Introduction

We present the list of the 20 media outlets with the best digital reputation according to OECD. For this, we rely on the data from the latest wave of analysis produced by SCImago Media Rankings (SMR). As in future editions of this series, we will present the results through the following tables:

According to the global web reputation ranking, U.S. media outlets dominate the top positions. The New York Times leads the list at number 1, followed by USA Today and The Guardian in second and third place, respectively. Notably, Spain's El País shares the fifth spot with The Associated Press, making it the highest-ranked Spanish-language outlet. Financial media such as Forbes, Fortune, and Investopedia also appear in the top 10, reflecting global interest in financial content. Additionally, UK-based outlets like The Daily Mail and The Independent are among the top ten, highlighting the significant influence of Anglo-Saxon media in the global news landscape. The presence of French media, such as Le Monde and Agence France-Presse (AFP), underscores the geographical diversity in the global distribution of web reputation.

Recent data on authority scores and other key indicators for global media position The New York Times as the undisputed leader with an overall score of 87.50 and a maximum authority score of 100. Close behind are USA Today and The Guardian, with overall scores of 85.75 and 84.50, respectively. Notably, Spain's El País shares the sixth spot with The Associated Press, both with an overall score of 83.50, highlighting their significant influence outside the Anglo-Saxon realm. Indicators such as Referring Domains, Citation Flow, and Trust Flow reflect these outlets' ability to generate trust and authority online. Financial media like Forbes and Investopedia also rank highly, indicating growing interest in quality financial content. Collectively, this data shows the dominance of U.S. and U.K. media in the global landscape but also underscores the significant presence of media from other countries, signaling a diversification of media authority on an international level.

Methodology

The SCImago Media Rankings data uses the following methodology (source, the SMR website). 

Indicators have been obtained from various sources to make up the ranking. The main ones are:

• Authority Score (SEMRUSH): Measures the overall quality of a website and influence on SEO. The score is based on the number of backlinks, referring domains, organic search traffic, and other data.
• Ref. Domains (SEMRUSH): Metric based on the total number of referring domains. To normalize the values we use a logarithmic transformation and scale them from 0 to 100.
• Citation Flow (MAJESTIC): Reflects the number of links pointing to a given website regardless of whether the links are of good or poor quality.
• Trust Flow (MAJESTIC): Measures the quality of links pointing to a website. A web page with higher Trust Flow than Citation Flow will usually have good quality links.

From these main indicators, the Overall indicator has been constructed, in which each of them has an equal weight of 25%.

Conclusions

We have presented the most relevant data on the top 20 media outlets according to the OECD, distributed based on their web reputation. This is a new installment in a series aimed at periodically disseminating the most prominent results from the SCImago Media Rankings (SMR). In future editions, we will explore other media distributions and their outcomes.

We encourage digital journalism professionals and researchers to directly consult the SMR results for their analyses and studies. The SMR portal offers free and versatile access, updated three times a year, providing a valuable tool for professionals and scholars of cyberjournalism and digital journalism.

Useful links

SMR - Rankings

SMR - Methodology