Super Express circulation down as newspapers generally show poor sales

In the first quarter of this year, sales of the biggest selling Polish tabloid "Super Express" (SE) fell by over 10% and circulation is almost 40,000 down compared to the same period of last year. Not only is this daily in trouble, but the whole daily sector shrunk in the first half of this year by over 6%. Former chief and co-designer of the success of SE blames the state of the national economy for the paper's poor sales situation. SE price increase, by zl.0.40 since the beginning of the year 2000, due to growing number of pages, supplements, has increased costs and has not helped the situation. The paper's publisher, Media Express, owned by the Swedish Bonnier concern, remains clam; its sales director Marek Lasota hopes for improvement and in the next financial year. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 34), M.T.