Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DNR 2019 Final PDF
DNR 2019 Final PDF
Supported by
Surveyed by
Contents
Foreword
Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ)
Journalism exists in the context of its audience, and if journalists As with previous reports we shed light on the questions these
(and those who care about journalism) are to understand and developments raise through a combination of survey data,
navigate the changing environment around news, it is critically qualitative research, and intelligence from expert contributors
important that they have access to relevant, robust, independent across all of our countries. We have also looked in much more
evidence and analysis on how people across countries engage detail at the news and media habits of younger people who
with and use news. have grown up with digital media and products and services like
Facebook and YouTube and differ in important ways from older
That is what we aim to provide in the Reuters Institute Digital
generations. We conducted a series of in-depth interviews and
News Report, here in its eighth annual iteration. The report
tracking studies in the United Kingdom and the United States
provides important new insights into key issues including
that we draw on in the relevant sections here and we will publish
people’s willingness to pay for news, the move to private
a full report on the topic later in the year.
messaging applications and groups, and how people see
news media around the world performing their role. A report of this scale and scope is only possible due to collaboration
from our partners and sponsors around the world. We are proud to
The report is based on a survey of more than 75,000 people
have the opportunity to work with a number of leading academics
in 38 markets, along with additional qualitative research, which
and top universities in the report, as well as media experts from
together make it the most comprehensive ongoing comparative
the news industry itself. Our partners have helped in a variety of
study of news consumption in the world.
different ways, from preparing country profiles to in-depth analysis
Europe remains a key focus, with 24 countries included, but we of the results.
also cover seven markets in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan,
Given the richness of the research, this report can only convey
Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia) along with four
a small part of the data collected and work done. More detail
Latin American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico)
is available on our website (www.digitalnewsreport.org), which
as well as the United States and Canada. We are also delighted
contains slidepacks and charts, along with a licence that
to include South Africa for the first time this year, following on
encourages reuse, subject to attribution to the Reuters Institute.
from our first stand-alone India Digital News Report, published
On the website, there is also a full description of our survey
earlier this year, part of our effort to make our research more
methodology, the full questionnaire, and an interactive charting
truly global.
feature, which allows data to be compared across countries, and
The report has expanded more than sevenfold since its creation, over time. Raw data tables are also available on request along with
from five countries in 2012 to 38 this year, and as we work to make documentation for reuse.
the report more fully global, we are proud to have been able to
Making all this possible, we are hugely grateful to our sponsors:
add more from the South this year. As we use online polling and
Google, BBC News, Ofcom, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland,
need to make meaningful comparisons, we continue to focus on
the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM), the Media Industry Research
countries with high internet penetration and which are either
Foundation of Finland, the Fritt Ord Foundation in Norway, the
broadly democratic or generally compare themselves to countries
Korea Press Foundation, Edelman UK, as well as our academic
with a democratic tradition. (We have kept India separate from
sponsors at the Hans Bredow Institute, the University of Navarra,
the main Digital News Report for this reason – internet use is not
the University of Canberra, the Centre d’études sur les médias,
yet widespread enough there to make our online sample directly
Québec, Canada, and Roskilde University in Denmark. The Open
comparable to the countries covered here.)
Society Foundations has joined as our newest sponsor, allowing
This year’s report comes amid a complex set of challenges for us to expand the report to cover South Africa (and has committed
the news industry specifically and for our media environment to supporting the inclusion of additional countries in the global
more broadly, including the ongoing disruption of inherited south next year).
business models for news, constant evolution in how people
We are also grateful to YouGov, our polling company, who did
use digital media (and the ways in which we are constantly
everything possible to accommodate our increasingly complex
reminded of how some of the information they come across is
requirements and helped our research team analyse and
untrustworthy and sometimes spread with malicious intent),
contextualise the data.
and social upheaval associated with the rise of populism and
with low trust in many institutions.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
Methodology
This study has been commissioned by the Reuters Institute • It is important to note that some of our survey-based results
for the Study of Journalism to understand how news is being will not match industry data, which are often based on very
consumed in a range of countries. Research was conducted by different methodologies, such as web-tracking. The accuracy
YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/ of these approaches can be very high, but they are also subject
beginning of February 2019. to different limitations, meaning that data can also be partial
• Samples in each country were assembled using nationally or incomplete. We will often look at this data to sense check
representative quotas for age, gender, region, and education.1 our results or help identify potential problems with our survey
The data were also weighted to targets based on census/ data before publication. On occasions we will include industry
industry accepted data. data as supporting evidence with appropriate attribution.
• Each year we also commission some qualitative research to
• As this survey deals with news consumption, we filtered out
support and complement the survey. This year, we worked with
anyone who said that they had not consumed any news in the
Flamingo, an international market research company, to look
past month, in order to ensure that irrelevant responses didn’t
in detail at the habits and behaviours of younger groups in the
adversely affect data quality. This category averaged around 3%.
United States and United Kingdom. The methodology included
• We should note that online samples will tend to under- tracking actual online behaviour of 20 participants for several
represent the consumption habits of people who are not weeks, in-depth interviews, and small group discussions with
online (typically older, less affluent, and with limited formal their friends. Insights and quotes from this research are used
education). In this sense it is better to think of results as to support this year’s Digital News Report but will also form
representative of online populations who use news at least a separate report to be published in September.
once a month. In a country like Norway this is almost everyone
• Along with country-based figures, throughout the report
(99%) but in South Africa this is around half (54%).
we also use aggregate figures based on responses from all
• These differences mean we need to be cautious when comparing respondents across all the countries covered. These figures
results between countries. We have marked countries with lower are meant only to indicate overall tendencies and should
internet penetration or less representative online samples with be treated with caution.
an asterisk (*) in the table below and have been careful in the
• Due to a scripting error we needed to repoll respondents for
report not to directly compare these countries on issues where
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS one question in Norway about the use of social networks for
we know that the sample difference would make results invalid
Slide 3
(e.g. paying for news).
news. 1,387 of the original 2,000 sample responded to the
recontact request and the results are included on the Norway
• It is also important to note that online surveys rely on recall, country page.
which is often imperfect or subject to biases. We have tried
• A fuller description of the methodology, panel partners, and
to mitigate these risks through careful questionnaire design
a discussion of non-probability sampling techniques can
and testing. On the other hand, surveys can be a good way of
be found on our website along with the full questionnaire
capturing fragmented media consumption across platforms
(digitalnewsreport.org)
(e.g. social media, messaging, apps, and websites), and tracking
activities and changes over time.
Country Final sample Internet Country Final sample Internet Country Final sample Internet
size penetration size penetration size penetration
Europe Italy 2006 92% Brazil* 2013 71%
UK 2023 95% Netherlands 2026 96% Canada 2055 90%
Austria 2010 88% Norway 2013 99% Chile 2004 78%
Belgium 2008 94% Poland 2009 78% Mexico* 2015 65%
Bulgaria* 2018 66% Portugal 2010 78% Asia Pacific
Croatia 2009 91% Romania 2004 74% Australia 2010 88%
Czech Republic 2023 88% Slovakia 2045 85% Hong Kong 2056 87%
Denmark 2011 97% Spain 2005 93% Japan 2017 93%
Finland 2009 94% Sweden 2007 97% Malaysia* 2101 78%
France 2005 93% Switzerland 2003 91% Singapore 2033 84%
Germany 2022 96% Turkey* 2074 68% South Korea 2035 93%
Greece 2018 70% Americas Taiwan 1005 88%
Hungary 2007 89% USA 2012 96% Africa
Ireland 2013 93% Argentina 2006 93% South Africa* 2009 54%
Source: Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com). Please note that in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Greece, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey our samples tend to be based more around
urban areas, which should be taken into consideration when interpreting results. *These countries have lower internet penetration so results may not be comparable for some measures.
Education quotas were not applied (or not fully applied) in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Malaysia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey so these samples will have a higher
1
Reuters Fellowships offer an opportunity to mid-career journalists to spend time researching an aspect of journalism for one or more terms at the Institute in Oxford.
2
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
8 / 9
Section 1
Executive Summary
and Key Findings
Nic Newman
Senior Research Associate,
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
This year’s report comes against the backdrop of A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT
rising populism, political and economic instability, FINDINGS FROM OUR 2019 RESEARCH.
along with intensifying concerns about giant tech • Despite the efforts of the news industry, we find only a
companies and their impact on society. News small increase in the numbers paying for any online news –
whether by subscription, membership, or donation. Growth
organisations have taken the lead in reporting
is limited to a handful of countries mainly in the Nordic
these trends, but also find themselves challenged region (Norway 34%, Sweden 27%) while the number
by them – further depressing an industry reeling paying in the US (16%) remains stable after a big jump
in 2017.
from more than a decade of digital disruption.
Platform power – and the ruthless efficiency of • Even in countries with higher levels of payment, the vast majority
only have ONE online subscription – suggesting that ‘winner
their advertising operations – has undermined takes all’ dynamics are likely to be important. One encouraging
news business models contributing to a series of development though is that most payments are now ‘ongoing’,
high-profile layoffs in traditional (Gannett) and rather than one-offs.
digital media (Mic, BuzzFeed) in the early part of • In some countries, subscription fatigue may also be setting
2019. Political polarisation has encouraged the in, with the majority preferring to spend their limited budget
on entertainment (Netflix/Spotify) rather than news. With
growth of partisan agendas online, which together many seeing news as a ‘chore’, publishers may struggle to
with clickbait and various forms of misinformation substantially increase the market for high-priced ‘single title’
is helping to further undermine trust in media – subscriptions. As more publishers launch pay models, over
two-thirds (70%) of our sample in Norway and half (50%) in
raising new questions about how to deliver the United States now come across one or more barriers
balanced and fair reporting in the digital age. each week when trying to read online news.
Against this background we are seeing some real shifts of focus. • In many countries, people are spending less time with
News organisations are increasingly looking to subscription Facebook and more time with WhatsApp and Instagram
and membership or other forms of reader contribution to pay than this time last year. Few users are abandoning Facebook
the bills in a so-called ‘pivot to paid’. Platforms are rethinking entirely, though, and it remains by far the most important
their responsibilities in the face of events (Christchurch attacks, social network for news.
Molly Russell suicide) and regulatory threats, with Facebook • Social communication around news is becoming more
rebalancing its business towards messaging apps and groups – private as messaging apps continue to grow everywhere.
the so-called ‘pivot to private’. Meanwhile audiences continue WhatsApp has become a primary network for discussing
to embrace on-demand formats with new excitement around and sharing news in non-Western countries like Brazil (53%)
podcasts (New York Times, Guardian) and voice technologies – Malaysia (50%), and South Africa (49%).
the so-called ‘pivot to audio’.
• People in these countries are also far more likely than in the
And amid all this frenetic change, some are beginning to question West to be part of large WhatsApp groups with people they
whether the news media are still fulfilling their basic mission don’t know – a trend that reflects how messaging applications
of holding powerful people to account and helping audiences can be used to easily share information at scale, potentially
understand the world around them. The questioning comes in the encouraging the spread of misinformation. Public and private
form of government inquiries in some countries into the future Facebook Groups discussing news and politics have become
sustainability of quality journalism (with recommendations as to popular in Turkey (29%) and Brazil (22%) but are much less used
what can be done to support it). But it also comes from parts of in Western countries such as Canada (7%) or Australia (7%).
the public who feel that the news media often fall short of what
• Concern about misinformation and disinformation remains
people expect from them.
high despite efforts by platforms and publishers to build public
Our report this year, based on data from almost 40 countries and confidence. In Brazil 85% agree with a statement that they are
six continents, aims to cast light on these key issues, principally worried about what is real and fake on the internet. Concern
through our survey data but supplemented with in-depth qualitative is also high in the UK (70%) and US (67%), but much lower
research on the news habits of young people in the UK and US. The in Germany (38%) and the Netherlands (31%).
overall story is captured in this Executive Summary, followed by • Across all countries, the average level of trust in the news in
Section 2 with chapters containing additional analysis on key general is down 2 percentage points to 42% and less than half
themes and then individual country pages in Section 3 carrying (49%) agree that they trust the news media they themselves
additional context provided by local experts in each market. use. Trust levels in France have fallen to just 24% (-11) in the
last year as the media have come under attack over their
coverage of the Yellow Vests movement. Trust in the news
found via search (33%) and social media remains stable
but extremely low (23%).
