Although the increasing fragmentation of media plays into the strengths of PR -- more outlets mean more media vehicles for your message(s) -- the top circulated newspapers
(New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday) continue to carry tremendous weight with consumers. That you already knew, but what you may not know is the solid punch each
newspaper packs outside the New York metro area.
The latest "Media Audit," released earlier this month by International Demographics, found that collectively, in 80 markets, the Times has 6.1 million readers, USAToday has 5.3
million and the Journal has 3.7 million. "These are readers, not subscribers," said Bob Jordan, president of International Demographics. "These are people who say they have read
one or more of the last five editions of these publications." The Media Audit figures go well beyond the initial circulation for USAToday (2.1 million), the Times (1.8 million)
and the Journal (1.8 million), the three most widely circulated newspapers in the country.
The audit excluded the New York metro market from computations to keep the data comparable. According to The Media Audit data, the Times has 50,000 or more readers in 22 metro
markets; the Journal has 50,000 or more readers in 20 markets and USAToday has 50,000 or more readers in 43 markets. Politically, Democrats tend to favor the Times and Republicans
the Journal (surprise), while USAToday's readers are evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
| Readers By Household Income (% of readers) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Times | Wall Street Journal | USAToday | |
|
$50,000 |
60.3%
|
64.2
|
62.3
|
|
$75,000 |
42.5
|
48.4
|
42.6
|
|
$100,000 |
28.7
|
36.9
|
26.4
|
| Readers By Party Affiliation (% of readers) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Times | Wall Street Journal | USAToday | |
| Democrat |
46.4%
|
25.0
|
30.2
|
| Republican |
14.6
|
39.6
|
32.9
|
| Independent |
31.8
|
28.0
|
30.9
|
Source: The Media Audit/July 2004; Center for Media Research (c) 2004 MediaPost Communications