New York - The audience for newspaper websites is growing at nearly twice the rate of the overall online audience, according to a report from the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) that cites Nielsen/NetRatings data.

An average of more than 59 million people, or 37.6% of all active Internet users, visited newspaper sites during the first quarter. The figure represents a record for the newspaper industry, and an increase of 5.3% from a year ago; the overall Internet audience grew just 2.7% during the same period.

"The fact that the newspaper Web site audience is growing at almost double the rate of the Internet audience as a whole validates the industry's investment in digital innovation, and the ongoing attraction consumers have to newspapers online," said NAA president and CEO John F. Sturm.

"Newspaper publishers have aggressively transformed their business models, continually providing ground-breaking content to consumers with their expanding digital portfolios."

The report also found that visitors to newspaper websites have higher household incomes, shop online more frequently and are more likely to hold professional or managerial positions than other Internet users.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2xpntd