US online newspapers gain audience - claims study

US newspapers have increased their reach by tapping into a young online audience - so claimed data published by Newspaper Association of America (NAA).

NAA cited figures from Nielsen/NetRatings which suggested that during the second half of 2006, newspaper websites in the US drew on average 57.3 million visitors a month, a 15 per cent increase over the same period the previous year (49.8 million).

The NAA's spring Newspaper Audience Database (NAdbase) report, which tallies total print and online data from Nielsen/NetRatings and Scarborough Research, also suggested that newspaper sites contributed to a 14 per cent increase in total newspaper audience for people between the ages of 25- to 34-year-old.

Online newspapers also pushed total newspaper readership up 9.2 per cent for those aged 18-to-24, it claimed

The report is supposed to be a springboard for newspapers to negate some of the negative news usually associated with circulation figures and convince advertisers that the industry offers the best place to connect with readers, both on and offline.

As part of this drive the NAA is pushing a trade campaign called Newspaper: The Multi-Medium with simultaneous publication of print and online ads aimed at convincing advertisers that their needs are best met through the paper industry.

"The latest NAdbase report is strong evidence that newspapers are succeeding in driving new innovations and growing their audiences in both size and value," said John Kimball, NAA chief marketing officer, in a press release.

"We could think of no better time to launch our 2007 newspaper value campaign than the very day we provide advertisers with audience data spanning the medium's full portfolio of print and digital products."

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