In 2025, the gap between traditional news websites and community-driven platforms has widened. According to Press Gazette and SimilarWeb, nearly 44 of the top 50 U.S. news sites lost traffic year-over-year in July 2025. Meanwhile, Reddit’s visits have surged, making it one of the most visited websites in America. The shift illustrates how readers are gravitating toward interactive, trusted, and fact-based experiences rather than passive consumption of headlines.
The Decline of Traditional News Traffic
In July 2025, major publishers saw steep declines:
- CNN: Down 38% year-over-year, with 323 million visits.
- Fox News: Down 26%, with 249 million visits.
- Forbes: Down 50%.
- Daily Mail: Down 44%.
- Washington Post: Down 40%.
- BBC (U.S. Edition): ~100 million visits, down 16% YoY after launching a U.S. paywall.
Altogether, only six of the top 50 sites saw growth. The rest—some of the biggest names in journalism—continue to shrink in digital footprint. This represents a structural problem, not just a bad month of reporting.
What’s Driving the Decline?
Several factors are eroding traffic for news publishers:
- Google AI Overviews: With Google serving summaries directly on search pages, fewer users click through to original publisher content.
- Paywalls: As outlets chase subscriptions, many readers are locked out of stories, turning to free alternatives.
- Shifting Habits: Younger audiences get news from social platforms, podcasts, or newsletters instead of visiting homepages.
- Trust Issues: Years of sensationalism, clickbait, and polarized coverage have led to declining public trust in mainstream news.
Reddit’s Rise in 2025
By contrast, Reddit continues to gain traction. Data shows its U.S. traffic has risen more than 30% YoY in 2025, making it a consistent top-10 website. What explains this growth?
Factors Behind Reddit’s Success
- Community Moderation: Content is ranked by upvotes and downvotes, rewarding relevance and discouraging misinformation.
- Diversity of Topics: From global news to niche hobbies, Reddit provides specialized communities ("subreddits") unmatched by traditional outlets.
- Real-Time Reactions: Breaking news is often discussed on Reddit before newsrooms publish polished articles.
- No Barriers: All content is free to access, unlike strict paywalls on major news sites.
- Search Visibility: Reddit threads increasingly appear at the top of Google search results, often outranking established publishers.
The Trust Factor
Trust is where Reddit truly outpaces traditional news. Readers increasingly view professional outlets with skepticism, partly due to the “fake news” label that has circulated for years. In contrast, Reddit thrives on transparency: claims are discussed in open forums, fact-checked by users, and judged in real time. This crowdsourced accountability builds confidence.
“Every click is a zero-sum contest… you have to be better on every front: your content, your value proposition, SEO, multichannel strategy—everything needs to align.” – Barry Adams, SEO Consultant
Unlike news outlets competing for clicks with eye-catching headlines, Reddit earns engagement through authenticity. That trust, even if imperfect, explains why audiences feel more comfortable spending time there.
Historical Context: Reddit vs. News Publishers
Reddit’s steady rise coincides with a steady erosion of news site authority:
- 2010s: News websites dominated Google News and search traffic, with strong referral pipelines.
- 2020–2022: Social media referrals began declining as algorithms favored video and influencer content over external links.
- 2023–2025: The launch of Google AI Overviews further reduced referral clicks to publishers. Reddit, however, benefited as Google prioritized community-driven discussion in search results.
The trendline is clear: platforms with participatory models are gaining while one-directional publishers are shrinking.
Solutions for Publishers
To recover lost audiences, news sites need more than SEO tweaks. They must re-engineer how they engage readers. The following steps are crucial:
- Rebuild Trust: Commit to fact-first journalism, with transparent sourcing and corrections.
- Invest in Local Coverage: Communities crave stories about schools, infrastructure, local government, and neighborhood issues—coverage national outlets rarely provide.
- Create Interactive Spaces: Forums, Q&As, and live chats can replicate the sense of engagement that Reddit provides.
- Balance Paywalls: Instead of hard subscriptions, offer hybrid models with free articles, freemium tiers, or micropayments.
- Show the Reporting Process: Behind-the-scenes explainers and transparent methodologies can humanize journalism and restore confidence.
Comparing Engagement: Reddit vs. News Sites
Average engagement tells the story:
| Platform | Avg. Session Time | Barrier to Entry | Trust Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~10–12 minutes | Free, open access | User-driven moderation, transparency | |
| News Sites | ~2–4 minutes | Paywalls, subscriptions | Editorial boards, less interactive |
Conclusion
The divergence between Reddit’s traffic growth and news sites’ decline reflects a fundamental change in digital media. Readers value trust, participation, and local relevance over polished but distant reporting. News organizations can learn from Reddit’s success: open the door to reader engagement, prioritize accuracy, and rebuild trust from the ground up.
For publishers, the message is clear: the future isn’t just about competing with AI or gaming search algorithms—it’s about restoring credibility and focusing on community. Only then can traditional journalism reclaim its audience.