Los Angeles Times Sees Surge in Web Traffic Amid Wildfire Coverage
Historical Context
In January 2024, the Los Angeles Times recorded an impressive resurgence in web traffic, capitalizing on the significant news coverage following historic wildfires in its home state of California. According to data from Similarweb, the influential newspaper experienced a remarkable 118% increase in web visitors compared to December 2024, drawing in a total of 42.3 million visitors. This uptick not only signifies a month-on-month growth but also reflects a 44.9% increase from January of the previous year.
Significant Rankings Shift
As a result of this surge in traffic, the Los Angeles Times leaped from 50th to 30th position on the nationwide ranking of the 50 most-visited news websites for January. This rise is notable considering that the publication had previously endured declines in subscription numbers after owner Patrick Soon-Shiong intervened to prevent its editorial board from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris during the contentious presidential race.
Broader Trends in News Traffic
January 2024 proved to be advantageous for various political and hard news websites in the U.S., especially in light of Donald Trump’s second term in office beginning. Axios reported 31.4 million visits (up 44%), CBS News showed 102.9 million (an increase of 39%), and Politico garnered 38.5 million visits, marking a 30% increase month-on-month.
Despite the overall growth, nine news websites did experience month-on-month declines, although nearly every major outlet within the top ten reported traffic increases. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported a significant return to the top ten list with 125.8 million visits—a 13% growth from previous months. Other major publishers such as CNN and USA Today also witnessed double-digit percentage rises, with CNN attracting 399.1 million visitors (a 12% increase) and USA Today bringing in 158.6 million visits (up 10.4%).
Conversely, the New York Post stood out as the only top-ten site experiencing a decline, reporting 127.9 million visits—down by 10%.
Year-Over-Year Performance and Emerging Trends
Athlon Sports emerged as the fastest-growing publication within the top 50, boasting 46.9 million visits, nearly quadrupling its figures year-on-year. India Times also recorded significant growth with 27.7 million visits, marking a robust 100% increase when compared to January 2023. The Associated Press, Substack, and the BBC joined the ranks of rapidly growing sites, with year-on-year increases of 25%, 22.5%, and 13.1% respectively.
On the whole, one-third of the top 50 news sites experienced year-on-year declines in traffic. The largest drop was recorded by the U.S. version of the UK’s un-paywalled Sun tabloid, which fell to 23 million visits—a staggering 63.8% decrease from the previous year, likely influenced by changes in Google’s algorithms and downsizing of newsroom staff.
Understanding the Data
The traffic data generated by Similarweb is based on various methods, including first-party analytics shared voluntarily by websites, device data from contributory networks, and extracting public data from diverse sources. This comprehensive approach helps classify and rank news and media publishers, though some sites with lesser journalistic focus may be excluded by platforms like Press Gazette.
In sum, January 2024 marked a pivotal month for the Los Angeles Times and many other news outlets, highlighting the intricate dynamics at play in the realm of digital news consumption as current events continuously shape public interest and engagement.
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