TheWeek completes BPA Worldwide Initial Audit

Saleh Zakwani, publisher and CEO of Apex Press and Publishing, said, "TheWeek is the only publication in Oman where advertisers will have audited data to help them make an informed decision. While we are proud to be the first in this country to go in for an audit, more importantly I hope our action will encourage other publishing houses in the country to do the same in the interests of better business and transparency."

Zakwani further added this was the first step towards bringing in international practices into the local market and that circulation audit would soon become the norm in this region as it is globally.

Glenn J. Hansen, BPA Worldwide President and CEO, praised TheWeek for voluntarily opening its records to independent verification and documentation of its circulation data.

Hansen pointed out that the audit facilitates the buying and selling of advertising space. A BPA Worldwide newspaper audit provides advertisers and agencies with assurance that the newspaper they choose to invest in, do in fact reach target audiences for specific ads and the audit helps newspapers document the quality of their audiences. BPA Worldwide auditing also helps media companies by documenting the quality of their audiences.

Apex's other English publications, namely Oman Today and BusinessToday, will also be audited in the future. Apex has already applied for audit for its Arabic weekly paper Al Isbou'a.

Copies of the initial BPA Worldwide audit report for TheWeek will be available from BPA Worldwide or the publisher. TheWeek will be issuing semi-annual circulation statements in the standard BPA Worldwide format.

BPA Worldwide conducts its circulation audits on an annual basis following accepted auditing procedures. In addition to verifying exact counts of recipients, BPA Worldwide also documents that they are qualified in the markets served by the publications.