The websites of U.S. newspapers have increased readership at an annual rate of 11 percent, according to Nielsen/NetRatings - a bit of good news to counter a report last week according to which print circulation fell 2.6 percent over the past six months (one of the largest decreases in 20 years), writes the Financial Times. Nielsen analyst Gerry Davison said the development of interactive features such as blogs, podcasts and streaming video and audio was helping to make "newspaper websites an increasingly appealing choice for news."

The issue is how to make money from online while minimizing costs on the print side. Advertising rates are lower online, and only some newspapers have been successful at charging for online content.

According to Nielsen, the New York Times had the most popular site in October, with 11.4 million unique users; USA Today was second with 10.4 million, followed by the Washington Post with 8.1 million and the Los Angeles Times with 3.9 million.

Some 22 percent of U.S. newspaper readers said they prefer online editions, whereas 71 percent still prefer print and 7 percent divide their time.