IT’S A MEDIA ENRON — but somehow it’s not getting nearly as much ink:

The news at Newsday went from bad to worse yesterday, as the parent Tribune Co. revealed that the paper’s circulation totals were inflated over a longer period and at higher levels than it admitted last month. . . .

James Marsh, a media analyst with SG Cowen Securities, said the circulation trouble is frustrating “because it seems to be an issue that won’t go away.”

He added: “It’s like a zombie. You hit it with a shovel and think it’s dead. But the next thing you know, it’s on the porch and looking in the window.”

Last month, Newsday disclosed it overstated daily circ in September by 40,000 copies and Sunday circ by 60,000. The circ of Hoy, its Spanish-language sister, was inflated by 15,000 daily and 4,000 Sunday. . . .

But yesterday Tribune said it found “additional misstatements” for last year and March, plus new errors affecting totals reported in 2001 and 2002. . . . The added embarrassment for Newsday and Hoy came as the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn probes the circ irregularities.

In addition, several advertisers have accused the papers in a lawsuit of fraudulently inflating circulation, including the dumping of copies.

(Via Stephen Green, who observes: “Meanwhile, thousands (hundreds of thousands? millions?) of blogs continue to allow their SiteMeter hit counters to be seen by anyone.”)

UPDATE: A reader says this isn’t of Enron caliber. Well, not by dollar amount — but it’s worth noting that this reporting problem goes way beyond Newsday and may turn out to afflict the media industry generally. And it goes straight to what the industry claims to deliver — and calls its truthfulness, which is its overall stock in trade, into question.

Then there’s the hypocrisy angle, given the way they cover corporate shenanigans in, you know, other industries.