Newspaper website audiences are growing at almost twice the rate of the overall online audience level, according to a recent study by Nielsen//NetRatings.The Newspaper Association of America (NAA) revealed that 37.6 per cent of all active internet users visited newspaper websites each month in the opening quarter of 2007.
This represents an average of over 59 million people and is a 5.3 per cent increase over the same period a year ago.
In comparison, over the same period the overall internet browsing audience increased by just 2.7 per cent.
The NAA's president and chief executive John F Sturm suggested that the figures validated the industry's investment in digital innovation and the "ongoing attraction consumers have to newspapers online".
He added that newspaper publishers had "aggressively transformed" business models and continued to provide "ground-breaking content to consumers".
According to the data, visitors to newspaper websites have higher household incomes, shop online more frequently and are more likely to hold managerial or professional posts than other internet users.
"This data underscores the value newspaper websites offer advertisers with their ability to attract a discriminating, high-income audience," Mr Sturm commented.
"The educated, highly engaged consumers who visit these sites for news and research on the latest products are also more likely to make purchases online than other internet users."
Shawn Riegsecker, chief executive of Chicago-based company Centro, said the findings were no surprise to him because consumers are becoming more sophisticated at navigating the web.
