For the first time in nearly two years, digital traffic
to The Washington Times exceeded that of rival The Washington Examiner, which has become one of the fastest-growing conservative news websites, according to the most recent edition
of TheRighting, a research and publishing company that tracks the audience growth of right-wing media in the United States.
The Washington Times' traffic soared 229% in April vs. the
same month a year ago, making it the second-most visited right-leaning website of the month.
While The Washington Examiner also experienced healthy growth -- with unique visitor
traffic growing 62% -- it nonetheless dropped to third place behind the Times.
"Overall, extensive coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic helped all conservative websites in TheRighting’s
top 20 right-wing websites post positive gains, with 45% of them experiencing triple-digit gains," the new report notes.
By comparison, three leading U.S. mainstream news sources tracked by
TheRighting, also experienced significant growth.
The Washington Post and The New York Times both had unique vistor gains of 35%, while CNN.com rose 33% for the
month.