'Trump Bump' Continues In Media In Spite Of Presidential Criticism

President Donald Trump famously said that media publications such as New York Times Co NYT are "failing," but the statistics say otherwise.

In early February, NYT reported its digital subscriber base grew at its fastest pace since 2011.

On Thursday, new data confirmed legacy media publications are very much alive.

Statista reported the Financial Times saw a 15 percent increase in digital subscribers to reach 650,000 by the end of the year. The British-based publication could cite Trump's election win and the Brexit vote as a reason for a surge in interest.

Statista added that The New York Times added half a million subscribers to its digital news offering on a year-over-year period through December.

Stats Paint A Clear Picture

Statista suggested that there are two ways to interpret these trends. First, consumers have now found online content good worthy enough to pay money for. Second, quality news reporting remains in strong demand despite the president's harsh critique of media publications.

Here is a summary of Statista's findings on the growth in digital subscriptions in Q4 2016 versus Q4 2015 (all figures approximate).

• NYT: +1.5 million in Q4 2016 versus +1.1 million in Q4 2015.
• News Corp NWSA's Wall Street Journal: +1.1 million versus +0.8 million.
• Financial Times: +0.8 million versus +0.55 million.
• Gannett Co Inc GCI's total properties: +0.2 million versus +0.1 million.
• Tronc Inc TRNC: +0.15 million versus +0.1 million.

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