Top newspapers on Facebook – January 2011

by | Dec 30, 2010 | Digital information | 5 comments

Before we get started with the latest numbers from the Top 100 newspapers on Facebook, a couple notes:

  • The New York Times became the first newspaper to top one million Facebook fans. Which paper will be next? Likely nobody. The Wall Street Journal is closest with just over 180,000 fans.

  • The Washington Post became the third newspaper with more than 100,000 fans. The New York Post and the San Francisco Chronicle joined the 10,000 club (now 17 papers strong).
  • I updated my list to reflect the latest circulation figures, so there are some new papers on the list this month. I also kept the papers that fell out of the top 100.
  • Numbers were taken on Dec. 30, 2010, out of respect for the New Year’s bowl games.
  • I’m still willing to add newspaper to this list. If you know of a paper doing good things on Facebook, post a link in the comments.

The top 10

Here’s the Top 10 newspapers on Facebook at the start of 2011. Look familiar? It’s exactly the same as it was at the start of December.

  1. New York Times – 1,027,621
  2. Wall Street Journal – 180,515
  3. Washington Post – 102,847
  4. USA Today – 39,446
  5. Denver Post – 37,417
  6. Boston Globe – 33,094
  7. Los Angles Times – 29778
  8. El Paso Times – 25,846
  9. Chicago Tribune – 23,932
  10. Arizona Republic – 20,790

Dropped out: none

Biggest gainers

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

  1. Honolulu Star-Advertiser – 51.1%
  2. Florida Times-Union – 45.5%
  3. State (Columbia, S.C.) – 29.7%
  4. Salt Lake Tribune – 16.7%
  5. Newsday – 13.1%
  6. Chicago Sun-Times – 13.1%
  7. Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era – 12.9%
  8. Post and Courier (Charleston) – 12.7%
  9. Kansas City Star – 12.5%
  10. Toledo Blade – 11.9%

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

  1. New York Times – 65,593
  2. Wall Street Journal – 9,654
  3. Washington Post – 6,786
  4. Boston Globe – 2,782
  5. Roanoke Times – 2,775
  6. USA Today- 2,581
  7. Los Angeles Times – 2,325
  8. Denver Post – 2,138
  9. Arizona Republic – 2,086
  10. Advocate (Baton Rouge) – 1,358