10 / 11
• Worries about the quality of information may be good for SOME GROWTH LEFT BUT THE LIMITS AROUND
trusted news brands. Across countries over a quarter (26%) ‘SINGLE PUBLICATION’ NEWS SUBSCRIPTION
say they have started relying on more ‘reputable’ sources BECOME CLEAR
of news – rising to 40% in the US. A further quarter (24%)
said they had stopped using sources that had a dubious In the last year a number of publishers have added paywalls and
reputation in the last year. But the often low trust in news membership schemes while others have reported significant
overall, and in many individual brands, underlines this is increases in digital subscription, but our data suggest this has not
not a development that will help all in the industry. yet had a substantial impact. We see a slight increase in online
payment in some countries and a stable picture in the US (after
• The news media are seen as doing a better job at breaking
a big jump in 2017) but in general we have seen little change in
news than explaining it. Across countries, almost two-thirds
the last six years. The proportion paying for news (subscriptions,
feel the media are good at keeping people up to date (62%),
memberships, donations, and other one-off payments) has
but are less good at helping them understand the news REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
remained stable at 11% in nine countries (averaged) that we have
(51%). Less than half (42%) think the media do a good job Slide 4
been following since 2013. Most people are not prepared to pay for
in holding rich and powerful people to account – and this
online news today and on current trends look unlikely to pay in the
figure is much lower in South Korea (21%), Hungary (20%),
future, at least for the kind of news they currently access for free.
and Japan (17%).
• There are also significant differences within countries, as PROPORTION THAT PAID FOR ANY ONLINE NEWS IN THE
people with higher levels of formal education are more LAST YEAR (2013–19) – SELECTED COUNTRIES
likely to evaluate the news media positively along every 40% USA UK Germany 9 country average
dimension than the rest of the population, suggesting that
the news agenda is more geared towards the interests and
30%
needs of the more educated. Trump bump maintained
from 2017
• To understand the rise of populism and its consequences for 20%
news and media use, we have used two questions to identify 16%
people with populist attitudes, and compared their news and 11% 11%
10% 10% 9%
media use with those of non-populists. People with populist 8% 8% 8%
attitudes are more likely to identify television as their main
source of news, more likely to rely on Facebook for online 0%
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
news, and less likely to trust the news media overall.
Slide 5
Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in the
• More people say they actively avoid the news (32%) than when last year? Base: Total 2013-19 sample in each country ≈ 2000, Finland 2014-15 ≈ 1500. Note: 9 country
we last asked this question two years ago. Avoidance is up 6 average includes US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Japan, and Finland (from 2014 onwards).
https://schibsted.com/news/schibsted-will-be-divided-into-two-companies/
3
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 7
This Nordic success story becomes even clearer when we look PROFILE OF DIGITAL-ONLY NEWS SUBSCRIBERS – USA
at digital-only subscribers, removing those who get digital access
with a print subscription or those who have a subscription that WHO PAYS IN THE UNITED STATES?
is paid by someone else. Here we find 15% in Norway and 14% in
Sweden, 6% in Finland and Denmark, but just 4% in the UK and
3% in Spain and Italy. The equivalent figure in the United States
Degree level or Richer groups Those with very high
is 8%. This is a purer measure of those who are prepared to use above twice as almost three times interest in the news
their own money to pay for a single title online news subscription. likely to pay as likely to pay five times as likely
On top ofINSTITUTE
REUTERS the raw FOR
numbers, industry
THE STUDY data reveal
OF JOURNALISM that Norwegians
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS as average as those on lower to pay as those with
Slide 6
and Swedes are prepared to pay online for tabloid titles VG and incomes low interest
Aftenbladet (freemium models) as well as more upmarket titles DIGITAL ONLY SUBSCRIPTIONS/REPORTING PERIOD
such as AftenPosten and Dagens Nyheter.
New York Times Wall Street Journal Washington Post
But these big brand successes are not replicated across the US
market. A recent Business Insider survey showed the New York
Times and Washington Post together attracting more than half
of all of US news subscribers,5 while our data show few people
are currently prepared to pay for more than one online news
subscription. In Germany, for example, 70% of those that pay
have just one subscription. Only 10% are prepared to pay for three
or more (see chart below). This means that though big national
brands like Bild (423,000 digital subscribers) and Zeit (105,000)
are having some success in charging for online news it may be
hard to persuade people to pay for another national or local paper.
REUTERS
This mayINSTITUTE FOR THE
help explain whySTUDY OF JOURNALISM
very few / FURTHER
local or regional ANALYSIS
publishers
Ongoing subscription %
2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Slide 8
report success with digital subscription models – outside of the
Nordic countries, France (Ouest-France and Nice-Matin), and some
major cities in the US.
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS/REPORTING PERIOD
NUMBER OF NEWS ORGANISATIONS THAT PEOPLE PAID
Norway
MONEY TO IN THE LAST YEAR – GERMANY
Verdens Gang (VG) Aftenposten
80%
150,000 ‘18 Q1 108,000 ‘18 Q2 70
Sweden 60%
Aftonbladet Dagens Nyheter
250,000 ‘17 Q4 160,000 ‘18 Q4
40%
20
Q7ai. Which, if any, of the following ways have you used to pay for ONLINE news content in the
last year? Base: Total sample in each country ≈ 2000. Digital Subscriptions data via FIPP 2019 Global
20%
Subscription Report4. Dagens Nyheter via direct communication. 6 3 1
0%
1 2 3 4 5+
By contrast, in the United States, the main subscription focus has
Q7_SUBS. You say you have paid a subscription or made an on-going donation to a digital news
been at the quality end of the market. The New York Times now service in the last year. How many different news providers do you regularly pay money to?
Base: All who paid for online news in the last year: Germany = 119.
has over 3m digital subscribers (out of a total of 4 million) and
the Washington Post around 1m. Overall, almost one in ten (8%) of
our US sample are digital-only subscribers (up from 3% in 2016).
Global brands like the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have The US and Nordic countries have shown the potential for
also clocked impressive numbers. The FT recently passed 1m total considerable growth in paid content, but these are rich countries
subscribers – around 740,000 of whom are digital-only. where news has historically had a high reputation and value –
something that may not be replicable elsewhere. The dominance
of a few big national and global brands suggests that others
may need to look at alternative models or at least ones where
subscription is just part of a more diversified revenue strategy.
https://www.fipp.com/news/insightnews/publishers-double-down-paywall-content-digital-subscriptions-revenue
4
Slide 10
NEWS NOW COMPETES WITH OTHER ‘MORE PROPORTION THAT SEE A NEWS PAYWALL EACH WEEK –
ATTRACTIVE’ MEDIA BUNDLES NORWAY AND USA
https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/scribd-nyt-subscription-deal-swedens-bookbeat-ties-bundled-deal-dagens-nyheter-storytels-rivals-challenges-ahead/
6
https://www.recode.net/2018/8/9/17671000/new-york-times-trump-subscribers-news-slower-growth
7
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 13
Waiting in the wings come platform aggregators such as Apple FOUR MODELS OF ONLINE ACCESS – SELECTED MARKETS
News+, offering a single priced subscription for multiple premium
titles forINSTITUTE
REUTERS $9.99. Most
FORpremium
THE STUDYnews publishers/ FURTHER
OF JOURNALISM have stayed out
ANALYSIS
1. MAINLY DIRECT
Slide 11
for now for risk of cannibalising their markets, but the industry
will need to address consumer concerns about accessing multiple 64
60%
Finland
brands at a reasonable price sooner rather than later. Also Norway, Sweden
45%
FRUSTRATION OVER PAYWALLS COULD PUSH CONSUMERS
INTO THE ARMS OF AGGREGATORS
30%
15%
11 10 3 3
6
0%
Direct Search Social Mobile Aggregator Email
media alerts
2. SOCIAL FIRST
60%
Chile
Also Brazil, Malaysia
Note. Apple News+ brings content from 300+ newspapers and magazines into a single experience 45%
(US and Canada only) – includes some Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times content
42
30%
8 4 5
One of the biggest implications of the shift to online news has
0%
been the weakening of the direct relationship between readers Direct Search Social Mobile Aggregator Email
media alerts
and publishers. Across all our countries, just 29% now say they
prefer to access a website or app directly – down 3 percentage
3. DEEPLY AGGREGATED
points on a year ago. Over half of our combined sample (55%)
60%
prefer to access news through search engines, social media, or South Korea
Also Japan, Taiwan
news aggregators, where large tech companies typically deploy
algorithms rather than editors to select and rank stories. 45% 48
To test this
REUTERS hypothesis
INSTITUTE weSTUDY
FOR THE have OF
plotted digital-only
JOURNALISM subscription
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS There are a few exceptions though, with the USA achieving higher
Slide 14
rates across countries with the proportion that access news
sites and apps directly in the next chart. Here we see a clear
online subscriptions despite lower direct traffic, partly because
Donald Trump’s election sparked a wave of subscriptions and
link between direct preferences and online news payment. donations to liberal publications such as the New York Times.8
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PREFERENCE FOR DIRECT NEWS ACCESS AND DIGITAL NEWS SUBSCRIPTIONS – SELECTED MARKETS
14% NOR
Proportion that have a digital-only subscription
SWE
12%
10%
8%
USA
6%
DEN FIN Q10a. Which of these was
POL the MAIN way in which you
4% IRE UK came across news in the last
SPA AUT BEL GER week? Q7ai. Which, if any, of
FRA ROU the following ways have you
ITA SUI
BGR CZE NLD used to pay for ONLINE
2% SVK news content in the last
POR HUN GRE CRO year? Base: Total sample in
each market ≈ 2000.
0% REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 15
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Proportion that prefer direct access
It is important to note that other factors will be at play and we PROPORTION THAT USED A NEWSLETTER/MOBILE ALERT
find that the biggest drivers of direct traffic (and subscription) IN THE LAST WEEK (2014-19) – SELECTED COUNTRIES
are interest in news and education.
Email Newsletter
UK USA France Spain Finland
THE ROLE OF EMAIL AND MOBILE NOTIFICATIONS 25% 25%
IN DRIVING LOYALTY 21% 21%
20%
Generating more direct traffic to websites and apps is an 17%
important priority for publishers, with email newsletters a 15% 14% 14%
particularly favoured tactic for retaining subscribers but also
10% 10% 10%
for attracting new users. The Washington Post operates around 9% 9%
70 different newsletters and has found that recipients consume
5%
around three times as much content as those who don’t use
email news. Our own data this year show that 42% of US digital
0%
subscribers have used one or more email newsletters in the last 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
week compared with 35% in the UK but just 17% in Norway and
19% in Sweden. It is clear this is one area where Nordic publishers Mobile Notifications
could learn a few tricks from the United States. UK USA France Spain Finland
25%
Email remains extremely effective with older, highly engaged news
users, even if overall usage has not grown over the last five years. 20%
20% 19%
By contrast, mobile notifications tend to be used by younger groups 18%
and have shown considerable growth in weekly use – up from 3% 16%
15%
to 20% in the UK and 6% to 19% in the United States since 2014.
10%
Heavy news users are 2.5 times more likely to use mobile alerts 7%
than casual news users. Publishers are learning how to use alerts 6% 6%
5% 5% 5%
more strategically9 – and not just for breaking news. Different 3%
content is now selected for different day-parts and also at 0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
weekends, while readers are being targeted individually with
relevant content driven by artificial intelligence algorithms. Q10. Thinking about how you got news online (via computer, mobile or any device) in the last
week, which were the ways in which you came across news stories? Base: All in 2014-19 that used
a news gateway in the last week in each country ≈ 1750.
8
https://www.recode.net/2018/8/9/17671000/new-york-times-trump-subscribers-news-slower-growth
9
Tow Center report on mobile alerts, Dec. 2018: https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/newsrooms-view-mobile-alerts-as-standalone-platform.php
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 18
FIRST CONTACT WITH THE NEWS; SHIFTING PROPORTION OF SMARTPHONE-FIRST USERS THAT USED
PREFERENCES OVER TIME EACH FOR FIRST CONTACT WITH NEWS – SELECTED MARKETS
30% 32
27 28
24 20% News website or app
20% 43% Social media/messaging apps
20
16 10% Alerts/notifications
10% 8% Email
8 9
7 7 11% Aggregator
In the USA
0% social is the first 7% Other/Don’t know
Print Radio TV Computer Smartphone
destination for
many
USA
25% Facebook
40% 2016 2019
11% Twitter
36
30% 33 2% Instagram
20% 23
18 17 46% News website or app
15
12 26% Social media/messaging apps
10% 11
7% Alerts/notifications
6 6
1% Email
0%
Print Radio TV Computer Smartphone 14% Aggregator
In Finland almost
half go first to a 5% Other/Don’t know
Q9c_new2016. What is the FIRST way you typically come across news in the morning? news app
Base: Total 2016/2019 in each country ≈ 2000.
17% Facebook
WHERE DO PEOPLE PICK UP FIRST NEWS ON
3% Twitter
A SMARTPHONE?
3% Instagram
Around four in ten (43%) in the UK say they go to a news website
or app first when using a smartphone, a relatively high figure
almost certainly driven by the popularity of the BBC News 19% News website or app
app. The situation is reversed for under 35s with almost half 52% Social media/messaging apps
starting their journey with social media (44%) and just a third 11% Alerts/notifications
going direct (34%). Overall, the proportion going direct is down 3% Email
5 points from 48% in 2016 due to more going via homescreen
11% Aggregator
links (11%) and aggregators. In Italy social
is the first 3% Other/Don’t know
destination
In the United States, only one in five (20%) goes straight to a
for most
news app, down from 23% in 2016. Amongst under-35s only 13%
33% Facebook
go direct, with over half (54%) preferring to go to social media.
