Trick will be to retain cyber readers after controversy wanes. Newspaper sites also saw their audiences spike after the release of independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report on the Monica Lewinsky scandal two years ago, and during other major news events. But newspaper sites, often viewed by the Internet industry as technological laggards, may have the most to gain. If they go back to business as usual, the audience will go back to Yahoo. In the case of the election, newspaper sites gained most of their new users among people at work.
Sites have to offer compelling reasons for their audience to come back.
And as dedicated Internet content providers and, more recently, retailers have painfully learned, large audiences do not necessarily mean profitable enterprises. You will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.