Estimating readership: It’s a matter of trust

Estimating how many people read about us and our work is one significant way of predicting how much impact our work is having. Providing estimates that are realistic is also an issue of credibility. Some think tanks in Canada are making eyebrow-raising claims of “reach” in the billions. But what does such a number mean? The Canada West Foundation has chosen “estimated readership” as a more accurate barometer of our impact. What’s the difference? Reach is the total number of readers who access a website where our content appears or the Foundation is cited. Readership – a lower figure – is an estimate of how many people have actually read the relevant citation. Media measurement is provided by a third-party, independent media monitoring service. For more on this topic, contact .