15 NORMAL CIRCULATION - NRR:
Normal circulation is the average circulation of any week during an audit period when all relevant issues of the week are compliant with the qualifying principle and accordingly the corresponding circulation qualifies for certification.
1.16 NON COMPLIANT WEEK - NRR:

Is such a week which on an average basis does not comply with the Net Realization Rate Criteria?
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1.17 PRINCIPAL AGENT:
An agent who distributes or affects at least 20% of the total sales subject to a minimum of 25,000 copies per printing centre / edition is recognized and termed as a principal agent.
1.18 PRINTING CENTRE:

Printing of an edition of a publication carried out simultaneously at any other location with same RNI registration number and volume number.
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1.19 PUBLICATION:
A piece of printed matter of regular periodic issue, selling at a prescribed price, which may or may not carry advertising
1.20 PUBLISHING DAY

A Publishing day is a day on which the publication is normally published whether as a regular issue or a special issue, and concurrently or separately in the case of a multi-centre publication. Special issues will be excluded only if they are IN ADDITION to the regular issue.
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1.21 QUALIFYING SALES:
Circulation figure which meets the following criteria is treated as qualifying sales and certified under Part A of the ABC certificate of circulation. For each issue on a daily basis the net sale price to the dealer (first point of sale) at any trade margin is higher than the net realization rate (NRR) with a provision to remove excess circulation of non compliant issues where **net sale price to the dealer at any trade margin offered is lower than the net realization rate (NRR) subject to such non compliant issues are compliant on a weekly average basis for all issues of the week taken together.
(**Net sale price to the dealer is the net price at which a newspaper is sold to the dealer calculated at cover price of the publication less applicable trade commission, delivery charges or by whatever name called).
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1.22 RETURNS:
Copies of publication remaining unsold out of copies indented as notified by agents and accepted by publishers and in case of additional copies supplied without agents indents, all copies reported as unsold by agents whether or not such claims are accepted by publisher.
1.23 SINGLE COPY SALES:

All copies sold to the reader at the prescribed cover price.
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1.24 SUBSCRIBER:
Purchaser of a publication on a term contract, whose subscription at the full prescribed rate has been received
1.25 TRADE TERM

Commission and allowances etc. mutually agreed to between the publisher and the distributing trade and paid continuously and consistently.
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News Media Management 2. CONCEPT OF NET REALISATION RATE NRR:

2.1 NET REALISATION RATE (NRR):
Net Realization Rate (NRR) is the term used for value of newspaper in waste computed on the basis of waste rate per kg. as fixed by the Council from time to time .
2.2 QUALIFYING SALES:

Circulation figure which meets the following criteria is treated as qualifying sales and certified under Part A of the ABC certificate of circulation. For each issue on a daily basis the net sale price to the dealer (first point of sale) at any trade margin is higher than the net realisation rate (NRR) with a provision to remove excess circulation of non compliant issues where **net sale price to the dealer at any trade margin offered is lower than the net
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realisation rate (NRR) subject to such non compliant issues are compliant on a weekly average basis forall issues of the week taken together.
(**Net sale price to the dealer is the net price at which a newspaper is sold to the dealer calculated at cover price of the publication less applicable trade commission, delivery charges or by whatever name called).
2.3 NORMAL CIRCULATION:

Normal circulation is the average circulation of any week during an audit period when all relevant issues of the week are compliant with the qualifying principle and accordingly the corresponding circulation qualifies for certification.
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2.4 EXCESS CIRCULATION:
Excess circulation is the incremental circulation for any non complaint issue as compared to the average normal circulation of the immediate previous week or such another week during an audit period where all relevant issues are compliant with the qualifying criteria and the corresponding circulation qualifies for certification.
2.5 TREATMENT OF NON COMPLIANT WEEK:

Considering the principle of compliance with the qualifying criteria, if on an average basis, for any given week, the NRR criteria is not complied with, then the benefit of reducing only excess circulation for non compliant issues will be denied and entire circulation of all non compliant issues during such a week will not be recognized as qualifying sales under Part A.
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This will however be shown under `Part B as non-qualifying sales. (All publishing day(s) during an audit period will however be reckoned for average calculations of qualifying and non qualifying sales.)
2.6 EXEMPTION FOR SUBSCRIPTION COPIES FROM THE CONCEPT OF NRR:

All copies supplied to the reader which are through subscription offers are exempted from the purview of the concept of NRR since full details of a subscriber is available with the publisher which can be verified through the process of audit. Subscription amount is also collected by the publisher in advance thus providing a complete audit trail.
A publisher can offer discount / gift to the subscriber together with delivery charges to the distribution trade upto 90% of the cover price of a publication.
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2.7 WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS:
Qualifying criteria for certification will also apply to all weekly newspapers. In respect of a weekly newspaper, every individual issue will be required to be compliant with the new qualifying criteria. Should a particular weekly issue be noncompliant on any publishing day, the excess circulation will be removed with reference to the nearest compliant day or any one compliant day during an audit period. (Excess circulation over the nearest compliant day will be shown under Part B of the certificate as Non-Qualifying Sales).
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2.8 FACETS OF CERTIFICATION CRITERIA:
_ Qualifying Criteria
For each issue on a daily basis the net sale price to the dealer (first point of sale) at any trade margin to be higher than the *net realization rate (NRR) with a provision to remove excess circulation for such issues where **net sale price to the dealer at any trade margin offered is lower than the *net realisation rate (NRR). The same should also be compliant on a weekly average basis for all issues of the week taken together. (*Net Realisation Rate (NRR) is the term used for value of newspaper in waste computed on the basis of waste rate per kg. as fixed by the Council from time to time). (**Net sale price to the dealer is the cover price of the publication less applicable trade commission, delivery charges or by whatever name called).
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Excess circulation of non compliant issues will be determined on the basis of comparison with normal circulation which would be the average circulation of the immediate previous week or such another week during an audit period when all relevant issues of the week on a daily basis are compliant with the qualifying principle and accordingly the corresponding circulation qualifies for certification.
Q (i) How excess circulation for non compliant issues of the week will be determined?
A(i) Excess circulation is the incremental circulation for any non complaint issue as compared to the average circulation of the immediate previous week or such another week during an audit period where all relevant issues are compliant with the qualifying criteria and the corresponding circulation qualifies for certification.
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Therefore, it is necessary that there is at least one week in an audit period when all issues on each day of the week are compliant with the qualifying criteria.
Q(ii) What treatment will be given if, during an audit period there is no such week where all issues of the week are independently compliant with the qualifying criteria?
A(ii) Under such circumstances, the benefit of reducing only the excess circulation will not be available. The entire circulation of all non compliant issues will not be shown as `Qualifying Sales in Part A of the Certificate. However, such copies will be shown in Part B as `Non Qualifying Sales. (All publishing day(s) during an audit period will however be reckoned for average calculations of qualifying and non qualifying sales.)
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Q (iii) If for a given week, the qualifying principle is not complied with on a weekly average basis, what treatment will be given to non compliant issues during such a week?
A(iii) Considering the principle of compliance with the qualifying criteria, if on an average basis, for any given week, the criteria is not complied with, then the benefit of reducing only excess circulation for non compliant issues will be denied and entire circulation of all non compliant issues during such a week will not be recognized as qualifying sales under Part A. This will however be shown under `Part B as non-qualifying sales. (All publishing day(s) during an audit period will however be reckoned for average calculations of qualifying and non qualifying sales.)
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News Media Management 3. SUBSCRIPTION SALES:

3.1 SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS (Single & Joint):
Following guidelines are required to be fulfilled in case of all single & joint subscription offers: a. Subscription requisition / request in writing from the subscriber needs to be obtained by the publisher and / or his agent(s). b. In case, a subscription offer is for a period of less than six months, full subscription amount to be received in advance. In case of subscription schemes for a period longer than six months, for all booked subscriptions, full subscription amount to be received within a period of two months from the date of booking a subscription.
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c. Supply of subscription copies to a subscriber to commence only after the subscription amount is received as above by a publisher and / or his agent(s) in full as per the subscription offer. d. Valuation of a gift, branded or customised, to be valued at MRP or cost to the publisher plus 15% as applicable. Gift in the form of cash or cash equivalent is however excluded from the purview of gift. e. In case a publication is offered as a gift, the same to be valued at its cover price. f. In case a publication, which is not a member of the Bureau but is offered under the Joint Subscription Scheme, then the member publication shall arrange for verification of the distribution and financial books and records of a non-member publication. The
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member publication will then arrange to obtain a written confirmation from the nonmember publication that its financial & distribution books & records are open for scrutiny by Bureaus Auditors / officials. g. Publisher should retain at least 10% of the cover price of the publication, after taking into account discount on cover price, value of gifts, delivery charges, etc. (in case of joint subscription publisher to retain at least 10% of the cover price of all publications individually included in the subscription offer). Non-compliance of any of the above conditions will render the subscription offer as unacceptable for certification as qualifying sales (Part A).
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3.2 INSTITUTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION SALES:
Subscription Sales effected to institutions up to 5% of the total qualifying sales will be considered as qualifying sales. This is in addition to Institutional Sales (non subscription copies) which is included for certification as qualifying sales up to 10% of the total nonsubscription copies.
All prescribed audit guidelines for subscription copies (single and joint) as in force are also applicable to all institutional subscription copies. All relevant documentation should be available with the publisher for auditors verification.
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News Media Management 4. NON-SUBSCRIPTION SALES

Includes Single, Institutional, Combo copies etc.
4.1 COMBO OFFERS (Non subscription):

Definition:
More than one publication available under a scheme (other than subscription) to readers at a combined price The following guidelines are required to be followed: a) Combined price along with the titles / names of publications involved in the combo offer shall be distinctly mentioned on the print line below the masthead on all publications involved in a Combo offer.
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b) Average number of Combo copies of the respective publications in an offer will be shown separately on the respective ABC Certificate and shall be reckoned for certification. c) No gift either in the form of a publication registered with RNI or in any other form will be permitted for combo offers (non subscription). d) The combo price to be at least 50% of the combined cover prices of all publications involved in a combo offer. e) In case of a combo offer of a daily / weekly / monthly the combined price to be similarly worked out and should be atleast 50% of the cover price of all publications involved in the combo offer.
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f) Number of combo copies to be separately shown in the print order of the respective publications. g) Combo copies should be separately billed to agents / sub agents at the prescribed trade terms. h) In case a Publication, which is not a member of the Bureau but is offered under a combo offer, then the member publication shall arrange for verification of the distribution and financial books and records of the nonmember publication. The
member publication will then arrange to obtain a written confirmation from a nonmember publication that its financial & distribution books & records are open for scrutiny by Bureaus Auditors / officials.
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i) The new qualifying criteria, (NRR) will be applicable to all publications under the combo offer taken together at the prescribed combo price less trade commission / delivery charges, as applicable. Non-compliance of any of the above conditions will render the combo offer as unacceptable for certification.
4.2. SINGLE COPY SALES:

All copies sold to the reader at the prescribed cover price.
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4.3 INSTITUTIONAL SALES:
Copies of newspapers (Dailies & Weeklies) which are either sold directly by the publishers and/or his distributing trade to organisations not connected with newspaper distribution trade provided bonafides of the organisation(s) involved in Institutional Sales are
established to the satisfaction of the auditors (Unless Auditors/Bureau having any evidence to the contrary).
Institutional Sales are accepted for certification only to the extent of 10% of Qualifying Sales.
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News Media Management 5. SCHEMES FOR READERS - Non Subscription Copies:

5.1 INCENTIVE / GIFTS SCHEMES FOR READERS (Non subscription copies):
Bureaus present audit guidelines permit publications to offer gifts to readers on non subscription copies upto 50% of the cover price of a publication so that copies qualify for certification as Qualifying Sales (Part A).
Accordingly, it is clarified that publishers offering gifts to readers value of which is more than 50% of the cover price on non subscription copies under any scheme for a defined period then such a scheme is void abinitio and does not qualify for certification. Accordingly, all copies offered to readers under such a scheme do not qualify for certification as Qualifying Sales irrespective of whether readers have availed the benefit offered under the scheme or not.
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All incentive schemes to readers to be framed in such a manner such that the name of the beneficiary / reader is identifiable. An audit trail in the form of a reader booking form with the name, address and other contact details of the reader should be made available for auditors verification along with a record of gifts purchased and distributed.
Publishers should ensure that the reader incentive schemes are not taken advantage of by the trade in order to increase their earnings which would result in reduction of the net price at which the trade purchases a copy from the publisher. In case of barter arrangements,
relating to gifts issued to subscribers or on newsstand sales, publishers should pass necessary accounting entries in their books of accounts.
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5.2 CALCULATION OF EXCESS CIRCULATION IN CASE OF GIFTS VALUED AT OVER 50% OF THE COVER PRICE OF A NEWSPAPER (NON-SUBSCRIPTION):
In case a gift / sample etc. is provided along with a particular issue of a publication value of which is more than 50% of the cover price of a publication then in such cases only excess circulation achieved for the relevant issue will not be considered for certification as Qualifying Sales.
The provision referred to above for reducing excess circulation does not apply to cases where value of gifts offered to readers is more than 50% of the cover price under a scheme for a defined period. In such circumstances, such a scheme as mentioned above will be treated void abinitio and all copies under such a scheme will be shown as NON Qualifying Sales (Part B).
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In order to determine excess circulation achieved for a particular issue when a free sample, gift etc. was carried along with a publication, following procedure needs to be followed: a) In case of dailies, average Qualifying Sales of the previous week to be taken as normal circulation provided there were no promotional activities*, in any form, during the given period. b) In case of Sunday issue of a daily, weeklies and magazines, average Qualifying Sales of previous four issues where there were no promotional activities*, in any form, would be reckoned as normal circulation. [*Promotional activity includes free distribution of gifts/samples, calendars etc. to readers and shall also include any other schemes to induce a reader to purchase a publication] Publishing Day on which free samples/gifts are distributed along with a publication would be reckoned for circulation of average circulation in all cases.
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5.3 GIFT OF A PUBLICATION ON NEWSSTAND SALES (NON SUBSCRIPTION):
a) The value of gift / inducement / incentive to a reader should not exceed 50% of the cover price of the publication on which an inducement is offered. b) In case another publication is offered as a gift, in such cases, on the print line below the mast-head of the main publication, it should be mentioned that XYZ publication offered free with DEF publication. c) Similarly, on the print line of the publication offered free, it should be specified that this publication is offered free alongwith XXX publication. d) Print Order of the publication offered free should specifically show the number of copies offered free with a particular publication.
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e) In case a Publication, which is offered as a gift / inducement / incentive is not a member of the Bureau then the member publication shall arrange for verification of the distribution and financial books and records of a nonmember publication. The member publication will then arrange to obtain a written confirmation from the non-member publication that its financial & distribution books & records are open for scrutiny by Bureaus Auditors / officials. f) Copies of the Publication offered free as an inducement or at less than the prescribed cover price would not be considered for certification under Part A of the ABC Certificate of circulation.
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g) The NRR will be ascertained after considering the combined pagination of the main publication together with the publication given free as a gift. h) The net price to the trade would be calculated at the cover price of the main publication less trade commission and / or delivery charges on the main as well as the free publication. Non compliance of any of the above guidelines would render such gift/inducement offer as unacceptable for certification as qualifying sales.
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5.4 CASH GIFTS NOT PERMITTED:
a) The word gift would specifically exclude all cash gifts or cash equivalents (gift cheques etc) to subscribers / regular readers from the purview of gifts to subscribers / regular readers. Gifts offered to subscribers / regular readers only in kind will be considered for the purpose. b) All copies involved in a scheme offering its readers cash gifts / cash equivalent / cash discounts etc. will be shown as Non Qualifying Sales under Part B of the ABC Certificate of circulation.
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News Media Management 6. COPIES DISTRIBUTED THRU DISTRIBUTION TRADE:

6.1 DISTRIBUTION COST:
An amount paid to the trade by whatever name called plus any additional incentives / benefit which is directly connected with selling / distribution of the newspaper paid to the trade, the same shall be totaled to arrive at the gross trade term payable to the trade for distributing copies. An amount not connected with distribution of copies paid / reimbursed to the trade for which supporting are available may not be considered as part of the trade term. The trade term should be calculated on the cover price of a publication. Actual cost of transporting publications from the printing location to the distribution centers as per contractual arrangements made by the publisher do not form part of the delivery charges or trade term.
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6.2 TRADE TERMS:
Commission and allowances etc. mutually agreed to between the publisher and the distributing trade and paid continuously and consistently. Apart from basic commission, it may include other facilities such as office allowances, transport allowances, bonuses, rewards, incentives, ex-gratia payments, value of gifts/ incentives consistently offered under any scheme to the distribution trade.
However, if a gift or a reward is announced on specific occasion which is based on the performance of a particular agent from a group of agents or is subject to a draw of lottery pursuant to a sales promotion scheme, then such gifts shall be considered more or less as a sales promotion scheme rather than a part of the trade term (Unless Auditors/Bureau having evidence to the contrary).
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However, reimbursement made by the publisher for expenses actually incurred by the distributing trade on their behalf for services rendered other than those relating to the sale of copies shall not be included in the gross trade terms provided, necessary documentary evidence in support of actual expenses incurred by agents for such services is available for auditors verification.
6.3 GIFT SCHEMES FOR AGENTS:

Information on gift schemes run for the benefit of the agents should be declared in the Incoming Certificate and made available to the Auditors at the time of circulation audit. Written records should be kept by all publishers for all such schemes.
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News Media Management 7. SUBMISSION OF CIRCULATION FIGURES:

Submission of circulation figures for each audit period is mandatory for all publisher members. If audited circulation figures in the prescribed format are not submitted for one audit period by a publisher member, then audited circulation figures for the following audit period cannot be considered for certification. a) All publisher members are mandatorily required to submit their circulation figures every six months to the Bureau in the prescribed format of Incoming Certificate. The due dates are: Audit period January/June
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Audit period July/December Submission date to the Bureau: 1st to 31st July 1st to 31st January (next) b) A further extension of 15 days may be granted by the Bureau on a case to case basis provided the extension is sought before the relevant due dates i.e. 31st July and 31st January alongwith an acceptable explanation. c) Incoming Certificate submitted to the Bureau after the due date (but before expiry of three months from the relevant audit period) without seeking an extension for submission would be considered for certification subject to a satisfactory surprise recheck audit at publishers expense.
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d) Incoming Certificate submitted after expiry of three months from the relevant audit period will not be considered for certification and will be treated as Not Filed and no certificate of circulation will be issued.
7.1 COMPILATION OF INCOMING CERTIFICATE:

CERTIFICATION OF A NEW EDITION / PRINTING CENTRE FOR PART AUDIT PERIOD: Certification of a newly started edition / printing centre for a part audit period will be permitted only in cases where publication requests for a combined certificate with an existing edition / printing centre. It will be necessary for the publisher to submit a separate application for enrolment to membership and also pay annual membership fees as well as one time entrance fees as prescribed from time to time. Publisher is also required to file the audited incoming certificate separately in such cases.
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COPIES INDENTED LOCALLY BUT DISTRIBUTED ABROAD: All copies of a publication which are indented by agents in India but distributed / sold abroad will not be considered for certification while arriving at the average qualifying sales.
OPTION TO AVAIL A SEPARATE AND / OR A COMBINED ABC CERTIFICATE FOR A MULTIEDITION PUBLICATION: A publisher of a multi-edition publication has an option to avail either a separate certificate for its various editions or a combined ABC certificate for various editions. A publisher who is a member of the Bureau and has exercised an option to avail a separate ABC Certificate or a combined ABC Certificate can change his option only once during a period of four six monthly audit periods. Publishers request may be considered by the Council only prospectively from the commencement of the following audit period.
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PROCEDURE FOR COMPILATION OF COMBINED ABC CERTIFICATE: A multi-centre publication is regarded as one publication for issue of a combined ABC Certificate. Accordingly, the day on which a publication is published either from one centre or more is regarded as a publishing day for all editions/printing centres and is taken into account for calculating the combined average figures. Under this procedure, combined average figures for each month as also for an audit period are worked out by dividing, combined total sales by the total number of publishing days on which the publication was published at either of the centre.
PUBLISHING DAYS MULTI EDITION / CENTRE PUBLICATIONS: Qualifying Sales of individual editions / printing centres will be shown as a foot-note on the ABC Certificate of circulation. Qualifying Sales will however be calculated on the basis of
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highest number of publishing days amongst all editions / printing centres. The publications total qualifying sales as certified will accordingly tally with the total of individual editions average qualifying sales.
REASONS FOR INCREASE IN CIRCULATION: Publisher members are required to specify the reasons for increase in circulation when the circulation of a printing centre or an edition individually increases / decreases by 10% or more over the previous audit period.
SUNDAY CIRCULATION / WEEKLY EDITIONS OF DAILY NEWSPAPERS: In case of daily newspapers, where higher rates are prescribed or surcharge is levied over normal advertisement rates for Sunday editions or Weekly edition published on any other
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day, average circulation of such Sunday or Weekly editions is indicated separately on the relevant ABC certificate alongwith average qualifying sales. In such cases, publisher members concerned are required to submit separate circulation figures for Sunday issues/weekly editions.
7.2 COMPILATION OF AREA BREAKDOWN STATEMENT:

AREA BREAKDOWN STATEMENT: For the purpose of compilation of Area Breakdown Statement to be submitted to the Bureau together with the circulation figures, publisher members and their auditors are required to select an issue which has circulation nearest to the average qualifying sales for the relevant audit period so that it reflects normal
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pattern of distribution of a publication. Despite the above requirement,
substantial variations are noticed between the figures of average Qualifying Sales for an audit period and the total distribution provided in the Area Breakdown Statement for the issues selected. In order to rectify this anomaly, members are requested to provide details of State-wise, District-wise and Townwise distribution in an Area Breakdown Statement for the issue selected which will be reduced or adjusted in proportion to the average circulation figures for the period. Accordingly, total qualifying distribution of an issue provided in Area Breakdown Statements will be equal to the average qualifying sales as certified for the period.
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COMPILATION OF AREA BREAKDOWN STATEMENT (IN CASE OF NEW EDITION STARTED DURING THE AUDIT PERIOD): In case of a new edition of a multi-centre publication started in between the audit period, edition-wise distribution details of a newly started edition during the relevant audit period will not be shown separately. The same will be reflected under the parent edition from which supply was earlier catered to.
DETAILS OF TOWN-WISE DISTRIBUTION UNDER SECTION 'B' TO BE PROVIDED AS UNDER : For the State(s) in which the town(s) of publication is/are situated, towns to be classified according to the respective Districts. A tally of total distribution in each District to be provided showing towns where 250 copies or more are
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distributed. Those distributed in other towns to be totaled and indicated as distributed in "other places". For other States, various towns to be classified according to respective Districts without providing a tally of total distribution in the District.
7.3. NEWSPRINT WASTAGE:

Reasons to be provided in the incoming certificate for newsprint wastage of (+/-) 3 per cent age points as compared to previous audit period
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7.4 BUREAU MEMBERSHIP:
_ Membership of the Bureau is governed by the terms and conditions of membership together with the provisions of Bureaus Memorandum and Articles of Association. _ All publishers who desire to enroll their publications to Bureau membership are required to submit the following documents: Completed application form duly proposed and seconded by two members of the Bureau. Permanent information form duly completed, signed and stamped Fees: annual membership fee as per schedule of fees in force from time to time alongwith one time admission fee (equivalent to one years membership fees). Check-list duly completed by publisher auditors (Annexure 1)
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Letter of authority (Annexure 2) Publishers confirmation (Annexure 3) Copy of relevant RNI registration certificate Specimen copy of the publication If desired by a prospecting publisher member, a new publication / edition /printing centre to be enrolled to Bureau membership may be directly put through Bureaus audit by Bureaus Auditors prior to admission provided a written request is received by the Bureau at least one month before the end of the respective audit period.
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ENROLMENT OF NEW EDITIONS / PRINTING CENTRES:
Publisher members are required to separately enroll a new printing centre and / or edition with the Bureau. Publisher members are also required to submit separate Incoming Certificate for each printing centre and / or edition. Publisher members may request for a combined or separate ABC certificate of circulation for their various editions.
RETURN OF APPLICATION FOR BUREAU MEMBERSHIP:

Bureau will be constrained to return application received for Bureau membership from prospecting publisher applicant under the following circumstances:
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Not completing procedural formalities and providing required documents within a reasonable time [within the audit period for which admission to Bureau membership was sought]. Failure to comply with Bureaus prescribed audit guidelines. Non-availability of RNI registration certificate. Non-payment of annual membership fees and entrance fee as per the prescribed schedule of fees. Failure to comply with the provisions of Bureaus Code for Publicity Any other reason which the Bureaus Council of Management feels appropriate.
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RE- ADMISSION TO BUREAU MEMBERSHIP:
All applications from Publishers for re-admission to Bureau membership would be considered by the Bureaus Council of Management only after a gap of two six monthly audit periods including the audit period during which the membership was terminated/ ceased.
STARTING OF NEW PRINTING CENTRE AND / OR EDITION:

