Rust Belt cities may have shrinking populations, but their newspapers have a big traffic edge over Sun Belt peers

"But even setting Advance Local aside, some very large markets seem to regularly underperform smaller fry. For example, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are the 4th and 5th largest media markets in the country. But The Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle have never ranked higher than 24th in any monthly ranking. (And giving the DMN credit for all of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's traffic would only bump it up to the mid-teens.)"

"The headliners on the monthly Top 25 remain relatively consistent from month to month: The L.A. Times retained its No. 1 spot, befitting its position as the most national of local/regional newspapers. From July to August, 7 of the top 9 papers remained in the exact same positions; the other two simply swapped spots. Since these rankings started, no more than 2 of the Top 25 have been new each month."

Traffic data for the United States' largest local newspapers shows gains for Gannett and illustrates the influence of national news on local sites. Monthly Top 25 web-traffic rankings for August and September remain stable, with the L.A. Times holding the No. 1 position. Advance Local newspapers occupy eight Top 25 slots despite being largely outside major metropolitan areas. Several large Sun Belt markets underperform relative to market size, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Atlanta. Longstanding local readership in Rust Belt markets likely yields stronger engagement than newer Sun Belt populations. The Indianapolis Star rose eight spots in August with a 32% traffic increase.

Read at Nieman Lab