Methodology

For the data aggregated from other researchers, Pew Research Center’s team took several steps. First, Center researchers tried to determine what data had been collected and by whom for the media sectors studied. In many cases, this included securing rights to data through license fees or other means, and often included paying for use of the data.

Next, we studied the data closely to determine where elements reinforced each other and where there were apparent contradictions or gaps. In doing so, Pew Research Center endeavored to determine the value and validity of each dataset. That, in many cases, involved going back to the sources that collected the research in the first place. Where data conflicted, the Center has included all relevant sources and tried to explain their differences, either in footnotes or in the narratives.

All sources are cited in footnotes or within the narrative and in all graphics in the report.

Analysis of comScore digital audience data

In order to provide as clear a sense as possible of the digital audience data of U.S. news organizations, researchers took several steps using digital audience measurement data from comScore, a cross-platform measurement company.

After the initial selection process, each comScore entry representing outlets or websites (“entity”) was individually vetted by researchers and unusual shifts in data over time were checked with comScore analysts. Using feedback from analysts, entities that registered increases or declines in unique visitors over the time period studied (October 2014-December 2015) that were likely due to inorganic changes in measurement or site structure were considered to not have trendable data and were removed from the analysis.

For all outlets, entities that are representative of an entire web domain (“total domain entities”) were used whenever possible. When domain entities were incomplete – i.e., when they did not represent traffic to an entire web domain – custom entities that represent the total domain were used when available. Multiple entities of the same URL that were the result of a structure change in the comScore database over time were considered comparable. Researchers consulted comScore analysts throughout the entity selection process.

Selection

The selection process for each fact sheet that included comScore data is detailed below.

African American News Media: While there is no official source or census of black-focused digital news media, the Maynard Institute – an organization aimed at helping media accurately portray all segments of society – tracks developments in this space. Each year for the past several years, the Institute compiles a list of black-oriented sites and submits it to comScore for ranking using web traffic data. While the Maynard list is not exhaustive, it is an established accounting of record of key stakeholders in the black digital news space. Of that list, 14 of the 19 sites were matched with their associated total-domain entities in comScore in our analysis. HuffPost BlackVoices, AtlantaBlackStar.com, BlackPlanet.com, BlackEnterprise.com and TheYBF.com did not have trendable data during the time period studied and are not included. The following 14 entities were used:

BET.COM BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM BOSSIP.COM CLUTCHMAGONLINE.COM EBONY.COM ESSENCE.COM EURWEB.COM HELLOBEAUTIFUL.COM MADAMENOIRE.COM MEDIATAKEOUT.COM NEWSONE.COM THEGRIO.COM THEROOT.COM WORLDSTARHIPHOP.COM

Cable: Researchers used both the total-domain entity for each network and the entity representing the parent organization for the three major cable news networks (CNN, Fox News and MSNBC) in order to best represent all aspects of each organization’s web traffic in this sector. Only statements true for both entities were made about each network. The following six entities were used:

CNN Brand CNN.COM Fox News Digital Network FOXNEWS.COM MSNBC TV MSNBC.COM

Digital-Native Publishers: Researchers assessed all domains from 11 comScore categories (Business/Finance, Directories/Resources, Entertainment, Games, Lifestyles, News/Information, Regional/Local, Services, Social Media, Sports and Technology) with at least 10 million average monthly unique digital visitors in the fourth quarter of 2015. From that set of entities, they then selected digital-native news websites using the following criteria:

Must be “born on the web,” i.e. not the website of a legacy news brand (Note: may be owned by a legacy media company).
It is a publisher of original content about news, defined as current events affecting public life (can include both original reporting and commentary/analysis). Sites are judged by an assessment of the material appearing on their home page. A review of top stories on the home page must render some evidence of original reporting, such as interviews, eyewitness accounts or referral to source documents, by a dedicated reportorial/editorial staff. Sites are also judged as news publishers if they self-describe as an organization that produces news, either in their subject headers/navigation bar and/or in their “about” or advertising section through usage of terms like “news,” “journalism,” “covering,” or “informing.”
It is not entirely focused on reviews, advice, recipes or unedited raw data.
It is not primarily a user-generated or aggregated content platform (such as Medium, Reddit or Wikipedia). Branded content such as NBA.com was also excluded.

The following 40 entities were used:

247SPORTS.COM APLUS.COM BLEACHERREPORT.COM BREITBART.COM BUSINESSINSIDER.COM BUSTLE.COM BUZZFEED.COM CHEATSHEET.COM CINEMABLEND.COM CNET.COM DAILYDOT.COM DEADSPIN.COM DIGITALTRENDS.COM ELITEDAILY.COM ENGADGET.COM GIZMODO.COM HELLOGIGGLES.COM HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM HUFFINGTONPOST.COM IBTIMES.COM IJREVIEW.COM MASHABLE.COM MIC.COM OPPOSINGVIEWS.COM QZ.COM RARE.US RAWSTORY.COM REFINERY29.COM SALON.COM SBNATION.COM SLATE.COM THEBLAZE.COM THEDAILYBEAST.COM THEROOT.COM THEVERGE.COM THRILLIST.COM TMZ.COM UPROXX.COM UPWORTHY.COM VOX.COM

