Top newspapers on Facebook – November 2010

by | Nov 1, 2010 | Digital information | 5 comments

Here are the latest stats on how many people Like the 100 biggest newspapers on Facebook. I added the El Paso Times this month, even though they are not in the top 100 newspapers by print circulation. If you know of a paper that has a lot of followers despite not being in the top 100 of circulation, let me know and I will add them to the list.

The top 10

The only change in the top 10 came from the addition of the El Paso Times and their 33,669 Facebook followers.

  1. New York Times – 873,392
  2. Wall Street Journal – 156,081
  3. Washington Post – 88,387
  4. El Paso Times – 33,669
  5. Denver Post – 32,743
  6. USA Today – 32,369
  7. Los Angles Times – 23,604
  8. Chicago Tribune – 21,105
  9. Arizona Republic – 18,370
  10. New Orleans Times-Picayune – 12,309

Dropped out: Palm Beach Post

Biggest gainers

Here are the biggest gainers during the month of October by percentage of fans:

  1. St. Paul Pioneer Press – 46.0%
  2. San Jose Mercury News – 38.7%
  3. Washington Post – 32.3%
  4. Hartford Courant – 31.5%
  5. Charleston Post and Courier – 25.6%
  6. The Times of Northwest Indiana – 22.7%
  7. Omaha World-Herald – 21.7%
  8. Toledo Blade – 20.6%
  9. USA Today – 17.8%
  10. Wisconsin State Journal – 17.7%

Here are the biggest gainers during the month of October by number of fans:

  1. Washington Post – 21,562
  2. Wall Street Journal – 19,346
  3. USA Today – 4,881
  4. Los Angeles Times – 3,540
  5. Denver Post – 2,594
  6. San Jose Mercury News – 2,084
  7. Chicago Tribune – 1,998
  8. St. Paul Pioneer Press – 1,642
  9. Miami Herald – 1,314
  10. Palm Beach Post – 1,194

