Traffic for News Websites Plummet Without Donald Trump

When Donald Trump left the White House in January, he left media outlets without a purpose. Since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the traffic across the country’s leading news sites has consistently plummeted.

Look at this demise, according to data from ComScore:

• The Wall Street Journal: -19.9%
• Forbes: -60.7%
• CNN: -20.1%
• Axios: -26.1%
• Fox News: -26.2%
• NBC News: -27.4%
• The Washington Post: -27.5%
• The Guardian: -32.5%
• The Hill: -32.9%
• The New York Times: -33.9%
• The Los Angeles Times: -39.1%
• Politico: -44.4%
• The Atlantic: -51.9%
• Time: 51.9%
• ABC News: -55.6%

The post-Trump news slump continues online. Traffic has declined at leading news sites almost every month since January peak and from a year ago. Latest figures from ComScore: pic.twitter.com/OR8KhPJlXT

— Paul Farhi (@farhip) July 19, 2021

Buzzfeed, the sole outlet to record a year-over-year gain, likely benefited from a stronger pivot to entertainment coverage.

Hilariously, the industry that worked so aggressively to damage Donald Trump has nearly broken itself in half.

In addition, Americans have lost trust in the media. A Gallup poll found last week that Congress is the only institution viewed as less trustworthy than the media. What a tough choice.

If the content is entertaining, lies can work. Look at CNN’s wins from 2016 to 2020. However, lies do not mix with a boring product. Obviously, right?

The media’s decline without Trump goes well beyond website traffic. In total day viewership, CNN is down 45% from the second quarter of 2020, followed by Fox News at -39% and MSNBC at -30%. Most notably, CNN’s blue-chip news program, The Lead with Jake Tapper, has lost 75% of its viewers since January.

The name of an outlet no longer carries the weight it once did. Without Trump, fewer consumers check a website or leave a news channel on consistently throughout the day. Instead, they come and go. More viewers want to watch and read particular individuals, not the companies for which they work.

Since January, Glenn Greenwald, Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly, Bill Maher, and Rachel Maddow have all gained in media stature. Notice how their names are frequently written without mention of an associated company.

Yes, that is correct, the New York Times has no one.

So, I must ask, who misses Trump more: the MAGA hat-wearers or members of the media?