Readership of The Wall Street Journal has jumped 20% since News Corp. acquired the paper in 2007, according to a new study by The Media Audit. During the same period, readership of The New York Times remained higher but flat.
According to the study, the Journal is read by more than 4.3 million adults in the 80-plus markets it studies. The readership amounts to 3% of all adults age 18 and over in those markets, an increase from 2.7% last year and 2.5% in 2007.
Media Audit attributed the readership gain to the increase in coverage of politics and general news by the Journal.
The same report said that readership of the Times has remained flat during the same three-year period -- though the paper reaches more adults in the markets studied.
In 2009, Media Audit said, 4.4% of U.S. adults read the Times, a figure unchanged from 2008 and 2007.
Media Audit said the survey found the Journal draws more affluent readers who are considered "Opinion Leaders," defined as those who have been asked to recommend a bank or stock broker in the past year.
According to the study, 29.6% of Journal readers earn more than $150,000 or more in household income, compared to 22.5% for the Times, and 16% for USA Today readers.
Media Audit said 12.4% of Journal readers are Opinion Leaders, compared to 7.2% of Times readers and 6.6% of USA Today readers.
This story and headline have been corrected from an earlier version, which stated that USA Today readership had declined, but reported figures that showed a rise in readership. The statement was taken from an apparent error in the Media Audit report. E&P has been unable to get a clarification of the study's correct readership figures for USA Today, so they have been omitted.
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