20080530 Mediaweek: The Top 30 Newspaper Web Sites in April

The Top 30 Newspaper Web Sites in April

A kind month for the top 30 newspaper Web sites

May 30, 2008 -By Jennifer Saba, Editor & Publisher Media Week

April was a kind month to the top 30 newspaper Web sites, when comparing traffic stats from a year ago. Only seven sites reported declines. And monthly traffic at The Dallas Morning News, Politico, and OregonLive.com (The Oregonian in Portland) rose significantly, according to new data from Nielsen Online.

The Dallas Morning News' monthly uniques surged 88% in April, compared to the same month a year ago. At OregonLive.com, which did not make the top 30 list in March, traffic advanced 63%. The Politico drew about 1.7 million uniques, up 67%.

The Washington Times surfaced on April's top 30 list, growing traffic 16% in April compared to year-over-year data. Ditto for The Sun in Baltimore, which is back on the list after an absent March, up 38% year-over-year.

The Wall Street Journal's traffic grew a hefty 37% in April compared to April 2007. However, the number of monthly visitors dropped to 4.7 million in April from 6.8 million in March.

The number of monthly unique visitors in April to the Houston Chronicle fell 38% year-over-year. AZCentral's traffic decreased 14% in April compared to April 2007.

Below is the complete custom list of the top 30 newspaper Web sites provided by Nielsen Online (owned by E&P's parent company). The percent change compares April 2008 uniques with April 2007 uniques. Also keep in mind there are several reasons why traffic fluctuates, including news events.

The top 30 newspaper Web sites for March can be found here. The Top 30 Newspaper Web Sites in April

20080530 Mediaweek: The Top 30 Newspaper Web Sites in April