The ABC Multi-Platform numbers are in for March and continue the narrative of a declining print media. But that’s not the whole story.

Print is down year-on-year. All the broadsheets, with the exception of The Financial Times (-6.41 per cent) report double digit percentage falls year-on-year. But the decline is due at least in part to newspapers stripping out bulk distribution (deals where papers are distributed free to customers at outlets such as airlines and hotels).

Here’s Roy Greenslade writing in the Guardian:

“Are there reasons to be cheerful about another set of newspaper circulation statistics that, at face value, look as depressing as ever? Well, one definite plus is that the figures are getting “cleaner” by the month. The gradual retreat by several titles from the use of bulk sales is one of the major causes of apparently bad year-on-year falls.”

News International has pulled its online titles (thesun.co.uk and thetimes.co.uk) from the scrutiny of the auditor ahead of the launch of thetimes.co.uk paywall in June.

MailOnline pursuing its celebrity-Google-baiting agenda is the fastest growing online property, and largest by audience, followed by guardian.co.uk.

Here’s the detail.

Table: National newspapers – print

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Table 2: National newspapers – online

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Table 3: Sunday newspapers – print