The Big List

Circ Newspaper Circulation   Fans 1/11     % growth     # growth     Fans/circ  
1 Wall Street Journal 2,061,142 180,515 5.7% 9,654 8.76%
2 USA Today 1,830,594 39,446 7.0% 2,581 2.15%
3 New York Times 876,638 1,027,621 6.8% 65,593 117.22%
4 Los Angeles Times 600,449 29,778 8.5% 2,325 4.96%
5 Washington Post 545,345 102,847 7.0% 6,768 18.86%
6 Daily News 512,520 9,160 7.1% 611 1.79%
7 New York Post 501,501 10,711 8.9% 874 2.14%
8 San Jose Mercury News 477,592 8,633 7.5% 600 1.81%
9 Chicago Tribune 441,508 23,932 5.8% 1,314 5.42%
10 Houston Chronicle 343,952 6,746 6.6% 415 1.96%
11 Philadelphia Inquirer 342,361 2,465 5.0% 118 0.72%
12 Philadelphia Daily News 342,361 2,021 5.3% 102 0.59%
13 Newsday 314,848 7,132 13.1% 826 2.27%
14 Denver Post 309,863 37,417 6.1% 2,138 12.08%
15 Arizona Republic 308,973 20,790 11.2% 2,086 6.73%
16 Star Tribune 297,478 3,955 2.8% 108 1.33%
17 Dallas Morning News 264,459 4,157 3.6% 144 1.57%
18 Cleveland Plain Dealer 252,608 1,361 4.1% 53 0.54%
19 Seattle Times 251,697 3,861 5.3% 193 1.53%
20 Chicago Sun-Times 250,747 2,453 13.1% 284 0.98%
21 Detroit Free Press 245,326 6,442 7.6% 454 2.63%
22 St. Petersburg Times 239,684 4,921 1.8% 85 2.05%
23 Oregonian 239,071 3,492 8.9% 286 1.46%
24 San Diego Union-Tribune 224,761 3,361 5.3% 170 1.50%
25 San Francisco Chronicle 223,549 10,451 5.3% 527 4.68%
26 Star-Ledger 223,037 7,878 7.1% 520 3.53%
27 Boston Globe 222,683 33,094 9.2% 2,782 14.86%
28 St. Louis Post-Dispatch 207,145 6,482 10.1% 594 3.13%
29 Kansas City Star 206,441 2,435 12.5% 271 1.18%
30 Sacramento Bee 205,531 3,745 6.6% 231 1.82%
31 St. Paul Pioneer Press 185,736 6,978 8.9% 568 3.76%
32 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 183,636 3,321 3.7% 120 1.81%
33 Indianapolis Star 182,933 6,474 4.4% 273 3.54%
34 Orange County Register 182,391 4,894 11.9% 520 2.68%
35 Atlanta Journal-Constitution 181,504 9,471 11.6% 985 5.22%
36 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 181,058 6,187 7.8% 446 3.42%
37 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 179,695 4,668 4.8% 215 2.60%
38 Baltimore Sun 178,455 6,642 7.7% 474 3.72%
39 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 177,633 473 3.5% 16 0.27%
40 Orlando Sentinel 172,271 5,762 3.6% 201 3.34%
41 Buffalo News 160,316 1,894 11.2% 191 1.18%
42 Louisville Courier-Journal 159,275 5,571 7.3% 377 3.50%
43 Cincinnati Enquirer 157,574 2,229 4.7% 101 1.41%
44 Virginian-Pilot 156,968 5,518 3.9% 205 3.52%
45 Charlotte Observer 155,995 4,548 4.3% 187 2.92%
46 Fort Worth Star-Telegram 153,546 2,395 3.2% 75 1.56%
47 Miami Herald 151,612 12,250 9.3% 1,043 8.08%
48 Las Vegas Review-Journal 150,403 3,509 4.2% 141 2.33%
49 South Florida Sun-Sentinel 149,892 7,041 5.8% 383 4.70%
50 Columbus Dispatch 149,420 4,452 4.8% 203 2.98%
51 Record (Hackensack) 149,090 808 2.1% 17 0.54%
52 Detroit News 146,962 8,405 4.3% 347 5.72%
53 Tampa Tribune 145,045 2,009 4.8% 92 1.39%
54 Times-Picayune 144,294 13,377 3.3% 427 9.27%
55 Omaha World-Herald 143,721 2,371 10.8% 231 1.65%
56 Oklahoman 138,493 1,434 3.0% 42 1.04%
57 Hartford Courant 134,751 3,086 3.7% 110 2.29%
58 San Antonio Express-News 130,566 8,684 3.5% 292 6.65%
59 The News & Observer (Raleigh) 130,555 2,188 6.2% 127 1.68%
60 Austin American-Statesman 127,727 7,584 8.7% 605 5.94%
61 Tennessean 127,538 11,076 9.1% 928 8.68%
62 Boston Herald 124,691 2,583 9.8% 231 2.07%
63 Investor’s Business Daily (Los Angeles) 122,493 4,144 10.2% 383 3.38%
64 Commercial Appeal 121,684 2,623 2.2% 56 2.16%
