November 17, 2016

The New York Times reported Thursday that, in the week since the election, it’s added 41,000 new digital and print subscribers, “the largest one-week subscription increase since the first week of the digital pay model in 2011.”

In that same week, the Times has been singled out on Twitter by President-elect Donald Trump for looking “like fools in their coverage of me.” Earlier this week, the Times sent a letter to subscribers with the promise of fair coverage, which the president-elect also went after.

According to a press release from the Times, this week’s subscription bump followed with a traffic bump on Nov. 6, 7 and 8, and readers spent five times longer than usual on site.

The Times isn’t alone in getting subscriber support following the election. ProPublica saw donations surge after a segment from comedian John Oliver. He told viewers on the Sunday night finale of “Last Week Tonight,” his HBO show, “you need to support actual journalism by buying a subscription to outlets like The Times, The (Washington) Post, your local newspaper, or donate to groups like ProPublica, a nonprofit group which does great investigative journalism.”

The Wall Street Journal, which left its paywall up on election day, also saw a rise in subscribers. The Atlantic and The Guardian saw subscriptions go up, too.

Support high-integrity, independent journalism that serves democracy. Make a gift to Poynter today. The Poynter Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and your gift helps us make good journalism better.
Donate
Kristen Hare is Poynter's director of craft and local news. She teaches local journalists the critical skills they need to serve and cover their communities.…
Kristen Hare

More News

Back to News