Having said that, overall first contact via social media (43%) 8% WhatsApp/Facebook Messenger
has fallen six points while the use of aggregators (11%) and alerts/ 5% Instagram
notifications (10%) has grown. The mix of social networks has also
shifted since 2016 with less use of Facebook and more of Twitter
and Instagram. The pattern in Finland is similar to the UK, with Q9d_2016_rc5. You mentioned that your FIRST contact with news in the morning is using
internet via smartphone, in which ONE of the following places do you typically find your first
Italy more like the United States, except that much of the social news? Base: All that said their first contact with news is via a smartphone: UK = 516, USA = 460,
Finland = 539, Italy = 480.
first use is for messaging apps like WhatsApp (8%).
16 / 17
75% “It’s just the one that comes with my phone. You get
71%
64% a notification on this bar here. Sometimes you find
yourself on a website
Smartphone + Tablet that you wouldn’t normally
50% 49% like to go on.”
Tablet
Chloe, 31–35, UK in-depth interview
Smartphone
28% “I like using Apple News because it consolidates
Computer
25% 24%
16%
everything into one place and you don’t see five
15%
articles about the same thing.”
9%
0%
Maggie, 21–24, US in-depth interview
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
UK8b6_5. You’ve said you use the following devices to access news in the last week, which is your
Slide
For further 24
analysis see section 2.5: How Younger Generations
Consume News Differently
MAIN way of accessing online news? Base: All in 2013-19 that used a device for news in the last week:
UK ≈ 1750.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019 80%
0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
60%
Google News reaches 15% of our US sample, which is a similar The chart below, which averages data from twelve countries we have
level of weekly usage to the Washington Post. Reach for Apple been tracking since 2014, shows the rapid growth for WhatsApp,
News overall is just 10% but among iPhone users specifically, the Facebook Messenger, and newer networks like Instagram and
40%
REUTERS INSTITUTE REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
news service now FOR
has THE STUDY
higher OF JOURNALISM
reach (27%) than/most
FURTHER ANALYSIS
US news Snapchat, which also incorporate private features like ephemeral
Slide 25
websites. In the UK, a quarter of Apple smartphone users (24%) Slide 27
messaging. By contrast reach for Facebook and Twitter has been flat.
access news this way, which puts the service a clear second As more people use messaging services, news usage has also risen,
behind BBC News amongst this group. 20% the relative importance of Facebook itself has declined.
while
PROPORTION THAT USED APPLE NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK, SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING (2014-19) –
2016-19 – USA AND UK SELECTED MARKETS
0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
USA (just Apple iPhone news users) USA (all users) WEEKLY USE FOR ANY PURPOSE
UK (just Apple iPhone news users) UK (all users)
75%
30% 64%
27% UK (all users)
60%
24% USA (all users)
45% 45%
20% UK (just Apple iPhone users)
37%
14% USA (just Apple iPhone users) 32%
30%
11% 21%
10%
15% 12%
0% 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Q10c_2016. When using the internet for news, have you used any of the following sites or
WEEKLY USE FOR NEWS
mobile apps that aggregate different news links in the last week? Base: Total 2016-2019 sample/
iPhone users: USA ≈ 2000/500, UK ≈ 2000/500. 75%
Facebook algorithm
Wh
changes
60% Sna
It is important to distinguish between Upday, Google News, and Inst
Flipboard which pass traffic directly to publishers, and others 45%
like Apple News, and Yahoo! News which are trying to become 36% FB
destinations in their own right, republishing full stories in return 30%
16% Twi
for a share of advertising or subscription revenues. Mobile 10%
aggregators can bring reach and attention but with the latter 15% 9% Fac
8%
category many publishers will be wary about the loss of control, 3%
the weakening of brand attribution, and lower revenue – with 0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
some platforms looking to take a cut of up to 50%.
Q12a/b. Which, if any, of the following have you used for any purpose/for news in the last week?
It should be noted that mobile aggregation is already majority Base: Total 2014-19 sample in each country: 18,859/23,557/24,814/24,487/24,735/24,146. Note: From
2015-19 the 12 countries included are UK, US, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Finland,
behaviour in many Asian countries. Yahoo! News reaches two- Japan, Australia and Brazil. In 2014, we did not poll in Australia or Ireland.
thirds (66%) of smartphone users in Japan each week, Naver
reaches 73% of smartphone users in South Korea, while Line It should be noted that Facebook as a company remains in a strong
Today reaches 47% of our Taiwanese sample. Local mobile position. As owner of Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp its
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
aggregators are also a force in Italy (Giornali, 17%), Norway products reach 84% of our combined sample and 57% for news.
(Startsiden, 18%), and Sweden (Omni 12%).10 Slide 28
Messaging apps, which also include Viber, Telegram, and WeChat,
reach 75% for any purpose across our sample and 31% for news –
up 8 percentage points from two years ago.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE MOVE TO MESSAGING
PROPORTION THAT USE EACH MESSAGING APP FOR NEWS –
It has been a dramatic year for social media with Facebook and SELECTED MARKETS
YouTube under fire for spreading misinformation, encouraging
hate speech and online harm – as well as playing fast and loose
with our privacy.
Facebook’s response to these issues has already impacted news WhatsApp Messenger Viber
for news for news for news
publishers through a series of algorithm changes, but the next
step could be even more disruptive. In February, Mark Zuckerberg Brazil 53% (+5) Greece 25% (+3) Greece 17% (+3)
announced a shift of focus to more private messaging and has said Malaysia 50% (-4) Poland 22% (+9) Bulgaria 16% (+2)
that he expects WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to be the main South Africa 49% Belgium 12% (+4) Croatia 13% (+1)
way that users interact across the Facebook network. This means Hong Kong 41% (+3) USA 9% (+2)
that the sharing of news and comment in the future will be less open
Q12b. Which, if any, of the following have you used for news in the last week? Base: Total sample
and less transparent. in each market ≈ 2000.
This explosive
REUTERS growth
INSTITUTE of WhatsApp
FOR THE has so far been
STUDY OF JOURNALISM concentrated
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS our Brazilian (53%) and Malaysian (50%) samples use WhatsApp
Slide 29
in Latin America, South East Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe
as well as in India, which we covered in a recent Reuters Institute
for news, compared with 9% in the UK, 6% in Australia, and just
4% in both the United States and Canada.
stand-alone report focused on English speakers.11 Around half of
50-60%
40-49%
30-39%
20-29%
10-19%
0-9%
Q12b. Which, if any, of the following have you used for news in the last week? Base: Total sample in each market ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005. Note. India poll conducted in Jan 2019 with English-speaking, online
news users in India – a small (but important) subset of a larger, more diverse, and very complex Indian media market.
The data and chart above capture just those countries covered The spread of misinformation often happens via groups that
in this report and India, but other publicly available data confirm are set up specifically to discuss politics. These are common in
that WhatsApp use is more prevalent in the global south, WhatsApp, mainly in developing countries, but have also become
countries where reliable information is often in short supply a greater focus in Facebook itself, which recently prioritised
and public institutions are more fragile. these posts in the newsfeed. Facebook Groups have come under
scrutiny for their role in co-ordinating the recent Yellow Vest
The spread of unfounded rumours has led to a spate of killings (Gilets Jaunes) protests in France. But how many people use
in India while our country page reports from Brazil and South Facebook Groups and how do these differ from the way people
Africa illustrate how politicians have used the network to spread use groups in WhatsApp?
negative stories about opponents in a way that would be harder
in open networks. Fact-checking organisations have set up ‘tip This year, we explored these questions in detail across nine
lines’, appealing to the public to flag illegal or dangerous content. countries and found that although half of Facebook users (51%)
In Brazil, roughly a million WhatsApp groups were created to have joined some kind of public group, only a minority use them
promote candidates in the recent elections including far right for news and politics (14%). That figure rises to 22% in Brazil
former army captain Jair Bolsonaro, who was initially starved and 29% in Turkey. The majority of Facebook Groups are for
of coverage via TV. Facebook itself has belatedly invested in non-news subjects including gardening or sport (22%), their
collaborations with fact-checkers, digital literacy campaigns, local community (18%), and parenting (7%).
and has made it harder to share messages within WhatsApp.
By contrast we find that WhatsApp is primarily used for private
For more background see section 3: Analysis by Country, Brazil groups, most often with friends and family or workmates. News
and South Africa may come up in discussions but is not the primary purpose.
For further analysis see section 2.2: Groups and Private Networks –
Time Well Spent?
Slide 30
PROPORTION OF FACEBOOK AND WHATSAPP USERS Younger groups in many countries seem to be swapping Snapchat
THAT USED EACH TYPE OF GROUP IN THE PAST MONTH – for Instagram, which has become, for many, the ‘go-to’ social
SELECTED MARKETS network. This year’s depth interviews confirm that young people
Facebook
60% are spending less time with Facebook, even if they are not
WhatsApp
abandoning it altogether.
51 14% use
46 public groups 47
40% about news/ 43 “I think I used to use Facebook a lot, and over past five,
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
six years, I basically hardly use it at all now, which is
Slide 32
politics
18% use
public groups 26 28 30 one massive change. In its place, Instagram has come.”
20% about local
community
Chloe, 31–35, UK in-depth interview
16
know, compared with just over one in ten (12%) in the UK. Almost
a fifth (18%) discuss news and politics in a public WhatsApp group We were able to get further insights into the behaviour of
in Brazil compared to just 2% in the UK, potentially increasing the younger groups in the US and UK (so called Gen Z and Gen Y)
chances of misinformation being spread. We find that people who by tracking the amount of time they spent on different mobile
used groups in WhatsApp and Facebook have lower trust in the apps and websites over a ten-day period.12 This reveals the
news and are more likely to use partisan news sites. overwhelming importance of social media and communications
to these INSTITUTE
REUTERS younger groups.
FOR THEIn these
STUDY OFtime charts (see
JOURNALISM below)ANALYSIS
/ FURTHER taken
PEOPLE SPENDING LESS TIME WITH FACEBOOK,
MORE WITH INSTAGRAM
Slide 33
from the mobile phone usage of two of our respondents, notice
the relatively little time spent within Facebook compared with
Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and even Twitter.
Further evidence of the changing shape of social media comes
in a new survey question we asked about how much time people
spend with each social network or messaging app. PROPORTION OF TIME SPENT WITH DIFFERENT MOBILE
APPS – TWO INDIVIDUAL RESPONDENTS OVER 10 DAYS
The picture in the UK is typical of many Western countries and
Male, Snapchat Instagram
shows that many people are spending less time with Facebook
31-35, UK 29.43% 21.72%
and more time with Instagram and WhatsApp. We have calculated
figures in the next chart by subtracting the proportion that say they
REUTERS
spent lessINSTITUTE FORthe
time from THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
proportion / FURTHER
that say they ANALYSIS
spent more.
Slide 31almost half (46%) of under 35s in the UK said they
For example,
spent more time with Instagram in the last year but 14% said they Twitter Fitbit Kik Google
13.21% 9.91% 5.55% 2.09%
spent less. The net difference is +32%.
NET DIFFERENCE IN TIME SPENT WITH EACH SOCIAL Yahoo! Mail BBC
Safari News
NETWORK IN LAST YEAR – UK 7.97%
3.30% <1%
40 More Female, YouTube Safari Netflix
30 32 24-28, UK 27.45% 14.88% 8.14%
20
21 24 22
10 16
6 8 9 Facebook
0 4.41%
-10 -15 JobSpotter Google Maps Twitter
-19 11.32% 3.66% 2.86%
-20 -25
-31 IMDB
-30
3.66%
-40 Less All U35 Podcasts
10.30% dealornodeal BBC News
3.47% <1%
Q12C_2019. You say you use the following social networks for any purpose, in the last 12
months, has the amount of time you spend using them changed? Base: All/under 35s that used
each social network in the last week: Facebook = 1337/300, YouTube = 1002/282, WhatsApp =
1007/279, Instagram = 525/238, Snapchat = 209/142, Twitter = 536/163. Note: Showing difference
between proportion that said ‘more time’ and proportion who said ‘less time’.
With the permission of the participants, we added tracking code to the mobile phones of around 20 young people in the US and UK so online behaviour, time spent, and specific
12
It is striking that communication, social media, and web-browsing Specific events clearly have affected trust in a number of countries
apps dominated the time spent for all 20 young people tracked this year. Trust is down 11 points in Brazil after the recent fractious
as part of our study. This shows the importance of finding ways to election, but perhaps the biggest surprise is a 11-point fall in trust
bring at least some news to social platforms if younger groups are in France from 35% to 24%, driven by the partisan nature of the
to be engaged. In both illustrated cases, less than 1% of time was Yellow Vest protests. Some journalists were attacked – sometimes
spent with BBC News, the most popular news app. physically
REUTERS – for notFOR
INSTITUTE representing theJOURNALISM
THE STUDY OF protestors /and beingANALYSIS
FURTHER part of
For further analysis see section 2.5: How Younger Generations Slide 36
the establishment.13 But lower trust does not necessarily mean
lower usage. 24-hour news channel BFM achieved some of its
Consume News Differently highest ever ratings at the same time as showing a significant fall
in trust scores (5.9 to 4.9 on a ten-point scale).