65 Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester) 119,399 1,694 4.1% 67 1.42%
66 Richmond Times-Dispatch 118,489 6,170 2.6% 156 5.21%
67 Toledo Blade 114,308 4,686 11.9% 499 4.10%
68 Asbury Park Press 112,683 3,568 6.0% 201 3.17%
69 Fresno Bee 110,427 2,654 5.3% 133 2.40%
70 Riverside Press-Enterprise 110,076 2,052 4.0% 79 1.86%
71 Birmingham News 109,727 8,049 4.7% 360 7.34%
72 Salt Lake Tribune 109,703 1,182 16.7% 169 1.08%
73 Des Moines Register 109,095 10,597 4.1% 422 9.71%
74 Florida Times-Union 108,926 2,622 45.5% 820 2.41%
75 Daily Herald (Arlington Heights) 104,297 1,082 1.9% 20 1.04%
76 Palm Beach Post 100,830 13,279 7.4% 918 13.17%
77 Grand Rapids Press 97,822 5,308 2.5% 131 5.43%
78 Providence Journal 96,595 2,444 7.5% 170 2.53%
79 Dayton Daily News 95,365 4,889 7.6% 347 5.13%
80 Morning Call 94,859 4,395 4.5% 189 4.63%
81 Tulsa World 93,558 3,136 3.5% 106 3.35%
82 Akron Beacon Journal 92,856 2,151 2.8% 59 2.32%
83 Knoxville News Sentinel 91,697 8,583 1.2% 103 9.36%
84 Lexington Herald-Leader 91,518 1,210 8.9% 99 1.32%
85 Arizona Daily Star 90,604 655 2.0% 13 0.72%
86 Albuquerque Journal 90,079 701 2.2% 15 0.78%
87 Los Angeles Daily News 89,091 499 4.4% 21 0.56%
88 Wisconsin State Journal 87,950 1,372 11.1% 137 1.56%
89 News Journal (Wilmington) 87,138 2,093 3.5% 71 2.40%
90 Press-Register (Mobile) 85,967 8,049 4.7% 360 9.36%
91 Post-Standard (Syracuse) 85,015 2,964 5.3% 150 3.49%
92 The Times of Northwest Indiana 83,877 4,460 5.7% 240 5.32%
93 News Tribune (Tacoma) 82,855 3,470 4.0% 132 4.19%
94 Advocate (Baton Rouge) 82,248 1,358 NA 1,358 1.65%
95 Post and Courier (Charleston) 81,743 1,843 12.7% 207 2.25%
96 Journal News (White Plains) 79,525 2,727 5.4% 140 3.43%
97 La Opinión (Los Angeles) 78,712 1,521 4.3% 63 1.93%
98 Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era 78,060 876 12.9% 100 1.12%
99 Roanoke Times 75,740 2,775 NA 2,775 3.66%
100 State (Columbia, S.C.) 75,615 1,505 29.7% 345 1.99%
NA Honolulu Star-Advertiser 64,073 3,816 51.1% 1,291 5.96%
NA Erie Times-News 56,124 2,304 6.3% 136 4.11%
NA Sarasota Herald-Tribune NA 4,046 3.0% 117  
NA Gazette (Colorado Springs) 58,710 1,830 4.2% 73 3.12%
NA Oakland Tribune NA 1,878 2.7% 50  
NA El Paso Times 73,204 25,846 0.1% 37 35.31%
NA Grand Island Independent 20,500 1,102 2.8% 30 5.38%
NA Contra Costa Times 67,464 1,680 1.4% 24 2.49%

5 Comments

  1. Jenn Beckett
    Jenn Beckett on January 4, 2011 at 10:22 am

    Thanks for compiling this information, very interesting. The chart would have been more useful to me if the Facebook fan column was sortable (jQuery) — or perhaps if FB fan data was the default list, if sort functionality was unavailable (looks like Tabelizer may have been used).

  2. Chris Snider
    Chris Snider on January 4, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    Good point Jenn. That’s been on my to do list for a few months now. I will bump it up a few notches and try to get that done before next month’s numbers.

  3. Chris Snider
    Chris Snider on January 4, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    OK, list is now sortable. That was easier than I thought.

  5. Joan Concilio
    Joan Concilio on February 25, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    I’d love to see you add our paper, the York (Pa.) Daily Record/Sunday News. We’re really working hard to do the right things on Facebook and have grown dramatically! facebook.com/YorkDailyRecord.

    Thanks for compiling such a great list!

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