As of March 2003 there are a total of 170 newspapers, including 6 daily, 28 weekly, 6 biweekly, 37 monthly, 54 bimonthly, 33 others and 60 magazines, in particular 1 daily, 2 weekly, 1 biweekly, 30 monthly, 8 bimonthly, and 18 others across the country. At the end of 2003 all aimags except Bulgan had a provincial newspaper. There are several issues to be noted in the sector of magazines in 2003. First of all, the number of magazines increased from 48 in 2002 to 60 in 2003. For the magazines sales, the number of sold copies tends to grow each year and increased by 53 percent in 2003. Among 170 newspapers, 14 are published in foreign-languages.
They are a looking glass through which foreigners watch Mongolia. Over the last decade, Mongolian newspapers found their greatest challenge in upholding the national spirit of Mongolian people and opening their eyes to the rapidly changing world. A majority of the population are receiving useful information for their lives from newspapers. Approximately 60 per cent of people rely on newspapers for useful information, 30 per cent receive necessary information from radio, and 20 per cent watch TV as the source of useful information. The Internet plays an increasingly vital role in the distribution and dissemination of information.
Numbers of newspapers with electronic versions reached 46 in 2003 against to 33 in 2002. More and more readers are turning to special-interest publications focusing on a single subject such as sport ("Bukh", "Tavan tsagrig"), and medicine ("Anagaakh Ukhaan"). Among the daily newspapers "Zuunii medee" ("Century news"), "Unuudur" ("Today"), "Udriin sonin" ("Daily news") and "Unen" ("Truth") lead by the number of subscribers. The annual circulation of 5 daily newspapers represents more than 47 per cent of newspaper sales on the Mongolian media market.
The weekly periodicals such as "TV&R", and "Urgent ads" with the highest sales carry full details of the forthcoming week's television and radio programs, as well as all kinds of classifieds. Now there are 21 local newspapers. They mainly include stories of regional and local interest. Mongolian newspapers have made significant investments in modern press facilities and equipment in resent years. Now there are 17 newspapers and magazines, which have their own printing houses and press. Most national dailies operate computerized typesetting and editing systems.