Slide 34
themselves falling below 50%. Trust in the news found in
distributed environments, like social media (23%) and search
brand usage, and
brand trust Section 3:
France Country
(33%), is even lower but is largely unchanged from last year.
Profile p. 84
Trust news Trust news Trust news Trust news REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
overall I use in search in social
Slide 37
Journalists have been targeted and attacked in France over coverage
of the Yellow Vest protests (Picture, Reuters/Vincent Kessler)
42% 49% 33% 23%
(-2) (-2) (-1) (-)
AVERAGE BRAND TRUST SCORES – FRANCE
Slide 35 Q6_2018_trust. How trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Please use
the scale below, where 0 is ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: All
that have heard of each brand > 1000.
PROPORTION THAT TRUST MOST NEWS MOST OF THE TIME – ALL MARKETS
75%
-11
Fractious election
59 58 57
50% 53 52
50 49 49 48 48 48
-11
47 46 46 46 46 45 Yellow Vest protests
44 43 42
40 40 40 40 39 39 39 39
35 33 33
32 31
25% 28 28 27
24 22
0%
FIN POR DEN NLD CAN MEX BEL ZAF POL BRA IRE GER SUI HK TUR NOR CHL AUS SPA SGP UK BGR ITA CRO JPN ARG AUT SWE ROU CZE SVK USA MYS TWN HUN GRE FRA KOR
Q6_2016_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: I think you can trust most news most of the time. Base: Total sample in each market ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-protests-press/french-media-denounce-violent-yellow-vest-attacks-on-press-idUKKCN1P70J5
13
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
Major upheavals like the Yellow Vests or Brexit in the UK have In the UK, we don’t see the same picture. Trust on both the
put a strain on perceived impartiality of the news media, which in left and the right has fallen, but if anything the trust gap has
turn can affect trust. But if we look over time across some of our REUTERS
narrowed INSTITUTE FORbecause
– perhaps THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
both are equally/unhappy
FURTHER ANALYSIS
about
biggest countries, we see a generalised – and worrying – picture Slide 39
Brexit coverage, which crosses party lines. Whatever the
of decline. Even countries like Finland and Germany, which have reasons, there has been no total loss of confidence amongst
not seen dramatic polarising events, have seen falls of 9 and those on the right.
13 percentage points respectively in just five years. Across the
12 countries
REUTERS we have
INSTITUTE FORbeen tracking
THE STUDY since 2015,/trust
OF JOURNALISM scores
FURTHER are
ANALYSIS PROPORTION THAT TRUST MOST NEWS MOST OF THE TIME
Slide 38
down on average by 4 points though they have risen slightly in
Italy, Spain, Australia, and Ireland and have remained level in the
– USA AND UK
PROPORTION CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FAKE ON THE INTERNET WHEN IT COMES TO NEWS – ALL MARKETS
100%
+4
+12 +5 +5
85
75% +4
75 -4
70 70 68 68 67 67 67
64 63 62 62 62 62 61 61 61 59
50% 54 54 52 52 52 51 49
47 45 44 44
43 41 40
39 39 38 37
25% 31
0%
BRA POR ZAF UK MEX SPA CHL USA FRA MYS TUR ARG ROU SGP AUS CAN GRE IRE KOR TWN CRO BGR ITA FIN JPN HUN SWE HK BEL SUI POL CZE AUT NOR DEN GER SVK NLD
Q_FAKE_NEWS_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement. – Thinking about online news, I am concerned about what is real and what is fake on the internet. Base: Total
sample in each market ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005.
say they are relying on ‘more say they’ve stopped using sources
reputable’ news sources. with ‘less accurate’ reputation
(40% in USA) (34% in USA)
22 / 23
29% 41%
say they decided NOT to Say they checked accuracy by
IMPACT OF MEDIA
share a ‘dubious’ LITERACY?comparing multiple sources
news article We picked up similar sentiments in our qualitative research with
(35% in USA) (47% in USA) younger groups in the UK and the US. Many of our respondents
One consequence of this concern seems to be a greater said that they were now paying more attention to the name
awareness
Q_LIT_2019. and
Have youaffinity with
done of any of thetrusted news
following in brands.
the last year? Base:One positive
Total sample = 75,749. of the brand when using social media. Others said they were
finding of our report this year is that over a quarter (26%) have calling out friends more often for sharing inaccurate news.
started relying on ‘more reputable’ sources of news – rising to
36% in Brazil and 40% in the US. A further quarter (24%) said “If I see something like New York Times, Bloomberg,
they’d stopped using sources that had a ‘less accurate reputation’, Washington Post, I’m going to assume that it’s
with almost a third (29%) deciding not to share a potentially credible and valid but if I see something that’s on a
inaccurate news article. The interpretation of ‘reputable’, ‘less news website that I’ve never heard of before, I’m more
accurate’, ‘dubious’, and other subjective terms were left to likely to question the source of the news.”
respondents to determine. Maggie, 21–24, US in-depth interview
Q_LIT_2019. Have you done of any of the following in the last year? Base: Total sample = 75,749.
PROPORTION THAT SAY THEY HAVE STARTED USING MORE
REPUTABLE NEWS SOURCES BY AGE AND EDUCATION –
Behaviour seems to have changed most in countries where UK AND USA
concern about misinformation is highest. Almost two-thirds
BY AGE 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+
(61%) in Brazil said they had decided not to share a potentially
inaccurate story in social media and 40% in Taiwan after recent 50%
electionsINSTITUTE
REUTERS markedFOR
by misinformation – compared
THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM with just
/ FURTHER 13%
ANALYSIS
45
Slide 42
in the Netherlands, the country with the lowest level of concern
in our survey. The shift to more reputable sources is a bit more
39
37
41
36 35
evenly split.
28 29
25% 27 26
PROPORTION THAT SAY THEY HAVE CHANGED ONLINE
HABITS IN THE LAST YEAR – SELECTED MARKETS
75% Netherlands
Brazil
Germany 0%
UK USA
UK
France 61 Taiwan
USA BY EDUCATION Low Med High
50% Taiwan 50% USA
Brazil 47
40 40 France
36
34 35 35 36
29 30
UK
25% 26 26 25%
24
20 20
17 Germany 18
15
13
Netherlands
0% 0%
Started using more Decided not to share an UK USA
reputable sources 'unreliable' story in social media
Q_LIT_2019. Have you …started relying more on sources of news that are considered more
Q_LIT_2019. Have you done of any of the following in the last year? Base: Total sample in each reputable in the last year? Base: 18-24/25-34/35-44/45-54/55+ and low/medium/high education:
market ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005. UK = 135/278/304/323/983 and 558/626/839, USA = 177/380/320/246/889 and 85/1013/914.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 44
ALTERNATIVE AND PARTISAN NEWS WEBSITES PROPORTION THAT HAVE HEARD OF/USED EACH IN THE
LAST WEEK – USA, UK, AND FRANCE
We have seen a continuing rise of populism in many countries
and a further fall in trust in established media over the last USA
year. At the same time, we find greater consumer literacy 22% use one compared to 20% in 2018
and changes to Facebook algorithms designed to damp down 44
extreme and polarising views. But what has been the outcome Breitbart 7
of these conflicting trends on the reach of alternative and 27
Daily Caller 6
partisan news sites?
31
The Blaze 6
These sites are said to have played a part in bringing Donald
Trump to power in the United States, reshaping decades of 25
Occupy Democrats 5
centrist politics in Sweden, and mobilising support for Jeremy
33
Corbyn in the UK. Partisan sites should be distinguished from Infowars 3
those that ‘deliberately fabricate the news’, even if they are often 9
accused of exaggerating or tailoring the facts to fit their cause. Being Liberal 2
12
Examples are Breitbart and InfoWars in the United States Talking Points Memo 2
3 Awareness
In all three countries we also see a large gap between awareness Novara Media 1
Usage
of these sites and actual usage, which suggests that their impact 4
Evolve Politics 1
on the wider discussion is not just confined to users. As last year,
we also note a wide variation in usage. Almost a quarter (22%) 0% 25% 50%
of our Swedish sample accesses one or more of seven partisan
and alternative websites, and over half are aware of them – while
these types of sites hardly feature at all in the Netherlands or
Belgium. Even at a time of high tension in the UK over Brexit, FRANCE
only 7% use one or more of these sites weekly compared with
almost a quarter in the United States (22%). 10
Sputnik France 3
Alternative and partisan sites elsewhere have a more diverse set 10
Russia Today 3
of motivations. In France these include Russian state broadcaster
RT which gave exhaustive and often uncritical coverage of the 9
Le Média 2
Yellow Vest protesters. RT France in particular was accused of
7
spreading lies, specifically that the police had been siding with Fdesouche 1
protestors. Our data suggest high awareness of both RT and 4
Sputnik (10%) but relatively low usage (3% for each). Reporterre 1
4 Awareness
Fakir 1
Usage
3
L’incorrect 1
0% 25% 50%
Q5c_2018_1/2. In recent years a number of online news sites have emerged with their content
often distributed via social media. Which, if any, of the following have you heard of/used in the
last week? Base: Total sample: USA = 2012, UK = 2023, France = 2005.
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
24 / 25
Slide 45
PROPORTION THAT HAVE HEARD OF/USED EACH IN THE POPULISM AND THE MEDIA
LAST WEEK – SWEDEN, BRAZIL, AND NORWAY
The growth of populism, for example in the UK and France, is
SWEDEN putting enormous strains on left/right political party systems.
22% use one compared to 20% in 2018 But it is also raising new questions for journalists over how far to
38 represent populist views, and how to satisfy a readership that no
Fria Tider 10 longer splits easily along traditional lines.
28
Nyheter Idag 11 This year we have attempted to add a populist dimension to our
24 study of media consumption by measuring responses to two
Samhällsnytt 9 questions; first, how distant respondents feel from their elected
31 representatives and, second, how respondents feel about the
Nya Tider 6
people taking more important decisions directly. Putting these
18
Ledarsidorna 7 responses together we can create a group of people in each country
10 Awareness with broadly populist attitudes and one with less populist attitudes.
Det goda samhället 4 Usage
25 One surprising finding is that populists prefer to use television
Samtiden 6 news compared with non-populists and are less likely to prefer
0% 25% 50% online news.
REUTERS These
INSTITUTE data
FOR THEwill support
STUDY those who
OF JOURNALISM argue that
/ FURTHER the
ANALYSIS
Slide 47
role of social media has been overplayed when explaining the rise
of Donald Trump compared with the part played by supportive
television networks like Fox News.
50% 52
37 45 45
O Antagonista 19
22 36
Rede Brasil Atual 12
19
Brasil 247 25%
10
Diário do Centro 17
18 18
do Mundo 8
11 Awareness
Crítica Nacional 5 7 7
Usage
4 6
15 0%
Rádio Vox 5 TV Social media Radio Print Online
(inc. social)
0% 25% 50%
Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in the last week, which would you say is your
MAIN source of news? Base: All with populist/non-populist attitudes that used a source of news
in the last week: USA = 1012/823. Note. See section 2.3 for how we identified populist attitudes.
ZAF 37
ITA 36
UK 35 +11%
35
71%
HUN
BRA 34
33 of avoiders are trying
FRA
to avoid Brexit news
SPA 33
IRE 32
POR 31 Q1dii_2017. Which, if any, of
the following are reasons why
AUT 30 you actively try to avoid news?
Base: All who actively avoid the
SVK 30 news: UK = 1263. Note: Data from
MYS 29 separate follow-up fieldwork
conducted 11-12 February 2019.
NLD 29
AUS 29
CAN 29 Those who voted to remain in the EU, including the young and those
BEL 27 in London, were more likely to avoid the news and more likely to
SUI 26 say that news has a negative impact on their mood.
CZE 25
25 “Although I do watch the political news avidly, I made
GER
+3 a new resolution to stop as it has a negative effect on
KOR 24
22
my mood as I feel powerless to change anything.”
SGP
Female 55+, UK
SWE
TWN
22
21
32%
Avoid the news Leave voters were more likely to avoid the news because they
NOR 21 often or sometimes can’t rely on the news to be true. In many cases this is because
HK 20 (29% in 2017) they believe that the news is biased or partial in some way.
FIN 17
DEN 15 “Brexit has been rammed down our throats for a couple
JPN 11 of years plus most of them are biased towards us
staying in the EU.”
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Male 55+, UK
Q1di_2017. Do you find yourself actively trying to avoid news these days? Base: Total sample in
each country ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005.
