NEWSPAPER media audiences in Australia have increased to their highest level yet, with dailyliberal.com.au showing continual increases month by month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Enhanced Media Metrics Australia (EMMA) data found that 16.4 million people a month consumed newspaper media, representing 93 per cent of the population aged 14 and over - the highest level since emma measurement began in June 2013.
"The emma data confirms that newspaper journalism is reaching more readers than ever, with growth being driven by all digital platforms.
"It demonstrates not only the powerful reach of newspapers, but also that newspapers remain as relevant as ever to their audiences," The Newspaper Works CEO Mark Hollands said.
Digital content is the key driver of this growth, due largely to the introduction of improved website measurement by Nielsen Online Ratings, which is fused with emma data.
The combined web audiences of major national, metropolitan and regional titles increased by 37 per cent in the nine months from June 2013.
This drove an overall increase across print and digital audiences of 7.6 per cent.
The growth in audience is evident in Dubbo where dailyliberal.com.au has seen an increase of 22 per cent in unique visitors over the past 12 months, looking at data from April 2013 and April 2014.
Page views have also increased significantly in that time with an increase of 89 per cent.
"This shows that our audience is continuing to change, with more and more people visiting us on our website for their breaking news," Daily Liberal digital editor Lynn Pinkerton said.
"Our popular weekly galleries such as our social snapped gallery and our throwback thursday galleries are well received by our audience, as is our commitment to bring the people of Dubbo a high quality level of news each day on the website."
The Newspaper Works Research and Insights Manager Simon Baty believes the number of people accessing their news via digital platforms will only increase in the coming years.
"With more comprehensive measurement of the online audience, it's clear that newspapers are reaching more people than previously thought via their websites," Baty said.
Newspapers on mobile platforms also showed double digit growth, with combined smartphone audiences reporting an organic increase of 13 per cent and tablet audiences up by 17 per cent from nine months ago.
Print readership still accounts for a significant proportion of total consumption of newspaper media, at 14.6 million people, or 83 per cent of the population aged 14 and over.