Compiled from research conducted earlier this year via YouGov, which involved surveying over 95,000 people in 47 countries, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024 offers a comprehensive analysis of the ever-evolving realm of news consumption worldwide. This annual publication underscores significant trends and shifts in how audiences access, engage with, and perceive news across various platforms, providing valuable insights into the current state of global news consumption and the emerging patterns that are shaping the future of journalism.
Search and socials are key sources
According to the findings, most people now predominantly access online news via social media and search platforms, as well as aggregator feeds, whereas only around a fifth (22%) identified news websites or apps as their main news sources online. This indicates a 10% decline from 2018.
Although this downward trend is thwarted in Northern European markets such as Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden – where the majority of readers access online news directly via publishers – the broader findings show that users are less connected with news brands than previous generations. This presents a clear challenge to publishers to find new ways to reach readers, particularly among younger demographic groups.
Consumption continues to diversify
The social media landscape has rapidly expanded over the last decade, and as a result, the way users are consuming news content has also evolved. In the 2014 Digital News Report, Facebook and YouTube were the only two platforms to be accessed by more than 10% of surveyed users for news, however this is now much more fragmented.
The latest findings show that today’s users are more likely to catch up on news via a broader selection of social networks, including WhatsApp (16%) and X (11%), with an increasing shift towards video-based platforms such as YouTube (31%), TikTok (13%) and Instagram (15%). Although still significant, Facebook news consumption is declining – down from 36% to 26% over the last ten years – which falls in line with the platform’s strategy to deprioritise news in a bid to keep users on its own pages rather than refer them elsewhere.
Video is more important than ever
In tandem with the rise of video-based social networks, video in general is becoming the preferred medium for online news, particularly with younger demographics. The report highlights that over two-thirds of people (66%) now access short news videos every week, and over half (51%) also access longer video formats to catch up on the latest events.
Notably for news titles, the findings also show that users are much more likely to access news videos via online platforms (72%) rather than directly via publisher websites (22%).
Influencers still hold sway
Despite a sense of influencer fatigue across some markets, the report shows that many partisan commentators and young creators continue to be highly influential on a number of news topics, including politics. This is particularly prevalent across YouTube and TikTok, as users indicated that they’re slightly more likely to pay attention to online influencers and personalities rather than journalists or new media on these platforms, however the opposite is true on X, and the results were even less for Facebook.
Fake news is an escalating issue
The emergence of deep fake images has intensified worries about the credibility of online news, with the report highlighting that 59% of individuals are concerned. Compared with previous findings, the anxiety over discerning genuine from fake content on the internet has increased over the past year - particularly across social platforms such as TikTok and X - with concern notably higher in South Africa (81%) and the United States (72%).
Trust in news remains relatively low
Confidence in news media has stayed steady over the past year, with 40% of users indicating that they trust traditional sources - this is slightly higher than the UK result, which is currently at 36%. Finland continues to lead with the highest overall trust levels at 69%, while Greece and Hungary, both at 23%, register the lowest, reflecting worries about political and corporate influence over their media. As the capabilities and applications of AI continue to increase, there is notable apprehension regarding how it can and will be used, particularly for critical news topics such as politics and warfare, however users are comfortable with the use of AI for tasks such as transcriptions and translations.
News avoidance is increasing
Although elections have sparked a modest increase in news interest across some countries such as the US, the general trend shows a decline, and in the UK interest in news has nearly halved since 2015. This decrease is paralleled by a waning interest in politics, with the most recent general election in the UK receiving the lowest voter turnout since 2001.
Concurrently, there has been an uptick in selective news avoidance. The report highlights that around 39% of users now admit to sometimes or often steering clear of the news, which is a rise of 3% from last year’s average. This trend is more pronounced in countries like Brazil, Spain, Germany, and Finland, with open comments from surveyed users suggesting that ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East might be contributing factors. Additionally, a growing number of people feel ‘overloaded’ by the sheer volume of news available, with this sentiment increasing by 11% since this question was last asked for the 2019 report.
Users want insights and optimism
In examining user needs related to news, the data indicates that publishers could be overly concentrated on delivering updates on top news stories, while not dedicating enough effort to offering diverse perspectives on issues or reporting stories. When averaged across all markets, 63% of users stated that news that offers different viewpoints on topical issues is important, with 54% confirming that they’re looking for news that makes them feel better about the world.
Regarding covered topics, the findings reveal that audiences generally feel well served by political and sports news, particularly in the UK, but there are notable gaps in coverage of local news in some countries such as South Korea and Japan.
National brands dominate subscriptions
Potentially a key concern for publishers, the data reveals minimal growth in news subscriptions, with only 17% of respondents from 20 affluent countries paying for any online news in the past year. North European nations, such as Norway (40%) and Sweden (31%), exhibit the highest subscription rates, while Japan (9%) and the United Kingdom (8%) are among the lowest. As observed in previous years, a significant portion of digital subscriptions are concentrated among large national brands, continuing the winner-takes-most trend.
In some regions, publishers are looking to tackle this via substantial discounting, with approximately 41% of subscribers paying less than the full price, however more than half (55%) of non-subscribers confirmed that they’re unwilling to pay anything for online news. Additionally, across all markets, only 2% of non-payers are willing to pay the equivalent of an average full-price subscription.
Podcasts attract younger audiences
Across a range of 20 countries, over a third of survey respondents (35%) now access a podcast monthly, with 13% listening to shows that specifically relate to news and current affairs. Although this is largely the same as 2023, audio news consumption has grown in recent years, and the report highlights that podcasts can provide a cheaper production alternative to video, while largely attracting younger, richer, and better educated audiences. For those looking to break into podcasting however, it’s important to note that market saturation means it can be difficult for new shows to be discovered, which means a clear proposition and strong marketing strategy is essential.
To find out how major news titles are adapting to meet evolving user needs, click here to download your free copy of our case study on The Times and The Sunday Times.
