North American media still commands global attention. Even as audiences spread across digital channels and platforms become more fragmented, the continent’s largest news outlets continue to draw billions of visits a year and shape narratives far beyond their borders.
For communications and PR teams, getting featured on a high-traffic publication is more than a visibility play. It influences how a brand is perceived, establishes authority, and can spark secondary pickup across search, aggregators and syndicated news networks.
This article highlights the 25 most-visited news and public-facing media outlets in North America to watch out for in 2026, ranked by traffic.
New York Times
Founded: 1851 | Location: New York | Category: Mainstream national news
The New York Times is listed as the highest-traffic outlet in North America with an estimated ~620 million monthly visits (Oct. 2025) and roughly ~7.4 billion annual visits.
It publishes national and global news across politics, business, culture, and investigative reporting. The publication is noted for extensive digital readership alongside longstanding print operations.
MSN
Founded: 1995 | Location: Redmond, Washington | Category: News aggregator portal
MSN is recorded at ~490 million monthly visits, equal to approximately ~5.9 billion visits per year.
The outlet is described as a large-scale news aggregation network that distributes content sourced from multiple publishers. MSN operates as a high-volume consumer news portal rather than a primary reporting newsroom.
CNN
Founded: 1980 | Location: Atlanta | Category: 24-hour news
CNN receives around ~441 million monthly visits and around ~5.3 billion annually.
It operates as a continuous news service with coverage including U.S. politics, international events, and live reporting. CNN maintains both broadcast and digital distribution, with simultaneous coverage across global bureaus.
Fox News
Founded: 1996 | Location: New York | Category: Cable and digital news
Fox News is reported at ~250 million visits per month and ~3.0 billion yearly visits.
Its coverage includes U.S. political reporting, national issues, business, and general current events. The outlet functions as a cable news network with an additional high-traffic online news platform.
Yahoo Finance
Founded: 1997 | Location: United States | Category: Business and financial media
Yahoo Finance records an estimated ~146 million monthly visits, placing it among the highest-traffic financial outlets in North America. It publishes market data, stock performance, financial analysis, macroeconomic reporting, and business news. The site operates as a large-scale digital finance hub serving public-market and economic interest readership.
USA Today
Founded: 1982 | Location: United States | Category: National news
USA Today holds an estimated ~143 million monthly visits. Its coverage spans national reporting including politics, society, major events, and multi-topic general news. The outlet operates across print and digital distribution.
CNBC
Founded: 1989 | Location: United States | Category: Business and financial news
CNBC receives 117 million visits per month. Its reporting centers on financial markets, corporate earnings, investment activity, and business-sector coverage. It maintains high digital traffic alongside live broadcast programming.
New York Post
Founded: 1801 | Location: New York | Category: General news
The New York Post receives approximately ~98 million monthly visits. It publishes U.S. news, politics, features, and tabloid-formatted reporting with extensive digital reach.
CBS News
Founded: 1927 | Location: United States | Category: National news
CBS News receives an estimated ~85 million visits monthly. Its reporting covers U.S. and global news, politics, national events, and broadcast-produced coverage distributed online.
Associated Press (AP)
Founded: 1846 | Location: United States | Category: Newswire agency
Associated Press generates an estimated ~82 million monthly visits. It functions as a wire service supplying reporting to partner publications across North America and internationally. AP covers politics, global events, business, economy, and general news distribution.
Newsweek
Founded: 1933 | Location: New York | Category: General news
Newsweek is reported at roughly ~80 million visits monthly. It publishes coverage across U.S. politics, world affairs, culture, social issues, and general reporting. The outlet distributes news through a primarily digital format.
Yahoo News
Founded: 1996 | Location: United States | Category: News aggregator
Yahoo News generates approximately ~74 million monthly visits. It aggregates reporting from partner media while also producing general-category news across U.S. politics, global events, and public-interest coverage.
NBC News
Founded: 1940 | Location: United States | Category: National news
NBC News is recorded at ~68 million monthly visits. It publishes domestic and international news, political reporting, social issues, and general event coverage, sourced through digital and broadcast production.
Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
Founded: 1889 | Location: New York | Category: Business and finance
WSJ receives an estimated ~66 million monthly visits. The outlet reports on financial markets, corporate developments, economic policy, and global business activity. It maintains both print and digital delivery.
