Exclusive: Top 30 Newspaper Sites for July -- Shake-up at the Top!

By: Jennifer Saba Five Web sites generally dominate the top 30 list as the most visited newspaper sites: The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

But for the first time since December 2007, there's a newcomer who made the top five. New York's Daily News was the fourth most visited newspaper Web site in July, according to Nielsen Online, bumping The Wall Street Journal out of position. (In December 2007, Newsday.com slid in at No. 4.)

The Daily News grew its monthly uniques 112% -- the highest growth rate on the July list -- to 9.1 million year-over-year.

July unique visitors at the Wall Street Journal fell 4% to 8.3 million year-over-year. The New York Times experienced a decline in year-over-year uniques. The site, which is still ranked No.1, fell 27% to 14.2 million. However, the July numbers for all sites are drawn from a new extended panel that Nielsen Online introduced in June -- so year-over-year comparisons could vary significantly as a result.

Below are the top 30 newspaper Web sites for the month of July, a custom list from Nielsen Online provided to E&P. The sites are ranked by unique users and the percent change compares July 2009 uniques to July 2008 uniques. Please note that several factors including news events can cause swings in traffic.

(Nielsen Online and E&P share the same parent company.)

For June's list, go here.

NYTimes.com -- 14,277,000 -- (-27%)
washingtonpost.com -- 11,565,000 -- 29%
USATODAY.com -- 9,761,000 -- (-6%)
Daily News Online Edition -- 9,131,000 -- 112%
LA Times -- 8,938,000 -- 2%

Wall Street Journal Online -- 8,341,000 -- (-4%)
New York Post -- 6,535,000 -- 32%
Boston.com -- 5,274,000 -- 8%
SFGate.com/San Francisco Chronicle -- 5,092,000 -- 13%
Chicago Tribune -- 4,442,000 -- 14%

Politico -- 3,401,000 -- 47%
NJ.com -- 2,926,000 -- 41%
Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- 2,747,000 -- (-31%)
The Houston Chronicle -- 2,569,000 -- (-3%)
Philly.com -- 2,500,000 -- 47%

Chicago Sun-Times -- 2,480,000 -- (-6%)
Newsday -- 2,428,000 -- (-28%)
The Sacramento Bee -- 2,426,000 -- 84%
Orlando Sentinel -- 2,089,000 -- 49%
The Seattle Times -- 2,040,000 -- 55%

Azcentral.com -- 1,999,000 -- 41%
MercuryNews.com -- 1,871,000 -- 16%
DallasNews.com - The Dallas Morning News -- 1,832,000 -- (-12%)
MiamiHerald.com -- 1,829,000 -- 36%
The Washington Times -- 1,803,000 -- 56%

tampabay.com -- 1,758,000 -- 24%
KansasCity.com -- 1,708,000 -- 59%
Baltimore Sun -- 1,697,000 -- 7%
Star Tribune -- 1,662,000 -- 8%
Detroit Free Press -- 1,648,000 -- 9%