Latest Audit Bureau of Circulation figures show 
the Mercury News has climbed right up to No. 5, behind the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the NYT and Los Angeles Times. (Complete rankings here.) Sounds impressive, except that it isn’t really true. From Poynter newspaper industry analyst Rick Edmonds:
San Jose now includes all MediaNews properties in the Bay Area. These are designated “branded editions” under new ABC rules. Others boosting their numbers with this approach are Chicago Sun Times (suburban dailies), Philadelphia Inquirer (Daily News) and the MediaNews Los Angeles group.
Add: All you Oakland Trib and CoCo Times readers: didn’t know you were really reading the Mercury News, did you?