ABC certificate of circulation are issued for a six monthly audit period i.e January to June and July to December every year. Certification of circulation figures of a new printing center and / or edition for part audit period would be considered for certification provided the publisher seeks a combined ABC certificate alongwith an existing member edition and submits to the Bureau an application for Bureau membership in the prescribed form as well as completes all prescribed procedural formalities.
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Certification of circulation figures separately of a new printing centre and / or edition for a part audit period will not be considered.
SURPRISE RECHECK AUDIT BY BUREAUS AUDITORS PRIOR TO ADMISSION TO BUREAU MEMBERSHIP:

Publisher to file the circulation figures for the relevant audit period after the application for Bureau membership is accepted in principle by the Bureaus Council of Management. The relevant circulation figures filed with the Bureau for the new title / edition / printing centre would then be put through a surprise recheck audit by Bureaus Auditors at publishers expense prior to admission and confirmation of circulation figures
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News Media Management 8. GUIDELINES COVERING TITLES HAVING AVERAGE CIRCULATION LESS THAN 15,000 COPIES:
In order to encourage small publications / titles to have their circulation figures certified by the Bureau and to minimise record keeping by such small publications / titles, following simplified guidelines have been prescribed for maintenance of books of accounts and other documents for a satisfactory circulation audit for such titles having average circulation upto 15,000 copies. The same is applicable to TITLES having average circulation less than 15,000 copies and not to individual edition / printing centre of a title.
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a) ADVANCE WRITTEN INDENTS / MONTHLY CONFIRMATIONS
This requirement is waived. Auditors may however seek direct confirmations from the agents.
b) AGENTS SUPPLY REGISTER

Details of total copies supplied to the agent paid & free copies to be maintained. Details of unsold to be maintained
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c) AGREEMENT WITH OUTSIDE PRINTERS
No formal agreement necessary. Instead, printers bills and/or statement of account, with correspondence to cover the supply of newsprint, conversion of reels into sheets and percentage of wastage etc. to be maintained
d) BANKING OF CASH COLLECTION

Banking of cash collection only relating to sale of copies to be banked on the following day
e) CASH COVERING NOTES

This requirement is waived.
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f) CASH SALES RECORDS
Centre wise details of copies supplied to hawkers in cash and cash received to be maintained.
g) MACHINE ROOM RETURNS

Details should atleast include start and finish time preferably with machine break timings.
h) NEWSPRINT CONSUMPTION REGISTER

Periodic reconciliation of newsprint consumption and wastage to be carried out as under i) Daily Newspapers .. Fortnightly ii) Weekly Newspapers .. Monthly
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i) NEWSPRINT STOCK REGISTER
One consolidated register showing all receipts and consumption of newsprint with the necessary details may be considered as adequate.
j) POSTAGE / DESPATCH RECORD FOR SUBSCRIBERS

Details of subscription copies despatched to be maintained
k) PRINT ORDER
Consolidated print order may be prepared
l) RETURNS REGISTER
Unsold / returns register to be maintained
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News Media Management 9. OUTSTANDING / ADD BACK OF COPIES

9.1 ADJUSTMENT OF AGENTS DEPOSITS AGAINST OUTSTANDING DUES:
Publisher may seek to appropriate the agents deposits held by him against the outstanding dues of the said agent by passing appropriate accounting entries in the books and records. In all such cases, publisher is required to give a due notice in writing to such an agent whose deposits have been appropriated on account of outstandings at the end of the audit period. In such cases, reversal of the accounting entry after the close of the audit period is not permissible.
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9.2 ON ACCOUNT PAYMENTS BY AGENTS:
In some cases distribution trade handles sale of copies as well as procurement of advertisements and provides other services to the publishers. In such cases, when an on account payment is received from the distribution trade and the same cannot be directly attributed to either sale of copies, advertisements or for other services, then in such cases, the on account payment would first be attributed towards the outstandings of other services excluding supply of newspapers.
In case one or more publications in a group are not members of the Bureau and outstandings from an agent cannot be ascertained for each publication that he sells, then all outstandings
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from him will be treated as in respect of ABC member publications only and allocated between them proportionately to the value of copies sold to him.
It is therefore advisable for such agents to specifically mention the purpose for which the payment is made to the publisher against a particular service offered by the agent.
9.3 OUTSTANDINGS:
Whilst calculating the qualifying copies under Part A of the ABC certificate of circulation outstanding payment for copies supplied to agents at the end of the audit period as under have to be excluded.
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_ Local agents - outstanding for more than one month's supply _ Outstation agents copies outstanding for more than two months supply _ Railway book stalls copies outstanding for more than four months supply
Qualifying Copies which were outstanding for payment in the previous audit period and excluded but payments for which have been received in the immediate subsequent audit period are to be added back as qualifying sales for certification under Part A in the immediate subsequent period equally over the entire audit period of six months.
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News Media Management 10. AUDIT GUIDELINES

10.1 Rotation of Publisher Auditor
Publisher members are required to appoint a firm of Publisher Auditor which is empanelled with the Bureau, a list of which is available on the Bureaus website: www.auditbureau.org.
A firm of Publisher Auditor may carry out publishers circulation audit for a maximum period of two years or four half-yearly audit periods. Thereafter, a publisher member is required to appoint another firm of Publisher Auditor from amongst the empanelled firms. The same firm of Publisher Auditor may be considered for re-appointment by a publisher member only after a clear gap of four audit periods or two years. The terms of appointment, fees etc. to be mutually decided between the publisher member and the publisher auditor.
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10.2 ALL PUBLICATIONS OF A GROUP NOT MEMBERS OF THE BUREAU:
Publishers who publish more than one publication, all of which are not members of the Bureau and separate books of accounts are not maintained for non member publications then under such circumstances the publisher should provide access to the auditor to enable him examine records pertaining to non member publications.
In cases where non member publications are offered to a reader along with member publications under any scheme then it is incumbent upon the publisher to provide full access to the auditor for scrutiny of books and records pertaining to non member publications.
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10.3 BANKING OF CASH COLLECTIONS:
Publisher members are required to deposit into the bank on the same day or the next working day cash received from all sources viz. sale of copies, advertisement receipts and from any other source. Cash required by the publisher for day-to-day disbursement should be separately withdrawn and not adjusted from the daily cash collection. Auditor should verify this aspect and establish that actual cash received on all days has been deposited into the bank in full on the same day or next working day and such a transaction is not merely a book entry.
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10.4 BOOKS AND RECORDS TO BE AUDITED:
Each audit should include financial, sales and statistical audit to the satisfaction of the auditor in order to establish the qualifying sales. For that purpose auditors should call for relevant books and records and information as may be required from the publisher. However, the financial audit should be limited to ascertain to the satisfaction of the auditor the circulation figures to be certified without going into other financial records which have no bearing on the publishers circulation figures. Scrutiny of various accounts heads in general ledger should be done for those accounts pertaining to sale of copies.
For a satisfactory audit, an auditor should not limit his scrutiny of publishers books and records placed before him but his audit should include physical verification of actual printing and despatch of the publication including actual sale of copies to the trade which may be
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ascertained through market visits, interaction with distribution trade as well as seeking direct confirmations from newsprint suppliers, agents, principal agents and others involved in sales of copies.
10.5 BOOKS AND RECORDS TO BE MAINTAINED BY A PRINCIPAL AGENCY:

An agent who distributes or effects at least 20% of the total sales subject to a minimum of 25,000 copies per printing centre / edition is recognised and termed as a principal agent. It is essential for the publisher to arrange for principal agents books and records for an audit by the publisher auditor and / or Bureau auditor as required at all times. Further the word publication in the context of principal agency mean which submits separate incoming certificate for consideration of the Bureau.
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Following books and records are required to be maintained.
a) Distribution records:
i. Sub agents/ hawkers supply register ii. Sub agents/ hawkers unsold/returns register iii. Sub agents written orders or subsequent confirmations for copies ordered by them iv. Despatch distribution summary v. Subscriber records wherever applicable
b) Financial Records:
i. Credit note register/ Credit notes ii. Sub agents ledger for Credit sales
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iii. Duplicate bills/invoice of sub agents Bills register iv. Cash sales records v. Cash/bank book, Bank Reconciliation statement etc. vi. Supporting payment advices for remittances received from distributing trade
The Auditors may where deemed necessary, call for such information directly from the parties concerned with the concurrence of the Publisher.
Auditors shall verify that Cash receipts on account of sale of the concerned publication and from all sources must be deposited with the bank intact on the following day except on a bank holiday, in which case cash receipts are to be deposited on the next working day. The
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auditor will satisfy himself as to the banking of cash receipts and examine the Bank Pass Book. He will also ensure that cheques deposited on account of sale of the publication have been duly realised by reference to bank reconciliation statement.
c) Agents Confirmations:
Principal agent are required to obtain from their sub agents or by any other name called documentary evidence for number of copies supplied to them. The said written evidence could either be: i) Advance written indent / orders from agents in support of copies supplied to them.
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ii) Subsequent confirmation from agents in cases where advance indents are not available specifying the number of copies.
iii) In absence of (i) and (ii), principal agent should obtain monthly statements from agents / sub-agents duly stamped and signed showing number of copies received and those remaining unsold, payment received by either cash, cheque, or demand draft. In such cases, it is the principal agents responsibility to obtain the duplicate copy of the statement of account from the agents / sub-agents duly stamped and signed. This monthly statement of accounts duly accepted by the agents / sub-agents should be kept on record for auditors verification.
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d) Agents Remittances:
All remittances from agents especially by cash or demand drafts should be supported by documentary evidence such as payment advices, covering letter or statement of accounts. All remittances from agents should be checked with the principal agents books of accounts and bank statements. Auditor should report all such cases and carry out detailed scrutiny specially where remittances have been made on behalf of more than one agent through a consolidated cheque by another agent In order to have an evidence for payment received in cash by principal agents representatives / field staff, a pay-in-slip or any other document by whatever name called, duly filled by the agent / dealer detailing name of the agent, place,
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Bill No. amount paid should be obtained. Auditors may seek direct confirmations from such agents if required.
10.6 BOOKS AND RECORDS TO BE MAINTAINED BY A PUBLISHER:

A GENERAL B PAPER PRINTING & DELIVERY
Cash Book Print Orders General Ledger Machine Room Returns
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Journal Newsprint Stock Register Bank Statement Newsprint Consumption Register Bank Reconciliation Statement Newsprint Bills Trial Balance Wastage Records Cash Sale Records Dispatch / Distribution Summary
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C AGENTS D SUBSCRIPTION Agents Invoice / Bill Register Subscription Scheme Agents Supply Register
Subscribers form
Agents Returns Register Subscription amount receipts Credit Note Register / Credit Notes Subscribers Register
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Agents Ledger Dispatch Records
Auditors should include any adverse observation on the scrutiny of the above books and records in their reports to be annexed along with six monthly audit report issued to the publisher.
10.7 AUDITORS ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO COVER THE FOLLOWING AREAS DURING THEIR CIRCULATION AUDIT:
a) Distribution records:
i. Sub agents/ hawkers supply register
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ii. Sub agents/ hawkers unsold/returns register iii. Sub agents written orders or subsequent confirmations for copies ordered by them iv. Despatch distribution summary v. Subscriber records wherever applicable
b) Financial Records:
i. Credit note register/ Credit notes ii. Sub agents ledger for Credit sales iii. Duplicate bills/invoice of sub agents Bills register iv. Cash sales records v. Cash/bank book, Bank Reconciliation statement etc.
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vi. Supporting payment advices for remittances received from distributing trade
The Auditors may where deemed necessary, call for such information directly from the parties concerned with the concurrence of the Publisher. Auditors shall verify that Cash receipts on account of sale of the concerned publication and from all other sources must be deposited with the bank intact on the following day except on a bank holiday, in which case cash receipts are to be deposited on the next working day. The auditor will satisfy himself as to the banking of cash receipts and examine the Bank Pass Book. He will also ensure that cheques deposited on account of sale of the publication have been duly realised by reference to bank reconciliation statement.
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c) Agents Confirmations:
For an effective audit, publishers are required to obtain from their principal agent, sub agents or by any other name called documentary evidence for number of copies supplied to them.
The said written evidence could either be: i) Advance written indent / orders from agents in support of copies supplied to them. ii) Subsequent confirmation from agents in cases where advance indents are not available specifying the number of copies. iii) In absence of (i) and (ii), publisher should obtain monthly statements from agents duly stamped and signed showing number of copies received and those remaining unsold,
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payment received by either cash, cheque, or demand draft. In such cases, it is the publishers responsibility to obtain the duplicate copy of the statement of account from the agent duly stamped and signed. This monthly statement of accounts duly accepted by the agents should be kept on record for auditors verification.
d) Agents Remittances:
All remittances from agents especially by cash or demand drafts should be supported by documentary evidence such as payment advices, covering letter or statement of accounts. All remittances from agents should be checked with the principal agents books of accounts and bank statements.
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Auditor should report all such cases and carry out detailed scrutiny specially where remittances have been made on behalf of more than one agent through a consolidated cheque by another agent. In order to have an evidence for payment received in cash by publishers representatives / field staff, a pay-in-slip or any other document by whatever name called, duly filled by the agent / dealer detailing name of the agent, place, Bill No. amount paid should be obtained. Auditors may seek direct confirmations from such agents if required.
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NEWSPRINT PURCHASES AND CONSUMPTION
i. Auditors to verify the publishers newsprint purchases and loans of newsprint and paper of any other kind used for production of this publication, with reference to invoices, receipts from parties, bank statements correspondence etc. and have excluded copies, if any, printed out of newsprint and paper acquisitions not supported by vouchers. ii. Auditors to check the summary reconciling acquisition with consumption of newsprint and other paper with reference to the copies printed and thoroughly verified the wastage of % which is an overall wastage inclusive of tare, core, tear-off, cut- wastage and spoils etc.
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iii. Auditors to examine the printing capacity of the equipment in use by the Publisher(s) and/or the printer of publication; and in the later case: Auditors to also examine the printers bills showing total number of pages/copies printed and the rate per form etc. iv. Auditors to carry out physical verification of newsprint stocks and/or verified stocks with the Bank Certificate, and/or Certificate(s) from outside press(es), which has been found to be in conformity with the records. v. Auditors to verify the newsprint consumption with reference to Print Orders, Newsprint Issue Sheets, Machine Room returns. Stock Register and/or periodic newsprint consumption statements received from outside press(es).
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vi. Auditors to verify non-payment to newsprint suppliers beyond 90 days which is considered as normal credit period. Secondary documentation like octroi payment, gate pass etc. should be verified. Auditors may seek direct confirmations from the concerned newsprint suppliers if required.
DISTRIBUTION
i. Auditors to check:
a. Cash Sales with Cash Sales Register and/or Cash Book. b. Subscription Sales with Subscribers Register and dispatch records.
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c. Agency Sales: Supplies to Agents with advance written orders, subsequent confirmations or statements of Account obtained from agents. d. Agency Sales: Agency Sales Register with Railway Road/Air /Postage/Delivery Book . e. Agents Sales Register with Duplicate Bill Copies. f. Agents Sales Register with Returns register.
ii. Auditors to adjust from Qualifying Sales:

a. Copies involved in outstanding from agents and others in accordance with the instructions of the Bureau. b. Copies returned or intimated as remaining unsold by hawkers/agents/distributors. . c. Copies not meeting the qualifying criteria.
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FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION
Auditors to check:
a. CASH SALES: i. Cash Book with Cash Sales Register ii. Cash Book with Sales Account in General Ledger.
b. SUBSCRIPTION SALES: i. Cash Book with Subscribers Register. ii. Cash Book with Sales account in General Ledger
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c. AGENCY SALES: i. Agents Sales Register with Agents Ledger ii. Agents Sales Register with Sales account and Agents Account in General Ledger. iii. Cash Book with Agents Ledger iv. Cash Book with Agents Account in General Ledger . Agents ledger with Credit Note Books v. Totals of Credit Note Books with Agents Account and Sales Account in General Ledger. vi. Journal with Agents Ledger and General Ledger. vii. Cash Book with Bank Pass Books/ Statement.
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d. CASH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS: Auditors to confirm that: vii. Cash receipts from ALL sources including circulation receipts, advertisement receipts, receipts in respect of sister publications and miscellaneous receipts of whatsoever nature have been regularly banked intact and that payments are made from withdrawals from the bank on interest basis or otherwise.
viii. All payments and/or perquisites to agents have been verified with reference to Agents Ledger, Agents Account in General Ledger, respective Nominal accounts in the General Ledger, Credit Notes and correspondence between the Publisher and the
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agent(s) and that payments made or perquisites allowed have been taken into account while arriving at gross Trade Terms as per the Bureaus instructions.
e. QUALIFYING SALES (PART A) Auditors to confirm that all copies shown under PART A of the certificate are qualifying copies and satisfy the following norm for certification :For each issue on a daily basis the net sale price to the dealer (first point of sale) at any trade margin is higher than the net realisation rate. The same has also been found to be compliant on a weekly average basis for all issues of the week taken together.
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(Net Realisation Rate (NRR) is the term used for value of newspaper in waste computed on the basis of waste rate per kg. as fixed by the Council from time to time). (Net sale price to the dealer is the cover price of the publication less applicable trade commission, delivery charges or whatever name called).
Auditors to also confirm that excess circulation has been removed for such issues where net sale price to the dealer at any trade margin is lower than the Net Realisation Rate (NRR)
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Other Information
i) Principal Agency
Auditors to provide details of principal agencies (An agent who effects 20% or more of the total distribution of a publication subject to a minimum of 25,000 copies per printing centre / edition)
ii) Variation in average qualifying sales

Auditors to provide detailed reasoning for variations in qualifying sales (+/- 10% as compared to previous audit period)
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10.8 SURPRISE RECHECK AUDIT BY BUREAUS AUDITORS:
Circumstances under which a surprise recheck audit by Bureaus Auditors are normally caused: 1. New Publication being enrolled to Bureau Membership. 2. Starting of a new publication centre / edition of an existing publication. 3. Reduction in cover price which could possibly result in change (increase) in the trade terms / NRR 4. Increase in circulation figures individually for an edition and / or printing centre as under:
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Increase in average circulation for an audit period _ Upto 50,000 ave. copies 20% and above _ Between 50,001 copies and upto 200,000 average copies 15% and above _ Above 2,00,000 ave. copies 10% and above 5. Circulation figures of a publication for the previous audit period are either not filed or not certified by the Bureau for any reason. 6. Result of surprise check and/or surprise recheck audit of the previous period is unsatisfactory or there are issues arising from the surprise check/surprise recheck audit report which needs to be verified for compliance before certification of circulation figures.
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7. Any other reason for which the committee feels a surprise recheck audit is necessary (reasons to be recorded).
Publisher members may at their discretion request the Bureau atleast a month before the end of the audit period to carry out surprise recheck audit by Bureaus Auditors at publishers expense in order to expeditiously complete the process of surprise recheck audit in the above cases.
Publisher members to keep books and records ready for scrutiny of Bureaus Auditors by 10th January / 10th July as the case may be
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10.9 MACHINE ROOM RETURN:
Machine room return is the record of actual printing as well as confirmation that newsprint issued to the press has been utilised for printing the publication as per the Print Order. It states the number of copies actually printed and sent for despatch.
Machine Room Return should contain the following details:

i) Issue date with their respective print-runs (if any) ii) Number of pages for the respective issue iii) Time of receiving the plates iv) Start and finish time for each print run for respective editions / print runs
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v) Number of copies recorded on clock for each print run vi) Number of spoils and make ready copy for each run vii) Number of good copies printed, for each run viii) Number of copies to be printed as per print order ix) Number of paper breaks with timings and time lost in each break x) Number of reel changes and time taken for change xi) Number of good copies sent for dispatch xii) Number of copies spoiled etc. on hand xiii) Remark column for any other information by foreman in charge
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Machine Room Return states the actual performance of the machine / machines on a day to day basis and should be based on actual machine running timings and signed by the foreman or supervisor in charge of printing. In case of computerized Machine Room Returns, the source documents on the basis of which computerized record is generated should be maintained and made available for atleast one full previous audit period.
10.10 MARKET PROTOCOL TO BE FOLLOWED BY AUDITORS:

Following Market Protocol to be followed by Auditors during their market visits from time to time : _ Auditors shall visit market place/s where a particular publication is being printed, published and distributed as intimated by the Bureau. The scope of the market visit
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inter-alia is to observe and report the actual market practices followed by the concerned publisher member. _ Auditors to purposively cover all depots / distribution centres in the respective cities / towns where 10% or more of the publication is being distributed. Small depots / distribution centres should also be visited randomly, such random samples selected should be adequate for a meaningful and acceptable statistical conclusion. The market visit may also include visits to trade associations / unions wherever existing. _ Market visit to be undertaken by the Auditors official representatives only. _ Auditors to disclose their identity. The aim of the exercise is to ascertain the factual information without any pre-conceived notion.
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_ Auditors to check the number of copies received at the depots / distribution centres and verify whether the number of copies tallies with the dispatch details earlier noted at the publishers press / office. _ Information regarding location of publishers depots / distribution centres as collected by the Bureau from time to time for different cities / towns from member publications would be provided to the Auditors to facilitate a surprise market visit. _ Auditors to check the status of actual unsold returns by sub-agents / hawkers
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Auditors report on the market visit to contain the factual observations on the following points. i. System of un solds observed at the depot / distribution centres. ii. Trade commission at which the sub-agents / hawkers purchase the copies from the main agent both in cash as well as on credit. iii. In case of credit sales, details of records maintained by the main agent / depot in charge. iv. Interaction with the depot in charge / main agent / sub-agents / hawkers. v. Ascertain whether any additional incentive over and above the trade commission was offered to sub agents / hawkers based on number of copies distributed.
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vi. Ascertain whether a complete publication including all supplements is distributed to all sub-agents / hawkers. vii. In case of combo sales whether all publications offered under the combo offer are distributed together at the declared combo price less trade commission. viii. In case, where subscription copies are also being distributed by the same subagents / hawkers to ascertain the actual delivery charges received by them for delivery of subscription copies. ix. Auditors conclusions on their market visit.
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10.11 PRINT ORDER
It is utmost essential that a print order duly signed by an authorized official of the publisher is available at the press before the start of the printing process. Any alteration / correction to the print order should be duly authorized. The print order should contain the following information:1) Date of issue 2) Total number of pages main paper + supplements + add ons if any to be separately mentioned. 3) Total number of copies to be printed 4) Break up of total number of copies into
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_ Standalone copies _ Combo copies _ Subscription copies _ Institutional sales _ Free and promotional copies 5) Number of copies to be printed as per different print runs (details to be provided). Auditors have been specifically intimated to verify the print order immediately before the starting of the printing process.
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10.12 PUBLICATIONS PRINTED AT OUTSIDE PRESS:
Where a publication is printed at an outside press not owned by the publisher, printers' bills showing number of copies printed, the rate per form along with the terms and conditions laid down in the agreement between the publisher and third party printers should be maintained and produced for auditor's verification. Where the printing press is an associate concern or subsidiary company under the same Management or where proprietors/partners/directors of the printing unit, are also proprietors/partners/directors of the publication, printing records maintained by such printers shall also be made available for the auditors' verification. Publisher shall arrange for verification of actual printing and distribution of copies by Bureaus Officials/ Auditors as and when required.
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10.13 ROUTINE SURPRISE CHECKS BY BUREAUS AUDITORS:
The system of Surprise Check is one of the important audit procedures instituted by the Bureau. The main purpose of surprise check is to ascertain genuineness of circulation of a publication. This is achieved through: a. Verification of print runs by visiting printing presses where publications are printed. b. Verification of distribution of copies by visiting distribution centres both in the towns of publication as well as outside the publishing centres, through random checks. c. Verification of supporting books and records and other documentary evidence in support of (a) & (b) above
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d. Verification of Newsprint Stocks and Consumption records including physical verification. e. Verification of distribution and financial records.
The
system
authorises
Bureaus
Auditors
representatives
to
visit
publishers
establishments, without prior intimation, to verify actual print runs, distribution of copies as well as books and records maintained by them. All publications enrolled with the Bureau will be visited for a surprise check by Bureaus Auditors atleast once in a span of three years or more, if deemed necessary. Surprise checks will be carried out by the Partners / representatives of firms of Chartered Accountants enrolled on the Bureaus Panel of Auditors.
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Bureaus officers may accompany the Bureaus Auditors as and when considered. Prescribed books and records should always be made available by the publisher during the course of Recheck Audit. In case of Surprise Check, prescribed books and records should be produced on demand. If the records are not made available for any specific genuine reason, the Auditors may at his discretion wait for not more than 24 hours to enable the publisher to produce relevant records. Publisher members will be requested to issue Letters of Authority in favour of the Bureau to enable Bureaus Auditors and officials to visit their printing presses.
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Publisher members are requested to offer necessary co-operation to the Bureaus Auditors in carrying out surprise checks whenever they visit.
10.14 SURPRISE PRESS AND MARKET VISIT BY PUBLISHER AUDITORS:

All publisher auditors are required to carry out atleast one surprise press and market visit during a calendar year which consists of two audit periods i.e. January to June and July to December. Such surprise press and market visit to be carried out in respect of all printing and publishing units of the publisher member. Publisher auditors are required to follow the market protocol prescribed by the Bureau. A copy of the publisher auditors report should be submitted to the Bureau alongwith publishers comments wherever required. This provision is not applicable to all those titles whose average circulation is less than 15,000 copies during an audit period.
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Under mentioned points should be covered in the publisher auditors surprise press and market visit report:
a) Press Visit:
_ Date and time of visit _ Number of copies to be printed as per print order available including break-up of print order _ Cover price of various print runs as per print order _ Number of copies printed and dispatched before Auditors arrival as per MRR and availability of dispatch records.
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_ Number of copies printed and dispatched during Auditors physical presence at the press _ Auditors comments on the printing speed and capacity of the printing press as actually observed. _ Scrutiny of dispatch labels and dispatch details available at the press _ Mode of dispatch _ Details of maintenance of Machine Room Report _ Any other relevant matter observed by the Auditors during printing and dispatch at the press.
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b) Market Visit
Date & Time of visit Names of the centres visited and the time of visit Actual number of copies received at the centre As per publishers record number of copies dispatched to the centre Net price at which copies are sold to the trade at each centre, actual trade terms as a % of cover price Previous days unsolds Whether cash sale or credit sale Record maintained by the agent Any other observations
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10.15 Availing of combined ABC Certificate of circulation
A publisher avails of a combined ABC Certificate of circulation voluntarily as per his own discretion. However, if on a surprise check and / or surprise recheck audit of a particular edition and / or printing centre of a publication availing combined certificate is reported by the Bureaus Auditors as unsatisfactory and the result is confirmed by the Bureaus Audit Committee then for the relevant audit period, the combined circulation figures for the relevant publication will be treated as `Not Accepted and the entire relevant ABC Certificate will not be considered for issue. For all practical purposes, a combined ABC Certificate and a single centre certificate issued by the Bureau is treated as one certificate.
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News Media Management 11. CODE FOR PUBLICITY BY PUBLISHER MEMBERS

1. PREAMBLE
Membership of the Bureau entitles a publisher-member to use the fact of his membership and circulation figures certified by it, for publicity and promotion of his publication/s, in conformity with the rules as set out in Sections 2,3 and 4 hereunder. These must be read in conjunction with each other and not in isolation. The rules apply to publicity and promotion carried out by a publisher member himself as well as to publicity and promotion carried out on his behalf by any other person or organisation.
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These rules are intended to ensure that all publicity and promotion related to circulation are carried out by publisher-members only on the basis of the circulation figures certified by the Bureau. Membership of the Bureau requires members to abide by these rules and not to use any figures or claims related to circulation in publicity and promotion that are not certified by the Bureau.
2. DEFINITIONS / SCOPE
a) CIRCULATION
i) Circulation' shall always mean the Average Qualifying Sales of Daily & Weekly Newspapers shown in Part A of the ABC Certificate of Circulation OR Net Paid
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Circulation of Magazines of the entire audit period as certified by the Bureau for the last completed ABC Audit period. ii) Circulation figures given under Part B of the ABC Certificate of circulation in case of Daily and Weekly Newspapers are intended for information purpose only and should not be used, added together with any other certified circulation figures for any publicity / promotion campaign in any form whatsoever. iii) Publisher Members may if they so desire, publicise their average Weekday, average Sunday circulation figure provided the figure of average Qualifying Sales / Net Paid Circulation is also shown in the publicity as prominently as (same font size) the average Weekday or average Sunday circulation figure.
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iv) Provided month-to-month circulation figures for the entire six-monthly audit period are quoted along with the Average Qualifying Sales / Net Paid Circulation for the period, monthly average circulation figures shall not be used selectively for the purpose of publicity and promotion. If so desired, copies of ABC Certificates issued by the Bureau may be circulated or used for publicity without any alterations. v) Distribution data appearing in the Area Breakdown Statement of the same audit period, certified by the Bureau may be used for publicity and promotion.
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b) PUBLICITY AND PROMOTION.
Publicity and Promotion' shall always mean the providing of any information whatsoever relating to circulation, through the release of advertisements in any medium and in any other form, such as Ad rate cards, brochures, leaflets, circulars or handouts etc. The term `in any other form' referred to above will also cover one-to-one communication addressed by publisher members to more than one person. Such one-to-one communication shall not contain information relating to or based on circulation figures, or any other figures not certified by the Bureau - for example, no reference will be allowed to print order figures or projections made on circulations whether certified by the Bureau or not.
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3. RULES.
a) Membership of a publisher with the Bureau can be publicised and used only after confirmation of membership and issue of first ABC Certificate and not while the application is under consideration. b) Publisher member may use the ABC insignia and the statement "Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations" for publicity and promotion of his publication/s as long as he is a member of the Bureau. No reference shall be made either to the ABC or the circulation figures certified by it for any audit period for the purpose of publicity or promotion after he ceases to be a member. Violation of this requirement may disqualify
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the concerned publisher from seeking re-admission to Bureau membership. The Council shall, however, retain its discretion to re-admit a member if it so desires. c) When a publisher member uses circulation figures in publicity and promotion, he shall only use circulation figures as defined in para 2(a). Publisher may also, if he so desires, use circulation figures of any previous period/s as certified by the Bureau along with the certified circulation figures of the last ABC Audit Period. The period/s to which they relate must be specified. Where circulation figures for the last ABC audit period have not been certified by the Bureau for any reason, the publisher must indicate the same in his publicity and promotion.
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d) Publisher member must not use any figures which are not certified by the Bureau such as print order figures, for the purpose of publicity and promotion. e) Publisher member may use comparative circulation figures in respect of other member publications for the purpose of publicity and promotion, along with his own, provided circulation figures are such as have been certified by the Bureau for the last completed ABC audit period. (along with those for any previous period as certified by the Bureau, if so desired, shown separately.) Publisher member may use circulation figures relating to his own publication/s based on the ABC certificates issued to him. In case of data of other member publications, such data will be sourced from the Preliminary Lists of Circulation, Serial Volumes, Bureaus website or any other
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publication released by the Bureau. Comparisons must be made on the basis of circulation figures relating to the same audit period/s. If for any reason, circulation figures for any publication/s are not certified, the fact as stated in the Preliminary Lists, Serial Volumes, Bureaus website e.g. `Not a Member', `Not Accepted', `Under Consideration', Not Certified, `Not Filed etc. must be clearly specified. In case of comparison with multi-centre publications, all respective editions of such member publication(s) enrolled with the Bureau alongwith the circulation figures as certified must be separately specified. In case a mutli-centre / multi-edition publication desires to publicise all India certified circulation figures of average Qualifying Sales / Net Paid Circulation, then such publication will be required to mention in the publicity that the
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circulation figures quoted are the total average circulation figures of a publication published from various centres (all centres to be stated along with the respective circulation figures). Further, in case of publicity of all India certified circulation figures by a publication / title in a specific geographic viz. any Town / District / State, it will be necessary to state the certified circulation figures of the relevant Town / District / State as per the Area Breakdown Statement for the relevant period. Necessary details as above are to be provided even though no comparison is made with any other member publication. Where circulation figures of any edition / printing centre of any publication are not certified, the same should be so indicated. However, totaling
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across circulation figures certified by the Bureau of remaining editions / printing centre of a title will then be permitted. f) Whenever a publisher wishes to make a statement or claim relating to his circulation in a specific region (e.g. State, Town, District, etc.), such statement or claim shall be made only on the basis of the Area Breakdown Statement of the corresponding audit period as certified by the Bureau. Further such statement shall be made only on the basis of his circulation in the stated region and not on the basis of total circulation of the publication or edition emanating from the region. g) Publisher member shall not make any statement or claim relating to circulation of his publication or that relating to other member publication/s which cannot be
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substantiated by circulation figures certified by the Bureau. Publisher member shall not make ambiguous claims relating to any member publication. Unless, claims such as 'leading' 'number one' etc. are otherwise qualified, these will be treated as circulation claims and will be subject to the rules set out in this Code. h) Whenever a publisher member publicises circulation figures, a copy of such publicity /promotional material shall be sent to the Bureau for information.
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4. OTHER PUBLICITY
All Correspondence exchanged by members with the Bureau on any matter shall be deemed as CONFIDENTIAL and no copies thereof shall be published/circulated by them to any person whether ABC member or not, without prior approval of the Bureau.
5. CONTRAVENTION OF THE CODE.

Cases of contravention of Bureaus Code for Publicity will be considered by the Bureaus Disciplinary Committee formed specifically to deal with such cases where necessary. The matter may also be referred to the Bureaus Council of Management for its consideration, if required.
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Following action would be considered by the Bureaus Disciplinary Committee/Bureaus Council of Management in cases of contravention of Bureaus Code for Publicity by Publisher Members. i) In case of contravention of the provisions of the Publicity Code for the first time, the concerned Publisher member will be called upon to publish a corrigendum
advertisement as per the text provided by the Bureau in size 20 x 3 cc on page 3 of the publication within a period of 15 days from the date of intimation by the Secretariat.
ii) In those cases where the concerned Publisher member does not publish the corrigendum advertisement within the stipulated time, as above, and / or in case of a second violation by a publication / group within a period of one year the Bureau would
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then in such cases, inform all members through a circular the factual position in relation to contravention of the Bureaus Code for Publicity and also issue a press release to this effect. The erring Publisher member will however be required to publish the corrigendum advertisement despite the above actions by the Bureau.
iii) In case of multiple instances of contravention of the provisions of the Bureaus Code for Publicity by a publication / group in a period of two years or Publishers failure to comply with the Bureaus directives in (i) & (ii) above, then the Bureaus Council of Management may show cause the concerned Publisher member as to why their Bureau Membership should not be terminated under the provisions of Article 44(a) of the Bureaus Articles of Association.
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PART II MAGAZINES
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News Media Management PART II - MAGAZINES

In respect of audit of circulation figures of magazines, most of the audit guidelines pertaining to Daily & Weekly Newspapers as mentioned in detail in Part I of the Guide would be applicable. However, specific differences pertaining to magazine publisher members are only listed below:
1. CONCEPT OF NET PAID SALES

Concept of Net Paid Sales to continue for magazines Definition of Net Paid Sales: NET PAID SALES: That portion of a publications circulation which meets the following requirements.
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a) Has been sold by the publisher, and has been paid for by, genuine readers at not less than the normal declared newsstand and/or subscription price and / or combo price. and/or
b) Has been sold to the distributing trade by a Publisher or by his agent/agents within trade terms which may be specified by the Bureau from time to time and which may reasonably be supposed to have been sold by the distributing trade to and paid for by genuine readers at not less than the publishers normal declared news-stand, subscription or combo price. (Unless Auditors/Bureau having any evidence to the contrary)
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Net Paid Sales shall not include: Sale of Back copies Copies remaining as unsold/short receipt out of copies indented as notified by the distributing trade and accepted by publisher. All copies reported as unsold in cases where additional copies supplied without agents indents even though such claims are not accepted by the Publisher. Copies equivalent to outstanding dues beyond the credit period as prescribed by the Bureau provided such copies have not been deducted as per clause (3) above. Free and complimentary copies Copies sold to the trade above the maximum trade terms
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Subscription copies not meeting the subscription criteria Net Paid Sales shall include add back of copies deducted on account of outstandings during the immediate previous period but the amount of which is realised in the following period.
2. CERTIFICATION CRITERIA FOR MAGAZINES:

Atleast 50% of the total circulation of a magazine should qualify for certification as Net Paid Sales.
3. TRADE TERM:
Commission and allowances etc. mutually agreed to between a publisher and the distributing trade and paid continuously and consistently.
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Copies sold upto maximum trade term of 65% of the cover price would be included as Net Paid Sales subject to compliance with all other audit guidelines. Other provisions of earlier paras 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 would also apply to magazines.
4. SUBSCRIPTION SALES:
All provisions under subscription sales, para 3.1 relating to subscription offers (single and joint) would also apply to magazines. Gift / incentive / discounts offered to subscribers in aggregate not to exceed 90% of the cover price of a magazine.
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Distribution / delivery charges on subscription copies: i) If copies are delivered through trade, then maximum delivery charges payable to the trade caped at 65% of the cover price. ii) Delivery charges paid to the trade not to be included in the overall 90% limit on the cover price iii) Actual delivery charges incurred through courier / postage not to be included in the overall limit of 90% of the cover price iv) Recognising the various means available to a magazine publisher due to technological innovations, request received for subscriptions either through SMS, internet, email, telephone or through any other electronic media will be accepted for the purpose of audit.
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Additionally, publisher may be required to pay service charges to the service provider for subscriptions booked thru internet and receive the net amount from the service provider i.e. subscription price less services charges as may be payable to the service provider. The service charges as paid to be included in the overall 90% limit for subscription copies. Discounts / gifts / incentives / service charges paid to a service provider for subscriptions booked thru internet should not exceed 90% of the cover price of the publication.
Full particulars of a subscriber namely, name, address, telephone number, period of subscription etc. should be obtained and available with the publisher for scrutiny by auditors.
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5. SCHEMES FOR READERS - Non subscription copies :
All provisions under para 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 would also apply to magazines.
Gift on newsstand sales / subscription copies:
Gifts which are offered along with a magazine on newsstand mostly as inserts
valued upto 50% of the cover price of a magazine will now also be permissible on
subscriber copy. Value of such gifts to subscribers will not be included in the 90%
limit on cover price.
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6. Bulk Sales/Institutional Sales:
Copies of magazines which are either sold directly by the publisher and/or his distributing trade to organisations not connected with newspaper distribution trade provided bonafides of the organisation(s) involved in Institutional Sales are established to the satisfaction of the auditors (Unless Auditors/Bureau having any evidence to the contrary). Maximum limit for institutional sales would be 25% of the total net paid sales. Copies could be sold directly to the institutions at cover price less discount upto maximum 65% of the cover price and delivered directly by the publisher to the institutions in bulk other than thru the trade. If magazines are supplied to institutions in bulk through the trade then maximum trade commission paid to the distribution trade should not exceed 65% of the cover price.
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7. Institutional Subscription Sales:
A new category of institutional subscription sales introduced wherein institutions can subscribe in bulk for magazines. Such institutional subscription scheme will qualify for certification if the publisher retains atleast 10% of the cover price of the magazine after offering discounts / gifts / incurring service providers charges, if any. Institutions availing the institutional subscription scheme will be required to maintain a list of the recipients of the magazine including full particulars of the recipient namely, name, address, telephone number etc. These details to be made available to the publisher so that the same can be verified by the auditors. The upper limit for overall institutional subscription sales is 5% of the total Net Paid Sales
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8. Banking of Cash Collections:
Cash collected from all sources is required to be banked intact by a publisher on the next working day. Magazine Publisher Members who do not generate any cash receipts for sale of copies through any means may be exempt from the above provision subject to a condition that such Publisher should also not have any cash payments / cash reimbursements to agents.
9. Printing at Outside Press:

Third party printing presses where magazines are printed are required to maintain and produce for Bureau Auditors verification, production records pertaining to a Member Publisher. If no printing activity is in progress at the time of Bureau Auditors visit to a third party printing press then at least an intent to publish the magazine for the respective issue
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should be made available to the Bureau Auditor e.g. printing plates, part pages printed, print order, cover page, required newsprint, or any other verifiable evidence which the Bureau Auditors could rely on which shows the intent of the publisher to print the relevant issue of the magazine and the number of copies to be printed.
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List of magazines by circulation

This is a list of magazines by circulation. A magazine's circulation is the number of copies it distributes, on average, for each issue. It is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid
circulation, since many magazines are distributed without cost to the reader. This is
especially true for magazines dealing with business and professional topics. Readership figures are usually considered to be higher than circulation figures because of the assumption that a typical copy of the magazine is read by more than one person. In many countries, circulation figures are audited by independent bodies, such as the Audit Bureau of Circulations and BPA Worldwide, to assure advertisers that a given magazine does indeed reach the number of people claimed by the publisher.
Lists by country/region
The following are lists of magazines in selected countries/regions, sorted by overall circulation, for recent periods.
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News Media Management Asia

This is a partial list of magazines from various Asian countries, sorted by their circulation, in Q1 2009.
Rank
Name
Circulation
Publisher
Her World
62,530
SPH Magazines
HWM
24,000
SPH Magazines
SME & Entrepreneurship Magazine
7,804
AIC Media Group
HR Asia
2,730
AIC Media Group
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News Media Management Australia

This is a list of Australian magazines, sorted by their circulation, as of June 2009.
Rank
Name Australian Women's Weekly Womans Day Better Homes And Gardens
Circulation
Publisher
493,055
ACP Magazines/PBL Media
407,644
ACP Magazines/PBL Media Pacific Magazines/Seven Media Group Pacific Magazines/Seven Media Group The Reader's Digest Association
370,000
New Idea
325,181
Reader's Digest
325,028
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Thats Life!
302,137
Pacific Magazines/Seven Media Group News Magazines ACP Magazines/PBL Media ACP Magazines/PBL Media ACP Magazines/PBL Media ACP Magazines/PBL Media ACP Magazines/PBL Media Pacific Magazines/Seven Media Group
7 8 9 10 11 12
Super Food Ideas Take 5 TV Week Cosmopolitan Australian Geographic NW
271,376 246,459 223,643 166,208 140,724 140,283
13
Who
135,040
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14 15 16 17 18 19
Cleo Recipes+ Woolworths Good Taste Delicious Dolly OK!
134,286 134,251 134,003 129,626 125,169 120,219
ACP Magazines/PBL Media Knockout Media News Magazines News Magazines ACP Magazines/PBL Media ACP Magazines/PBL Media Pacific Magazines/Seven Media Group ACP Magazines/PBL Media Pacific Magazines
20
Marie Claire
116,500
21 22
Zoo Weekly Girlfriend
112,311 108,119
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23
Australian House and Garden Gardening Australia Alpha
96,554
ACP Magazines/PBL Media
24 25
94,868 93,239
News Magazines News Magazines
Canada
This is a list of Canadian magazines, sorted by their circulation, as of the first half of 2009, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Rank Name Circulation Publisher The Readers Digest Association Rogers Communications
1 2
Reader's Digest Chatelaine
851,096 551,871
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3 4 5 6
Canadian Living Macleans Style at Home Canadian House & Home Slection du Reader's Digest Coup de Pouce
516,698 355,054 230,215 227,225
Transcontinental Rogers Communications Transcontinental House & Home Media The Readers Digest Association Transcontinental Royal Canadian Geographical Society Robert Kennedy Publishing Rogers Communications
7 8
227,171 205,801
9 10 11
Canadian Geographic Oxygen Women's Fitness Chtelaine
204,611 195,306 193,198
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12 13 14
L'actualit Clean Eating LOU LOU
169,006 161,638 147,347
Rogers Communications Robert Kennedy Publishing Rogers Communications St. Joseph Communications Transcontinental Rogers Communications Transcontinental Transcontinental Transcontinental Rogers Communications
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Fashion Canadian Gardening Flare More Good Times Le Bel Age Today's Parent
143,368 142,912 142,498 140,418 136,392 135,980 132,368
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22
Elle
128,681
Transcontinental The Readers Digest Association
23
Best Health Harrowsmith Country Life Hello! Money Sense Canadian Home & Country Canadian Home Workshop TV Hebdo
123,629
24 25 26
120,257 108,991 106,786
Malcolm Publishing Hola! Rogers Communications
27
120,190
Transcontinental
28 29
100,077 98,138
Transcontinental TVA Publications
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News Media Management United Kingdom

This is a list of British magazines, sorted by their circulation, as of the first half of 2009. Rank 1 2 3 4 Name Skymag Sky Sports Magazine Sky Movies Magazine Asda Magazine Circulation 7,545,510 4,197,870 3,508,817 2,524,175 Publisher British Sky Broadcasting Haymarket Group Future Plus Publicis-Blueprint Cedar Communications Limited Seven Squared Bauer
Tesco Magazine
1,998,407
6 7
Sainsbury's Fresh Ideas TV Choice
1,998,407 1,335,894
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8 9 10
What's On TV The Somerfield Magazine Radio Times
1,270,032 1,003,795 961,114
IPC Media/Time Warner PSP Rare Publishing BBC Worldwide Result Customer Communications Bauer John Brown Group John Brown Group Saga Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
11
Morrisons Magazine
934,535
12 13 14 15
Take a Break Sense (RBS) Sky Kids Saga Magazine
914,109 821,895 755,141 652,055
16
Birds
625,553
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17 18
OK! Skymag Ireland
551,765 546,059
Northern and Shell British Sky Broadcasting The Reader's Digest Association
19
Reader's Digest
540,074
20
Pet People (Allianz Petplan) Closer Shortlist Source (Greenbee) Glamour ASOS.com Magazine
524,476
Sunday Publishing
21 22 23 24 25
521,018 510,720 491,120 474,228 471,522
Bauer Shortlist Media John Brown Group Cond Nast Publications Seven Squared
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26 27
Heat Chat Emma's Diary Pregnancy Guide Good Housekeeping new! Thats Life! Cosmopolitan Now National Geographic Magazine
437,425 423,267
Bauer IPC Media/Time Warner
28
407,191
Lifecycle Marketing Ltd
29 30 31 32 33
394,421 388,971 384,659 376,857 376,612
Nat Mags/Hearst Northern and Shell Bauer Nat Mags/Hearst IPC Media/Time Warner
34
340,264
National Geographic Society
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35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Hello! Woman & Home Woman Pick Me Up Look Reveal TV Times Star Love it! Sport
339,973 339,901 326,106 313,886 313,176 311,324 310,066 307,543 305,784 305,341
Hola! IPC Media/Time Warner IPC Media/Time Warner IPC Media/Time Warner IPC Media/Time Warner Nat Mags/Hearst IPC Media/Time Warner Northern and Shell Hubert Burda Media Sport Media & Strategy
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45 46 47 48 49 50
BBC Good Food Womans Weekly Woman's Own Sainsburys Magazine Yours Best
305,070 303,746 303,300 301,540 299,360 291,566
BBC Worldwide IPC Media/Time Warner IPC Media/Time Warner Seven Squared IPC Media/Time Warner Bauer
United States
This is a list of American magazines, sorted by their circulation, both paid and unpaid, as of the first half of 2009. Rank 1 Name AARP The Magazine Circulation 24,554,819 Founded 1958 Publisher AARP
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AARP Bulletin The Costco Connection
24,305,715
1960
AARP
8,217,269
Costco
Reader's Digest
8,158,652
1922
The Reader's Digest Association
Better Homes And Gardens Food & Family
7,634,197
1922
Meredith Corporation
6,440,891
Kraft Foods National Geographic Society Hearst Corporation Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (Lagardre)
National Geographic
4,708,307
1888
Good Housekeeping
4,630,397
1885
Woman's Day
3,933,990
1931
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10
Family Circle Ladies' Home Journal
3,932,510
1932
11
3,842,791
1883
12
Westways
3,831,215
1909
American Automobile Association Time Inc. (Time Warner) GameStop MediZine Inc. Time Inc. (Time Warner) Rodale Inc. Zoasis
13 14 15 16 17 18
People Game Informer MediZine Time Prevention HealthyPet
3,615,858 3,601,201 3,453,245 3,372,240 3,312,624 3,309,726
1974 1991 1995 1923 1950 1999
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19 20
Taste of Home Sports Illustrated
3,302,601 3,252,298
1993 1954
Reiman Publications Time Inc. (Time Warner) National Education Association OpenGate Capitol Hearst Corporation Southern Progress Corporation/Time Inc. (Time Warner) American Automobile Association MediZine Inc.
21
NEA Today
2,941,953
1982
22 23
TV Guide Cosmopolitan
2,934,969 2,907,436
1953 1886
24
Southern Living
2,840,241
1966
25
Via
2,783,833
26
Remedy/Remedy MD
2,652,320
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27
Newsweek
2,646,613
1933
The Washington Post Company Alpha Media Group American Automobile Association American Automobile Association Playboy Enterprises Inc.
28
Maxim
2,537,130
1997
29
AAA Going Places
2,521,974
30
AAA Living
2,458,902
31
Playboy O, The Oprah Magazine
2,453,266
1953
32
2,397,697
2000
Hearst Corporation
33
Glamour
2,389,915
1939
Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications)
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34
The American Legion Magazine Redbook Parents Parenting
2,264,855
1926
American Legion
35 36 37
2,223,195 2,205,343 2,185,236
1903 1926 1987
Hearst Corporation Meredith Corporation Bonnier The Walt Disney Company American Automobile Association Hearst Corporation Guideposts ESPN
38
FamilyFun
2,161,343
1991
39
AAA World
2,110,621
40 41 42
Seventeen Guideposts ESPN The Magazine
2,080,208 2,072,211 2,059,269
1944 1945 1998
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43
Martha Stewart Living Smithsonian American Baby Real Simple Us Weekly Money Men's Health
2,030,844
1990
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Smithsonian Institution Meredith Corporation Time Inc. (Time Warner) Wenner Media Time Inc. (Time Warner) Rodale Inc. RCI (Wyndham Worldwide) The Reader's Digest Association
44 45 46 47 48 49
2,024,733 2,002,693 1,976,821 1,945,831 1,915,970 1,859,643
1970 1938 2000 1977 1972 1987
50
Endless Vacation
1,845,297
1977
51
Every Day With Rachael Ray
1,815,462
2005
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52
Entertainment Weekly
1,779,537
1990
Time Inc. (Time Warner)
53
Cooking Light
1,772,029
1987
Southern Progress Corporation/Time Inc. (Time Warner) Kraft Foods Reiman Publications/The Reader's Digest Association Time Inc. (Time Warner) Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications) American Media
54
What's Cooking
1,759,898
55
Birds & Blooms
1,757,601
1995
56
InStyle
1,738,787
1994
57
Golf Digest
1,678,163
1950
58
Shape
1,676,323
1981
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59 60
Diabetes Focus Country Living
1,652,800 1,629,398
2003 1978
MediZine Inc. Hearst Corporation National Rifle Association Meredith Corporation Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications) Bonnier Rodale Inc. Wenner Media Time Inc. (Time Warner)
61
American Rifleman
1,561,746
1887
62
Fitness
1,555,217
63
Self
1,516,075
1979
64 65 66 67
Field & Stream Womens Health Rolling Stone Golf Magazine
1,514,497 1,478,264 1,476,399 1,427,225
1895 1967 1960
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68
VFW Magazine
1,416,664
Veterans of Foreign Wars Southern Progress Corporation/Time Inc. (Time Warner) U.S. News & World Report Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications)
69
Health
1,378,395
1981
70
U.S. News & World Report
1,365,652
1933
71
Bon Apptit
1,352,658
1956
72
Scholastic Parent & Child More Popular Science
1,344,908
1993
Scholastic
73 74
1,338,163 1,320,314
1998 1872
Meredith Corporation Bonnier
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75
Car and Driver
1,317,787
1955
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (Lagardre) Johnson Publishing Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications) Weight Watchers Bauer Publishing Bauer Publishing Reiman Publications/The Reader's Digest Association
76
Ebony
1,301,760
1945
77
Vogue
1,298,480
1892
78 79 80
Weight Watchers Woman's World First For Women
1,293,584 1,280,899 1,270,561
1968 1981 1989
81
Country
1,251,168
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82
National Geographic Kids
1,241,339
1975
National Geographic Society American Automobile Association Southern Progress Corporation/Time Inc. (Time Warner) Hearst Corporation Boy Scouts of America Reiman Publications/The Reader's Digest Association American Media
83
Home & Away
1,232,258
84
Sunset
1,224,453
1898
85 86
Popular Mechanics Boys' Life
1,207,256 1,202,331
1902 1911
87
Reminisce
1,194,701
88
Star
1,157,921
1974
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89
Realtor
1,157,493
National Association of Realtors Cond Nast Publications The Reader's Digest Association Source Interlink Morris Communications Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications) Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. (Lagardre)
90
Vanity Fair
1,151,377
1983
91
Family Handyman
1,150,413
92 93
Motor Trend Where
1,141,088 1,136,539
1949 -
94
Lucky
1,127,233
2000
95
Elle
1,105,456
1981
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96
Allure
1,093,265
1991
Cond Nast Publications Time Inc. (Time Warner) Martha Stewart Living Omni media
97
Essence
1,092,721
1968
98
Everyday Food
1,085,032
1990
99
WebMD the Magazine
1,065,145
WebMD
100
The New Yorker
1,048,782
1925
Cond Nast Publications(Advance Publications)
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News Media Management Updated: ABC Starts Releasing Jan-June Data; Greater Mumbai Edition of TOI, ET, Dip
The Audit Bureau Of Circulation has started releasing data for January-June 2009 and we are bringing you a partial set of figures for prominent dailies.The Times of India and The Economic Times in Mumbai registered a drop both sequentially and year-on-year. TOIs circulation in Greater Mumbai (ABC classification) dropped 0.37% year-on-year, while ETs circulation dropped 13.88% y-o-y. Deccan Chronicle grew 25.9% y-o-y, while HT Medias Hindi daily Hindustans Patna and Ranchi edition grew 4.21% y-o-y. The data for other editions of these dailies as well as data for other dailies will be gradually available within the next fortnight or so and we will keep you updated.Update: Bennett, Colemans VP for circulation, Vikesh Wallia, wrote in to say that our post was misleading about TOIs figures in Mumbai. BCCL publishes both TOI and ET. The clarification hinges on the distinction between circulation figures for Greater Mumbai Edition and Greater Mumbai. From his email: ABC clearly differentiates between the Edition circulation numbers and the City circulation numbers. The top line certificate is for the Edition which always serves more
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than the city of publication. In case of TOI you have rightly quoted the Greater Mumbai Edition figures but have ignored the Greater Mumbai figures. You will observe from the ABC certificate table below that although there is miniscule decline of 0.37 % i.e. 2,724 copies in the edition sales, TOI Greater Mumbai sales has grown Y-o-Y by 1.88 % i.e 12,288 copies. The reason for edition sale decline is the fall in Upcountry, due to Goa copies (5,671 copies) appearing in the previous corresponding period certificate. We have since started our Goa edition wef May 08. Copies of some other areas also have been realigned due to recent printing location addition /changes reasons at Nagpur, Chennai and Surat etc. that reflect decline in upcountry copies.
* JJ 08 TOI includes 5671 Copies of Mumbai edition printed at GOA in Upcountry figures
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DC: THE KING OF SOUTH