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
26 /
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS27
Slide 50 Slide 52
REASONS FOR AVOIDING NEWS AMONGST REMAIN PROPORTION THAT AGREED WITH EACH ATTITUDE
AND LEAVE VOTERS – UK TOWARDS THE NEWS – ALL MARKETS
75% Remain voters Leave voters The news media keeps me up to date
with what’s going on
65
50%
62%
47 The news media helps me understand
43 41 the news of the day
38
25% 30 51%
The news media monitors and scrutinises
powerful people and businesses
0%
News has negative
impact on my mood
I don't feel there is
anything I can do about it
Can't rely on the
news to be true
42%
Q15_2019_1/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: the
Q1dii_2017. Which, if any, of the following are reasons why you actively try to avoid news? news media monitors and scrutinises powerful people and businesses/the news media keeps
Base: Remain/Leave voters who actively avoid the news: UK = 999/829. Note: Data from separate me up to date with what’s going on/the news media helps me understand the news of the day.
follow-up fieldwork conducted 11-12 February 2019. Base: Total sample = 75,749.
Looking at the two other dimensions in our survey, we find These themes around the negativity of the news media also came
surprisingly little criticism of the media’s agenda-setting role, with out strongly in our in-depth interviews with young people this year in
only a minority (25%) feeling that the topics selected are not the US and UK. In the US, the idea of negativity was often associated
relevant to their lives. There seems to be more of a problem with with perceptions that a negative or unfair agenda was being
the tone taken by the news media to those stories. Four in ten pursued by a publication (against Donald Trump or Serena Williams
(39%) think that the news media take too negative a view of events. for example). In the UK, many of our interviewees felt that some
This is a complex statistic to interpret, not least because a difficult (popular) media outlets simply had an unconstructive mindset:
or ‘negative’ press is often the flip side of robust scrutiny. It may be
no coincidence, for example, that a country like Singapore has the “The Daily Mail. They are always on social media,
least negative media (22%) but also scores poorly in term of robust trying to make someone look bad.”
scrutiny (32%). But elsewhere it is interesting to note that many Ellie, 18–20, UK
countries that have the best reputation for holding the powerful
to account (Finland, Netherlands) “News is a major negative and has a huge impact on
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OFare also seen/as
JOURNALISM least negative
FURTHER ANALYSIS
everyone who watches it. There is never any positive
Slide 54
(23%). Equally, many countries where the news media have a
poor watchdog record are seen as having the most negative press or happy news.”
(Greece 59%, Bulgaria 52%). Female, 24–35, UK
UK 5
PIVOT TO AUDIO PICKS UP PACE In terms of location, younger people are more likely to access
12
podcasts when out and about, while
USA older groups 4often listen in
Podcasts have been around for many years but these episodic digital bed when having difficulty sleeping, as well as when walking the 11
audio files appear to be reaching critical mass as a consequence of
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS dog or doing the chores at home. CAN 4
better content and easier distribution. Over a third of our combined
Slide 56
sample (36%) now say they have consumed a podcast in the last But the age of innocence could beAUT over as money3 starts to trickle
10
month, with almost one in six (15%) saying they have consumed into podcasts. Advertising is becoming more intrusive; Spotify 9
KOR 2
one about news, politics, or international news. and other platforms have started to pay for exclusive premium
8
content (blockbusters), and publishers
AUS like Politiken
3 have started
PROPORTION THAT USED A PODCAST LAST MONTH – to restrict two or three of their daily briefings to subscribers7only.
SELECTED MARKETS This new money has brought more GER 2 content and higher
professional
7
production values, but some fear that the purity and authenticity of
KOR 53 IRE 3
the podcast experience could be lost in the process.
SPA 39 5
37 SPA 2
IRE For further analysis see section 2.6: Podcasts: Who, Why, What,
35 +2 4
USA and Where? FRA 2
SWE 35
4
POR 34 SGP 1
AUT 32 +5 USAGE OF VOICE-ACTIVATED SPEAKERS
3 DOUBLES
31 NLD 1
NOR AGAIN, BUT NEWS USAGE REMAINS DISAPPOINTING
ITA 30 3
SWE
SUI 30 Audio prospects may be further boosted1by the rapid adoption of
3
CAN 29 voice-activated speakers such asNOR the Amazon
1 Echo and Google
AUS 27 Home. Reach for any purpose has grown from 7% to 14% in the
FIN 26 +2 UK over the last year, from 9% to 12% in the United States, and
FRA 25 from 5% to 9% in high-tech Korea. However, the proportion using
DEN 24 36% smart speakers
REUTERS forFOR
INSTITUTE news isSTUDY
THE declining as mainstream
OF JOURNALISM audiences
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
BEL
JPN
23 +3
23
accessed a podcast
in the last month Slide 58
come on stream. Less than four in ten access any news via their
device in an average week in the US (35%) and UK (39%) and just
21 (34% in 2018) a quarter in Germany (27%) and South Korea (25%).
GER
NLD 21 +3
UK 21 +3
0% 25% 50%
PROPORTION THAT USED A SMART SPEAKER FOR
ANY PURPOSE/FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK –
Q11F_2018. A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files, which you can download, subscribe,
SELECTED MARKETS
or listen to. Which of the following types of podcast have you listened to in the last month? Base:
Total sample in each country ≈ 2000. 14 Any purpose
UK 5 For news
12
The Guardian, Washington Post, Politiken, AftenPosten, The Economist, USA 4
and the Financial Times are amongst dozens of publishers to have 11
CAN 4
launched daily podcasts in the last year. This follows the runaway
success of the Daily from the New York Times, which has around 5m 10
AUT 3
daily listeners, is rebroadcast on public radio, and is about to get 9
a video spin-off series. Meanwhile the BBC has rebranded its on- KOR 2
demand radio app as BBC Sounds to reflect the shift to on-demand 8
AUS 3
consumption and the growing interest of the podcast generation.
7 USA 14%
GER 2 UK 12%
In the UK, younger age groups, who spend much of their lives
7
plugged into smartphones, are four times more likely to listen IRE 3
to podcasts than over 55s – and much less likely to listen to 5
traditional speech radio. Under 35s consume half of all podcasts SPA 2 4%
despite making up around a third of the total adult population. 4 2%
FRA 2 2017 2018 2019
The core appeal of podcasts is the ease of use, and the ability to listen 4
SGP 1
while doing something else. But for younger users podcasts also
3
provide more authentic voices and the control and choice they’ve NLD 1
become used to. 3
SWE 1
“With radio you can’t control what shows are on, 3
whereas podcasts you can.” NOR 1
Mark, 31–35, US
Q8A/B. Which, if any, of the following devices do you ever use for any purpose/for news in the
“You’re not actively searching something or reading last week. Base: Total sample in each country ≈ 2000.
Over the last year, both Google and Amazon have launched in VIDEO NEWS CHANGING SHAPE
a range of new markets including India, Spain, Mexico, and a
number of Nordic countries. Video is a case of platform power writ large. Most video news
consumption takes place on Facebook (32%) and YouTube (26%),
Amazon still has a dominant position in the US, UK, and Germany where the context and monetisation rules are set by the tech
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
but Google leads in a number of markets where it launched first, companies. Over the last year Facebook has become a little
including Australia and Canada. Devices with screens like the
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 60
less important for news video, with other platforms like Twitter,
Slide 59
Amazon Show and Spot have so far made little impact, with our
research suggesting that the last thing most consumers want is
Instagram, and Snapchat becoming a little more important (+3).
Net share
Amazon: 75% | Google: 27% | With Screen: 15% 50%
52
Facebook 32%
Amazon Echo, Dot Google Home, Mini
Others 17%
Due to overlaps, figures
do not add up to 52
0%
Consumed no Consumed Consumed
news-related news-related news-related
videos in the video onsite video offsite
last week
Q11_VIDEO_2018a. Thinking about consuming online news video (of any kind) over the last
week, which of the following did you do? Base: Total sample = 75,749, UK = 2023, Hong Kong =
2056, Turkey = 2074.
Amazon Show, Spot
Google Home Hub 5%
11%
Apple HomePod 3% Short form video (straight news clips or crafted with music and
subtitles) remains the most popular format for news but this has
Net share become increasingly hard for publishers to monetise. Facebook
Amazon: 15% | Google: 86% | With Screen: 13% has switched its focus towards longer, scripted current affairs
shows for Facebook Watch. Netflix and HBO have now joined the
Amazon Echo, Dot Google Home, Mini REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
competition for this longer form content with significant amounts
13% 78% Slide 61
of money changing hands. Explained from the US publisher Vox
is one long-form news series that has been recommissioned by
Netflix for a second series.
Some of the biggest brands have already shown they are able to
attract a large number of paying subscribers, but the road ahead
will be more challenging for other publishers. Loyalty and the
ability to forge direct connections will be critical, as our data
clearly indicate, but this will be hard to achieve just through the
desktop or mobile web where news access tends to be fleeting
and distracted. That’s why publishers are showing such interest
in podcasts, longer form video, and even live events – more
immersive formats that allow a brand personality to be expressed
more fully while maintaining the choice and control demanded
by a younger generation.
‘Facebook may pay publishers to put their stuff in a dedicated news section’ (Recode, 1 Apr. 2019) https://www.recode.net/2019/4/1/18290330/facebook-news-tab-mark-zuckerberg-
14
license-fee-axel-springer-mathias-dopfner
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
32 / 33
Section 2
Further Analysis
and International
Comparison
Richard Fletcher
Research Fellow, Reuters Institute
for the Study of Journalism
Antonis Kalogeropoulos
Research Fellow, Reuters Institute
for the Study of Journalism
Nic Newman
Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute
for the Study of Journalism
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
This year’s survey finds only a small increase in THE MOVE TO ONGOING PAYMENTS
the numbers paying for any online news. However, Although there has been only a small increase in the numbers
growth in the number of paid subscribers for paying for any online news, one positive development is that
publications like the New York Times, the FT, and most payments are now ‘ongoing’ payments. This includes
news access that is bundled with a subscription to the print
Mediapart, as well as the success of alternative product, or something different like cable or broadband, as well
models like the Guardian’s membership scheme, as straightforward subscriptions that allow people to go beyond
have demonstrated that reader revenues provide the paywall. At the same time, one-off payments have stagnated,
despite the introduction of micropayment platforms like Blendle.
an alternative to the digital advertising most online
news media have historically relied on – advertising This has been encouraging for many news organisations worried
that is primarily going to large platform companies. about their digital future. But it is important to keep in mind that
the numbers of people paying for news subscriptions is still low –
Yet difficult challenges remain. Some in the news business lower than the number that currently pay for print (either through
worry that, even though subscriber numbers remain low by single purchases or subscriptions) in many cases.
some standards, we might already be close to reaching an upper
limit. Others fear the emergence of ‘subscription fatigue’, where
people become frustrated by being asked to pay for multiple UPPER LIMITS FOR ONGOING SUBSCRIPTIONS
services separately. Will only the largest and most prominent
Why do only a minority pay for online news? In our 2017 report
news outlets survive, and how will they fare when forced to
we explored the individual motivations, but willingness to pay
compete with entertainment services like Netflix and Spotify?
for news is also determined by the structure of the news media
For those outside the news business, the issues are different. In environment. Our previous research has shown that the majority
a world of hard paywalls, will a sharp divide between those who of online news in Europe – except for that offered by national
are willing and able to pay for online news, and those who are legacy newspaper publishers – is free at the point of consumption
not, create information inequalities? Will we start to see growing (Cornia et al. 2017). If most online news is free, payment figures
differences between will likely always be low.
REUTERS INSTITUTE FORthe
THEinformation-rich and/ the
STUDY OF JOURNALISM information-
FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 1
poor? In many ways these are questions about the future, but
the data we have now can provide an indication of what might
lie ahead.
PROPORTION THAT MADE AN ONGOING NEWS PAYMENT IN THE LAST YEAR – SELECTED MARKETS
40%
Other payment
Ongoing payment
26
20% 22
14 13 13 12 12 12 11 11 11 10 10 9 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4
0%
NOR SWE HK USA FIN MEX SGP ZAF AUS MYS DEN POL TWN NLD IRE BEL SPA ROU SUI AUT UK KOR CAN FRA GER ITA ARG CHL GRE JPN SVK CZE POR HUN BGR CRO
Q7ai. Which, if any, of the following ways have you used to pay for ONLINE news content in the last year? Base: Total sample in each market ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005. Note. Ongoing payment refers to digital-only
payments, print-digital bundles, and getting access to digital news when paying for something else (eg broadband).
