Editors of daily community newspapers with a circulation larger than 25,000 are more likely to base editorial decisions in part on Web analytics, says a study released by the Donald J. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI).

The results showed that 90 percent of 529 editors who took part in the telephone survey answered yes to the question: "Does your newsroom receive Web analytics reports about data such as page views, length of visit, and traffic of your Web site?" The study also showed that 49 percent of those editors "reported that their newsrooms make decisions about what stories to cover based at least partially on the Web analytics reports they receive."

That data was broken down further to highlight a prominent difference between newspapers at the circulation threshold of 25,000. RJI's analysis shows that "weekday circulation size was a significant factor in editors’ responses, as newspapers with a circulation of 25,000 or more (72 percent) make decisions about news coverage at least partially based on Web analytics reports significantly more than those with a circulation of less than 25,000 (44 percent)."

In total, the study showed that editors were embracing ways to make their newspapers more social as well as trying to engage their audiences via social media.

The New York Times' David Carr has lamented the influence of algorithms on headline writing as news outlets seek the magical keywords that will increase online traffic. The Times also reported last fall that a number of news organizations, most notably The Wall Street Journal, were increasingly relying on algorithms and web traffic reports to judge what readers like and dislike.