Deccan Chronicle is the largest circulated English newspaper in all of South India. An analysis of figures put out recently by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the industry body that audits newspapers sales, shows that Chronicle is the clear leader in the south. The competition? There is The Hindu that sold 14,53,405 copies daily in the July-December 2008 period. And Chronicle sold 13,33,668 every day in that period. So how does that make Chronicle the southern superstar? Here is how. The Hindu sold 1,16,851 copies in Delhi. That means its south editions, minus the Delhi circulation, sold 13,36,554. Isnt that still more than the Chronicle total? Yes it is, but there is a caveat. The Hindu sold 2,30,688 copies in schools. These copies could be priced differently. In some instances, a separate newspaper is made for the schools. But all the copies are included in the ABC audit, albeit under a separate heading but sum up to the total circulation. Minus the school copies from the southern circulation, The Hindu totals 11, 05,866 copies in the south. Deccan Chronicle sells 13,33,668 copies in the south, all sold directly to
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subscribers. Another dimension that makes us the leader is that The Hindu sells 1, 93,115 in Kerala. Factor that in, and Chronicle is miles ahead. What about The Times of India? The Times does not submit all its editions to audit every time, something we at Chronicle do religiously. The Times of Indias Bengaluru edition is audited but not its Chennai edition. So there is no figure to go by, and it is best to drop it for comparison. Theres also Deccan Herald in Karnataka but they are far behind our Bengaluru edition in sales. Dear reader, know that you are with the King of the South. It means you are with the paper that has been brought out with painstaking effort. Because we know what it means to be the leader to the reader. We are the paper that the AP reader, the Tamil Nadu reader and the Karnataka reader, as different as can be, want with their chai, with their kafi. And we manage to be all this without losing our southern spice.
DC sets record in Bengaluru

Deccan Chronicle, Bengaluru, is the fastest growing newspaper to the Advertiser in Indian history. In just seven months since its launch, the newspaper has notched a daily average
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circulation of 2,43,147 copies, certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, an independent auditor of newspaper circulation figures. Chronicle was launched in Bengaluru on May 26, 2008, and the ABC figures pertains to daily average sales between July and December 2008. For the record, Chronicle sold a daily average of 1,06,717 copies in the first 36 days of launch. The newspaper from all its editions added 2,61,440 copies over the last six months, growing at about 24.38 per cent. That means the Chronicle family grew by 43,573 buyers every month. In Hyderabad alone, Chronicle sells 5,26,382 copies, and 7,84,062 in all of AP. That indicates a gain of 36,266 over the previous six months in the state. The Chennai edition sold 3,06,432 copies in the July-December 2008 period, and is logging gains. All of this has not been easy. You, our reader and our advertiser, demand only the best. Naturally, that is Deccan Chronicle. We promise to keep that in mind as we go forward.
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VERIFICATION OF CIRCULATION
As per the present advertising policy of the Government of India, for release of Government advertisements, a newspaper should have a minimum circulation of 2000 copies, subject to relaxations in certain cases. Under the PRB Act, the Press Registrar or any gazette officer authorised by him can have access to any premises and to any relevant records or documents relating to a newspaper for obtaining any information regarding the newspaper. Thus, the Press Registrar is empowered to verify the circulation claims of any newspaper. The verification will be done either on-the-spot or by obtaining the prescribed
documents/records/information in the office of the RNI. Initially a notice is issued to the publisher asking for the required documents within 21 days of notice. If the advice is not complied with, two more notices are sent asking the publisher to furnish the documents within 15 and 10 days respectively. In case the documents are not received within the stipulated time or if the documents received are incomplete, the circulation claim for the
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concerned year is declared as un established, rendering the newspaper ineligible for government advertisements, and other concomitant disabilities.
The documents required to be submitted are listed below: a. A Photostat copy of the annual statement for the year _____ Publishers of daily newspapers in b. may also send statement of Daily Press in form as prescribed
Annexure-X . Seven issues of each month of the calendar year ____ for the dates ____ in the case of
dailies and one set of all issues in the case of other periodicities. One copy of the latest issue may also be sent. c. Details of printing machinery i.e., make, size, speed per hour, etc. of each machine, printing schedule (pagewise) and details of other printing jobs, if any, along with Photostat copies of print orders, printing charges bills and payees receipts as proof of payment for the month of ___.
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d. Particulars of newsprint with opening balance as on the first day, quantity purchased during the year ___ total consumption during the year and closing balance as on the last day of the year under check. e. Photostat copies of the paper purchase bills for the year under check along with copies of the payees receipts as proof of payment. f. Photostat copies of the bills in respect of carrying the newsprint from the source of supply to the place of publication. g. A statement giving details about the distribution of copies such as name of the agent/hawker, station, number of copies sent, mode of dispatch i.e., by rail, road, post etc., payment received, mode of dispatch along with Photostat copies of agency bills, payment receipts issued to agents/hawkers, dispatch receipts etc. for the month of ____. h. Permanent income-tax number of owner, if any.
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Note: Please note that copies of the documents including Photostat copies are to be sent
duly attested by a Gazetted Officer. Unattested copies, if received, will not be entertained. The results of the circulation check will be intimated to the publisher as far as possible within 30 days of the date of receipt of all requisite documents in the offices of RNI, or the date of on-the-spot inspection, whichever is later. Any objections to the results can be submitted within one month of the date of such intimation. The results, after consideration of objections if any, will be intimated to DAVP, concerned State Governments, and other such agencies after two months of the date of intimation to the publisher, but before expiry of three months from the said date. In addition to the circulation verification either suo-moto or as referred by DAVP, State Governments or any other public body, RNI may also entertain requests from any publisher desirous of verification of circulation of his/her newspaper, along with a copy of the latest annual statement and latest issue of the newspaper. However such requests will be entertained at the sole discretion of RNI subject to availability of resources and other constraints.
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Registrar of Newspapers for India
AUDIT BY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS FIRMS ON BEHALF OF REGISTAR OF NEWSPAPERS FOR INDIA (RNI)
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I OBJECTIVE OF AUDIT
The Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) receives circulation data from the publications in the prescribed annual returns which is filed by the publishers on periodical basis. The said circulation data is used by various Government departments, for example by DAVP for allotment of government advertisements and by RNI for allotment of quota for
purchase/import of newsprint etc.
These returns/reports are to be certified by the
auditors/Chartered Accountants of publisher. RNI now intends to carry out the sample verification of the circulation data submitted by the publishers from their own panel auditors (i.e. Chartered Accountants firms) to be appointed by RNI. The objective of the said audit shall be to reconfirm the correctness and geniuses of the circulation data/figures submitted by the publications in their returns/report.
II
SCOPE OF WORK/AUDIT
The scope of work to be followed by the RNI panel auditors while verifying these returns to ensure correctness and genuineness of the data furnished by publisher is outlined in brief as under. These are only suggestive guidelines and the auditor shall have access to all the
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relevant data and records maintained by the publisher. The publisher shall extend full
support to auditors. Further, the Auditor shall maintain the confidentially of the records and data and it should not be shared with any party/ person.
A)
i)
VERIFICATION OF PRINTING
The printing capacity of the publisher(s) and/or the printer of publication should be
examined keeping in view the level of printing achieved by the publisher. ii) a) Printing facility owned by the publisher:Print Order/ Daily Press Statement:
The print order which contains the number of copies edition/city-wise printed for each day/ period shall be test verified by auditors. Further, the supporting document such as indent etc. based on which the print order is prepared by publisher shall be verified and any significant variation in the number of copies be enquired so as to establish the correctness of the print order based on which the number of copies printed are mentioned in the annual statement.
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b) Machine Room Return
The Machine Room Return/record which contains the details of the printing is to be maintained by the publisher. The auditor shall test verify the Machine Room Returns/records and Print orders in original. (These must be signed by some responsible officer of the publication). c) The details given in the annual return should be in consonance with the daily print Variation if any should be enquired from
order and MRR maintained by the publisher.
publisher and if required adjustment be made in the return to give the correct data. iii) Printing at outside press:
Where a publication is printed from outside press not owned by the publisher, printers bills showing number of copies printed and the rate per form maintained by the publisher shall be verified by the auditor. Where the printing press is an associate concern, or subsidiary company, printing records maintained by such printers shall be verified by the auditor.
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iv) The auditors may visit the printing press of the publisher to verify the actual printing at
the press where the printing is owned by the publisher or at the press of the outside printing press.
B
i)
DESPATCH AND DISTRIBUTION OF COPIES:

The actual dispatches of the copies shall be verified by the auditor firm at the time of
visit to the press with the dispatch challans, transporters GRN etc. In the cases where the copies are dispatched through road and where the copies are dispatched through railways air and by post parcel etc. the supporting proof for such dispatch shall be verified during their morning visit to the printing press. Further the reconciliation of the copies printed as per MRR/PO with the number of copies dispatched should be carried out on the day of visit to the press and also for some of the earlier days based on the records available in the office of the publisher. ii) The distribution/sale of publication be physically verified by visiting the distribution
centers where the copies are distributed/sold. On visit to the centre the copies dispatched from the press and received at the centre should be verified and actual distribution being
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made by the agents to the hawkers/sub-agents etc. should also be verified. Any variation in copies sold or % of commission paid be reported. If any copies are sold for which no money is received the same be enquired. iii) Where the copies are sold by the publisher through its sole/principle agent the
distribution centre of the agents be visited and auditors can verify the distribution record of such agent. (Agent who are selling more than 10% of the total supply of the publisher subject to minimum of 15,000 copies per day should be considered as the principle/sole agent for this purpose)
C)
i)
NEWSPRINT CONSUMPTION:
Receipt of Newsprint
The purchase/receipt of newsprint be verified by auditor with reference to invoice, transporter GRN, delivery/dispatch documents, packing list, bank statement and
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correspondence of suppliers etc. If required direct confirmations from the newsprint
suppliers may also be obtained by the auditor. ii) In case a publication has been issued Eligibility Certificate for import of newspaper, the relevant vouchers/bills and receipts in original be verified and quantity purchased should tallied with consumption. iii) Physical verification of newsprint stocks may be carried out to ensure its conformity with the records at the time of visit to publisher's office. iv) The summary reconciling acquisition with consumption of newsprint and other paper with reference to the copies printed be carried out to ensure the consumption of newsprint vis-vis the actual copies printed. v) Verification of newsprint consumption with reference to Print Orders, Machine Room returns, stock Register and/ or periodic newsprint consumption statements received from outside press.
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vi) Verify the quantitative records of newsprint stock, receipt and issue etc. in respect of newsprint consumption and wastage to facilitate reconciliation of newsprint issued for printing and consumed.
D)
COPIES SOLD THROUGH AGENTS/ SUBSCRIBERS:
Copies sold through agents/ subscribers to be verified with the following:i) The sale to agents should be verified with the agents bills/ sale register, railway/ road/ air / posted delivery book etc. ii) The unsold copies received from the agents be verified with the credit notes issued by the publisher. Further, the accounts of the agents be received to ascertain the cases of unsold copies as these shall not be included in sold copies column. iii) Copies sold through subscriptions be verified with the subscribers register, postage book and delivery book etc. The records should be maintained in such a manner that the subscriber-wise and dispatch details thereof is verified.
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iv) In the return submitted to 'RNI' by publisher the average number of copies 'sold' per publishing day is to be disclosed. The sold copies here shall imply those copies for which the payment has been received within a period of two months. In case the payment is not received from agent within 2 months the copies equivalent thereto shall be reduced from sold copies however the publisher can take the benefit of such copies deducted in the next period when actual payment is received from agent. Further the concept of Net Paid Sales as formulated by Audit Bureau of Circulation shall be applied to sold copies figures being submitted by the publisher. v) The billing of the copies of the agents is normally carried out at the net amount after The billing be verified to ascertain the cases where the
deduction of commission.
commission being allowed appears to be unreasonable and which loses the significance of paid copies. The copies sold at the commission in excess of 40% shall not be included in sold copies.
E)
OTHER FINANCIAL RECORDS:
Financial and other records connected with printing, distribution and sale etc. of the publication will be reviewed by the auditors.
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F) REPORT/ CONCLUSION:
Based on the verification of printing, distribution and circulation records of the publication as detailed above the auditor shall draw a conclusion keeping in view the materiality of observation, whether the circulation figures as reported in the returns submitted by the publishers to RBI are correct or not. Wherever variations or inconsistency is observed with respect to printing, distribution and circulation etc, the auditors shall carry out adjustments in the circulation figures as reported by publishers in their returns and the returns will be revised and signed by the auditor and sent to RNI along with their report.
III
AUDIT PLAN:
The RNI will issue the appointment letter to the auditors along with the authority letter or the concerned publisher authorizing them to visit to their press, distribution center and office. As per the appointment letter the time period will be specified during which the audit is to be completed and report submitted normally a time frame of 4-6 weeks will be allowed. Based on this appointment letter the audit will be carried out by the auditor at any time in a surprise manner by visit to printing press, distribution centers and office of the publisher.The audit team will be formed keeping in view the number of copies printed by the publisher e.g.
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in case the number of copies are upto 75,000 the audit team will consist to two persons (one qualified/ senior assistant and one articled clerk) and in case the copies are more than 75,000 the team will consist of three persons (one qualified/ senior assistant and two articles/ paid assistants). The audit will be monitored and finalized by one partner/ Senior consultant, who will be visiting the office of the publisher for one or two days depending on the copies printed and volume of transactions.
IV
AUDIT REPORTS:
Audit observations arising from the audit will be initially discussed by the partner with the publisher during his visit to the office of the publisher at the time of finalization of the audit. Based on these discussions the audit reports along with the annual return duly signed by the auditors will be finalized and sent to the concerned officials of the RNI. The necessary discussions if any required.
V)
A)
FEES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES TO AUDITORS:

FEES PAYABLE TO AUDITORS
The fees to the Chartered Accountant firms will be paid based on the number of copies printed by the publisher in the same manner as the fees is pain the Audit Bureau of
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Circulations (ABC) to their surprise/ recheck auditors. The fees prescribed by ABC for
surprise/ recheck audit is based on the parameter that the audit of publisher is also carried out by their own empanelled auditor who are to certify the figures based on the detailed audit programme laid down by ABC. The fees for publisher Audit is not prescribed by ABC but fixed between the auditors and publisher. The fees for Surprise/ recheck audit has been kept considering that substantial procedures are followed by publisher's auditors who also issue a separate report confirming that all the prescribed guidelines of ABC have been followed. Considering the above the auditors have represented that their fees may be increased at least by 100% of the prescribed fees by ABC as detailed below since RNI has not have a established procedure which the auditors is to follow while certifying the Annual Report of RNI. No. of copies printed Upto - 25,000 25,001 - 75,000 75,001 - 1,50,000 Audit fees as per ABC 6,500 7,500 8,600 Audit fees suggested for RNI keeping in view the 100% increase in the fees offered by ABC 13,000 15,000 17,200
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1,50,001 - 2,50,000 2,50,001 - 3,50,000 3,50,001 - 4,50,000 4,50,001 - 5,50,000 5,50,001 - 10,00,000 10,00,001 - above 9,700 10,800 12,100 13,500 15,000 18,000 19,400 21,600 24,200 27,000 30,000 36,000
The above level of fees suggested for carrying out the audit on behalf of RNI is substantially lower as compared to level of fee as recommended by the ICAI for carrying out such special assignment.
B)
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES TO AUDITORS BY PUBLISHERS:
The auditors are reimbursed traveling, halting and other out of pocket expenses as actually incurred and supported by original bills by ABC for carrying out surprise/ recheck audits. Further, in the case of appointment of bank Auditors by 'Reserve Bank of India' the level of traveling lodging and boarding expenses has been fixed. Keeping in view the expenses being
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reimbursed by 'ABC' and Reserve Bank of India the expenses may be reimbursed to the Chartered accountant fir4ms as under:
i. Traveling Expenses:
Partner / Assistant Class of Travel First Air-conditioned Railway, Air (economy class) where the Partner distance of place to be visited is reasonably more or by A/c Taxi if the route is not served by Rail/ Air A/C II Tier Railway Fare or by Non-A/C Taxi if the route is not served by Rail/Air A/C II Tier Railway Fare or by Non-A/C Taxi if the route is not served by Rail/Air.
Qualified Assistant
Unqualified Assistant
The daily conveyance expenses for residence/ hotel to/fro railway station/ airport and hotel to/fro office/ press of the publisher will be paid at actual by Taxi in the case of partners and by Auto in the case of assistants.
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ii. Lodging and boarding expenses (Lump Sum)
Lodging/ boarding expenses to be paid in lump-sum per day of stay (Rs. Per day) Major 'A' Class cities Partners Qualified Assistant Unqualified Assistant 5000 Other places
Particulars
4000
4000
3000
2500
2000
Note:
'A' cities to include Metro Cities and State Capitals.
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Chairmans Address
Dear Friends, On behalf of your Council of Management and on my own, it gives me great pleasure to extend a very warm welcome to you all at the 61st Annual General Meeting of Audit Bureau of Circulations, this afternoon. Bureaus Annual Report and Audited Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2009 were circulated earlier. I presume you must have had an opportunity to go through the details. We shall be pleased to answer any points that you may have on the annual report and audited accounts.
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Mr. Anil Kapoor, Chairman of your Council during the previous year 2007-2008 has desired not to seek re-election following the long standing tradition maintained by past Chairmen of the Bureau. Mr. Romit Chaterji, advertiser representative on the Council from the Tata Group also resigned from the Council following his retirement from the Tata Group. Mr. Amitabha Datta,
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representing publisher members on the Council also resigned from the Council following his retirement from the ABP Group.Your Council will certainly miss their balanced views on difficult issues that were discussed at the Council meetings. Your Council wishes to place on record its appreciation and gratitude to them for devoting their time and effort towards the progress of the Bureau.
GENERAL OVERVIEW:
The past one and half year has been a difficult period for most of the industries and specially so for the print media industry. Most of the publishing houses have taken individual steps to cut costs without affecting their quality and content. Advertising industry on the whole had also slowed down in the wake of the general economic recession. Most of the publishers faced these market conditions head on by taking several steps including increasing cover price and / or reducing pagination. However, international newsprint prices did reduce during this period providing some relief to the publishers.
THE BUREAU:
Over the last many years since I am on the Council, I have come across many complaints / grievances of publisher members regarding their competitors which normally pertains to
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certification of their circulation figures or that of their competitors, compliance with publicity rules, Bureaus audit guidelines, market practices etc. Most of the complaints were resolved by your Council within the frame work of Bureaus guidelines. Competition exists in almost all market places for newspapers as well as magazines. I request all my fellow members to observe healthy norms to increase their circulation figures. It is also pertinent to note that Bureau has been formed many years ago so that publisher members, advertisers and advertising agencies could avail an independent third party certificate of circulation which is based on an acceptable, prescribed audit guidelines. One should not forget that the Bureau is an auditing organization and not a policing or an investigative body. You would appreciate Circulation audit is no different than a financial audit undertaken by statutory auditors.It is the Bureaus endeavour to move with the times and market practices adopted by Publishers and smoothen the audit process for Publisher members. It will also be Bureaus endeavour to strengthen the first stage of audit carried out by publisher appointed auditors so that at the first stage itself the circulation figures certified by Publisher Auditors comply with all the existing audit guidelines thereby quickening the process of issuing ABC Certificate of circulation to publisher members.
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PUBLISHER MEMBERS NOT FILING THEIR CIRCULATION FIGURES:
One more important point which I desire to touch upon is the facility available to publisher members of not filing their circulation figures for any reason for one or maximum two consecutive audit periods. This practice of not filing circulation figures by publisher members needs to be looked into and discussed thoroughly. By not filing the circulation figures regularly with the Bureau every six months, publisher members are denying the advertising community the most current circulation data. Comparison between publications then gets vitiated, as the advertising fraternity then has to depend on the previous certified circulation figures for those publications.When a Publisher desires to enroll as a member of the Bureau, then it is incumbent upon the Publisher member to file the circulation figures at all times for all audit periods. Publishers voluntarily enroll as members of the Bureau in order to get their circulation figures audited. By not filing the circulation figures, the very purpose of becoming a member is defeated.
READERSHIP & CIRCULATION FIGURES:

Many a times, a point for discussion has emerged requesting the Bureau to provide circulation figures and readership estimates side by side for the benefit of the advertising
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fraternity. This would be an ideal situation. However, whilst in case of readership estimates, all editions of a title are covered on an All India basis whilst in comparison, in respect of circulation data, it has been observed that all editions of a title are in many cases not members of the Bureau and therefore the circulation figures available for a title with the Bureau are incomplete and not comparable with the total readership estimates of a title. This being one of the principal reasons why certified circulation figures of a title cannot be compared with the readership estimates of a title. In some cases, where circulation figures of a particular edition of a title is either not accepted for certification or not filed with the Bureau on time, then under such circumstances comparison between certified circulation figures and readership estimates is vitiated. Principally, due to these reasons, we have not found it appropriate to project the certified circulation figures and readership estimates side by side.
AMENDMENTS TO AUDIT GUIDELINES FOR MAGAZINE PUBLISHER MEMBERS:

During the year, Bureaus audit guidelines pertaining to magazine publisher members were revised in line with the market practices. The magazine publishing industry is going through a difficult period. It will be the endeavour of the Bureau to assist all magazine publisher
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members during this period. We are also happy to report that the new concept of certification of Daily and Weekly newspapers i.e. Net Realisation Rate (NRR) concept has been well accepted by the newspaper industry since the last three audit periods.
CONDOLENCE:
On behalf of your Council, I wish to deeply condole the sad demise of Secretary, Mr. Shailesh Sheth who had devoted 28 years in the service of the Bureau. As you are aware, Mr. Sheth expired suddenly on 5th June 2009 in Mumbai. On your behalf and my own behalf, I wish to offer our deepest condolences and sympathies to his wife, children and mother. May his soul rest in peace
COLLEAGUES:
Before I conclude, I wish to thank all my colleagues on the Council for their guidance in dealing with various issues discussed at the Council. I also wish to thank Mr. Sam Balsara, Hony. Treasurer and Mr. Shashidhar Sinha, Hony. Secretary who willingly shared the responsibility in administering the Bureau.
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I also thank all Members of the Bureau for their unstinted support during my tenure as your Chairman. I also wish to compliment the Secretariat headed by Secretary General, Mr. Masani for the efficient manner in which the Secretariat has been functioning. The next Chairman of your Council would be from amongst the non-publisher representatives of the Council. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the incoming Chairman and his team a very successful year.
Thank you,
Place : Hyderabad Date : 14th September, 2009
Ch Kiron Chairman
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Audit Bureau of Circulations

Founder Member: International Federation of Audit Bureau of Circulations Wakefield House, Sprott Road, Ballard Estate, Mumbai 400 001 Tel: 2261 18 12 / 2261 90 72 ._ Fax: 2261 88 21 E-mail : abcindia@vsnl.com _ Web Site : httpp://www.auditbureau.org
CONFIDENTIAL [For information of Members only] Not to be reproduced or publicized 24th July, 2009 TO, ALL MEMBERS NOTIFICATION NO. 799
PART I) SURPRISE CHECKS JANUARY-JUNE 2009

1) Aajkaal (Bengali Daily), Kolkata 2) Sandhya Aajkaal (Bengali Daily), Kolkata
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3) Aj (Hindi Daily), Patna 4) Amar Asom (Assamese Daily), Guwahati edn printed at Jorhat 5) Purvanchal Prahari (Hindi Daily), Guwahati edn printed at Jorhat 6) Amar Ujala (Hindi Daily), Dharmsala 7) Amar Ujala (Hindi Daily), New Delhi 8) Amar Ujala (Hindi Daily), Aligarh 9) Amar Ujala (Hindi Daily), Gorakhpur 10) Annadata (Telugu Monthly), Hyderabad 11) Chatura (Telugu Monthly), Hyderabad 12) Vipula (Telugu Monthly), Hyderabad 13) Bismoi (Assamese Monthly), Guwahati 14) Priyo Sakhi (Assamese Monthly), Guwahati 15) Business Standard (English Daily), Chandigarh 16) Business Standard (English Daily), Pune 17) Daily Desher Katha (Bengali Daily), Agartala 18) Daily Sakal (Marathi Daily), Kolhapur 19) Dainik Agniban (Hindi Daily), Indore
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20) Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi Daily), Hisar 21) Dainik Bhaskar (Hindi Daily), Panipat 22) Diamond Cricket Today (Hindi Monthly), New Delhi 23) Grehlakshmi (Hindi Monthly), New Delhi 24) Hari Bhoomi (Hindi Daily), Bilaspur 25) Hari Bhoomi (Hindi Daily), Raipur 26) Hari Bhoomi (Hindi Daily), Rohtak 27) Hitavada (English Daily), Nagpur 28) Mumbai Choufer (Marathi Daily), Aurangabad, 29) Punya Nagari (Marathi Daily), Aurangabad 30) Punya Nagari (Marathi Daily), Nashik 31) Punya Nagari (Marathi Daily), Pune edn. printed at Kolhapur 32) Punya Nagari (Marathi Daily), Pune edn. printed at Pune 33) Yeshobhumi (Hindi Daily), Mumbai edition printed at Pune 34) Nandini (Assamese Monthly), Guwahati 35) Poknapham (Manipuri Daily), Imphal 36) Roopatara (Kannada Monthly), Manipal-Udupi
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37) Taranga (Kannada Weekly), Manipal-Udupi 38) Tushara (Kannada Monthly), Manipal-Udupi 39) Udayavani (Kannada Daily), Bangalore, 40) Udayavani (Kannada Daily), Manipal-Udupi 41) Sambad (Oriya Daily), Bhubaneswar, 42) Sambad (Oriya Daily), Cuttack 43) Sambad (Oriya Daily), Sambalpur 44) The Sanghai Express (English Daily), Imphal 45) The Shillong Times (English Daily). Shillong The above mentioned publications were surprise checked by Bureaus Auditors during the audit period January-June 2009 result of which was satisfactory. Sd/-
Secretary General
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News Media Management COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE AND NOT HAVING A SHARE CAPITAL
MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION OF AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS
1. The name of the Company (hereinafter called The Association is *AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS. 2. The registered office of the Association will be situated in the Province of Bombay. 3. The objects for which the Association is established are: a) To secure accurate circulation figures and data relating to all periodicals and media that sell advertising space and in regard to such publications to obtain information as to area of distribution and fix standard forms and methods for ascertaining the net sales figures and generally all information that will be of assistance to advertisers in estimating the value of
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any publication for advertising purposes and to record such information and circulate it to members of this Association and generally to establish a bureau of information in regard to all publications and the circulation of them for the benefit of members of this Association such service to be known as the A.B.C. service or by such other name or description as the Council of this Association may determine from time to time. b) To collect and distribute amongst members of this Association information relating to all forms and methods of advertising. aa) To set up a new division of the Bureau to be known as National Readership Studies Council in the field of Readership Studies for carrying out Readership Surveys covering all major publications published in India, whether or not such publications are audited by the Bureau or are publications of Bureaus members, and to record, collect and distribute such readership surveys and all information relating thereto to all users thereof who may require the same for estimating the value of such publications published in India, irrespective of whether or not such users are members of the Bureau. b) To secure, collect, circulate and distribute information relating to all or any of the matters specified in the preceding three Sub-Clauses (a), (aa) and (b) amongst any Government in
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India or abroad or any statutory authority constituted by any such Government interested, directly or indirectly in advertising, and amongst associations, bureau, societies, institutions and federations, whether in India or elsewhere and whether or not members of this Association, having objects similar to those of this Association. bbb) To promote, join as member, associate, or otherwise be interested in, and take hold and dispose of shares in, any other company, association, bureau, society, institution,
federation or other organisation, whether in India or elsewhere, having objects similar to those of this Association, or otherwise in any manner concerned with advertising or carrying on any business capable of being conducted so as directly or indirectly to benefit this Association. c) To puchase, take on lease or in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire any real or personal property and any rights or privileges which the Association may think necessary or convenient for the promotion of its objects, and to construct, maintain and alter any buildings or erections necessary or convenient for the work of the Association. d) To sell, let, mortgage, dispose of or turn to account all or any of the property or assets of the Association as may be thought expedient with a view to the promotion of its objects.
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e) To undertake and execute any trusts which may law-fully be undertaken by the Association and may be conducive to its objects. f) To borrow or raise money for the purposes of the Association on such terms and on such security as may be thought fit. g) To invest the moneys of the Association not immediately required for its purpose in or upon such investments, securities or property as may be thought fit. h) To establish and support or aid in the establishment and support of any charitable or benevolent associations or institutions and to subscribe or guarantee money for charitable or benevolent purposes in any way connected with the purposes of the Association or calculated to further its objects. i) To do all such other things as are incidental as the Association may think conducive to the attainment of the above objects or any of them. j) To pay all the expenses connected with the formation and incorporation of the Association. k) Except as otherwise expressly stated to do all or any of the foregoing things anywhere.
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PROVIDED that the Association shall not support with it funds any object or endeavor to impose on or procure to be observed by its members or others, any regulation, restriction or condition which if an object of the Association would make it a Trade Union. 4. The income and property of the Association, whomsoever derived, shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Association as set forth in this Memorandum of Association and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit to the members of the Association. PROVIDED that nothing herein shall prevent the payment, in good faith, of reasonable and proper remuneration to any officer or servant of the Association, or to any members of the Association in return for any services actually rendered to the Association, nor prevent the payment of interest at a rate not exceeding 6 percent per annum on money lent or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let by any member of the Association; but so that no member of the Council of Management or Governing Body of the Association shall be appointed to any salaried office of the Association paid by fees, and that no remuneration or other benefit in money or moneys worth shall be given by the Association
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to any member of such Council or Governing Body except repayment of out-of-pocket expenses and interest at the rate aforesaid on money lent or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let to the Association provided that the provision last aforesaid shall not apply to any payment to any gas, electric lighting, water or cable company of which a member of the Council of Management or Governing Body may be a member, or any other company in which such member shall not hold more than one hundredth part of the capital, and such member shall not be bound to account for any share of profits he may receive in respect of any such payment. 5. (a) One half of the members for the time being of the Council of Management of the
Association (hereinafter called the Council) shall consist of proprietors or publishers of newspapers or other periodicals which carry advertising and who are members of the Association or their representatives. (b) The other half of the members for the time being of the Council, shall consist of and include both (i) members of the Association who advertise commodities or services in any newspaper or periodical, or their representatives and (ii) members of the Association who are advertising agents or their representatives.
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5-A No alteration shall be made to the Memorandum of Association or to the Articles of Association of the Association which are for the time being in force, unless the alteration has been previously submitted to and approved by the Central Government. 6. The liability of the members is limited. 7. Every member of the Association undertakes to contribute to the assets of the Association, in the event of the same being wound up during the time that he is a member, or within one year afterwards, for payment of the debts and liabilities of the Association contracted before the time at which he ceases to be a member, and of the costs, charges and expenses of winding up the same, and for the adjustment of the rights of the contributories amongst themselves, such amount as may be required not exceeding Rupees Fifteen. 8. If upon the winding up or dissolution of the Association there remains after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the Association, but shall be given or transferred to some other institution or institutions having objects similar to the objects of the Association, and which shall prohibit the distribution of its or their income and property
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among its or their members to an extent at least as great as is imposed on the Association under or by virtue of Clause 4 hereof, such institution or institutions to be determined by the members of the Association at or before the time of dissolution, or in default thereof by the High Court of Bombay and if and so far as effect cannot be given to such provision then to some charitable object. 9. True accounts shall be kept of the sums of money received and expended by the Association, and the matters in respect of which such receipts and expenditure take place, and the property, credits and liabilities of the Association; and, subject to any reasonable restrictions as to the time and manner of inspecting the same that may be imposed in accordance with the regulations of the Association for the time being, such accounts shall be open to the inspection of the members. Not later than eighteen months after the date of incorporation of the Association and thereafter once at least in every year the accounts of the Association shall be examined and the correctness of the balance sheet ascertained by one or more properly qualified Auditor or Auditors. Copies of the accounts shall be sent to all members.
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COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE AND NOT HAVING A SHARE CAPITAL
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION OF AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS* PRELIMINARY
1. Subject to the provisions of Section 29 of the Companies Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as The Act), these Articles of Association shall apply to the Association in so far as they are not contrary to, or inconsistent with, the Regulations contained in Table C in Schedule 1 to the Act. In these Articles words importing the singular shall include the plural or vice versa.
MEMBERS
2. For the purpose of registration the number of members of the Association is declared to be unlimited.
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3. i. The Members of the Association shall be: a) the signatories to the Memorandum of Association; and b) such persons being (i) subject to the provisions of clauses (ii) and (iii) of this Article, proprietors or publishers of newspapers or other periodicals which carry advertising, (ii) Advertisers of commodities or services in any newspapers or periodicals, and (iii) Agents and firms of Agents representing overseas manufacturers, (iv) Advertising agents, and (v) Associations, Societies, Institutions or Organisations any other corporate or statutory body or authority, or any Government in India, whether Central or State, dealing in, or in any manner concerned with, advertising and/or publishing in newspapers, periodicals and magazines and/or other publications of a like nature, as may be proposed and seconded by a member and admitted to membership by the Council. ii. The membership of any person of the class referred to in Article 3(i) (b) (i) hereof shall for all purposes be treated as separate membership in respect of each individual newspaper or other periodical owned and/or published by him and in respect of each of which he is separately registered as a member.
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iii. The membership of persons of the class referred to in clause 3 (i) (b) (i) of the Articles of Association is conditional upon such members granting facilities for consultations or conferences at any time should the necessity arise between their circulation auditors and the consultative accountants of the Association. If in the opinion of the Council it should be necessary to investigate or enquire into any figures of any such member then the Council shall be entitled to appoint auditors for as may be considered necessary such purpose and such auditors shall examine any and all records of the member concerned as may be considered necessary. In the event of any such facilities as aforesaid or the examination of all or any records being refused or not afforded within such reasonable time as the council may determine after notice to member concerned then the council shall be entitled by notice in writing to terminate the membership of such member. 4. Every person admitted to membership shall sign an authority authorizing his enrolment as a member in the Register of Members and agreeing to be bound by the Memorandum and Articles of Association. Every member shall on admission pay such entrance fee as shall at the time of such admission be payable as hereinafter provided and shall during the
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continuance of his membership duly pay all annual and other subscriptions as shall from time to time be fixed by the Council under the powers hereinafter conferred. 5. The privileges of membership shall not be transferable; every member shall cease to be a member on death or retirement or if in the opinion of the Council (which opinion shall be conclusive) he shall cease to be a person qualified to be admitted to membership under Article 3 (i) (b) hereof or in the event of the Council proceeding under Article 44 hereof. 5A. Notwithstanding, anything inconsistent herewith contained in any other article hereof, the Council shall, by notice in writing, terminate the membership of any member of the class referred to in Article * 3 (i) (b) (i) hereof, in the event of such member failing to submit to the Association in the prescribed form the circulation figures of his newspaper or periodical concerned for two consecutive audit periods, within one month of the due date fixed for the purpose in respect of the second of such consecutive audit periods, or in the event of such member failing to obtain from the Association the ABC Certificates of Circulation in the prescribed form in respect of his newspaper or periodical concerned for three consecutive audit periods, for any reason whatsoever for which such member is himself to blame or is otherwise responsible.
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6. The Association shall cause to be kept a Register and Index of Members in accordance with the provisions of Sections 150 and 151 of the Act. 6A. In the event of any difference or disputes of any kind or nature whatsoever at any time arising between a Member on the one hand and the Association and/or its Council of Management on the other, whether during the period of membership of a member or at any time after the cessation of such membership, the same shall be referred to and decided by only such competent Court in Bombay as shall have jurisdiction in the matter; and all such differences or disputes shall accordingly be subject to the jurisdiction of the competent Court in Bombay only.
GENERAL MEETINGS
7. An Ordinary General Meetings of the members of the Association shall be held within eighteen months of the date of incorporation and thereafter at least once in every calendar year and not more than fifteen months after the date of the last preceding Ordinary General Meeting. Subject as aforesaid such meetings shall be held at such time and place as the Council may determine.
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8. The Council may whenever they think fit convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at such time and place as they may determine. 9. Subject to the provisions of Section 189(2) of the Act relating to Special Resolutions, at least twenty-one days notice in writing of every General Meeting specifying therein the place and the day and the hour of the meeting, and containing a statement of the business to be transacted thereat, shall be given in any manner authorised by Section 53 of the Act, to every member of the Association, and to the auditor or auditors for the time being of the Association. A General Meeting may, however, be called after giving shorter notice than that specified above, if consent is accorded thereto in the case of an Annual General Meeting, by all the members of the Association entitled to vote thereat; and in the case of any other General Meeting, by members of the Association having not less than 95 per cent of the total voting power exercisable at that meeting. The accidental omission to give notice to or the non-receipt of notice by, any member of the Association or other person to whom it should be given shall not invalidate the proceedings at such meeting.
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PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS
10. No business shall be transacted at any General Meeting unless a quorum is present when the meeting proceeds to business, save as herein otherwise provided, twenty members present in person shall be the quorum for a meeting of the Association. 11. If within half an hour from the time appointed for holding a meeting of the Association, a quorum is not present, the meeting, if called upon the requisition of members, shall stand dissolved. In any other case, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week, at the same time and place, or to such other day and at such other time and place as may be determined by the Council of Management; and if at such adjourned meeting also, a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for holding the meeting, the members present shall be a quorum. 12. With the consent of any meeting at which a quorum is present, the Chairman may adjourn a meeting from time to time, and from place to place, as the meeting shall determine, whenever a meeting is adjourned for twenty-one days or more, seven days notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given in the same manner as of an original meeting. Save as aforesaid, the members shall not be entitled to any notice of an adjournment or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned meeting. No business shall be transacted at any
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adjourned meeting other than the business which might have been transacted at the meeting from which the adjournment took place. 13. The Chairman of the Council shall preside at every General Meeting, but if there be no such Chairman, or if at any meeting he shall not be present within fifteen minutes after time appointed for holding the same, or shall be unwilling to preside, the members present shall choose some member of the Council, or if no such member be present, or if all the members of the Council present declined to take the Chair, they shall choose some member of the Association, who shall be present, to preside. 14. At all General Meetings a resolution put to vote of the meeting shall be decided on show of hands by a majority of the members present in person and entitled to vote, unless before or upon the declaration of the result of the show of hands a poll be demanded in writing by the Chairman or by atleast five members present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote, and unless a poll be so demanded, a declaration by the Chairman of the meeting that a resolution has, on a show of hands been carried or carried unanimously or by particular majority, or lost, and an entry to that effect in the book of the proceedings of the
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Association shall be conclusive evidence thereof, without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded in favour of or against, such resolution. 15. If a poll be demanded in manner aforesaid, it shall be taken at such time and place, and in such manner, as the Chairman of the meeting shall direct and the result of the poll shall be deemed to be the resolution of the meeting at which the poll was demanded. 16. No poll shall be demanded on the election of a Chairman of a meeting or on any question of adjournment. 17. The Chairman of the meeting shall not be entitled to a further or casting vote. 18. The demand for a poll shall not present the continuance of a meeting for the transaction of any business other than the question on which poll has been demanded.
VOTES OF MEMBERS
19. Subject to the provisions of the Act no member shall be entitled to be present or to vote or speak on any question either personally or by proxy or as a proxy for another member, at
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any General Meeting or upon a poll or to be reckoned in quorum, whilst any money due from him (alone or jointly) to the Association remains unpaid. 20. Every member not disqualified by the preceding Article shall be entitled to be present in person or by proxy and to speak and to vote at every General Meeting. On a show of hands and on a poll every member present in person or by proxy shall have one vote. 21. (a) The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing under the hand of the appointer or of his attorney duly authorized in writing or if the appointer is a Corporation either under the Common Seal or under the hand of an officer or an attorney so authorised. 21. (b) The instrument appointing a proxy, and the power of attorney or other authority (if any) under which it is signed or a notarially certified copy of that power or authority, shall be deposited at the registered Office of the Association not less than forty-eight hours before the holding of the meeting at which the person named in the instrument proposes to vote; and in default thereof the instrument of proxy shall not be treated as valid. 22. The Chairman of any meeting shall be the sole judge of the validity of every vote tendered at such meeting. The Chairman present at the taking of a poll shall be the sole judge of every vote tendered at such poll.
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COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT
23. Until otherwise determined by the Association in General Meeting, the number of members of the Council of Management shall be not less than eight and not more than sixteen. 24. The first members of the Council shall be nominated in writing by the majority of the subscribers to the Memorandum of Association subject nevertheless to the provisions of Clause 5 of the Memorandum of Association. 25. The Council may from time to time and at any time appoint any member of the Association or a representative of any such member as a member of the Council, either to fill a casual vacancy or by way of or addition to the Council subject nevertheless to the provisions of Clause 5 of the Memorandum of Association and so that the total number of members of the Council shall not at any time exceed the maximum number fixed. Any person so appointed shall retain his office only upto the date upto which the member in whose place he is appointed would have held office if it had not been vacated. He shall then be eligible for re-election.
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26. At the first ordinary meeting of the Association, the whole of the Council shall retire from office, and at the ordinary meeting in every subsequent year, one-half of the members of the Council for time being or if their number is not a multiple of two, then the number nearest to one-half shall retire from office. 27. The members of the Council to retire in every year shall be those who have been longest in office since their last elections but as between persons who became members of the Council on the same day those to retire shall (unless they otherwise agree among themselves) be determined by lot. 28. A retiring member of the Council shall be eligible for re-election. The Association at the General Meeting at which a member of the Council retires in manner aforesaid may fill up the vacated office by electing a person thereto, but subject nevertheless as aforesaid. 29. If at any meeting at which an election of members of the Council of Management ought to take Place, the Place of any retiring or vacating member is not so filled up, the meeting shall stand adjourned till the same day the next week, at the same time and place, or if that day is a public holiday, till the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday, at the same time and place; and if at the adjourned meeting also, the place of the retiring or vacating member of the Council is not filled up and that meeting also has not expressly
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resolved not to fill the vacancy, then, subject to the provisions of Clause 5 of the Memorandum of Association, the retiring or vacating member of the Council shall be deemed to have been re-appointed at the adjourned meeting, unless (i) at that meeting or at the previous meeting a resolution for the re-appointment of such member of the Council has been put to the meeting and lost; (ii) the retiring member of the Council has, by a notice in writing addressed to the Association or its Council of Management, expressed his unwillingness to be so re-appointed; (iii) he is not qualified or is disqualified for appointment; or a resolution, whether special or ordinary, is required for his appointment or reappointment by virtue of any provisions of the Act. 30. The continuing members of the Council may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body, provided always that in case the members of the Council shall at any time be reduced in number to less than the number fixed by these Articles as the necessary quorum of members of the Council it shall be lawful for them to act as the Council for the purpose of filling up vacancies in their body, or of summoning a General Meeting, but not for any other purpose. 31. The Association may by an extraordinary resolution remove any member of the Council before the expiration of his period of office and may by an ordinary resolution appoint
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another person instead, the person so appointed shall be subject to retirement by rotation at the same time, as if he had become a member of the Council on the day on which the member of the Council in whose place he is appointed was last elected as such member. A member of the Council so removed shall not be re-appointed a member of the Council by the Council at any meeting of the Association at which an extra ordinary resolution is proposed for the removal of a member of the Council. The member of the Council concerned shall be entitled to be heard after such resolution is proposed and before any decision be reached on such proposal; the Chairman of the meeting shall be the sole judge as to the period to be allowed for such hearing. 32. The office of a member of the Council shall be vacated if: a) he is found to be of unsound mind by a Court of competent jurisdiction; or b) he is adjudged insolvent; or c) he or any firm of which he is a partner or any private company of which he is a director without the sanction of the Association in General Meeting accepts or holds any office of profit under the Association other than that of a Manager or a Legal or Technical Adviser or Banker; or
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d) he absents himself from three consecutive meetings of the Council or from all meetings of the Council for a continuous period of three months, whichever is longer, without leave of absence from the Council; or e) he or any firm of which he is a partner or any private company of which he is a director accepts a loan from the Association in contravention of Section 295 of the Act; or f) he acts in contravention of Section 297 of the Act; or g) if he fails to pay any moneys payable by him under his guarantee within 3 months of a demand being made for the purpose; or h) if by notice in writing to the Association he resigns his office; i) if he ceases to be the representative of a member of the Bureau.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL

