With a declining circulation, a foray into niche publications, and increasing focus on the internet, the Democrat and Chronicle is a perfect example of a national trend among metropolitan dailies.

Nationwide, daily newspaper circulation fell more than 2 percent on weekdays and 3 percent for Sunday papers, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

But the D&C's circulation dropped more than the national average. In the past year, the paper has seen a 3.6 percent drop in Monday-through-Friday circulation, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation report. In 2006, that circulation was 160,291; this year, it is 154,599. Since 2000, when the circulation was 174,948, the daily has seen an 11 percent drop in weekday circulation.

The Sunday edition has fared no better. The 2007 ABC report lists a Sunday circulation of 209,427 - a 4.7 percent drop from 2006 and a 13 percent drop from 2000.

To offset that decline, three years ago the Democrat and Chronicle launched Insider, the first of its niche publications. The free weekly paper was designed to attract young-adult readers. In doing that, the D&C was right in line with papers across the country, which were also trying out non-traditional publications.

Chicago's Tribune Company was a pioneer in the movement with its RedEye, a free commuter daily. Other dailies followed, launching youth-oriented weeklies, Spanish-language publications, and even magazines - all of which the D&C now produces. Along with Insider, it publishes Rochester Magazine, a slick, life-style magazine that is delivered free to homes in some high-end zip codes and is available for purchase on newsstands; Big Auto Book, an auto-advertising publication; Her, a magazine geared toward women; and ConXion, which bills itself as "your connection to all things Latin."

"They're going after every niche they don't already have," says Richard Karpel, executive director of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Gannett's youth-oriented products - companywide, there are 11 - often mimic aspects of alt-weeklies and target a portion of the same readership.

D&C spokesperson Tom Flynn says the paper doesn't yet have circulation numbers for the niche products, although publishing companies typically track their press runs and actual pick-up carefully. (During one week in February, according to data obtained by City Newspaper, readers picked up 6,869 copies of Big Auto Book and 19,212 copies of Insider.)

It's hard to tell how many new readers the D&C's niche publications have added. International Demographics, a national firm that surveys media throughout the country for its annual Media Audit report, studies only two of the Democrat and Chronicle's publications: the daily and Insider. The most recent Media Audit - which surveyed the Rochester market in the winter of 2006 - indicates that 98 percent of Insider readers also read the D&C.

"People want to get information in a variety of ways," said Flynn. "We've been very successful at drilling deep into people's interests and offering customized content to them in print and on the web."

Company-wide, Gannett has placed a heavy focus on the internet. The D&C has been adapting corporate's Information Center concept - a push to make the website not just a clearinghouse for news, but also rich in multimedia content like slideshows and interactive content such as searchable databases.

And the day's news goes on the website before it appears in print the following morning.

"We no longer consider the newspaper our breaking-news platform," Flynn said.

The D&C website, including subsites for the niche publications and other ventures like the RocMoms and Wine Country websites, gets about 53,000 unique visitors a day on weekdays, and about 34,000 unique visitors a day on Saturdays and Sundays, Flynn said.

In a 2007 report, the media analysis firm Scarborough Research estimated the D&C's print reach at 84 percent of the regional audience. The website boosts that to 85 percent - a 1 percent gain. Typically, websites account for a 3 to 6 percent increase in reach, says Gary Meo, senior vice president of print and internet services with Scarborough.

The D&C has consistently had a strong reach, says Meo, and it's usually among the top three papers the firm researches. There may be several reasons, he says. For one thing, he says, the paper is the only daily in its market. (The market actually has another daily, GateHouse Media's Daily Messenger in Canandaigua, but the D&C is the only daily covering the metropolitan area.)

Rochester is also a highly educated community, says Meo, and newspaper readership tends to correlate with education. And, he says, readership is typically higher in the northeastern states and other places with a cold climate.

Scarborough's estimates are based on random phone polls and essentially count adults who "read or looked into" a copy of the paper at least once during the week. Website estimates are based on adults who visited the site at least once during the week.

But as the D&C's offerings grow, the paper's news staff continues to shrink, placing more and more duties in the hands of individual employees, says Steve Orr, president of Newspaper Guild Local 17, the Democrat and Chronicle's newsroom union. While the niche publications are typically put together without using the daily's staff, that's not always the case. Occasionally, the daily's designers, photographers, graphic artists, and writers are called on to pitch in, Orr says.

Reporters largely support the internet push, Orr said in an e-mail. More of them are being trained in and are using audio, video, and interactive features in their work, he said.

"Most employees would agree that the newspaper website is a crucial way to connect with readers," he wrote, "and a lot of us enjoy the opportunity to reach folks in a new way."

But as individual reporters are given more responsibility, there are concerns that the daily news product will be affected.

"We cannot fulfill as we once did our traditional mission of chronicling the day-to-day events and the longer-term trends in metro Rochester," Orr wrote.

The paper's role as a government watchdog continues, and there is a strong emphasis placed on investigative reporting, Orr said. But he said he also thinks that attitude needs to go beyond "big hit," front-page stories.

"A big part of watching out for the public interest is slogging through routine reports, sitting through public meetings, and pestering elected officials with frequent questions," Orr wrote. "We still do that, but not nearly as much as we used to."

There is certainly a danger of reporters being stretched too thin as newspapers pay more attention to the internet, says Jennifer Saba, an associate editor for Editor & Publisher, a newspaper trade publication. Reporters are being asked to carry increasingly heavy workloads, she says.

On the flip side, she says, a strong internet focus can help newsroom staff do their jobs better. As an example, she cites enterprise reporting - in-depth stories typically developed over a long period. As reporters research that kind of piece, they can periodically post bits of information as they get it. And "reporting out" the story on the web may help the reporter move the piece along, she says.

But it's clear that readers are going elsewhere for their news, and it is smart for newspapers to look outside of traditional approaches to attract them, says Saba. Print is still what's making money, she says, but even if readers leave the print version of a publication for its website, that's still a win for the papers. And newspapers might even be considered a niche publication themselves. It would be smart, says Saba, for newspapers to gear themselves toward the hard-core print audience.

And as for the new niche publications: the results may not be immediate, but Saba says she believes that they will grow readership.

"I think it's a really good strategy for print daily newspapers," she says.