34 /
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS35
Slide 3
Another way of approaching this issue is to ask roughly how NUMBER OF NEWS ORGANISATIONS THAT PEOPLE REGULARLY
often people click on a link, expecting to read an article, and PAY MONEY TO, BY INCOME, EDUCATION, AND INTEREST IN
instead find that they are asked to pay for a subscription. The next NEWS – SELECTED MARKETS
chart shows the proportion of online news users that encounter a
High household Degree Extremely
paywall less than once a week – a group that currently has little or income holders interested in news
60%
no motivation to start paying. It is probably no coincidence that in
56 55 54
countries like Norway and Sweden, where paying for news is most
widespread, just 20% and 25% respectively do not regularly see 45%
paywalls for news. In much of Western Europe and the US, the
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 2
figure is around 40%. In Japan, where most news is free due to the
popularity of aggregators, 60% regularly consume news without
30%
26 28 27
bumping into a paywall.
15%
10 10 10
PROPORTION THAT SAY THEY SEE A PAYWALL LESS THAN 4 2 2 4 1 2 4 2 4
ONCE A WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS 0%
1 2 3 4 5 5+ 1 2 3 4 5 5+ 1 2 3 4 5 5+
60% 60 Q7_SUBS. You say you have paid a subscription or made an ongoing donation to a digital news
service in the last year. How many different news providers do you regularly pay money to?
51 Base: High household income/degree holders/extremely interested in news: 1222/1596/1274.
45% 46 46 47 47
44 44 45 45
41 42
39 This is amplified by concerns over what some call ‘subscription
37 38
30% 30 31 fatigue’ – the idea that people are becoming frustrated with being
25 26 asked to pay separately for lots of different services online. If
20 subscription fatigue does start to set in, there are signs that news
15%
might be badly affected. We asked people what online media
subscription they would pick if they could have only one for the
0% next 12 months. Just 12% said they would pick news, compared to
NOR
SWE
POR
DEN
BEL
USA
AUS
SPA
IRE
ITA
CAN
FIN
AUT
FRA
UK
GER
SUI
NLD
POL
JPN
28% that would choose a video streaming service like Netflix, and
nearly one-third (31%) who would pick nothing. This means that,
Q7_SUBS3. How often do you click on a link, expecting to read an article, and find yourself hypothetically, over three-quarters (76%) of people that currently
asked to pay for a subscription instead? Base: Total sample in each country ≈ 2000.
pay for online news would stop paying if they would only have one
online media subscription for the next year.
SUBSCRIPTION FATIGUE? That number is even higher among younger people. They are less
likely to say they would not pay for anything, but also less likely
This gives a sense of the upper limit for the size of the group that to say they would keep news specifically if forced to choose. Just
will pay. But for some, the question of whether people will ever 7% of under 45s would pick news over everything else for the next
pay for an online news subscription has evolved into a question year, compared
REUTERS to FOR
INSTITUTE 15%THE
of those
STUDY45
OFand over. It is/clear
JOURNALISM fromANALYSIS
FURTHER the next
about how many subscriptions people will pay for. As stated in the
Executive Summary, for the time being, the answer appears to
Slide 4
chart that news is a more important part of the mix for older users,
but also that younger people value a broader range of online media,
be ‘one’. The average (median) number of news subscriptions per including gaming and dating services.
person among those that pay is one in almost every country.
But perhaps more importantly, the average almost never exceeds IF YOU COULD ONLY HAVE ONE MEDIA SUBSCRIPTION FOR THE
one, regardless of what group you look at. Even among those who NEXT
7% YEAR, WHICH WOULD YOU HAVE? – SELECTED MARKETS
News
are most interested in news, the wealthiest, or the most educated, Under 45
most people only pay money to one news organisation. This
7%
point matters because, depending on the way subscriptions are News
distributed among different publishers, it may mean that only a
45 or over
small handful of those that are currently available will be able to
attract enough paying subscribers to survive. 15%
News
It is also important to keep in mind that news is just one of many News Video Music Sport Online Storage Online Nothing
15% streaming streaming gaming dating
forms of online media that people are now being asked to subscribe News
to. Some worry that news is expected to compete with online video Q_VALUE_2019_A. If you could only have one for the next 12 months, which one of the
streaming like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, music streaming following would you choose? Base: Under 45s/Over 45s: selected markets = 1760/2165.
BuzzFeed 7
14 Slide 7
that are free at the point of consumption. Indeed, the most trusted
news source in many European countries is the public broadcaster,
14 which is often heavily used by payers and non-payers alike.
Metro 6
14
Mirror 8 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AVERAGE TRUST SCORES OF THOSE
THAT PAY FOR NEWS AND THOSE THAT DO NOT – SELECTED
12 MARKETS
ITV 5
12 0.25 Significant difference
FT 2
11 0.15
Express 5
0.04
11 0.05 0.01
Lad Bible 5 -0.01 -0.02
10 -0.05
-0.06
Independent -0.07
6
8 Pays -0.15 -0.14
Local paper 9 Does not pay
8 -0.25 UK Czech Spain Norway Denmark Germany USA
Yahoo! 5 Republic
36 / 37
This may be why the USA – which has relatively weak public service
media – was the only country we analysed where the news diets
of those that do not pay have on average a significantly lower trust
score (-0.14 on the 0–10 scale) than for those who pay (grey shading
indicates no significant difference).
0.15
0.08
0.05
-0.01
-0.05 -0.03
-0.09
-0.15 -0.15 -0.14
-0.25 -0.23
UK Czech Spain Norway Denmark Germany USA
Republic
Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in the
last year? Q6_2018_trust. How trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is?
Please use the scale below, where 0 is ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’.
Base: Paid/did not pay for online news in the last year: USA = 335/1572, Czech Republic = 152/1770,
Germany = 160/1788, Spain = 214/1725, UK = 174/1800, Denmark = 303/1639, Norway = 696/1227.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
The number of people accessing news via social These changes will likely alter the nature of political discussion
online. Some academic research has found that political talk
media is now relatively stable in most countries.
on private messaging apps has beneficial outcomes, such as
However, the relationship between news and social increasing political participation (Vaccari and Valeriani 2018).
media continues to evolve. Facebook has stated Yet at the same time, investigations in India and Brazil have
linked WhatsApp groups to the spread of political propaganda,
that private messaging, ephemeral stories, and
misinformation, and hate speech.16 Others worry that the use
small groups are now among the fastest growing of private groups might create echo chambers that reinforce
areas of online communication, and has refocused existing views andFOR
REUTERS INSTITUTE further polarisation
THE STUDY in society.
OF JOURNALISM In theANALYSIS
/ FURTHER light
its strategy on privacy and encryption. Slide 10
of these concerns we were keen to understand more about how
Facebook and WhatsApp groups are being used – and more
Our own research shows that people are spending less time about the people who access them regularly.
with relatively open networks like Facebook and more time with
more private messaging applications like WhatsApp, Facebook
Messenger, Viber, and
REUTERS INSTITUTE Telegram.
FOR THE They
STUDY OF are also using
JOURNALISM them
/ FURTHER more
ANALYSIS
Slide 9
heavily for news. In this section, we explore this shift towards
private spaces for news consumption and discussion, and the
implications this has for publishers and for society.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-privacy-focused-vision-for-social-networking/10156700570096634/
15
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-election-whatsapp-explainer/facebooks-whatsapp-flooded-with-fake-news-in-brazil-election-idUKKCN1MU0UZ
16
38
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS / 39
Slide 11
PROPORTION THAT USED A GROUP ON FACEBOOK OR Other popular groups cover topics like health, education, and
WHATSAPP IN THE LAST MONTH – SELECTED MARKETS parenting. GroupsFOR
REUTERS INSTITUTE setTHE
up to discuss
STUDY news or politics
OF JOURNALISM areANALYSIS
/ FURTHER used
Slide 12
use WhatsApp in this way. Countries like Brazil, with their bigger
groups, seem to have been more prone to the spread of political
Brazil
Malaysia
22%
17%
18%
15%
misinformation and disinformation via WhatsApp.17 USA 14% 10%
Spain 13% 8%
PROPORTION THAT USE WHATSAPP GROUPS WITH PEOPLE UK 8% 2%
THEY DON’T KNOW – SELECTED MARKETS
Ireland 7% 4%
75%
Canada 7% 8%
65 Australia 7% 6%
58 60
50% Q12_2019_FB/WA. Facebook/WhatsApp allows you to set up, join and participate in groups,
where you can discuss news or related topics with like-minded people. Which, if any, of the
following have you used in the past month on Facebook/WhatsApp itself. Base: Facebook/
40 42 WhatsApp users: USA = 1356/185, UK = 1337/1007, Spain = 1450/1574, Ireland = 1300/1196, Turkey =
34 1479/1552, Malaysia = 1649/1693, Australia = 1426/435, Canada = 1449/314, Brazil = 1529/1680.
25% 30
27
12
0%
NEWS GROUP USERS TEND TO BE MORE PARTISAN
UK AUS IRE CAN SPA USA BRA MYS TUR
What are the demographic characteristics of those that join
Q12_2019_WA. WhatsApp allows you to set up, join, and participate in groups, where you can groups? In the end, people have to make a conscious decision to
discuss news or related topics with like-minded people. Which, if any, of the following have you
used in the past month on WhatsApp itself. Base: WhatsApp users: USA = 185, UK = 1007, Spain = become a member of a group, and this is reflected in their user
1574, Ireland = 1196, Turkey = 1552, Malaysia = 1693, Australia = 435, Canada = 314, Brazil = 1680.
profile. Those that join Facebook or WhatsApp groups tend to be
better educated and more politically committed, coming from the
THE ROLE OF NEWS IN GROUPS far-right or the far-left rather than from the political centre.
The vast majority of Facebook or WhatsApp groups do not cover Other characteristics are more even. Men are slightly more likely
news or politics. In both networks, our data indicate that the most to join a news group, with 16% of male Facebook users part of
popular groups tend to be set up to discuss shared hobbies or news or political groups, compared to 12% of female users,
passions (22% of Facebook users and 17% of WhatsApp users), and the same is broadly true of WhatsApp.
followed by local community groups (18% of Facebook users
and 15% of WhatsApp users).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/25/brazil-president-jair-bolsonaro-whatsapp-fake-news
17
REUTERS
Reuters INSTITUTE
Institute for theFOR THE
Study STUDY OF JOURNALISM
of Journalism / FURTHER
/ Digital News ANALYSIS
Report 2019
Slide 14
PROPORTION OF FACEBOOK AND WHATSAPP USERS THAT ARE MEMBERS OF NEWS/POLITICS GROUPS BY EDUCATION
AND POLITICAL LEANING – SELECTED MARKETS
BY EDUCATION Low Med High BY POLITICAL LEANING Left Centre Right Don’t Know
25% 25%
20% 20%
20
19
18
15% 17 15%
14 14
13
10% 12 10% 12
10 10
8
5% 5% 6
5
0% 0%
Facebook WhatsApp Facebook WhatsApp
Q12_2019_FB/WA. Facebook/WhatsApp allows you to set up, join and participate in groups, where you can discuss news or related topics with like-minded people. Which, if any, of the following have
you used in the past month on Facebook/WhatsApp itself. Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on
the following scale? Education. What is your highest level of education? Base: Low/medium/highly educated and left/centre/right/don’t know Facebook/WhatsApp users: selected countries = 1751/4783/6441
and 1164/2994/5478 2304/6986/1921/1764 and 1688/5443/1273/1232.
A key characteristic that distinguishes news group users from News group users also tend to have news diets that are quite
the wider population in each country is that they are more likely distinctive. They are significantly more likely to use an alternative
to say they trust the news they get from social media. In the UK, or partisan news source than those who do not use groups for
around half of either WhatsApp or Facebook news groups trust news. In the UK almost a third (30%) of those participating in
news from social (46%) compared with just 10% of the whole news groups within Facebook or WhatsApp use alternative or
sample. We also find large differences between the national partisan brands, compared with just 7% for the overall sample.
average and the users of groups related to news or politics in
Brazil, Malaysia, and Spain. This suggests that, for the minority Even in Brazil, where there is higher use of alternative and
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
that use them, the news that these groups serve up is an partisan news brands (42% on a weekly basis), we can see
Slide 15
important part of their overall news diet. that their reach is higher among members of Facebook and
WhatsApp news groups (65%). However, it is also clear that
news group users also rely on more mainstream outlets too.
On average they use 7.1 online news sources in a typical week –
around
REUTERSdouble theFOR
average number used by the whole sample
PROPORTION THAT TRUSTS MOST NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA INSTITUTE THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
MOST OF THE TIME – SELECTED MARKETS
Slide 17
across these nine countries (3.6).
National average
Members of news/politics groups on Facebook/WhatsApp
7
0% 0%
USA Turkey Spain Malaysia Brazil UK UK Spain USA Brazil
Q12_2019_FB/WA. Facebook/WhatsApp allows you to set up, join, and participate in groups, Q12_2019_FB/WA. Facebook/WhatsApp allows you to set up, join, and participate in groups,
where you can discuss news or related topics with like-minded people. Which, if any, of the where you can discuss news or related topics with like-minded people. Which, if any, of the
following have you used in the past month on Facebook/WhatsApp itself? Q6_2018_2. following have you used in the past month on Facebook/WhatsApp itself? Q5c_2018_1/2. In
Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: I think I can trust recent years a number of online news sites have emerged with their content often distributed
news in social media most of the time. Base: Total sample/member of news/politics groups on via social media. Which, if any, of the following have you heard of/used in the last week? Base:
Facebook or WhatsApp: UK = 2023/125, USA = 2012/197, Spain = 2005/243, Brazil = 2013/477, Turkey Total sample/member of news/politics groups on Facebook or WhatsApp: UK = 2023/125, USA =
= 2074/549, Malaysia = 2101/380. 2012/197, Spain = 2005/243, Brazil = 2013/477.