Washington Post
Founded: 1877 | Location: Washington, D.C. | Category: National news
The Washington Post is listed at ~65 million visits per month. It reports on U.S. politics, government, national affairs, and world news. The outlet operates through digital publishing alongside print circulation.
ABC News
Founded: 1945 | Location: United States | Category: National news
ABC News is recorded at ~53 million monthly visits. Its coverage includes domestic news, world events, politics, and network-produced reporting delivered through digital extension.
Forbes
Founded: 1917 | Location: New York | Category: Business media
Forbes reaches approximately ~49 million visits monthly. It publishes business journalism, company rankings, wealth indexing, entrepreneurship coverage, and financial reporting.
Politico
Founded: 2007 | Location: United States | Category: Political journalism
Politico records roughly ~49 million monthly visits. It covers policy, U.S. government, elections, and political reporting. The publication is digital-led with a focus on national political activity and public affairs.
Business Insider
Founded: 2007 | Location: United States | Category: Digital business news
Business Insider receives an estimated ~46 million monthly visits. Its coverage includes companies, markets, technology, workplace reporting, and general business news. The publication operates as a digital-first newsroom with large online readership.
Drudge Report
Founded: 1996 | Location: United States | Category: News aggregation
Drudge Report is listed with approximately ~45 million monthly visits. It operates as a headline aggregation site linking to external reporting across politics, world news, and general topics.
The Hill
Founded: 1994 | Location: Washington, D.C. | Category: Political news
The Hill receives an estimated ~44 million monthly visits. It covers U.S. politics, Congress, legislation, national policy, and general political reporting. The outlet publishes in digital format.
HuffPost
Founded: 2005 | Location: United States | Category: Digital general news
HuffPost is listed with approximately ~33 million monthly visits. It publishes reporting across U.S. politics, culture, commentary, and general news topics. The outlet functions as a digital-native publisher.
Axios
Founded: 2016/17 | Location: United States | Category: Digital general news
Axios generates approximately ~28 million monthly visits. It reports on business, politics, technology, and general national developments in short-form, digital-first format.
Breitbart
Founded: 2007 | Location: United States | Category: Political news
Breitbart records roughly ~28 million monthly visits. Its coverage areas include U.S. politics, national events, and policy-oriented reporting.
How Comms Teams Can Use This Ranking Strategically
Understanding which outlets draw the most attention is useful, but the real value comes from knowing how to act on it. High-traffic publications offer reach, but effectiveness depends on timing, positioning, and message relevance. A successful media push is rarely about a single placement. It is about sequencing, reinforcement, and building authority across multiple touchpoints.
Here are practical ways to use the ranking as part of a communications plan:
- Match the outlet to the goal. For mass awareness, high-volume general news sites work well. For funding, corporate growth or market announcements, business-focused titles usually carry more weight. For regulatory or advocacy messaging, policy-driven outlets are more suitable. Consider building a PR media map to make this easier.
- Think in waves, not one-off hits. A headline in a top-five outlet is powerful, but layered coverage across mid and top-tier publications could also deliver stronger results. Multiple articles across varied channels help create lasting presence rather than a short spike of attention.
- Build credibility before scale. Sometimes starting with niche or subject-specific placement makes it easier to move up to a major publication later. A strong proof trail signals legitimacy and gives editors reference material to work from.
- Plan for secondary amplification. High-traffic outlets often act as a starting point rather than an end point. Coverage there can surface across aggregators, newsletters and syndicated networks, extending value well beyond the original publication.
- Use ranking data to guide pitch prioritization. When resources are limited, knowing which outlets deliver the most volume makes campaign planning more efficient. This list can serve as a map for where attention clusters and where effort has the highest potential return.
How Column Can Help
Many teams understand the importance of top-tier coverage, but struggle with the steps that lead to it. Identifying a strong angle, framing it for the right desk, and securing editorial attention takes time, research and familiarity with how newsrooms operate.
Column supports founders through that process by helping shape stories, position them for the right outlets and develop outreach that respects editorial needs rather than pushing volume. This includes research-led narrative development, thought leadership placement and relationship-based media engagement.
For teams that want to move from potential to presence in the publications listed above, Column can be a partner in making that happen — steadily, strategically and with a focus on credibility.
Johnson is a Content Strategist at Column. He helps brands craft content that drives visibility and results. He studied Economics at the University of Ibadan and brings over years of experience in direct response marketing, combining strategy, creativity, and data-backed thinking.
Connect with him on LinkedIn.
