As news that July ad sales for The New York Times dropped 3.5 percent, The Bivings Report selected The Gray Lady as the best newspaper Web site using "design, aesthetics and general usability of the site" as their criteria. Despite the dismal financial showing, the metrics also promised hopes of a better tomorrow. From Editor and Publisher (via Romenesko):

The New York Times again tops newspaper Web sites in terms of traffic for July, according to the latest data from Nielsen//Net Ratings. Compared to June, NYT.com's unique audience rose to 14,149,000 from 12,535,000. All the papers that made the top five slots in July experienced growth in traffic when compared to June data.

A late day rally had The New York Times shares finishing up 2.2 percent at $22.38.

— Ron Mwangaguhunga