40 / 41
Slide 18
Nast has invested in private Facebook groups for many of its
publications – including the New Yorker Movie Club, where some
28,000 members discuss films with the magazine’s critics.
https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/foreign_correspondents_chat_apps_unrest.php
18
https://medium.com/@markfrankel29/journalists-have-an-open-invitation-to-an-interesting-and-under-used-beat-5c3d739e16ae
19
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
The political landscape of many Western countries People have different views about what populism is. Some argue
that populism is nothing more than a style of communication.
is changing. As long-standing political parties fade,
Others see populism as a ‘thin’ ideology, best understood in
populists make significant gains at the ballot box combination with more comprehensive belief systems such as
– even taking power in some cases. In response, left–right (Mudde 2004). We will turn to this later, but given that
those with populist attitudes do appear to have distinct media
people have started to search for causes and, as is
habits that are relatively consistent across countries, we will
often the case, some have looked to the influence proceed with this simple distinction for now.
of the news media.
Understanding the influence of the news media on people’s POPULIST ATTITUDES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
political attitudes is far from easy, and we should rarely expect
to find straightforward causal links. Nonetheless, a useful first The proportion of the online population that agreed to both
step is to build a better understanding of how different groups statements varies from country to country. Figures range from
within society access news. just under
REUTERS half in the
INSTITUTE FORNetherlands
THE STUDY OF (49%), the UK
JOURNALISM (45%), ANALYSIS
/ FURTHER Norway
DEFINING POPULISM
Inspired by recent cross-national research, we identified those
with populist attitudes based on their belief in: (i) the existence
of a ‘bad’ elite and the ‘virtuous’ people – two separate groups
with competing interests, and (ii) the ultimate sovereignty of 75%
the will of the people (Pew Center 2018). We tapped the first 70%
dimension by asking people whether they agree (on a five-point 65%
scale ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’) that 60%
‘most elected officials don’t care what people like me think’, 55%
and the second by asking whether ‘the people should be asked 50%
whenever important decisions are taken’. For the purposes of 45%
the analysis here, those that selected ‘tend to agree’ or ‘strongly
agree’ for both of these statements were placed in the ‘populist Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The
attitudes’ group, with all other respondents placed in the ‘non- people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t
care what people like me think. Base: Total sample in each country ≈ 2000.
populist attitudes’ group.
Our data comes from the following 23 European countries: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland,
20
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Greece.
42 / 43
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 21
This suggests that populist attitudes are less widespread in Northern MAIN GATEWAY TO ONLINE NEWS BY ATTITUDES –
and Western European countries than in Eastern and Southern EUROPE AND THE USA
Europe. In almost every country we analysed, populist attitudes 50% Populist Non-populist
are more common among those either in the older age groups,
with lower incomes, or with lower levels of formal education. EUROPE USA
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:
MAIN SOURCE OF NEWS BY ATTITUDES – EUROPE AND THE USA The people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials
don’t care what people like me think. Q10. Thinking about how you got news online (via
computer, mobile or any device) in the last week, which were the ways in which you came
Populist Non-populist across news stories? Base: People with populist/non-populist attitudes who used an online news
gateway in the last week: Europe = 25,559/17,038, USA = 1000/763.
50%
46 45
42 The preference for social media among those with populist attitudes
40
is largely due to a preference for Facebook. This group is more likely
to use Facebook as a source of news, but no more likely to use other
25% social networks like Twitter. Furthermore, our data also suggest that
this gap may be growing. As a group, those with populist attitudes
say they have started spending more time on Facebook in the past
12 months, whereas everyone else says they are spending less.
7 8 8
5 This pattern makes sense if we think of Facebook as a network
0%
TV Radio Print Online (inc. social) that primarily
REUTERS surfaces
INSTITUTE content
FOR THE STUDY based on the preferences
OF JOURNALISM of
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:
Slide 22
ordinary citizens, as opposed to Twitter, which many see as being
dominated by elite voices, the established news media, and a
The people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials
don’t care what people like me think. Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in the relatively small and generally more privileged user base.
last week, which would you say is your MAIN source of news? Base: People with populist/
non-populist attitudes in Europe and USA = 28,049/18,952.
Nonetheless, online news access is clearly important for those with 50%
50
populist attitudes, as well as for those without. If we drill deeper
and look at the different ways people arrive at news online, we see 41
many similarities between these groups – but also key differences.
In Europe, directly accessing a branded website or app is the single
most popular way of arriving at online news for those with populist 25%
25
23
attitudes (31%) and for those without (35%). However, those with
populist attitudes have a stronger preference for social media (24% 15
13 13 13
compared to 19%). In the US, social media ties with direct access as 11
8 9
7
the main way of arriving at news for those with populist attitudes.
0%
There’s also no clear preference for direct access among those Twitter Instagram WhatsApp Facebook YouTube Facebook
without populist attitudes. Messenger
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The people
should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t care what
people like me think. Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading,
watching, sharing or discussing news in the last week? Base: People with populist/non-populist
attitudes in Europe and USA = 28,049/18,952.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
People with populist attitudes are also more likely to share and POPULIST ATTITUDES AND NEWS OUTLET
comment on news more when using social networks. Other studies SELECTION
have found that populist parties tend to be more active on Facebook
– posting more, and generating more interactions with their content Our data also show that those with populist attitudes gravitate
than established parties.21 These trends could be combining to create towards different news outlets, and thus have different news
a social media environment where populist ideas and perspectives diets. If we take our cross-platform data (online use combined
are over-represented – however it is not possible to conclude this with offline use) from the UK as an example, we can see that some
from our data alone. So far, there’s little evidence that the growth of outlets are more widely used by those with populist attitudes than
populism is being primarily
REUTERS INSTITUTE drivenOF
FOR THE STUDY byJOURNALISM
the popularity of social
/ FURTHER media –
ANALYSIS
those without, and vice versa. People who hold populist views are
significantly more likely to use ITV, the Mirror, the Express, and the
Slide 23
but it may be the case that people’s discontent with the established
media is prompting people to rely more on social media for news Sun, but those without populist attitudes are more likely to rely on
(Schulz 2019). the FT, Channel 4, the Telegraph, The Times, the Guardian, and the
BBC. Audiences for other brands – including the Mail and Sky –
are roughly evenly split.
PROPORTION THAT INTERACT WITH NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
BY ATTITUDES – EUROPE AND USA This pattern reflects a preference for commercial TV and tabloid
50%
newspapers among those with populist attitudes. Those without,
Populist Non-populist
on the other hand, seem to prefer broadsheet newspaper brands
EUROPE USA
and public service media. Some digital-born sites like HuffPost
and BuzzFeed tend to have news audiences that are fairly
evenly split. Other outlets however – particularly those we have
25% 27
previously referred to as alternative or partisan outlets – are
25 24 often favoured by those with populist views, in addition to having
23 23
19 20 audiences with a heavy left–right skew.
16
It is also noticeable how populist preferences cut across left–right
divides, highlighting new dimensions along which news audiences
0%
Share news on Comment Share news on Comment can be segmented. For example, those with populist attitudes
social media on news on social media on news on exhibit a clear preference for both the right-leaning Sun and the
social media social media
left-leaning Mirror. Similarly, those without populist attitudes
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The people
have a preference for both the Guardian and the Telegraph –
should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t care what two newspapers with very different editorial lines.
people like me think. Q13. During an average week in which, if any, of the following ways do
you share or participate in news coverage? Base: People with populist/non-populist attitudes:
Europe = 27,539/18,765, USA = 1125/875.
Slide 24
50%
45
34
25% 26
21 21
15 13 13 15 14
12 10
9 2 9 8
6 6
0%
ITV Sun Mirror Express FT Channel 4 Telegraph Times Guardian BBC
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t care what
people like me think. Q5B. Which of the following brands have you used to access news online in the last week? Base: People with populist/non-populist attitudes: UK = 875/1148.
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-populists-european-election-alternative-for-deutschland-rassemblement-national-facebook/
21
44 / 45
POPULISM AND NEWS AUDIENCE POLARISATION In the charts below, we compare the degree to which countries have
strong left- or right-leaning audiences, with the degree to which
Given these different usage patterns, we might wonder they have strong populist or non-populist audiences. In the UK and
whether news audiences are polarised according to populist the US – as in most countries – the extent of left–right polarisation
attitudes. In other words, to what extent do those with populist is greater than the level of populist polarisation. The UK – with its
attitudes consume news from one set of outlets, and those prominent tabloid press – is home to outlets with relatively large
without from another? populist audiences, but given that some outlets have audiences with
a higher proportion of left- or right-leaning people (indicated by their
In our 2017 report, we explored how individual left–right
distance from the centre of the map), it’s arguably true that left–right
preferences created a large degree of news audience polarisation in
preferences are more important to people when deciding what news
some countries, but not in others. We saw that in the US, the UK,
outlets to use. This is even more so in the US, where the degree of
and in Southern and Eastern Europe, audiences for news outlets
left–right polarisation is particularly strong.
are often heavily right- or left-leaning – with relatively few outlets
able to attract people of different persuasions. Whereas in other In Germany, we see a different pattern. Here, the level of populist
countries – typically those in Western and Northern Europe – news audience polarisation is broadly similar to the US and
news outlets had mixed audiences made up of centrists, those the UK, but because the degree of left–right polarisation is low
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
on the left, and those on the right.
Slide 25 due to a general reluctance from the German news media to
adopt partisan positions, populist attitudes have become more
important to people when deciding what outlets to use.
LEFT-RIGHT POLARISATION
BBC
POPULIST POLARISATION
BBC
Daily Mail
Mirror
Economist FT
National average
LEFT-RIGHT POLARISATION
Left-leaning Right-leaning
audience New York NBC CBS audience
Times
POPULIST POLARISATION
CNN Fox
Vanity Fair
National average
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t care
what people like me think. Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale?
Q5A/B. Which of the following brands have you used to access news offline/online in the last week? Base: Total sample: UK = 2023, USA = 2012.
REUTERS
Reuters INSTITUTE
Institute for theFOR THE
Study STUDY OF JOURNALISM
of Journalism / FURTHER
/ Digital News ANALYSIS
Report 2019
Slide 26
LEFT-RIGHT POLARISATION
ARD
ZDF Bild
Junge Freiheit Epoch Times
Left-leaning Right-leaning
REUTERS
audienceINSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER
Spiegel ANALYSIS audience
Slide 28
RTL
ARD
POPULIST POLARISATION Bild
FAZ
Epoch Times
National average
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t care
what people like me think. Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale?
Q5A/B. Which of the following brands have you used to access news offline/online in the last week? Base: Total sample: Germany = 2022.
MAPPING NEWS AUDIENCES ALONG TWO The US and the UK both contain a mixture of outlets with populist
DIMENSIONS left and populist right audiences. The Mirror, for example, clearly
has an audience that is predominantly made up of people who
Although some assume populism to be closely aligned with the self-identify on the left, and who also hold populist attitudes.
right, scholars tend to see populism as a thin ideology that can Readers of the Sun also tend to hold populist attitudes, but self-
be combined with both left- and right-wing views. Within each identify on the right.
country we can essentially merge the above maps to identify
outlets with populist left or populist right audiences. In the US, though there are some outlets with populist audiences
– such as Fox and HuffPost – it is also clear that the majority of
When we do this, a number of interesting patterns emerge. The outlets have audiences that are predominantly non-populist
position of each outlet along the horizontal axis indicates whether left, such as the New York Times. It is also clear that none of the
it has a left-leaning or right-leaning audience, with the distance outlets we examined in the US have audiences that are as skewed
from the centre indicating the strength of the skew. The position towards populists as in the UK. It may be that the inability or
on the vertical axis indicates whether the outlet has a populist unwillingness of the established news media in the US to connect
audience. The higher the outlet, the more its audience is skewed with those with populist attitudes has created a ‘populist vacuum’
towards those with populist attitudes. Outlets with populist- – which may explain why many turn to social media and talk radio
left audiences are coloured red, and outlets with populist right for news and information.
audiences are coloured blue.
Sun
Mirror
ITV
Canary Breitbart
Express CBS Fox
Yahoo!
BBC Mail
Independent
NYT
Slate USA
Today
Times Telegraph LA Times
Guardian
FT
Economist
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t care what people
like me think. Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Q5A/B. Which of the
following brands have you used to access news offline/online in the last week? Base: Total sample: UK = 2023, USA = 2012.
