In February, most of the leading U.S. news websites experienced a decline in traffic after a robust January. Among the 50 most-visited online news outlets in the U.S. that month, 11 saw an uptick in visitors compared to January, while 19 faced drops of 10% or more.
The Post-Gazette reports the downturn contrasts with January’s widespread increases, when only nine of the top sites recorded traffic declines, and 21 enjoyed gains of 10% or higher. The February declines occurred despite a news-heavy month that featured significant events like a plane crash in Washington, D.C., and a heated Oval Office exchange between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Los Angeles Times, which had been January’s standout performer, saw the steepest month-over-month drop. Fueled likely by coverage of Los Angeles’ historic wildfires, the outlet’s web visits surged nearly 120% to 42.3 million in January. However, February traffic plummeted to 20.8 million—a 51% decline—and fell 27% compared to February 2024.
Two outlets bucked the downward trend with double-digit growth: The Hill, a political news site, climbed 17% to 42.9 million visits, while the UK-based The Independent rose 12% to 26.5 million. Close behind was The Gateway Pundit, a site known for promoting unfounded claims about the 2020 election, which grew 9% to 29.5 million visits.
Among the top 10 most-visited U.S. news sites, only the Associated Press (122.8 million visits, up 5.7%) saw growth from January to February. USA Today took the hardest hit in the group, dropping 19% to 128.8 million, followed by CNN (345.1 million, down 14%) and BBC News (112.3 million, down 11%). People magazine (150.6 million) saw the smallest decline in the top 10, losing 5% of its traffic.
Looking at year-over-year trends, results were more varied. Among the top 10, the Associated Press led growth with a 76% increase over February 2024, followed by BBC News (up 30%), People (up 7.1%), and The New York Times (452.4 million, up 6.4%), which retained its spot as the most-visited U.S. news site.
The remaining six top-10 sites saw declines compared to the previous year. Fox News (260.5 million) held steady with less than a 1% drop, while MSN (196.4 million) and USA Today (both down 8%) recorded the largest year-over-year losses in the group.
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