The big list

  Circ. rank   Newspaper   Circulation     Fans 11/10     % growth     # growth     Fans/circ  
1 Wall Street Journal 2,092,523 156,081 14.1% 19,346 7.46%
2 USA Today 1,826,622 32,369 17.8% 4,881 1.77%
3 New York Times 951,063 873,392 14.4% 109,633 91.83%
4 Los Angeles Times 616,606 23,604 17.6% 3,540 3.83%
5 Washington Post 578,482 88,387 32.3% 21,562 15.28%
6 Daily News 535,059 7,969 9.9% 719 1.49%
7 New York Post 525,004 8,747 10.0% 798 1.67%
8 San Jose Mercury News 516,701 7,473 38.7% 2,084 1.45%
9 Chicago Tribune 516,032 21,105 10.5% 1,998 4.09%
10 Houston Chronicle 494,131 5,840 8.6% 460 1.18%
11 Arizona Republic 433,731 18,370 2.9% 512 4.24%
12 Philadelphia Inquirer 356,189 2,239 8.1% 167 0.63%
12 Philadelphia Daily News 356,189 1,830 6.1% 105 0.51%
13 Newsday 334,809 5,710 13.9% 699 1.71%
14 Denver Post 333,675 32,743 8.6% 2,594 9.81%
15 Star Tribune 295,438 3,690 4.1% 147 1.25%
16 St. Petersburg Times 278,888 4,700 4.4% 196 1.69%
17 Chicago Sun-Times 268,803 1,993 10.8% 195 0.74%
18 Cleveland Plain Dealer 267,888 1,207 7.1% 80 0.45%
19 Oregonian 263,600 2,727 16.2% 380 1.03%
20 Seattle Times 263,468 3,351 9.2% 283 1.27%
21 Dallas Morning News 260,659 3,762 9.4% 324 1.44%
22 Detroit Free Press 252,017 5,686 6.9% 368 2.26%
23 San Diego Union-Tribune 249,630 3,006 8.1% 226 1.20%
24 San Francisco Chronicle 241,330 8,936 13.7% 1,074 3.70%
25 Star-Ledger 236,017 6,909 8.0% 509 2.93%
26 Boston Globe 232,432 5,136 15.1% 672 2.21%
27 Kansas City Star 216,446 1,975 7.6% 140 0.91%
28 Sacramento Bee 214,219 3,267 10.4% 308 1.53%
29 St. Louis Post-Dispatch 209,839 5,345 17.5% 796 2.55%
30 Baltimore Sun 201,830 5,738 9.3% 490 2.84%
31 Orange County Register 196,684 4,063 8.8% 328 2.07%
32 Atlanta Journal-Constitution 196,200 7,740 9.5% 673 3.94%
33 Indianapolis Star 193,525 5,854 8.8% 473 3.02%
34 St. Paul Pioneer Press 193,054 5,212 46.0% 1,642 2.70%
35 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 192,279 5,256 6.7% 331 2.73%
36 Orlando Sentinel 191,191 5,300 7.7% 377 2.77%
37 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 186,433 3,061 4.7% 138 1.64%
38 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 185,222 416 14.0% 51 0.22%
39 Louisville Courier-Journal 180,377 4,785 10.3% 446 2.65%
40 South Florida Sun-Sentinel 180,273 6,234 8.2% 474 3.46%
41 Las Vegas Review-Journal 174,876 3,186 5.8% 175 1.82%
42 Cincinnati Enquirer 172,536 2,004 7.4% 138 1.16%
43 Miami Herald 170,769 9,817 15.5% 1,314 5.75%
44 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 170,538 4,190 6.9% 272 2.46%
45 Columbus Dispatch 170,179 4,005 6.2% 235 2.35%
46 Charlotte Observer 166,546 4,014 8.4% 312 2.41%
47 Fort Worth Star-Telegram 165,252 2,230 8.2% 169 1.35%
48 Buffalo News 162,213 1,543 16.0% 213 0.95%
49 Virginian-Pilot 160,609 4,928 7.2% 330 3.07%
50 Tampa Tribune 159,813 1,820 6.9% 118 1.14%
51 Record (Hackensack) 158,105 747 5.2% 37 0.47%
52 Times-Picayune 157,068 12,309 5.8% 677 7.84%
53 Omaha World-Herald 152,522 1,870 21.7% 333 1.23%
54 Oklahoman 151,264 1,335 5.4% 68 0.88%
55 Detroit News 149,872 7,651 8.4% 595 5.11%
56 Commercial Appeal 148,763 2,449 5.0% 116 1.65%
57 San Antonio Express-News 146,230 6,435 2.4% 151 4.40%
58 Austin American-Statesman 143,760 6,276 10.2% 583 4.37%
59 Hartford Courant 139,166 2,814 31.3% 671 2.02%
60 The News & Observer (Raleigh) 137,804 1,947 3.5% 65 1.41%
61 Tennessean 133,997 9,121 13.5% 1,084 6.81%
62 Boston Herald 132,551 2,085 16.6% 297 1.57%
63 Investor’s Business Daily (Los Angeles) 131,959 3,300 17.2% 484 2.50%
64 Richmond Times-Dispatch 125,011 5,635 8.7% 451 4.51%
65 Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester) 124,987 1,543 7.2% 104 1.23%
66 Palm Beach Post 122,611 11,114 12.0% 1,194 9.06%
67 Fresno Bee 118,978 2,376 8.8% 193 2.00%
68 Toledo Blade 117,704 3,637 20.6% 620 3.09%
69 Florida Times-Union 117,416 1,731 6.1% 100 1.47%
70 Asbury Park Press 114,655 3,193 7.0% 209 2.78%
71 Riverside Press-Enterprise 114,556 1,879 5.2% 93 1.64%
72 Birmingham News 113,810 7,173 9.9% 646 6.30%
73 Des Moines Register 113,597 9,712 4.6% 423 8.55%
74 Salt Lake Tribune 113,474 914 7.5% 64 0.81%
75 Honolulu Advertiser 109,479 4,185 4.6% 183 3.82%
76 Arizona Daily Star 108,612 608 6.9% 39 0.56%
77 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) 106,287 1,019 4.7% 46 0.96%
78 Morning Call 103,845 3,970 7.6% 282 3.82%
79 Akron Beacon Journal 102,981 2,010 7.1% 134 1.95%
80 Dayton Daily News 102,357 4,113 16.5% 582 4.02%
81 Lexington Herald-Leader 102,324 1,073 4.9% 50 1.05%
82 Tulsa World 101,508 2,859 8.7% 230 2.82%
83 Knoxville News Sentinel 100,441 8,319 6.5% 511 8.28%
84 Grand Rapids Press 99,642 5,052 5.2% 250 5.07%
85 Providence Journal 99,573 2,098 10.7% 203 2.11%
86 Press-Register (Mobile) 97,607 7,173 9.9% 646 7.35%
87 Albuquerque Journal 95,469 663 8.9% 54 0.69%
88 News Journal (Wilmington) 92,501 1,960 3.7% 70 2.12%
89 Wisconsin State Journal 91,575 1,011 17.7% 152 1.10%
90 Post-Standard (Syracuse) 89,819 2,592 8.0% 192 2.89%
91 Los Angeles Daily News 89,804 470 2.0% 9 0.52%
92 Sarasota Herald-Tribune 89,097 3,789 4.4% 159 4.25%
93 Post and Courier (Charleston) 88,939 1,383 25.6% 282 1.55%
94 News Tribune (Tacoma) 87,315 3,112 5.9% 173 3.56%
95 Journal News (White Plains) 87,205 2,343 9.3% 199 2.69%
96 The Times of Northwest Indiana 85,342 4,006 22.7% 742 4.69%
97 Gazette (Colorado Springs) 85,305 1,669 6.0% 95 1.96%
98 La Opinión (Los Angeles) 83,558 1,384 6.9% 89 1.66%
99 State (Columbia, S.C.) 83,392 987 5.7% 53 1.18%
100 Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era 80,842 718 4.2% 29 0.89%
NA El Paso Times 73,172 33,669   33,669 46.01%

