A few years ago the New Statesman withdrew from having circulation for the print edition independently audited by the industry’s Audit Bureau of Circulation. This caused a lot of raised eyebrows in the trade. Guido has managed to get his hands on the newsstand sales figures for the two years up until March this year. The numbers are dire.

The data above says it all, the sales decline has continued, some weeks the New Statesman sells less than 4,000 copies. By way of comparison Guido’s blog usually has 4,000 readers a day before the Today show has a finished in the morning. This figure does not include subscribers, Guido suspects that may not even number into five figures.

Online nothing has changed since 2009, Guido still has comfortably more online readers than the Staggers. Incidentally tracking data suggests that a fair number of Staggers readers are Guido readers, this site is the ninth most visited site by Staggers readers – despite the magazine’s policy of not linking to this site.

The relative decline of the Staggers versus the Speccie suggests that it is not just because the printed magazine business is in trouble. The Speccie has a paywall yet still has more online visitors than the Staggers, the Speccie sells an online edition, the Statesman does not.

The problems at the magazine are manifold, readers are increasingly unwilling to pay for comment unless it done with panache, yet they got rid of the flamboyant Dan Hodges. There is a distinct lack of news in the magazine, Labour HQ has just experienced a near mutiny, something that would be of great interest to the natural readership of the Staggers and would in the past have been covered in forensic detail. Nothing appeared in the magazine. The only “news” in the magazine that you have not read elsewhere is usually found in Kevin Maguire’s gossip diary.

While mentioning his race-baiting, tax avoidance and warning that if he wins he will be on “probation”, the Guardian has held its snooty nose and endorsed Ken. In an attempt to give some lukewarm covering fire today they claim that Boris has been using campaign office space donated by Lycamobile who have not paid corporation tax – a brave line of attack given Ken’s voodoo accounting.  Lycamobile did not pay tax because they haven’t made any profits yet. HRMC don’t tax companies on their losses. Which is lucky for the Guardian…

Guardian News & Media, which publishes the Guardian, doesn’t pay tax because it makes a loss every year. GNM is subsidised by its investment funds and its joint-ownership of AutoTrader. The joint-ownership is with, of course, a private equity firm. Some may consider the Guardian, on this basis, to be appalling hypocrites…

Once is chance, twice coincidence, but three times just looks like poor form from the FT’s Education Correspondent Chris Cook. Once again a story that is awkward for his proprietor – Pearson “the world’s leading learning company”- has failed to make the pages of the pink ‘un. After years of denials, Ofqual have finally ruled that exams are getting easier – a pretty big story it seems:

• Sun: GCSE is too easy
• Independent: Exams are easier now, report finds
• Mirrror: Exams now easier than 10 years ago
• Telegraph: Exam system ‘undermined after decade of dumbing down’
• Mail: The proof that exams really have got easier
• Guardian: A-level exams have become easier, says regulator
• Times: A-levels have got easier, says exam chief

And nothing in the FT. Surely that pious and righteous bastion of journalistic integrity would not suppress the truth because of its commercial interests?

On the specific point of misleading the DCMS committee James Murdoch is cleared. The report, on the basis of party political split vote, does however claim that Rupert Murdoch is “not a fit person” to exercise stewardship of a major international company and that James Murdoch showed “wilful ignorance” of the extent of phone hacking during 2009 and 2010. Tory members of the committee are basically saying Watson went over the top and they could not give  unanimous backing to the report.

Download the full report here.

Reports suggest that Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce will enter their pleas to charges of perverting the course of justice on June 1.

Meanwhile Chris Huhne’s bisexual lover – who is suing over invasion of privacy – admitted giving newspapers tips about the sex lives of Hollywood stars and senior politicians. Carina Trimingham confessed in the High Court last week to being the source of an article describing the ‘sexual antics’ of Oscar winner Russell Crowe with a BBC researcher at a bar. She also sold a diary story about the current Deputy Prime Minister, which she described as ‘Nick Clegg’s 18 shags story’. Carina also admitted that she had sent the infamous ‘Calamity Clegg’ email mocking Nick Clegg’s political skills while Chris Huhne’s press officer during the 2007 Lib Dem leadership contest. A bit rich of her to complain about invasions of privacy…

You could already be gossiping about Vicky Pryce and Denis MacShane if you had got your Daily Star Sunday yesterday…

You would already know where the latest slap for Lansley’s plain packaging has come from and which hot blonde Tory MP is making wives nervous. And much more too…

Guido’s Sunday column is now online here… 

In the 50p #DailyStarSunday column; Vicky Pryce & Denis MacShane, that Hunt, crazy Lansley and some popular blondes.—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) April 29, 2012

Osborne, Galloway, Seb Coe and more on that nasty race to become Mayor of Birmingham.

Half a million people read it in print yesterday, and you can now read the blog’s Sunday column online here…

Not too late to whip down to the newsagents to pick up a copy of the Daily Star Sunday, still only 50p.

Don’t miss it…

In your 50p #DailyStarSunday Cor! @MASieghart is the Star page 9 girl, some Brum dirty tricks and analysis of international monetary policy.—
Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) April 22, 2012

Guido understands that Johann Hari’s close friend, protégé and replacement at the Indy “Laurie Penny” could be about to get caught up in a similar quote fabrication scandal. With the Indy’s terrible handling of one star’s demise, Guido does not imagine that their new £25,000 per annum columnist could, or would, receive the same leniency afforded to Hari.

I'm just getting in first on this hashtag, #pennygate – be back tomoro morning.—
Brian Whelan (@brianwhelanhack) April 16, 2012

Hari slayer Brian Whelan is up to something, but many have long suspected that the “voice of a generation” was actually listening to voices in her head. Take this correction to her infamous Guardian article about her alleged time spent taking her clothes off on a stage:

“This article was amended on 8 July 2009. Changes were made to the second paragraph to make clear that the author was not persuaded by the managers of a local burlesque troupe to get into stripping, but did so voluntarily. The Burlesque troupe, with which the author performed, created a new format for the show after the Edinburgh 2005 run, not before, as the article originally suggested. The sentence beginning “Peeling off my fluffy underwear…” was moved from the end of the relevant paragraph to the beginning to correct this impression.” The words “after I left” were added before “as my troupe became more successful” to make clear that Laurie Penny did not perform in the new show.”

If you read the article without the words “after I left”, it is a riveting personal read and once added it becomes clear that the second half is almost totally embellished. Guido is confident that the Indy would have done a full and thorough check up of their recent hire in the wake of the Hari scandal. Once was bad enough, but twice…

UPDATE:

Laurie gets in touch to state that she's not on £25k at the Indy but a mere 22. Happy to correct the record.—
Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) April 17, 2012