33. The Council may meet together for the despatch of business, adjourned and otherwise regulate their meetings as they think fit. Unless and until the Council otherwise decide all meetings of the Council shall be held in Bombay; questions arising at any meetings shall be decided by a majority of votes.
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34. The Secretary upon the request of atleast three members of the Council shall convene a meeting of the Council; in the event of the Secretary failing to convene a Meeting of a Council within eight days of the receipt of any such request as aforesaid then the three members of the Council making such request shall be entitled to convene the Meeting. The omission to give notice of any such meeting to a member of the Council who is not in Bombay shall not invalidate any resolution passed at any such meeting. 35. The quorum at meeting of the Council shall be as may be determined from time to time by the Association in General Meeting but unless otherwise determined three members of the Council shall be a quorum. 36. (a) The Council shall elect a Chairman annually who shall preside at all meetings of the Council at which he shall be present but if no such Chairman be elected, or if at any meeting the Chairman be not present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for holding a Meeting, the members of the Council present shall choose some one of their number to be Chairman of the Meeting. (b) The Chairman to be elected by the Council in the year 1948 and in each alternate year thereafter shall be elected from the half of the members of the Council mentioned in paragraph (a) of Clause 5 of the Memorandum of Association, and the Chairman to be
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elected by the Council in the year 1949 and in each alternate year thereafter shall be elected from the half of the members of the Council mentioned in paragraph (b) of the same Clause. 37. A meeting of the members of the Council for the time being at which a quorum is present shall be competent to exercise all the authorities, powers and discretions by or under the regulations of the Association for the time being vested in the Council generally. 38. The Council may delegate any of their powers to committees consisting of such member or members of the Council as they think fit and any committee so formed shall conform to any regulations imposed on it by the Council. The meetings and proceedings of any such committee shall be governed by the provisions of these presents for the regulating of the meetings and proceedings of the Council so far as applicable and so far as the same shall not be superseded by any regulations made by the Council as aforesaid. 39. All acts bonafide done by any meeting of the Council or of any committee of the Council, or by any person acting as a member of the Council shall, not withstanding it be afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any such member or person acting as aforesaid or that they or any of them were disqualified, be as valid as if every such person had been duly appointed and was qualified to be a member of the Council.
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40. The Council shall cause proper minutes to be made of the proceedings of all meetings of the Association and of the Council and of committees of the Council, and all business transacted at such meetings, and any such minute of any meetings, if purporting to be signed by the Chairman of such meetings, or by the Chairman of the next succeeding meeting, shall be conclusive evidence without any further proof of the facts therein stated. 41. A resolution in writing signed by all members for the time being of the Council or of any Committee of the Council for the time being in India shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a Meeting of the Council or of such Committee duly convened, and constituted.
POWERS OF THE COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT

42. The business of the Association shall be managed by the Council who may pay all expenses incurred in promoting and registering the Association and who may exercise all such powers of the Association as are not, by the Act, or any statutory modification thereof for the time being in force, or by these Articles, required to be exercised by the Association in General Meeting, subject nevertheless to any regulation of these Articles to the provisions of the Act, and to such regulations being not inconsistent with the aforesaid regulations, or
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provisions as may be prescribed by the Association in General meeting but no regulation made by the Association in General Meeting shall invalidate any prior act of the Council which would have been valid if that regulation had not been made. 43. In furtherance of and without prejudice to general powers conferred by or implied in the last proceeding Article and other powers conferred by these Articles it is hereby expressly declared that the Council may make, vary and repeal bye-laws for the proper conduct, control and management of the Association provided that such bye-laws shall not be inconsistent with any of these Articles and may fix increase and decrease the entrance fees and annual and other subscriptions for the time being payable by members and may engage and dismiss a Secretary and other officers and servants and determine their respective powers and duties and fix their wages or remuneration, and to buy , sell, pledge, endorse, assign, transfer or in any other manner negotiate, dispose of or deal in any securities including securities, warrants, bonds and promissory notes of the Governments of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon and of the State Governments in India. 44. (a) The Council shall be entitled without assigning any reason to terminate at any time the membership of any member by resolution passed on a majority or not less than threefourths of the Council present at a special meeting of the Council at which not less than half
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the members thereof shall be present. A member whose membership has been terminated under this clause shall forfeit all rights in and claims upon the Association and its property and shall not be entitled to a refund of any proportion of his subscription. (b) If any member shall fail to pay any entrance fee, annual or other subscription or other sum payable to the Association within two months of the date when the same became payable then upon the expiration of such two months such member shall cease to be a member of the Association, provided, nevertheless that if such member should subsequently seek re-election and shall pay up all arrears and other monies due by him to the Association the Council shall be entitled to re-elect him as a member, if still eligible, without requiring payment of any entrance fee which might otherwise be payable. And if such member so re-elected is a member of the class referred to in Article 3 (i) (b) (i) hereof, the Council may in its discretion, but without being under any obligation so to do, issue to such member on his re-election as aforesaid the appropriate A.B.C. Certificate or Certificates of Circulation in the prescribed form in respect of his newspaper and/ or periodical, as the case may be, even though such Certificate or Certificates may include or cover the period from the date of cessation of previous membership of such member to the date of his re-election as a member under this Article.
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ACCOUNTS
45. The Council shall cause proper books of accounts to be kept with respect to:(a) the assets and liabilities of the Association; b) all sums of money received and expended by the Association and the matters in respect of which such receipts and expenditure take place; and (c) all sales and purchases of goods by the Association. 46. The books of account shall be kept at the registered office of the Association or at such other place or places as the Council shall think fit, and shall be open to the inspection of the members of the Council during business hours. 47. The Council shall from time to time determine whether and to what extent and at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts and books of the Association or any of them shall be open to the inspection of Members not being members of the Council, and no member (not being a member of the Council) shall have any right of inspecting any account or book or document of the Association except as conferred by law or authorised by the Council or by the Association in General Meeting. 48. At every Annual General Meeting of the Association held in pursuance of Section 166 of the Act, the Council of Management of the Association shall lay before the Association (A)
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a balance sheet as at the end of the period beginning with the day immediately after the period for which the account was last submitted and ending with a day which shall not precede the day of the meeting by more than six months, or in cases where an extension of time has been granted for holding the meeting under the second proviso to Sub-section (I) of Section166 of the Act, by more than six months and the extension so granted; and (B) an income and expenditure account for that period. Subject to the Provisions of Sections 219 and 222 of the Act, a copy of every balance sheet (including the income and expenditure account, the auditors report and every other document required by law to be annexed or attached, as the case may be to the balance sheet) which is to be laid before the Association in General Meeting shall, not less than twenty-one days before the date of meeting, be sent to every member of the Association and to all persons other than such members who are entitled to have notices of General Meeting of the Association sent to them.
AUDIT
49. Once at least in every year the accounts of the Association shall be examined and the correctness of the income and expenditure account and balance sheet ascertained by one or more properly qualified auditor or auditors.
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50. Auditors shall be appointed and their powers and duties shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of Sections 224, 225, 226, 227, 229 and 231 of the Act.
NOTICES
51. (1) A notice may be given by the Association to any Member either personally or by sending it by post to him to his registered address or (if he has no registered address in the Republic of India) to the address, if any, within the Republic of India supplied by him to the Association for the giving of notices to him. (2) Where a notice is sent by post, service of the notice shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting a letter containing the notice, and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post. A certificate in writing signed by the Secretary or such other person as the Council may authorise for the purpose that the letter containing the notice was so addressed, prepaid and posted shall be conclusive evidence thereof.
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52. If a member has no registered address in the Republic of India and has not supplied to the Association an address within the Republic of India for the giving of notices to him, a notice addressed to him and advertised in a newspaper circulating in the neighborhood of the registered office of the Association shall be deemed to be duly given to him on the day on which the advertisement appears. 53. Notice of every General meeting shall be given in same manner hereinbefore authorised to every Member except those members who (having no registered address within the Republic of India) have not supplied to the Association an address within the Republic of India for the giving of notices to them.
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ADVERTISING POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (Revised)

ADVERTISEMENT POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND GUIDELINES FOR EMPANELMENT OF NEWSPAPERS WITH DAVP
The Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP) is the nodal agency of the Government of India for advertising by various Ministries and organisations of Government of India including public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies. The primary objective of the Government in advertising is to secure the widest possible coverage of the intended content or message through various newspapers and journals of current affairs as well as science, art, literature, sports, films, cultural affairs, etc. which are published daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. In releasing advertisements to newspapers/journals the DAVP does
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not take into account the political affiliation or editorial policies of newspapers/journals. However, DAVP would avoid releasing advertisements to newspapers/journals, which incite or tend to incite communal passion, preach violence, offend the sovereignty and integrity of India or socially accepted norms of public decency and behaviour. 2. Government advertisements are not intended to be financial assistance to
newspapers/journals. DAVP maintains a list of newspapers/journals approved for release of advertisements by empanelling acceptable newspapers/journals. DAVP will empanel only such newspapers/journals as are required for issuing advertisements of the Government of India. Care is taken to empanel newspapers/journals having readership from different sections of the society in different parts of the country.
Panel Advisory Committee

3. There is a Panel Advisory Committee (PAC) for considering applications of
newspapers/journals for being empanelled for receiving Government advertisements. This Committee is headed by Director General, DAVP/Director, DAVP and it includes Addl. Principal Information Officer in the PIB, Press Registrar, RNI and Deputy Secretary/Under Secretary in the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting dealing with Print Media. The Committee will also have one representative each from the Association of big, medium and
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small newspapers. The recommendations of the Panel Advisory Committee as accepted by the DG/Director, DAVP regarding empanelment of a newspaper is usually final. The PAC also has the power to consider de-empanelment of a newspaper/journal where warranted. 4. In pursuance of broad social objectives of the Government and for ensuring fairness among various categories of newspapers/journals, the PAC considers empanelment of newspapers/journals belonging to the following categories on priority: a) Small and medium newspapers/journals b) Language newspapers c) Newspapers/journals published in backward, remote and border areas. 5. Newspapers/journals are classified into three categories, namely i) Small, with a circulation of up to 25,000 copies per publishing day. ii) Medium, between 25,001 and 75,000 copies per publishing day, and iii) Big, with a circulation of above 75,000 copies per publishing day.
Criteria for Empanelment

6. All newspapers/journals seeking empanelment for the first time should have been uninterruptedly and regularly under publication for a period of not less than 12 months and should comply with the provisions of the Press & Registration of Books Act, 1867. Fresh
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applications for empanelment may be made any time during the year. However, each case will be considered once in a year only. For renewal of rate contract, the newspapers are to submit applications in prescribed format by 31st May of the year to DAVP. The details of the paper like size, language, periodicity, print area and details of printing press etc. as asked for in empanelment form may be given. Further it must be substantiated that the paper is being published at a reasonable standard. Reasonable standard, inter alia, means that a) The print matter and photographs should be legible, neat, clear and without smudges, overwriting, and tampering. b) There should be no repetition of news items or articles from other issues. c) There should be no reproduction of news items or articles from other newspaper/journals without credit line. d) Masthead on its front page should carry the title of the newspaper, place, date and day of publication; it should also carry RNI Registration Number, volume & issue number and price of newspaper/journal; e) The newspaper should carry imprint line as required under PRB Act; and f) Inner pages must carry page number, title of the paper and date of publication.
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7. A daily newspaper should furnish issues for preceding four months and weeklies & fortnightlies must furnish issues of proceeding six months and monthlies should furnish latest 12 months issues.
Regularity
8. The applicant should have published the newspaper on at least 25 days in each month during preceding 12 months. Weeklies should have published 46 issues during the preceding year, fortnightlies 24 issues and monthlies 10 issues during the preceding year to be considered being brought out regularly. The applicant should also furnish a copy of the Certificate of Registration issued by the RNI in the name of the publisher. 9. Newspapers/journals having established circulation of more than 75,000 copies per publishing day, as certified by Audit Bureau of Circulation(ABC) can seek empanelment of their fresh edition from a new place without having any regular publication for preceding 12 months, but in such cases empanelment of fresh edition will be only in the lowest slab of circulation. New Editions of small and medium newspapers will also be empanelled similarly. 10. A newspaper/journal should have a minimum paid circulation of not less than 2000 copies for being considered eligible for empanelment. However, newspapers/journals in Sanskrit, newspapers/journals published in backward, border or remote areas or in tribal
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languages or those published in J&K need to have substantiated minimum paid circulation of only 500 copies per publishing day. 11. A newspaper/journal should have the following minimum print area:
Periodicity
Dailies Weeklies, Monthlies
Print area not less than

1520 Std. Col. Cms. Fortnightlies 700 Std. Col. Cms. 960 Std. Col. Cms.
Exceptions may, however, be made by PAC in the case of newspapers/journals belonging to the above mentioned category in Sanskrit etc. 12. The empanelment already granted by the DG/Director, DAVP earlier will remain valid for the duration for which empanelment has been made. 13. The applicant newspaper/journal should furnish authenticated figures of circulation of ABC, RNI or Chartered Accountant. However, Chartered Accountant Certificate will be accepted only up to 25,000 copies per publishing day for up to one year only. DAVP will take average circulation for the preceding one year as certified by ABC, RNI failing which CA (whichever is less).
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14. RNI circulation check will be valid for three years unless paper is suspended or declared un established by RNI. During this period paper seeking renewal of empanelment in the same slab need not furnish any fresh authentication of circulation. Rate renewal cases showing increase in circulation warranting higher slab of rate will need to furnish ABC/RNI circulation check certification. DG/Director, DAVP reserves the right to have figures of circulation checked through its representatives or through RNI where he/she may so decide. In rate renewal/empanelment cases, where a three year contract is offered, publishers should submit to DAVP on or before 31st May each year an Affidavit to the effect that they have submitted Annual Return to RNI. In the affidavit the latest figures as certified by ABC/RNI/CA will also be indicated. 15. A newspaper if declared unestablished by RNI will be suspended from DAVP empanelment and recovery will be effected. Resumption will be considered only on receipt of the RNI certifying circulation. A newspaper/journal once declared unestablished by RNI will be considered established only from the year RNI declares it established. The circulation certified by RNI/ABC if found lower than the claimed circulation will be taken into consideration for recovery.
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Advertising Rate
16. The rate structure for payment against advertisements released by DAVP will be worked out on the basis of laid down principles. DAVP will work out advertisement rates as per the Government of India rate structure formula devised by the Rate Structure Committee. The rates will be related to circulation of a newspaper and will apply uniformly to all newspapers. The newspaper will enter into rate contract with DAVP accepting the DAVP rates and other terms and conditions as laid down from time to time to ensure publication of DAVP advertisements as and when issued to a newspaper.
Renewal of Rate Contract

17. Application for renewal must be submitted to DAVP, complete in all respects, by the due date, which would be the last day of May of the calendar year in which the empanelment expires failing which DAVP, may not consider the newspaper for renewal of rate for the concerned year. DAVP will convey its decision on renewal by 30th September of the relevant year. DAVP will place the rate renewal application proforma on its Web site
http://www.davp.nic.in and newspapers may download the proforma from internet to apply for renewal of rate contract of their newspaper.Alternately, newspapers may collect the
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application proforma from DAVP headquarters or from PIB offices in the country on their own, well in time. DAVP will make available the application proforma for rate renewal/fresh applications to associations of big, medium and small newspapers as recognised by the Press Council of India. Rate renewal contract will be awarded to newspapers for three years if circulation for previous year is supported by RNI or ABC. However, if any newspaper claims increase in circulation with latest RNI or ABC certificate, upward revision may be considered. The revision of rate (upward/downward) will be considered yearly.
Payment of Advertisement bills

18. DAVP will release payment of advertisement bills in the name of the payee and at the address given by the newspaper in the application form for renewal of rate contract or fresh application for empanelment, as the case may be. No change in the payees name or adddress will be entertained during the year of empanelment unless it is justified and found unavoidable or compelling.
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19. Every newspaper will be obliged to send one copy of the newspaper on their own carrying DAVP advertisements, to the client at the address mentioned in the Release Order, failing which payment for the advertisement may not be considered. 20. Every newspaper will be obliged to submit its advertisement bills, complete in all respect, and supported with relevant documents, within 30 days of the publication of the advertisement. DAVP will make every effort to pay the advertisement bill within 60 days of receipt of bill. 21. No newspaper will publish DAVP advertisement without receipt of the relevant Release Order. Request for a duplicate Release Order by publications will be entertained on merits and on case to case basis. 22. The newspaper will be obliged to strictly adhere to the date of publication of DAVP advertisements as given in the Release Order. Publication of advertisement on dates other than that given in the Release Order will not be regularised with revalidation of Release Order and no payment will be made in such cases.
Suspension of newspaper for DAVP advertisements

23. A newspaper will stand suspended with immediate effect if found to have submitted wrong information in his application or rate renewal proforma; or if found to have
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discontinued its publication, changed its periodicity or its title or have become irregular or suspected to have been indulging in unethical or antinational activities as found by the Press Council of India or if convicted by a court of law for such activities. 24. Before suspension of a newspaper for DAVP advertisements on grounds of unethical practices, anti-national activities, violation of the norms of decency as prescribed by the Press Council of India, such newspapers will be given due hearing by the DAVP and a final view will be taken by DAVP. 25. If a newspaper refuses to accept and carry an advertisement issued by DAVP on behalf of the Ministries/Departments of Government of India, public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies on persistent basis, the newspaper may be suspended for a period up to six months by DG/Director, DAVP.
Release of Advertisements
26. As soon as requisitions for release of advertisements are received from various Ministries and Departments as also from public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies, DAVP will prepare a suitable media list keeping in view the content, the target audience or the advertisement and availability of funds after consideration of the recommendations of the client.
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27. DAVP will ensure availability of funds before the advertisements are released, especially in the case of paying clients. The Ministries and Departments, which are required to pay advance deposit for release of their advertisements, will be requested to do so by depositing the required funds as per extant orders of the Government in this regard.
Exceptions
28. Notwithstanding any of the provisions mentioned above, DG/Director, DAVP, as Chairman of the Panel Advisory Committee, will have discretion to grant provisional empanelment to a newspaper, subject to approval of the PAC, for a period of six months or till the next meeting of the PAC if the newspaper has completed all the formalities required for empanelment and otherwise found suitable for issue of Government advertisements.
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RULES & RESOURCES
BYLAWS & RULES

ABC Bylaws
INDEX
ARTICLE 1 Objects ARTICLE 2 Membership Qualifications and Obligations
2.1 Classes and Obligations of Membership 2.2 Eligibility for Membership 2.3 Forced Combinations 2.4 Periodicals Selling Advertising as a Unit 2.5 Member Representative, Proxy Execution 2.6 Application for Membership All 2.7 Application for Publisher Membership 2.8 Publisher Duty to Install and Maintain Records
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2.9 Transfer Between Divisions 2.10 Notice of Changes 2.11 Paid Circulation Defined 2.12 Calculating Percentage of Paid Circulation 2.13 Provisional Membership 2.14 Publisher's Statements - Filing and Certification 2.15 Access to Records 2.16 Suspension of Publisher's Statement and Audit Report Service 2.17 Membership Certificates 2.18 Waiver of Damages and Indemnification
ARTICLE 3 Dues and Service

3.1 Dues Obligation 3.2 Dues by Classification 3.3 Report Service and Audit Costs 3.4 International Publications 3.5 Publications Indebted to ABC
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3.6 Adjustment of Dues 3.7 Ownership of Copyright and Indemnification
ARTICLE 4 Board of Directors

4.1 Responsibility, Vacancies 4.2 Membership Representation 4.3 Nomination and Election 4.4 Powers 4.5 Meetings, Quorum, Attendance 4.6 Committees 4.7 Special Investigation 4.8 Indemnification
ARTICLE 5 Officers
5.1 Board Officers 5.2 Chair of the Board 5.3 Secretary
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5.4 Treasurer 5.5 President and Managing Director 5.6 Bonding Officers or Employees 5.7 Removal from Office
ARTICLE 6 Membership Meetings

6.1 Time and Place of Annual Meeting 6.2 Votes, Proxies 6.3 Quorum 6.4 Resolutions 6.5 Reports 6.6 Special Meetings 6.7 Procedures
ARTICLE 7 Offenses and Punishments

7.1 Vote Required for Censure, Probation, Expulsion, or Readmission 7.2 Offenses
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7.3 Charges by a Member 7.4 Charges by the Managing Director 7.5 Probation 7.6 Sanctions 7.7 Censure 7.8 Expulsion 7.9 Appeal of Board Decisions
ARTICLE 8 Appeals
8.1 Appeal to Board of Directors 8.2 Procedure
ARTICLE 9 Resignations
9.1 Publisher 9.2 Non-Publisher 9.3 Release of Right to Assets 9.4 Reinstatement of Membership
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ARTICLE 10 Exceptions
10.1 To Bylaws and Rules 10.2 Procedure 10.3 Vote Required
ARTICLE 11 Amendments
11.1 Bylaws in Force 11.2 Change in Bylaws and Rules
ARTICLE 12 Applicable Law

12.1 Choice of Law 12.2 Choice of Forum 12.3 Severability 12.4 Compliance with Law
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Article 1 - Objects
The objects of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (alternatively, the "Bureau" and "ABC") shall be to issue standardized statements of circulation data or other data reported by a member; to verify the figures shown in these statements by auditors' examination of any and all records considered by the Bureau as necessary; and to disseminate data for the benefit of advertiser members, advertising agency members and other members interested in facts on the advertising and publishing industry. Each member's Statement and each Audit Report issued by the Bureau shall embrace figures and facts bearing on the quality as well as the quantity of circulation data or other data reported. The figures in the Audit Report shall be those verified by Bureau auditors. Facts, without opinion, to be reported
Article 2 - Membership Qualifications and Obligations

2.1 Classes and Obligations of Membership (a) There shall be seven classes of membership as follows:
Advertisers. Advertising Agencies.

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Associates. Business Publication Publishers. Farm Publication Publishers. Magazine Publishers. Newspaper Publishers.
(b) Members shall abide by all of the published by laws, rules, policies and practices of the Bureau. Associate members do not have voting rights. 2.2 Eligibility for Membership (a) Advertisers: Any individual or entity that advertises shall be eligible for membership. (b) Advertising Agencies: Any individual or entity that conducts an advertising agency or media buying service shall be eligible for membership. (c) Associates: A parent company of an ABC publisher member or any individual or entity that requires circulation information or other ABC data or services from ABC's subsidiaries may apply for associate membership.
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(d) Publisher Classes: Any individual or entity that publishes a publication eligible for membership in one of the publisher classes under subparagraphs (1) through (4) of this subsection shall be eligible for membership. Except in the case of publications admitted to associate membership by the Board of Directors, a publication otherwise eligible to membership shall not be admitted to membership except as a publisher member, and a publication ineligible for a membership as a publisher shall not be eligible to membership in any other class. All reference to a publisher member or membership for a publication in these bylaws shall mean the legal entity holding membership. Except as otherwise provided in these bylaws, a separate membership shall be taken out by a publisher member for each publication (1) Business Publication Publishers - Any individual or entity that publishes a business publication shall be eligible for membership. To qualify for regular membership: (a) Publications reporting on the Paid Circulation Form shall have 70 percent or more of the total circulations qualify as paid circulation.
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(b) Publications reporting on the Paid and Qualified Non-Paid Circulation Form shall not be required to have a minimum amount of paid and/or non-paid direct request circulation. The provisions of Bylaw 2.13 Provisional Membership do not apply to publications reporting on this form. (2) Farm Publication Publishers Any individual or entity that publishes a farm publication shall be eligible for membership. The provisions of Bylaw 2.13 Provisional Membership do not apply. (3) Magazine Publishers Any individual or entity that publishes a magazine shall be eligible for membership. The Bureau shall determine the manner and form in which magazine publishers shall report and analyze their circulation. The provisions of Bylaw 2.13 Provisional Membership do not apply. (4) Newspaper Publishers Any individual or entity that publishes a newspaper with paid circulation as defined by these bylaws shall be eligible for membership.
A newspaper that meets the requirements of Bylaw 2.13 may be a provisional member.
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(e) Transfer of membership: Membership shall be nontransferable. (f) Revision of membership eligibility requirements: (1) Membership eligibility requirements may be determined only by the Board of Directors. (2) Prior to any revision of the membership eligibility requirements of a publisher division, the Board of Directors shall submit the proposed revision in writing to the members of the division affected for an advisory vote by mail ballot or at an annual divisional meeting. (3) If an advisory vote by mail ballot does not favor the proposed revision, the proposed revision will be scheduled for discussion at the next annual meeting of the division affected. 2.3 Forced Combinations A newspaper, selling national advertising or subscriptions in forced combination with another newspaper or newspapers in the same city of publication or city zone, shall not be admitted to or continued in membership in the Bureau unless a membership is taken out and maintained for each of said newspapers regardless of frequency of publication.
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2.4 Periodicals Selling Advertising as a Unit When all advertising in two or more periodicals owned by the same person or entity is sold as a unit, such periodicals may be admitted under one membership. When all advertising in two or more periodicals owned by different persons or entities is sold as a unit separate memberships will be required. In the case of separate memberships, each of said members shall be jointly and severally liable to discharge the combined obligations incident to the membership of each of them in the Bureau. In both cases a combined Publisher's Statement and a combined Audit Report shall be issued and the dues shall be computed upon the combined distribution. 2.5 Member Representative, Proxy Execution (a) Any individual or entity admitted to membership in the Bureau shall, at the time of admission, designate in writing and file with the Bureau on forms to be furnished by the Bureau the name of a member representative, who shall, at the time of appointment and so long as being the member representative, is employed by, and actively engaged in the operation of the member. The member representative shall be authorized and empowered to
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act in all dealings with the Bureau as well as to vote membership at all annual or special meetings of the Bureau. A member may change the member representative at any time by filing with the Bureau a certificate canceling the authority of such member representative, and designating some other person to act as member representative. (b) Nothing contained in this bylaw shall be considered to limit the right of a member to execute a proxy to any person other than the member representative to vote at any meeting of the Bureau, but in the absence of such proxy such member representative shall be deemed to have full voting rights. 2.6 Application for Membership-All Application for membership shall be made on forms provided by the Bureau and all applicants shall therein agree to abide by the published bylaws, rules, policies and practices of the Bureau and all amendments and additions that may in due form be made thereto. An affirmative vote of at least a majority of all members of the Board of Directors shall be required to elect an applicant to membership. This vote may be taken by mail ballot or at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors.
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2.7 Application for Publisher Membership (a) Each applicant for publisher membership shall, with the application, deposit with the Bureau a sum of money equivalent to the estimated cost of the initial audit. The estimated cost shall be determined by the managing director. Within a reasonable time, the managing director shall present the application to the board for election and shall cause a preliminary examination of the books and records of the applicant to be made. After election, the release of an initial audit shall constitute qualification and acceptance of membership of the applicant. A publication applicant, upon acknowledgment by ABC of the receipt of both the application and the initial audit deposit, may publicize the fact of application only. If, within one year from date of application an initial audit has not been completed and released, the managing director may cancel the application, and communicate the cancellation to ABC's membership. (b) The cost of preliminary examinations shall be included in the cost of the initial audit. (c) If books and records are inadequate at time of the preliminary examination, the applicant shall agree to immediately install and maintain records adequate in accordance with the Bureau's requirements. If the applicant refuses to make such agreement or the agreement
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has not been carried out at the time of the next attempt at audit, the application shall be rejected and deposit made with the application shall be forfeited. 2.8 Publisher Duty to Install and Maintain Records
(Also see Rule C 5.19/Rule C 105.19 Hawker (Street) Sales.)

