Newspaper website readership is growing at a faster clip than the Internet overall, reports MediaPost.

The findings come from a study from the Newspaper Association of America and are based on Nielsen/NetRatings numbers. Visits to newspaper sites grew 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2007 compared to a 2.7 percent growth on the Internet as a whole.

The average income of a newspaper site's visitor is also more likely to be at or above $150,000. It is not unusual for the group to have made an online purchase in the last six months. They also possess a higher number of professional degrees and use the Internet more often than average Internet users.

While NAA president John F. Sturm says the numbers validate the emphasis newspapers have placed on their online operations, publishers are still struggling to monetize these visitors effectively. Internet revenue growth has not yet grown enough to sufficiently offset declines in print revenue.