5 Comments

  2. Mathilde Piard
    Mathilde Piard on November 29, 2010 at 7:10 am

    Interesting. The El Paso Times page I’m finding on Facebook (and that’s also linked from their website http://www.elpasotimes.com/social-media) only has 25,932 fans, not 33,669. That’s odd. (Speaking of, I can’t even find the Picayune page – link please?) However, the El Paso Times isn’t even in the top 100 US newspapers ranked by circulation! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_the_United_States_by_circulation. I don’t know how it ranks below that, but it’s only got 67,464 circ (average M-F, got that from the source listed on the wikipedia page). Interesting. I wonder who’s their social media editor, or if they have one. They have 3,964 followers on Twitter, which isn’t too shabby considering the paper’s size I guess.

    Thanks for compiling these every months Chris – I’ve been checking them out recently, looking forward to the next one in a few days. Do you do it manually, or do you have some automation set up?

    And before someone reads this and starts preaching about how # of fans is not a good metric, yeah yeah I know. The better metric is the # of monthly active users on a page, but only page admins see that, so # of fans is still the only public benchmark there is, however imperfect.

  3. Chris Snider
    Chris Snider on November 29, 2010 at 9:38 am

    @Joel, I have updated my link to the correct Boston Globe Facebook page and will use that one from here forward.

    @Mathlide, I see that there has been a big drop in the El Paso followers. I’ll check with their online editor (who originally alerted me to their 30,000+ followers) to see what happened there.

    I am compiling this manually, but I do have all the sites bookmarked so I can do it quickly. Here’s the Picayune link I am using: http://www.facebook.com/NOLAnews

  4. Mathilde Piard
    Mathilde Piard on November 29, 2010 at 9:45 am

    After I posted my comment, someone mentioned to me that they heard El Paso bought Facebook ads to get more fans. Maybe a bunch of people became fans but then decided they weren’t die-hard enough?

    And someone should tell Picayune folks to add “New Orleans Times-Picayune” to their info tab – if you search for that (or just for Times Picayune) on Facebook or on Google, it yields nothing.

  5. Chris Snider
    Chris Snider on November 29, 2010 at 9:52 am

    When I was with the Des Moines Register, we bought ads to get fans. But we never experienced a drop in fans afterward – at least not a noticeable one.

    And good point about the Picayune. That was one of the harder Facebook pages for me to find.