Hispanic News Media: The two Hispanic TV news outlets studied (Telemundo and Univision) were matched with their associated total-domain entities in comScore. For newspapers, the three daily Hispanic newspapers that were both listed in the Editor and Publisher DataBook and had data available in the Alliance for Audited Media were matched with their associated total-domain entities in comScore. The following five entities were used:

ELDIARONY.COM ELNUEVOHERALD.COM LAOPINION.COM TELEMUNDO.COM UNIVISION.COM

Magazines: Of the 14 news magazines studied, 12 were matched with their associated total-domain entities in comScore. The entities associated with The Nation and Bloomberg Businessweek did not have trendable data during the time period studied and are not included in this analysis. The following 12 entities were used:

ECONOMIST.COM FORBES.COM FORTUNE.COM NATIONALREVIEW.COM NEWYORKER.COM NYMAG.COM ROLLINGSTONE.COM THEATLANTIC.COM THEWEEK.COM TIME.COM VANITYFAIR.COM WIRED.COM

Network TV: Researchers used both the total-domain entity for each network and the entity representing the parent organization for the three major domestic news networks (ABC News, CBS News and NBC News) in order to best represent all aspects of each organization’s web traffic in this sector. Only statements true for both entities were made about each outlet. The following six entities were used:

ABC News ABCNEWS.COM CBS News CBSNEWS.COM NBC News Digital NBCNEWS.COM

Newspapers: Researchers analyzed the comScore data of the top 49 newspapers by average Sunday circulation for Q3 2015 according to the Alliance for Audited Media data, with the addition of The Wall Street Journal. Each was matched with its associated total-domain entities in comScore. The following 50 entities were used:

AJC.COM ARKANSASONLINE.COM AZCENTRAL.COM BALTIMORESUN.COM BOSTONGLOBE.COM BUFFALONEWS.COM CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COM CHRON.COM CINCINNATI.COM CLEVELAND.COM COURIER-JOURNAL.COM DAILYNEWS.COM DALLASNEWS.COM DENVERPOST.COM DISPATCH.COM ELNUEVODIA.COM FREEP.COM INDYSTAR.COM JSONLINE.COM KANSASCITY.COM LATIMES.COM MERCURYNEWS.COM MYSANANTONIO.COM NEWSDAY.COM NJ.COM NORTHJERSEY.COM NYDAILYNEWS.COM NYPOST.COM NYTIMES.COM OCREGISTER.COM OREGONLIVE.COM ORLANDOSENTINEL.COM PHILLY.COM POST-GAZETTE.COM SACBEE.COM SEATTLETIMES.COM SFGATE.COM STAR-TELEGRAM.COM STARTRIBUNE.COM STLTODAY.COM SUN-SENTINEL.COM TAMPABAY.COM TBO.COM TENNESSEAN.COM TRIBLIVE.COM TWINCITIES.COM USATODAY.COM UTSANDIEGO.COM and SANDIEGOUNIONTRIBUNE.COM (combined; publisher changed the listed name of their primary website in July 2015) WASHINGTONPOST.COM WSJ.COM

Public Broadcasting: The two public broadcasting organizations studied (NPR and PBS NewsHour) were matched with their associated total-domain entities in comScore (PBS NewsHour does not have a total-domain entity associated with it in comScore, so we used the entity “PBS NewsHour”). The following two entities were used:

NPR.ORG PBS NewsHour

Analysis

For each website, minutes per visit and unique visitors for October-December 2014 and October-December 2015, U.S., were acquired from the comScore Media Metrix database for Total Digital Population and Mobile (Multi-Platform) and Desktop (Desktop only).

Comparisons year over year are between monthly averages of October-December 2014 and October-December 2015 data.

For sites that didn’t meet the reporting threshold for one month out of a quarter, we averaged across the two months for which we had data.

Researchers considered the difference between a site’s desktop and mobile monthly average unique visitors or average minutes per visit to be significant if one was at least 10% greater than the other.

Analysis of Nielsen Media Research data

The analysis of viewership trends for cable, network, local TV and public broadcasting is based on Nielsen Media Research data.

For local TV, Nielsen provides audience data from all media markets in the United States (210 markets in total). Data represent affiliates of the four major networks – ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC – across four sweeps periods – February, May, July and November – for all the major timeslots for which affiliates air news.

In 2009, local television audiences were measured in March rather than February because of the scheduled transition to digital television. Therefore, the 2009 average includes March instead of the traditional February sweep.

For cable TV, Nielsen provides audience data for the three major cable channels: CNN, Fox and MSNBC. This includes prime-time, daytime and total daily viewership. For network TV, Nielsen provides audience data for news programming broadcasted by the three networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – in the morning and evening, as well as audience data for the Sunday morning talk shows and TV news magazines.

For the first time this year, the viewership data is presented here in weighted form, made newly available to Pew Research Center by Nielsen Media Research for all years starting with 2007. Weighted data better account for the number of programming hours in a given broadcast month, though they do not differ substantially from unweighted data. All numbers have been updated in both the cable and network factsheets, including the text and graphics. While in past years the Center has provided cable viewership data in both average (or mean) and median (the midpoint in a series of data), Nielsen does not make weighted data available in median form and therefore the median is no longer included in this analysis.

Media & News Indicators Database

This database consists largely of data originally generated by other people or organizations that Pew Research Center then collected and aggregated. The data was then put into chart format and the charts were organized by topic. The database can be viewed here.