It shall be the duty of each publisher member to install, maintain and make available to the Bureau auditors at all times, true and correct records of circulation and other data, capable of being audited in accordance with the established auditing practices of the Bureau. Publisher members may sell copies in quantities through agents, distributors and wholesalers, independent contractors or other third-parties, however, the publisher shall remain responsible for the accuracy, completeness and accessibility of the records maintained by such organizations as though the records were maintained by the publisher. Circulation data reported in Publisher's Statements that cannot be substantiated because of the absence or unavailability of adequate records shall be subject to deduction in the Audit Report.
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2.9 Transfer between Divisions (a) Any member publication seeking transfer to another publisher division shall submit a written request for transfer to the managing director. The request shall include special reasons for the transfer, such as (but not limited to): change of format; change of nature of type of publication; change in editorial or advertising policy. (b) The request shall be presented to the Board of Directors for approval, accompanied by a recommendation of the managing director for such terms and conditions as may be deemed desirable. 2.10 Notice of Changes Where a change occurs in a publication for which a publisher holds a membership, such as (but without limitation to the following): change of name; change of format; change of the nature or type of publication, and similar changes which result from merger with another publication, acquisition of one or more other publications, being acquired by one or more other publications; or otherwise, the managing director shall be notified thereof in writing by the publisher member. If, after investigation, the managing director determines that the
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changes are not substantial, it shall be so reported, and Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports of the publication shall continue without interruption or change in the membership. If the managing director determines that the change or changes are substantial, he shall so report to the publisher of the publication involved. Thereupon the procedure for application for membership in Bylaws 2.6 and 2.7 shall be followed. No Publisher's Statements or Audit Reports shall be released; no claim of membership shall be made by the publication, until the release of the initial audit. 2.11 Paid Circulation Defined Future Bylaw Change Alert: As of October 1, 2010, Bylaw 2.11 Paid Circulation Defined will contain updated rule language. A publication with paid circulation is hereby defined to be one of which 70 percent or more of the total distribution during a regular six-month Publisher's Statement period (ended March 31 or September 30 for all newspapers and June 30 or December 31 for all magazines and farm publications published outside of Canada) (ended March 31, June 30, September 30
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or December 31 for farm publications published in Canada and all business publications) qualifies as paid circulation under the standards of the Bureau. For newspapers, third party sales are to be excluded from paid circulation for membership eligibility purposes but should be included in the calculation as an element of total distribution. For business publications also see Bylaw 2.2(d)(1)(b).
2.12 Calculating Percentage of Paid Circulation For purposes of calculating the percentage of paid circulation, checking copies to advertisers and advertising agencies, plus an average of not to exceed 500 copies per issue for promotion copies to advertisers, prospective advertisers and advertising agencies, shall not be included in the total distribution. 2.13 Provisional Membership (Newspapers Only) No newspaper shall be admitted to or retained in publisher membership in the Bureau unless it has and maintains paid circulation in accordance with the bylaws and rules of the Bureau except as follows:
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(a) Any applicant for newspaper membership whose paid circulation is at least 50 percent but less than 70 percent of the total distribution as defined in Bylaw 2.11 may be admitted to provisional membership on the affirmative vote of the Board of Directors. During the period of provisional membership the Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports shall indicate the provisional membership. Such provisional membership shall have all the privileges and obligations of a regular member. Such provisional member must agree, as a condition of admission to provisional membership, that the publication will qualify for regular
membership under the definition in Bylaw 2.11 not later than the period covered by the sixth regular six-months' Publisher's Statement filed by the publication following the date of admission to provisional membership, or that in the event the publication does not qualify for regular membership under the definition in Bylaw 2.11 as provided above, the provisional membership in the Audit Bureau of Circulations will thereupon terminate without further action. (b) Any newspaper that has maintained a paid circulation of 70 percent as defined in Bylaw 2.11 for at least one complete audit period and subsequently drops below 70 percent paid circulation in either a Publisher's Statement or an Audit Report but has at least 50 percent paid circulation, shall immediately upon notification in writing by the managing director,
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without the requirement of any action by the Board of Directors, cease to be a member and shall become a provisional member as defined in subparagraph (a) of this section. Such provisional member may qualify for regular membership by maintaining 70 percent of its total distribution as paid circulation for a period of not less than three months, but must qualify not later than the sixth regular six-months' Publisher's Statement. If the publication does not so qualify or if the publication drops below 50 percent paid circulation in either a Publisher's Statement or an Audit Report, membership in the Audit Bureau of Circulations, provisional or otherwise, shall thereupon terminate, without further action. (c) Any of the foregoing provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding if a former newspaper member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations reapplies for membership as a publisher member within a three year period after termination of the former membership, such former member shall be required to have a paid circulation as defined in Bylaw before being readmitted to membership. (d) The membership of a publisher member qualifying as an association publication under the rules and standards; or a publisher member which fulfills subscriptions to members of an association, organization or society under the rules and standards, shall be automatically
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terminated without further action, if full compliance with the applicable rules and standards is not effected on the date of commencement of the second membership year following the period covered by the initial audit. 2.14 Publisher's Statements-Filing and Certification Publisher members shall file with the Bureau for prompt release by the Bureau true statements of circulation in accordance with the ABC bylaws and rules for semi-annual or such other periods as may be determined by the Bureau. These statements must be signed by and certified by the senior circulation executive and by the publisher or an individual in executive management (e.g., President, CEO, etc.) as follows, "We certify that to the best of our knowledge all data set forth in this Publisher's Statement are true and report circulation in accordance with Audit Bureau of Circulations Bylaws and Rules." These Publisher's Statements shall be audited by the Bureau in accordance with its rules.
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2.15 Access to Records For the purpose of accomplishing the objects of the Bureau, the Bureau and its subsidiaries shall have the right of access to all books and records of publisher members deemed necessary by the Bureau. This right of access may be exercised at any time not only for the purpose of making an audit but also for the purpose of verifying a detail or details of a Publisher's Statement submitted to the Bureau, whether that Publisher's Statement has been released or not; or for the purpose of investigating the accuracy of an Audit Report already released; or for obtaining information which, in the opinion of the managing director, may be pertinent to a future Publisher's Statement or Audit Report. Publisher members shall also be responsible for maintaining the Bureau's right of access to records required for the purposes listed above that is maintained by other organizations used by the member to sell and distribute their publications. All such information so obtained, together with transcripts of any such books and records, work sheets, memoranda, communications to the Bureau and its subsidiaries, and other information in the possession of the Bureau and its subsidiaries pertaining to an Audit Report or Publisher's Statement, shall be confidential and
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used solely for the above purposes, and shall not be available or used for any other purpose except by authority of the Board of Directors. 2.16 Suspension of Publisher's Statement and Audit Report Service (a) No Publisher's Statement shall be released nor shall an audit be made when it has been determined by the auditors of the Bureau that the necessary books and records of a publisher member are not accessible to the auditors are incomplete or inaccurate that an audit cannot be made in accordance with the established auditing practices of the Bureau. (b) If, owing to the absence, incompleteness or inaccuracy of publisher's records, an audit cannot be made, or a Publisher's Statement filed, service on the publication shall be suspended and the publisher shall be required to sign an agreement substantially as follows: Owing to the condition of the circulation records of ..... making an audit (or filing of a Publisher's Statement) for the ..... months ended ..... impossible, we, the undersigned, agree to install and maintain records according to ABC requirement.
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We further agree to continue the payment of our dues during the period of suspension of service. It is our understanding that the Bureau will make an audit (provided proper records have been maintained for a period of at least ..... months ended with a calendar quarter) in accordance with an auditor's regular itinerary for the area. It is understood that, because an audit cannot be made at this time (or records are not available to permit the filing of a Publisher's Statement), all report service will be suspended until the Reinstatement Audit has been made and released. (Signed).........................................Publisher Should publisher refuse to sign this agreement, the publication shall be subject to such penalty as may be determined by the Board of Directors. (c) When service on a publication is suspended under the provisions of Paragraph (b) of this section, audit shall be attempted at the earliest date practicable under the terms of the agreement made by the publisher. If, at that time, audit is again impossible, the situation shall be reported to the Board of Directors for such action as the board may deem proper.
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2.17 Membership Certificates The Bureau shall issue a membership certificate to each member. The certificate shall show the date of admission to membership and in case of loss or destruction of such certificate a new certificate may be issued. When a membership is terminated the certificate shall be returned to the Bureau.
2.18 Waiver of Damages and Indemnification (a) Purpose and Scope. To maintain the economic well-being of the Bureau for the benefit of the membership as a whole, the following provisions shall constitute a condition of membership, shall bind each member (and successor) and shall be for the direct protection of the Bureau (including its directors, officers, employees and agents). (b) Limited Damage Waiver. Each member waives any right to assert claims for money damages against the Bureau or its subsidiaries for any action, negligence or breach relating to its performance or nonperformance of its activities or services, except that this waiver shall not apply to damages that are determined by final adjudication to have arisen from
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intentional misconduct on the part of the Bureau or its subsidiaries in verifying and disseminating erroneous circulation data or other data. In no event, without limiting the foregoing waiver, shall the Bureau or its subsidiaries be liable for damages which are punitive or multiplied. This provision shall be without prejudice to members seeking damages against other individual members or third parties, but members are expected to act with diligence to assert any grievances promptly so as to avoid incurring any substantial losses. (c) Member Suits. Members may assert claims or actions for nonmonetary relief against the Bureau or its subsidiaries, but each member shall exercise the rights and remedies provided in the bylaws and rules. A member shall not make or bring any claim, suit, or proceeding against the Bureau or its subsidiaries until after the member has exhausted all rights and remedies provided under the bylaws and rules. Any member who brings an action against the Bureau or its subsidiaries or whose actions cause action to be taken against the Bureau of its subsidiaries shall fully reimburse the Bureau and its subsidiaries for all costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) that the Bureau or its subsidiaries incurs, unless the member's action is successful in establishing a right to the relief sought.
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(d) Indemnification. A member shall fully reimburse and indemnify the Bureau and its subsidiaries for all costs and expenses the Bureau and its subsidiaries incurs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and all sums paid by way of settlement, judgment, or other disposition, if the Bureau or its subsidiaries are named as a defendant, are required to respond to discovery, or are otherwise required to participate in litigation, disputes, investigations, regulatory actions, regulatory compliance, or any other
proceedings relating to such member. (e) Enforcement. Any costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) incurred by the Bureau or its subsidiaries to successfully enforce these provisions against any member shall be reimbursed by the member of the Bureau. (f) Existing legal rights. The provisions of this bylaw shall supplement whatever rights and protections, including common law rights to contribution or indemnification, that the Bureau and its subsidiaries may otherwise have by separate agreement or operation of law, but in no event shall the Bureau and its subsidiaries be entitled to more than a full recovery in any claim for reimbursement for a loss, cost or expense.
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Article 3 - Dues and Service
3.1 Dues Obligation Members of each class shall pay dues computed on an annual basis as well as the cost of the services each member receives on the basis hereinafter specified in this Article. 3.2 Dues by Classification (a) Dues for each class of members shall be set by the Board of Directors, subject to the following provisions: (1) Advertisers Separate annual dues may be set for National and Regional Advertiser members. (2) Advertising Agencies Annual dues for Advertising Agency members, including media buying services, shall be based either on the total print media billings during the preceding calendar year, or an
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estimate of total print media billings in the year to which dues billings apply, at the option of the member. (3) Publishers Annual dues for publishers shall be payable quarterly in advance, with the exception of dues of newspapers audited every other year, in which case the dues shall be payable semiannually in advance, based on total distribution as shown in the latest released regular Publisher's Statement. (4) Newspapers Audited Every Other Year The yearly dues of newspapers audited every other year shall be one-half of the yearly dues for newspapers audited every year. (5) Weekly Newspaper Group Audit Plan The yearly dues of urban weekly newspaper members of a group audit plan shall be one-half of the yearly dues for weekly newspapers audited every year. Yearly dues of nonurban newspaper members of a group audit plan shall be one-quarter of the yearly dues for weekly newspapers audited every year.
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(6) Associate Members The annual dues of Associate Members may be set at different amounts, depending upon the nature of the activities of such members. (b) A schedule of dues shall be on file at the offices of the Audit Bureau. 3.3 Report Service and Audit Costs (a) Standard Report Service. Members shall receive reports and services, as follows: (1) Advertiser, Advertising Agency and Associate Members shall be entitled to receive service in accord with the schedule on file at the office of the Bureau. (2) Publisher Members shall receive report service provided for in B 4.10 of the rules. (3) Newspaper Supplements. Publications qualifying for associate membership as newspaper supplements shall receive semi-annual Newspaper Supplement Statements which shall report only a summary of the average total paid circulation and the average unpaid distribution of member newspapers of
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the Bureau with which the supplement is distributed and as reported in the distributing newspapers' Publisher's Statements. The records of newspaper supplement associate members shall be subject to audit at any time and to the extent determined necessary by the Bureau's management or the Board of Directors. (4) Consolidated Newspaper Groups for which consolidated newspaper statements are issued under C 6.2/C 106.2, shall receive the same service as that of publisher members under B 4.10. (b) Additional Report Services. In addition to the annual dues paid, each member of the Bureau may purchase reports and services at rates that may be established by the Bureau from time to time.A schedule of the cost of reports and services shall be on file at the office of the Bureau. (c) Audits. In addition to annual dues, each publisher member shall pay the cost of the audit and such other costs as may be required by the rules and standards of the Bureau. The hourly rates to be used in computing the costs of audits to publishers shall be established by the Bureau from time to time. An amount comparable to the cost of the last audit, based on
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the hourly field and house auditing rates in effect at the time of billing, shall be payable in advance, this amount to be applied against the cost of the next audit. For purposes of this payment, all publication members other than weekly newspapers audited every other year and weekly newspapers participating in a group audit plan shall be billed quarterly for advance audit cost deposits. Weekly newspapers audited every other year shall be billed semi-annually for advance audit cost deposits. Individual newspaper members of weekly newspaper group audit plans shall be billed semi-annually for advance audit cost deposits until they have been billed four times subsequent to the date of the most recently released audit. Such billings will be discontinued until the release of their next audit. Any difference between the amount paid and the actual cost of the audit will be adjusted after the audit is released and whenever a final audit is made following a resignation under Bylaws Article 9. Any direct auditing cost paid by the resigning member but not actually incurred in such final audit will be refunded to such resigning member, provided all other charges and dues have been paid to the Bureau.
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3.4 International Publications Publications outside the United States and Canada shall pay the extra cost involved over the amount of dues applicable to auditing service, prorated among the publications in the respective localities. 3.5 Publications Indebted to ABC No Publisher's Statement shall be released or audit made of a publication delinquent in dues or otherwise indebted to the Bureau. 3.6 Adjustment of Dues When, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, the regular dues from the members for any fiscal period are in excess of, or less than, the amount necessary for the operation of the Bureau, exclusive of the cost of services and audits, the Board of Directors may, for the succeeding fiscal period, revise the schedule of dues to meet more nearly the actual cost of the operation of the Bureau, taking into account the excess or deficiency, as the case may be, of dues previously paid.
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3.7 Ownership of Copyright and Indemnification (a) The members agree that title to all data which the members supply to the Audit Bureau of Circulations is assigned to and becomes the property of ABC. The Bureau shall obtain and retain ownership of its copyright and its copyrighted materials in whatever form
disseminated, or from whatever source the copyrighted data was originally acquired. (b) Any member furnishing circulation and other data to ABC, as is periodically required under the terms of being a member, or, to the Bureau's Data Bank, or any member being furnished, supplied or sold, with or without compensation, any data from the Bureau's Data Bank, is subject to the following provisions: (1) ABC obtains legal title to all data supplied by members by an automatic assignment of title to the data from each member to ABC. ABC shall retain legal title to all data furnished to members. (2) Members are granted the non-exclusive legal right to use any data or other publication protected or owned by ABC only in accordance with the terms set forth specifically in the Publicity Rules and only in accordance with all other bylaws, rules and policies. ABC shall
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retain the exclusive copyright to such data. The Publisher's Statements, Audit Reports and any report furnished to a member or members that is published by ABC incorporating data from any source shall bear at least the first sentence of the following inscription: Copyright, Year (of publication) Audit Bureau of Circulations. All rights reserved. No part of this report, whether in written form or on magnetic tape or transmitted electronically, may be reproduced, used or transmitted in any form or by any means, without express written permission of the publisher, Audit Bureau of Circulations, 900 North Meacham Road, Schaumburg, Illinois 60173-4968. (3) Members either supplying or receiving data agree to indemnify ABC against all loss, liability, damage and expense arising out of any claim of inaccuracy or error in such information, including but not limited to a claim by any other member reported in any form or by any other user of data from the ABC Data Bank.
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Article 4 - Board of Directors
4.1 Responsibility, Vacancies The control and management of the Bureau shall be vested in a Board of Directors consisting of 36 members who shall be individuals employed by and actively engaged in the operations of a member. These directors shall serve without salary and shall be elected for a term of two years and until the election and qualification of their successors. Any vacancy occurring may be filled by a majority vote of the directors present at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors. The director so elected or chosen to fill the vacancy shall serve until the next annual meeting of the Bureau. At such annual meeting the unexpired term, if any, of the vacant directorship shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of Bylaw 4.3. 4.2 Membership Representation For carrying out the objects of the Bureau, the different classes of voting members will be divided into the following divisions:
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Advertiser Division; Advertising Agency Division; Newspaper Publisher Division; Magazine Publisher Division; Farm Publication Publisher Division; and Business Publication Publisher Division The Board of Directors shall consist of representatives from each division as follows: Advertiser & Advertising Agency Divisions: 19 members
Advertiser Division at least eight members. Advertising Agency Division at least seven members.
There shall be a combined total of sixteen U.S. Advertiser and Advertising Agency member representatives and three Canadian Advertiser and/or Canadian Advertising Agency member representatives on the ABC Board of Directors.
Publisher Divisions: 17 members

