Brazil is in the midst of a newspaper boom. Brazilians bought 24 percent more newspapers in the first three quarters of 2008 than they did in 2006

ccording to monthly reports produced by Meios e Mensagem, a marketing publication, in the first three-quarters of 2008 alone, revenue was up 15 percent over the same period in 2007. (By contrast, American newspapers' ad revenue fell 18 percent between the third quarter of 2007 and the third quarter of 2008.)

This is no one-year phenomenon either: advertising in newspapers has grown every year since 2001

The reason: improving distribution of wealth."

Class C, the Brazilian term for the middle class, grew from 33 percent of the population five years ago to 54 percent today

That has caused an explosion of titles and circulation among the so-called "popular" newspapers

Americans still buy more newspapers than Brazilians, per capita, so to some extent Brazil is simply catching up as incomes and literacy rates rise