The globalization of journalism online

Abstract

Some British news websites are attracting larger audiences than their American competitors in US regional and national markets. At the British news websites studied, Americans made up an average of 36 per cent of the total audience with up to another 39 per cent of readers from countries other than the USA. Visibility on portals like the Drudge Report and on indexes such as Google News brings considerable international traffic but is partly dependent on particular genres of story and fast publication times. Few news websites are willing to disclose breakdowns of their large numbers of international readers fearing a negative reaction from domestic advertisers. Some see little value in international readers — some of whom read 3 to 4 times fewer pages than their domestic counterparts. Others are actively selling advertising targeted at their international audience and even claiming their presence is beginning to change their news agenda.