New Zealand news websites' ratings jump

The latest Hitwise statistics on website traffic show three New Zealand news sites moved up the rankings on Wednesday as readers sought information about the terrorist attacks that morning in the USA.

Hitwise reports the website of the New Zealand Herald (nzherald.co.nz) rose to 12th position among websites visited by New Zealanders - including overseas sites. The Herald site had rated 21st over the previous week.

The TV One news site (onenews.nzoom.com) moved up to 21st position on Wednesday, compared to 93rd the previous week.

The Independent News Limited news site (www.stuff.co.nz) rated 44th on Wednesday, up from 50th in the previous week.

Telecom's Xtra/MSN website (xtramsn.co.nz) retained its position as the 4th most popular website among New Zealanders.

Major US news sites also attracted an increase in traffic from New Zealand. CNN.com jumped 85 places in the overall rankings to be the 5th most visited site on Wednesday. ABC News (www.abcnews.com) rose 760 places, The Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) was up 760 places and the New York Times (www.nytimes.com) rose 198 places.

Other sites with heavy traffic included American Airlines (www.aa.com), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (www.fbi.gov), the FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center (www.ifccfbi.gov) – where the FBI created a section for people to report terrorist activity - and the White House (www.whitehouse.gov).

Hitwise monitors internet traffic by agreement with a wide range of internet service providers.

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The fatal flights

Emergency telephone numbers for friends and family of victims and survivors

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068

Survivor databases

Air New Zealand announcements

Air NZ flight information: 0800 737 000.