Newspaper Publisher Division eight members. Magazine Publisher Division five U.S. members.
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Farm Publication Publisher Division one U.S. member. Business Publication Publisher Division two U.S. members. Magazine Publisher Division, Farm Publication Publisher Division, and Business Publication Publisher Division, jointly one member identified as the Canadian Periodical Publisher Director (who shall be a Canadian member of one of these three divisions).
For the purpose of choosing the eight newspaper directors to the Board of Directors, the following classes of newspaper membership shall exist: Class 1 All Newspapers published in Canada. Class 2 Daily Newspapers at-large published in the U.S. Class 3 Daily Newspapers at-large published in the U.S. Class 4 Daily Newspapers having 250,000 or more net paid circulation published in the U.S.
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Class 5 Daily Newspapers having from 100,000 to 250,000 net paid circulation published in the U.S. Class 6 Daily Newspapers having from 25,000 to 100,000 net paid circulation published in the U.S. Class 7 Daily Newspapers having less than 25,000 net paid circulation published in the U.S. Class 8 All Weekly Newspapers excluding newspapers published in Canada (newspapers published less than four times a week). One director shall be from each of the above classes. Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 directorship positions expire on even years; while class 5, 6, 7 and 8 directorship positions expire on odd years. 4.3 Nomination and Election
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(a) Nominations Generally. At or prior to the annual meeting, the members shall meet, and voting members shall nominate and elect candidates to succeed the directors described in Bylaw 4.2 whose respective terms will expire. (1) All nominations shall be made by the members of the respective divisions or special nomination groups in either one of the following ways: (a) In writing addressed to the secretary at Bureau headquarters and received not later than 60 days prior to the opening session of the annual meeting, stipulating the name of the nominee, the directorship for which the nomination is made, and bearing the signatures of the nominator and a seconder, both eligible to vote at the group or divisional meeting at which the vote on the nomination shall be taken. The secretary shall notify all members eligible to vote at each divisional meeting in the notice of the annual meeting to be sent to said members as hereinafter required by Bylaw 6.1 of the name of each nominee so nominated, along with biographical data of each nominee.
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(b) From the floor of the divisional or group meeting from members of the respective division or special nomination group present in person or by proxy and who are eligible to vote. All nominations shall stipulate the directorship for which the nomination is made. (2) All of the members of each respective membership division or group present in person or by proxy and eligible to vote, shall be eligible to nominate and vote on the election of all of the directors to be elected to represent their respective division or group, except: (b) Exceptions. (1) Class 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 Newspaper Publisher Directors constitute separate nominating groups within the Newspaper Division, and shall be eligible to nominate and to vote on the nomination of the directors representing their respective class. (2) Weekly Newspaper Director. Only weekly Newspaper Publisher members (Class 8), who shall constitute a separate nominating group within the Newspaper Division, shall be eligible to nominate and vote on the nomination of the Weekly Newspaper Publisher director. Weekly Newspaper Publisher members shall not be eligible to nominate or to vote on nominations of the other directors representing the Newspaper Publisher Division.
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(3) Canadian Advertiser, Advertising Agency, and Newspaper Publisher Directors. Only the Canadian members of the Advertiser, Advertising Agency and Newspaper Publisher Divisions, respectively, who shall constitute separate nominating groups within each of their respective divisions, shall be eligible to nominate and vote on the nomination of the Canadian directors representing their respective divisions. Canadian Advertiser, Advertising Agency and Newspaper Publisher members shall not be eligible to nominate or vote on the nomination of the other directors representing their respective divisions. (4) Canadian Periodical Publisher Director. Only the Canadian members of the Magazine Publisher Division, Farm Publication Publisher Division and Business Publication Publisher Division, who shall collectively constitute a separate nominating group, shall be eligible to nominate and vote on the nomination of the Canadian director to represent those divisions jointly who shall be referred to as the Canadian Periodical Publisher director. The Canadian members of the Magazine Publisher Division, Farm Publication Publisher Division and Business Publication Publisher Division shall not be eligible to nominate or vote on the nomination of any other directors.
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(c) Designated Election. Each director's position to be elected shall be identified by the secretary as a particular directorship. Each nomination made by the membership shall indicate the directorship for which the nomination is placed. Elections for each directorship shall be held between only those candidates nominated for the particular directorship. (d) Election Standard. The candidate or candidates nominated as hereinabove provided receiving the highest number of votes from the members eligible to vote, shall be declared the elected representative of each respective division or separate nominating group. 4.4 Powers The Board of Directors shall have the power to make, publish and enforce such rules and standards as they may deem necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Bureau. Such rules and standards shall be in full force and effect until repealed, modified, altered or amended by the Board of Directors. Any such rule or standard may also be repealed, modified, altered or amended by a majority of the members present in person or by proxy, by written ballot, at any regular meeting of the members of the Audit Bureau of Circulations or at any special meeting called for that purpose, provided that the proposed
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repeal, modification, alteration or amendment is set forth in the notice of the meeting, sent to all members as required by Bylaws 6.1 and 6.7. 4.5 Meetings, Quorum, Attendance The annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held immediately following the adjournment of the annual meeting of the members. Regular and special meetings of the board shall be held upon the call of the chairman of the board or of any five members of the Board of Directors. Ten days notice of the time and place shall be given in writing by the secretary to all directors of the holding of any board meeting. A majority of all members of the board shall constitute a quorum. Any director who shall fail to attend at least two meetings during any 12-month period following election to the board shall be dropped from membership on the board by board action unless the director petitions the board for an exception to the application of this bylaw and such petition for an exception is approved by the board. Any director who shall cease to be employed by and actively engaged in the operations of a member, shall be dropped from membership on the board by board action. Directors' meetings, either regular or special, may be held within or without the State of Illinois.
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4.6 Committees The Board of Directors shall create such committees as may be necessary for carrying on the work and accomplishing the objects of the bureau, the members of such committees and chair thereof to be appointed by the chair of the board subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. The members of any special investigation committee, as referred to in Bylaw 4.7, shall be appointed and the chair thereof designated by the chair of the board 4.7 Special Investigation (a) When and as a special investigation of the circulation covered by a Publisher's Statement or an Audit Report is requested by a member or when the managing director is of the opinion that a special investigation of the circulation covered by a Publisher's Statement or Audit Report is advisable or necessary, then and in either of such events it shall be the duty of the managing director to advise the chair of the board that such request has been made or that such special investigation is advisable or necessary. The chair of the board shall forthwith appoint a committee to be designated as a special investigation committee consisting of three members. The chair of the committee shall be a member of the Board of Directors and
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the other two may be selected from either the Board of Directors or from the membership outside the Board of Directors. It shall be the duty of such committee to consult with and advise the managing director as to whether or not in any particular case a special investigation shall be made and to fix and determine the terms and conditions under which it shall be made. (b) Each publication which requests an investigation shall make an advance deposit against the cost of the special investigation, in the amount determined by the special investigation committee. (c) The direct and indirect costs of the special investigation shall be allocated as follows: (1) If the deductions made are less than 1% of the publication(s) on which the investigation is being requested, the publication(s) that requested the investigation shall bear the entire cost. (2) If the deductions made are more than 1% but less than 3% on this publication(s) on which the investigation is being requested, the publication(s) that requested the
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investigation shall bear 50% of the audit cost of the other publication(s) plus the entire cost of their own audit. (3) If the deductions made are 3% or more on the publication(s) on which the investigation is being requested and 3% or more on the publication(s) that made the request, each publication will be charged for the audit hours required on the investigation of their respective publication(s). (4) If the deductions made are 3% or more on the publication(s) on which the investigation is being requested and less than 1% on the publication(s) that made the request, the publication(s) on which the investigation was first requested shall bear the entire cost. (5) If the deductions made are 3% or more on the publication(s) on which the investigation is being requested and between 1% and 3% on the publication(s) that made the request, the publication(s) on which the investigation was first requested shall bear 50% of the audit cost of the other publication(s) plus the entire cost of their own audit. (d) No publicity shall be given to a special investigation either by the publication(s) being investigated or the Bureau until the special investigation is completed and the results
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issued either in the form of an Audit Report and/or Publisher's Statement at which time the provisions of Chapter A, Publicity Rules shall apply. (e) Upon completion of the special investigation, the managing director shall make a report thereon to the Board of Directors. 4.8 Indemnification (a) The Bureau shall indemnify any person who was or is a party, or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the Bureau) by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Bureau, or who is or was serving at the request of the Bureau as a director, officer, employee or agent of another Bureau, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, if such person acted in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the Bureau, and, with respect to
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any criminal action or proceeding, such person had no reasonable cause to believe the subject conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that a person did not act in good faith and in a manner which reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Bureau, and with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the subject conduct was unlawful. (b) The Bureau shall indemnify any person who was or is a party, or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the Bureau to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Bureau, or is or was serving at the request of the Bureau as a director, officer, employee or agent of another Bureau, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit, if such person acted in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the Bureau, and except that no indemnification
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shall be made with respect to any claim, issue or matter as to which such person has been adjudged to have been liable for negligence or misconduct in the performance of duty to the Bureau, unless, and only to the extent that the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability, but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses as the court shall deem proper. (c) To the extent that a director, officer, employee or agent of the Bureau has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in Bylaw 4.8(a) and (b), or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred in connection therewith. (d) Any indemnification under Bylaw 4.8(a) and (b) (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the Bureau only as authorized in the specific case, upon a determination that indemnification of the director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because such person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in Bylaw 4.8(a) and (b). Such determination shall be made: a) by the Board of Directors by a majority vote of
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a quorum consisting of directors who were not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, or; b) if such a quorum is not obtainable, or, even if obtainable, if a quorum of disinterested directors so directs, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion. (e) Expenses incurred in defending a civil or criminal action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the Bureau in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding, as authorized by the Board of Directors in the specific case, upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the director, officer, employee or agent to repay such amount, unless it shall ultimately be determined that such person is entitled to be indemnified by the Bureau as authorized by this Bylaw 4.8. Such expenses (including attorney's fees) incurred by former directors and officers or other employees and agents may be so paid on such terms and conditions, if any, that the Board of Directors deems appropriate. (f) The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by or granted under the other sections of this Bylaw 4.8 shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any Bylaw, agreement, vote of disinterested directors, or otherwise, both as to action in such person's official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office.
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(g) The Bureau shall have the power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Bureau, or who is or was serving at the request of the Bureau as a director, officer, employee or agent of another Bureau, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against any liability asserted against such person and incurred in any such capacity, or arising out of such person's status as such, whether or not the Bureau would have the power to indemnify against such liability under the provisions of this Bylaw 4.8. (h) If the Bureau has paid indemnity or has advanced expenses to a director, officer, employee or agent, the Bureau shall report the indemnification or advance in writing to the Board of Directors with or before the notice of the next Board of Directors' meeting.
Article 5 - Officers
5.1 Board Officers (a) The officers of the Bureau shall consist of a chair of the board, four vice chairs (who may at the option of the board be designated first, second, third and fourth vice chair respectively), a secretary and a treasurer. One of the vice chairs shall be a representative of
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a publisher division. The other three vice chairs shall be representatives of either the advertiser division or advertising agency division. These officers shall be elected by the Board of Directors from the members of the Board of Directors and shall hold office for a period of one year and until the election and qualification of their successors. (b) No person shall be elected chair of the board who is not employed by or actively engaged in the operation of an advertiser or advertising agency member. The chair shall not serve for more than two consecutive terms. (c) The Board of Directors shall elect a president who shall serve as chief executive and managing director of the Bureau; and also, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, one or more vice presidents whose function shall be determined by the Board of Directors. The president and vice presidents shall not be members of the Board of Directors. The president shall be responsible to the Board of Directors. The election of the president and the vice presidents, if any, shall be for a term of not more than 3 years or such shorter term as may be fixed for a nonprofit corporation by the laws of the State of Illinois from time to time in effect.
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(d) The Board of Directors shall elect the President and Managing Director and any salaried officers and determine the term for which the individuals are elected. 5.2 Chair of the Board (a) The chair of the board shall be the presiding officer at all meetings of the Bureau and of the Board of Directors. The chair shall appoint the members of such committees, designating the chairs thereof, as may be created by the Board of Directors for carrying on the work and accomplishing the objects of the Bureau, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors, and shall also be an ex officio member without vote, of all committees. The chair of the board shall also have the responsibility for calling regular and special meetings of the Board of Directors. (b) In the absence or incapacity of the chair of the board, the vice chairs, in their successive order, shall perform the chairman's duties, and shall also perform such other special duties as may from time to time be delegated to them by the Board of Directors.
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5.3 Secretary The secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of the Bureau and of the Board of Directors and of any of the committees having authority of the Board of Directors.
5.4 Treasurer The treasurer shall supervise the accounts of the Bureau, receive all monies, pay bills when properly approved and preserve vouchers for all payments. The treasurer shall render a report at the annual meeting of the Bureau and such other reports as may be required from time to time by the Board of Directors. 5.5 President and Managing Director (a) The president in the capacity of managing director, and hereinafter referred to in this section and in the rules as the ''managing director," shall, subject only to the general supervision of the Board of Directors, be charged with the responsibility for directing all operations of the Bureau required for carrying on the work and accomplishing the objects of the Bureau as authorized by the Board of Directors. He/she may, subject to the approval of
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the Board of Directors, appoint and designate two assistant managing directors and define their duties and fix their compensation. (b) It shall be the duty and responsibility of the managing director to interpret and enforce the rules and standards fixed from time to time by the Board of Directors for the members of the Bureau, to investigate charges or accusations against members under Article 7 of the bylaws, and to conduct the special investigations and make reports and recommendations thereon as provided in Bylaw 6.7. He/she shall make all necessary contracts on behalf of the Bureau subject to the approval of the Board of Directors. (c) He/she shall have the authority to employ, discharge, and fix the compensation of such employees as may be reasonably required for carrying on the general operations of the Bureau. He/she may appoint and employ such assistants under such designations as he may deem advisable and fix their compensation. He/she shall attend all regular and special meetings of the Board of Directors, and make a report annually to the Board of Directors, or more frequently if required by them, setting forth the progress and results of the operations under his charge, together with suggestions tending to improve the work of the Bureau.
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(d) On behalf of the secretary and under his/her supervision the managing director shall keep and maintain at the registered office of the Bureau a record giving the names and addresses of the members entitled to vote and in the absence of the secretary, the managing director, the assistant managing director, or such individual on his staff as may be designated by him, shall perform the duties of acting secretary at regular or special meetings of the Board of Directors or of the membership, or at such other times as may be required for carrying on the work of the Bureau. (e) The managing director shall also perform such other duties as the Board of Directors may require and he shall be responsible to the Board of Directors for all matters that may be necessary for the proper operation of the Bureau.
5.6 Bonding Officers or Employees Such officers or employees as may be designated by the Board of Directors may be bonded for such sums as may be determined by the Board of Directors, the premiums on such bonds to be paid by the Bureau.
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5.7 Removal from Office Any officer may be removed from office by affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the Board of Directors whenever in their judgment the best interests of the corporation will be served thereby. The removal of an officer shall be without prejudice to the contract rights, if any, of the officer so removed.
Article 6 - Membership Meetings

6.1 Time and Place of Annual Meeting The annual meeting of the members of the Bureau shall be held at a time and place in the United States or Canada as determined by the Board of Directors. Notice in writing shall be given by the secretary to all members not less than 10 days nor more than 40 days prior to the date of such meeting. 6.2 Votes, Proxies (a) For purposes of voting at annual or special meetings of the members of the Bureau, members may cast their vote or votes on each proposition, nomination or election brought
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before any sessions of the meeting, or before the divisional meeting of the membership division to which the member is designated. There shall be no cumulative voting. Each proposition or directorship to be elected may receive only those votes to which the member would be entitled if only one proposition or directorship were being voted upon. (b) Each national advertiser member, each advertising agency member and each publisher member (except provisional publisher members) shall have one vote, except newspaper publisher members audited every other year and the individual newspapers participating in a weekly newspaper group audit plan, who shall have a fractional vote of one-half; each regional advertiser member shall have a fractional vote of one-half. Votes may be cast in person or by proxy. Associate members do not have voting rights. (c) A Credentials Committee shall be selected by the President and Managing Director and approved by the Chair of the ABC Board of Directors. The Credentials Committee shall consist of at least five members, one of whom shall be designated as chair, and three members shall constitute a quorum. This committee will be charged with the duty of receiving and passing upon the credentials and proxies of members for the annual meeting and shall report to the chair of the meeting the number of votes present in person and by
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proxy eligible to vote at the annual meeting and the respective divisional meetings. The committee may act upon the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present at any meeting duly called at which a quorum is present. Information contained in the proxies will be deemed confidential until the convening of the respective meetings unless otherwise authorized by the Board of Directors. When more than one individual is named in a proxy, the decision of the individual first designated on the proxy and present at the meeting shall control. (d) Proxies must be filed at the office of the managing director not later than the close of business on the Friday of the week preceding the first day of the meeting at which they are to be voted. The Credentials Committee shall recognize no proxies filed after that time. (e) The proxy of a member must be executed by an officer of the corporation/member or publisher or member representative of such member. Substitution of a recorded proxy signed by the original proxy or one of them, if more than one, and identifying the original proxy, must be filed with the managing director or his representative either at his office or at the place of the annual meeting not later than noon on the first day of the meeting at which such proxy is to be voted.
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(f) The proxy of each division or group member eligible to vote on the election of its group or division's directors may be designated by the eligible member to be cast in favor of, or against, or left blank without designation, one of the eligible nominees, whose names have been placed in nomination for each directorship position to be elected in accordance with the bylaws. (g) Any members in arrears for more than one quarter's dues or otherwise in arrears of indebtedness to the Bureau, shall not have the right to vote in person or by proxy at any regular or special meeting of the Bureau until such arrearage of dues or indebtedness is paid. 6.3 Quorum At any meeting of the Bureau members holding one-tenth of the full votes entitled to be cast, represented in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and a majority vote shall decide all questions, unless otherwise provided by the bylaws.
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6.4 Resolutions All resolutions must be submitted in writing to the chair before being put to vote. 6.5 Reports At the annual meeting the chair of the board shall report upon the activities of the Bureau and the treasurer shall submit a financial report. 6.6 Special Meetings Special meetings of the Bureau may be called by the chair of the board or by the Board of Directors. A special meeting may also be called by members having one-twentieth of the full votes entitled to be cast at such meeting. Special meetings shall be held at a place to be designated by the Board of Directors. Notice of the date and purpose of such meeting shall be sent by the secretary to all members at least 10 days prior to the date of such meeting. 6.7 Procedures Except as expressly provided herein, the procedure at all meetings of the Bureau, divisional meetings and committee meetings, shall be governed by ''Robert's Rules of Order."
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Article 7 - Offenses and Punishment
7.1 Vote Required for Probation, Sanctions, Censure, or Expulsion The penalties of probation, sanction, censure, or expulsion may be imposed by the affirmative vote of a majority of all members of the Board of Directors. 7.2 Offenses Should any member be found by the Board of Directors to have committed any of the following offenses, the Board must consider whether to invoke any of the provisions of this Bylaw with regard to the imposition of probation, sanctions, censure, or expulsion: (a) failing to file Publisher's Statements as required by the rules; (b) filing a false or fraudulent Publisher's Statement with the Bureau; (c) refusing to allow an auditor of the Bureau full access at any time to all records as provided by the bylaws; (d) failing to pay dues or other indebtedness as required by the bylaws;
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(e) violating any bylaw or rule of the Bureau; (f) violating any agreement made with the Bureau or its subsidiaries; (g) dishonest, fraudulent or dishonorable conduct in dealings with the Bureau or its subsidiaries; (h) any act deemed by the Board of Directors to be detrimental to the interests or welfare of the Bureau or its subsidiaries; such member may be censured, placed on probation or expelled by the Board of Directors; (i) release of an audit of a daily newspaper with circulation of 25,000 or more, or the release of two consecutive audits of weekly newspapers, daily newspapers with less than 25,000 circulation and periodicals wherein the auditor adjusted the Publisher's Statement claims of circulation by 5% or more. 7.3 Charges by a Member (a) Any member may file with the Board of Directors charges against any other member. Charges so filed shall be in writing; they shall specify the offense with reasonable detail and
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shall be signed by the person or persons making the charge or charges. A copy of such charge or charges shall be served by the managing director upon the accused member, either personally or by leaving the same at the member's business address as registered with the Bureau, during business hours or by mailing it to said members at said registered business address. (b) Said member shall have 10 days from the date of such service to answer the same or such further time as the board in its discretion may deem proper. The answer shall be in writing, signed by the accused member, and filed with the managing director. A copy of said letter shall be sent to the member making the charges. (c) Upon the answers being filed, or if the accused shall refuse or neglect to make answer as hereinbefore required, the board shall, at a regular or special meeting subsequent to the close of the 10-day period in which the answer is due, proceed to consider the charge or charges. Reasonable notice of such meeting shall be sent to the accused member; who shall be entitled to be personally present thereat and shall be permitted to examine and crossexamine all the witnesses produced before the board and also to present such testimony defense or explanation as the member may deem proper. After hearing all the witnesses and
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the member accused, if the member desires to be heard, the board shall determine whether or not the accused member has committed the offense or offenses charged. If it determines that the accused has committed the offense or offenses charged, the board may censure, place on probation or expel such member. 7.4 Charges by the Managing Director If at any time the managing director shall have reason to suspect that any member has committed an offense, as defined in Bylaw 7.2, and no action has been taken by any member in accordance with Bylaw 7.3, the managing director shall investigate whether or not there is just ground for such suspicion. If there is just ground for such suspicion, the managing director is authorized to file with the board a written accusation against the suspected member stating specifically the acts or omissions charged. A copy of said accusation shall be served upon such member, who shall be required to answer and a hearing shall be held as provided in Bylaw 7.3.
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7.5 Probation When any member shall have been found by the Board of Directors to have committed an offense as defined in Bylaw 7.2, and placed on probation, the term of probation shall be fixed by the Board of Directors. All Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports released after the date such member is placed on probation and during the term of probation shall contain in a prominent place thereon a statement that said member is on probation. The statement and the form in which it is made is to be determined by management and shall set forth the designated sections of the bylaws or rules against which offense has been committed and the term for which probation has been fixed. During any period of probation, any use of the ABC insigne must be accompanied by a statement that the publication is on probation. 7.6 Sanctions When any member shall have been found by the Board of Directors to have committed an offense, as defined by Bylaw 7.2, the Board of Directors may impose any one or more of the following sanctions:
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(a) a notice of application of sanctions may be distributed to the entire membership, indicating the sanctions imposed by the Board of Directors. (b) circulation data may be excluded from the ABC FAS-FAX report for a period of one year. (c) the publication may be required to undergo six-month audits for a period of two years following the imposition of sanctions. (d) the first audit to be released following the imposition of sanctions may be accompanied by a 'resumption of report services' notice, and, if applicable, such notice may make reference to the status of previously released Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports. (e) a cash fine may be levied against the member. (f) the member may be required to submit a plan for corrective action, to be reviewed by ABC staff, and approved by the Board of Directors.
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7.7 Censure When any member shall have been found by the Board of Directors to have committed an offense, as defined by Bylaw 7.2, and is censured the following will occur: (a) a notice of suspension of report services will be distributed to the entire membership, indicating that the member is censured. (b) circulation data for a censured member will be excluded from the ABC FAS-FAX report for a period of one year immediately following the vote to censure. (c) all censured publications must undergo six-month audits for a period of two years following the vote to censure. (d) the first audit to be released following the vote to censure will be accompanied by a 'resumption of report services' notice, and, if applicable, such notice may make reference to the status of previously released Publisher's Statements and Audit Reports. (e) a cash fine may be levied against the member.
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(f) the member will be required to submit a plan for corrective action, to be reviewed by ABC staff, and approved by the Board of Directors. 7.8 Expulsion When any member shall have been found by the Board of Directors to have committed an offense, as defined in Bylaw 7.2, and expelled, a favorable vote of a majority of all members of the Board of Directors shall be required to readmit an expelled member. An expelled member shall not be readmitted to membership until all indebtedness to the Bureau existing at the time of the expulsion is paid; a readmission fee, to be fixed by the Board of Directors in each case, shall be required. 7.9 Appeal of Board Decisions Any member who has been censured, placed on probation or expelled by the Board of Directors may appeal the decision to the membership at the next meeting thereof. The decision of the Board of Directors shall remain in full force and effect until reversed by the membership.
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Article 8 - Appeals
8.1 Appeal to Board of Directors Any member shall have the right to appeal to the Board of Directors any decision of the managing director interpreting or enforcing the rules and standards fixed from time to time by the Board of Directors for the members of the Bureau and the bylaws or from any action by the management affecting such member. 8.2 Procedure An appeal from a decision by the managing director or from any action by the management must be filed in writing at the headquarters office of the Bureau not less than 10 days before the meeting of the Board of Directors at which the appeal is to be considered and the facts in support of the appeal must be embodied in the communication submitted by the member.
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Article 9 - Resignations
9.1 Publisher A publisher member may tender resignation from the Bureau by giving notice of such intention to the Bureau in writing prior to the end of the regular statement period covered by the class of membership. Such resignation shall be accepted, provided all indebtedness to the Bureau is paid in full; and an audit of all released Publisher's Statements subsequent to the last released Audit Report is completed. If a resigning member complies with all requirements stated above, or if a ''Termination Audit" has not been started within three months following the end of the Publisher's Statement period covered by the resignation for any reason other than those which may be caused by acts or omissions of the resigning member, and if all charges and dues have been paid, the resignation shall automatically take effect and all amounts previously paid by said resigning member as advance audit costs shall be adjusted between the resigning member and the Bureau.
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If a publisher does not comply with the resignation requirements of this section, the Board of Directors may waive compliance of the requirements or may, pursuant to the provisions of Article 7 of the bylaws, terminate the membership of the publication. If an audit covering the publication's most recently released Publisher's Statement has not been completed and an Audit Report released, all amounts previously paid by said resigning member as dues and advance audit costs may be retained by the Bureau. 9.2 Non-Publisher A member, other than a publication member, may resign by giving the Bureau notice, in writing, of such intention. Such resignation shall be accepted provided dues for the quarter during which the resignation is tendered and all other indebtedness to the Bureau are paid in full. 9.3 Release of Right to Assets Termination of membership, for any cause whatsoever, shall operate as a release of all right or title to or interest in the property and assets of the Bureau.
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9.4 Reinstatement of Membership A member, whose membership is terminated by the Board of Directors, or for any other reason, or by resignation, may be reinstated upon such conditions as may be fixed by the Board of Directors.
Article 10 - Exceptions
10.1 To Bylaws and Rules The Board of Directors may at any time and from time to time grant a member an exception to the rules, standards or bylaws of the Bureau. Such exceptions may be granted when in the opinion of the Board it would be equitable considering the circumstances of the requesting member and other members who are similarly situated or when, in the opinion of the Board, the circumstances peculiar to the requesting member are such that enforcing the rule, standard or bylaw will not accomplish the intended purpose or will work a substantial hardship on the requesting member.
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10.2 Procedure A request for an exception to the rules, standards or bylaws of the Bureau must be filed in writing by the requesting member at the headquarters of the Bureau not less than 14 business days before the meeting of the Board of Directors at which the request is to be considered, and shall include facts and circumstances supporting the request. The request must be signed by the publisher or an individual in executive management (e.g., president, CEO, etc.) other than the circulation executive.
10.3 Vote Required An affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the directors then present and voting on the resolution at the Board meeting at which it is presented shall be required to grant any requested exception to the bylaws, rules or standards of the corporation.
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Article 11 - Amendments
11.1 Bylaws in Force These bylaws shall be and remain in full force and effect unless repealed or amended by the Board of Directors. 11.2 Change in Bylaws and Rules No change in the bylaws or rules shall be adopted by the Board of Directors at the meeting at which the change is first proposed, except upon unanimous consent of the members of the board present. From time-to-time technical corrections or other edits to bylaws or rules may become necessary so as to correct a printing error, amplify, clarify, or otherwise bring rules in conformance with current industry terms and vernacular. In these cases ABC staff is authorized to amend Bureau rules provided that the spirit or intent of the rule is not altered and the ABC Board of Directors is given 30 days notice of such changes.
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Article 12 - Applicable Law
12.1 Choice of Law The laws of the State of Illinois shall govern the validity, interpretation, construction and effect of any and all bylaws and rules of the Bureau. Any litigation between the Bureau and its members shall be governed by the laws of the State of Illinois. 12.2 Choice of Forum Any and all claims or suits involving the Bureau shall be adjudicated in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, or the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Each member consents to and submits to the jurisdiction of these courts for this purpose. 12.3 Severability If any term or provision of these bylaws is held to be void or unenforceable, such term or provision, at the option of the Bureau, shall be deemed omitted and these bylaws with such terms or provision omitted shall remain in full force and effect.
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12.4 Compliance with Law All members shall have exclusive responsibility to abide by all national, federal, state, provincial and any other governing law. No Bureau bylaw, rule, policy, or practice shall be construed as requiring a member to take any action that conflicts with any governing law. The Bureau shall have no obligation to issue statements of circulation data or other data that do not comply with the governing laws and the Bureau's bylaws, rules, policies and practices.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
I have referred the following secondary sources have been used by me as dated between 1 December, 2009 till 31 December, 2009 for the successful completion
st st
of this project. They are as follows:
Websites
www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.yahoo.com
___________________________
___________________________
Abhilasha Yadav
Roll No.49
Dr. C V Hari Narayan

(Professor-in-charge)
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Audit Bureau of Circulation

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News Media Management

A GUIDE TO ABC AUDIT