WebProNews

More and more Internet users are opting for carpel tunnel syndrome over inky fingers, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings done for the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). The percentage of Internet users visiting newspaper Web sites hit all-time highs in September.

Over 47.3 million people visited online newspapers that month, the largest rise in readership since the NAA began tracking online usage in January 2004. That represents 31.9 percent of all (US?) Internet users, up 15.8 percent from the same period last year.

Though specific subject matter was not tracked for the study, the NAA supposes the spike in traffic may have been bolstered by the coverage and interest in coverage of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"Not only is the overall audience growing for newspaper Web sites, but NAA studies have shown that they are often the leading local news sites in their markets. It's clear that newspapers' longstanding position of trust as part of the communities they serve has only strengthened, not weakened, in the Internet era," said NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm.

For the third quarter, the monthly unique audience averaged over 41.5 million visitors (27.7%), spending an average of more than 38 minutes on newspaper sites.

Worldwide, there are around 5,000 daily newspapers with Web sites, says the NAA-1,500 in North America. The NAA says that newspaper Web pages reach more local Web users than other local sites in 22 of the 25 top US markets.

Online newspaper readers are more likely to research and make online purchases, spend more time online in general, are better educated, and more ethnically diverse than the online audience in general, according to the NAA Web site.

Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.