More than one-fifth of web users who read newspapers prefer online to offline editions, Reuters reports, citing a new study from Nielsen/NetRatings. The study, conducted for the first time, found that 21 percent of those web users now prefer online versions of newspapers, 72 percent choose the print editions, and 7 percent split their time between the two. Visits to Yahoo News and Google News or other aggregators were not counted in the study.

Newspaper publishing revenue remains in a slump while Google and Yahoo revenues have been booming because of the boom in online advertising, including search ads. In May, Yahoo News had an online audience of 23.8 million, and 7.1 million - up 3 percent and 4 percent, respectively, from a year ago - according to Nielsen.

NYTimes.com is the most visited U.S. newspaper site, with an audience of 11.3 million in May, up 25 percent from a year earlier, according to Nielsen. USATODAY.com was second, with an audience of 9.2 million in May, up 15 percent. Third was washingtonpost.com; its audience in May grew 10 percent year over year, to 7.4 million.