46 / 47
Not every country has this relatively even balance between Sweden contains some extreme examples of this phenomenon.
populist left and populist right audiences. In Germany, we did Outlets like Fria Tider are used by around 10% of the online
not find any outlets with a populist left audience in our data. population, and have audiences that are heavily skewed towards
However, a considerable number of outlets have populist right those that both self-identify on the right and hold populist views.
audiences, particularly commercial television channels like Sat.1 These outlets are sometimes understood as anti-immigration,
and RTL. In Spain we see the opposite. Here, there are several but are also critical of political elites and the criminal justice
outlets
REUTERSwith populist
INSTITUTE FORleft
THEaudiences, but only a/handful
STUDY OF JOURNALISM FURTHERon the
ANALYSIS system (Nygaard
REUTERS INSTITUTE2019).
FOR THETheir tone
STUDY and style of/coverage
OF JOURNALISM is a clear
FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 30
right. It is perhaps no coincidence that Spain has also seen one of
the strongest populist left political movements in recent years, Slide 31
departure from the norms that govern the established television
and newspaper outlets in Sweden.
though the populist right did well in 2019 elections.
CROSS-PLATFORM AUDIENCE MAP – GERMANY AND SPAIN CROSS-PLATFORM AUDIENCE MAP – SWEDEN
Populist left Populist right Populist left Populist right
audience audience audience audience
Det Goda
Epoch Times Samhallet
Ledarsidorna
Nyheter Idag
Sat.1 Samhallsnytt
Samtiden
RTL Fria Tider
ZDF Bild Nya Tider
Dagens
Nyheter
Slide 32
Le Media Cnews
20 Minutes BFM
Libération
TF1
Rue89
Le Monde
La Croix
Rai SkyTg24
Mediaset
La Republicca
Corriere Il Giornale
Il Messangero
Q2_2019_1/2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The
people should be asked whenever important decisions are taken/Most elected officials don’t
care what people like me think. Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to
describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the
following scale? Q5A/B. Which of the following brands have you used to access news offline/
online in the last week? Base: Total sample: France = 2005, Italy = 2006.
The news media rely on their audience both for Evaluations of the media along other dimensions tend to be
more negative. Under half (42%) agree with the proposition
their public importance and for their economic
that the news media monitor and scrutinise the powerful, only
sustainability. No matter how good reporting 29% agree that the news media cover topics that are relevant to
may be, if people do not value it, it is unlikely to them, and just 16% think that the news media use the right tone.
Four in ten
REUTERS (39%) FOR
INSTITUTE think that
THE theOF
STUDY news media are
JOURNALISM too negative.
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
have a significant impact on public opinion or
public knowledge. Similarly, if people find news Slide 33
However, it is important to point out that many people do not
have a strong view about this, with almost half (44%) selecting
disappointing, no matter how proud journalists may neither agree nor disagree.
be of their work, people might be unwilling to pay
for it as a commercial product or as a public service. PROPORTION THAT AGREED WITH EACH ATTITUDE TOWARDS
THE NEWS – ALL MARKETS
They may also be reluctant to back the news media
if political leaders try to crack down on them or Agree Neither agree/disagree Disagree
intimidate them.
The news media
uses the right tone 16 39
This year we dug a little deeper into people’s attitudes towards
news media using a series of questions designed to explore how
The topics chosen by the news
well they thought they were performing. More specifically, we media feel relevant to me 29 25
asked people whether they think the news media fulfil their
watchdog role (do the news media monitor and scrutinise The news media monitors and
political and business leaders?), whether the news media pick scrutinises powerful people 42 19
relevant subjects, whether they adopt the right tone (are they and businesses
These are all things that the news media generally strive to do
well. Many journalists would likely see them as being at the very The news media keeps me up to
date with what is going on 62 11
core of their professional mission – a mission that they would
argue the news media delivers on uniquely well. But what does 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
the public think?
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:
The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses/The topics chosen by
the news media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of
NEWS MEDIA DO WELL AT KEEPING PEOPLE UP events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me
understand the news of the day. Base: Total sample = 75,749.
TO DATE
In the Executive Summary we saw that, across all countries, most
people agree that the news media keep them up to date with
what’s happening (62%), and that they help them understand
current events (51%). But we should keep in mind that there is
a significant minority (10–15%) that completely disagree that
the news media help them in this regard – and perhaps equally
concerning, around one-third who neither agree nor disagree.
Throughout this chapter, and unlike the Executive Summary, we reversed coded responses for the statements ‘the topics chosen by the news media do not feel relevant to me’ and ‘the news
22
media often take too negative view of events’, and renamed them ‘the topics chosen by the news media feel relevant to me’ and ‘use the right tone’ for better readability and comparability.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
ATTITUDES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES powerful people and helping them understand news, whereas in
Hungary only one-fifth of respondents (20%) think that the news
These aggregate numbers can hide large national differences. media fulfil their watchdog role, and a third (33%) that they help
Below we use a series of radar charts to display the differences them understand the news.
between two countries where respondents have relatively
positive attitudes towards the news media (Finland and Canada), However, even among these edge cases, we find consistently low
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
approval of the news media’s tone. Only 9% thinks that the news
Slide 34
and two countries where people are much more negative
(Greece and Hungary). In Finland and Canada, roughly half of media uses the right tone (in terms of negativity) in Greece,
respondents think that the media do a good job in monitoring compared to 25% in Finland.
PROPORTION THAT AGREED WITH EACH ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE NEWS – SELECTED MARKETS
Monitor Monitor
The news media in mypowerful
country:people powerful people
Monitor Monitor
CANADA powerful people HUNGARY powerful people
49%
Help me Pick Help me Pick
understand relevant understand 20% relevant
the news 60% subjects the news subjects
49% 31% 33% 29%
Help me Pick Help me Pick
understand relevant understand 20%17% relevant
the news 60% 18% subjects the news subjects
31% 33%36% 29%
Monitor Monitor
FINLAND powerful people GREECE powerful people
Monitor Monitor
powerful people powerful people
51%
Help me Pick Help me 39% Pick
understand relevant understand relevant
the news 56% 51% subjects the news 46% subjects
33% 32%
Help me Pick Help me 39% Pick
understand relevant understand 9% relevant
the news 56% 25% subjects the news 46% subjects
33% 32%
53% 9%
Keep me 75% 25% Use the Keep me Use the
up to date right tone up to date right tone
53%
Keep me 75% Use the Keep me Use the
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses/The topics chosen by the news
up to date right tone up to date right tone
media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me understand the news of
the day. Base: Total sample: Canada = 2055, Hungary = 2007, Finland = 2009, Greece = 2018.
ATTITUDES WITHIN COUNTRIES We might also expect to see differences by age. Older people
are arguably more likely to have been socialised with a more
We can also see differences between groups within countries. If we positive view of the news media, and with a stronger normative
look at differences by education, in the UK and Germany we can see view about the importance of the role that the news media play
that those with higher levels of formal education are more likely to within society. However, when it comes to age, although the
evaluate the news media positively along every dimension. Those over 35s in Germany do tend to rate the media slightly more
with lower levels of education are, for example, significantly less positively, in the UK the differences are small.
likely to say that the news media cover topics that are relevant to
them, suggesting that the news agenda is more geared towards the
interests and needs of the more educated. This chimes with the
criticism that the news media do a better job of catering for people
who are most similar to the journalists themselves, and are less able
to serve those groups that are less likely to be found in the newsroom.
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
50 / 51
Slide 36
PROPORTION THAT AGREED WITH EACH ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE NEWS BY EDUCATION – UK AND GERMANY
9% 15%
63%
Keep me Use the Keep me 79% Use the
up to date right tone up to date right tone
18% 20%
57%
66%
Keep me Use the Keep me Use the
up to date right tone up to date right tone
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 37
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses/The topics chosen by the news
media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me understand the news of
the day. Base: Low/high education: UK = 558/839, Germany = 596/642.
PROPORTION THAT AGREED WITH EACH ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE NEWS BY AGE – UK AND GERMANY
Under 35 Over 35
UK UK
44%
Help me 37% Pick Help me Pick
understand relevant understand relevant
the news 57% subjects the news 58% subjects
33% 31%
17% 12%
Under 35 Over 35
GERMANY GERMANY
17% 22%
62% 63%
Keep me Use the Keep me Use the
up to date right tone up to date right tone
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses/The topics chosen by the
news media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me understand the
news of the day. Base: Under/Over 35s: UK = 413/1610, Germany = 450/1572.
45%
Help me Pick
understand relevant
the news
Reuters Institute subjects
for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
23% 20%
8%
36%
PROPORTION THAT AGREED WITH EACH ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE NEWS BY POLITICAL LEANING – USA
The news media in my country:
Monitor
Monitor powerful
powerful people
people Monitor
Monitor powerful
powerful people
people
Left-wing Right-wing
Americans Americans
55%
55%
45%
45%
Help
Help me
me Pick
Pick Help
Help me
me Pick
Pick
understand
understand relevant
relevant understand
understand relevant
relevant
the
the news
news 65%
65% 48%
48% subjects
subjects the
the news
news subjects
subjects
23%
23% 20%
20%
8%
8%
39%
39% 36%
36%
Keep
Keep me
me 77%
77% Use
Use the
the Keep
Keep me
me Use
Use the
the
up
up to
to date
date right
right tone
tone up
up to
to date
date right
right tone
tone
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: The newsREUTERS INSTITUTE
media monitor FORpowerful
and scrutinise THE STUDY peopleOF JOURNALISM
and businesses/The/topics
FURTHER
chosenANALYSIS
by the news
Slide 39
media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me understand the news of
the day. Base: Left/Right: USA = 504/497.
THE ASSOCIATION WITH TRUST AND PAY PROPORTION THAT TRUSTS NEWS BY ATTITUDES TOWARDS
THE NEWS – ALL MARKETS
As we alluded to at the start of this section, people’s evaluations of
Bad job Good job
the news media matter because they might be linked to positive
outcomes like trust in the news and willingness to pay for it. 75%
Trust least dependent Trust most dependent
on tone of coverage and on immediacy of coverage
Predictably, our study shows that those who think that the news relevance of topics and understanding
media fulfil the basic functions examined in this section are more
likely to trust the news. However, the impact of each role on trust 58
55 55
varies considerably. Views on the tone of news coverage do not 50% 52
appear to influence trust very much: 48% of those who think that 48
the news media use the appropriate tone say they trust the news, but 43 43
this only drops to 43% among those who find the news too negative.
Other media attributes are very important for trust. The majority 28
25%
(58%) of those who agree that the news media do a good job in
helping them understand what is going on in the world trust the 19
17
news, while only 19% of those who disagree with the statement
do so. Immediacy was also found to be highly correlated with
trust. Those who believe that the news media do a good job in
0%
keeping them up to date with events tend to trust news (55%), Tone of Topic Watchdog Immediacy Helps with
while only 17% of those who disagree with the statement do so. coverage relevance of coverage understanding
Put simply, we find that people are more likely to trust the news
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements:
if they feel it keeps them up to date with what’s happening, helps The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses/The topics chosen
them understand it, and holds power to account. by the news media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of
events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me
understand the news of the day. Q6_2016_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the
Though the links between these evaluations and trust are following statements: I think you can trust most news most of the time. Base: Bad/Good: Tone
of coverage = 12,295/29,774, Topic relevance = 21,950/18,876, Watchdog = 31,465/14,479, Immediacy
sometimes quite strong, links with patterns of news use – such of coverage = 46,881/8699, Helps with understanding = 38,786/11,061.
as paying for online news – tend to be weaker. Regardless of
whether we consider people that have positive or negative
evaluations of the media along these dimensions, the proportion
that have paid for online news in the last year remains the same
at around 15%. This suggests that evaluations of the news media
are not necessarily important for people’s willingness to pay, and
that this willingness is likely to be influenced by other factors.
5%
52
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS /
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS53
Slide 40 Slide 41
0%
Topic Immediacy Helps with Watchdog Tone of
relevance of coverage understanding coverage
PROPORTION THAT PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS IN THE LAST PROPORTION THAT AGREES THAT THE NEWS MEDIA
YEAR BY ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE NEWS – ALL MARKETS MONITOR AND SCRUTINISE THE POWERFUL – ALL MARKETS
25% Bad job Good job
BRA 56
ZAF 53
20%
POL 52
17 NOR 51
15% 16 16
15 15 15 51
14 14 FIN
13 13
10% POR 51
CAN 49
5% ROU 49
SWE 49
0% FRA 47
Topic Immediacy Helps with Watchdog Tone of
relevance of coverage understanding coverage CRO 47
SVK 46
Q15_2019_1/2/3/4/5. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: AUS 45
The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses/The topics chosen
by the news media do not feel relevant to me/The news media often take too negative view of MEX 45
events/The news media keep me up to date with what’s going on/The news media help me
understand the news of the day. 7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a USA 45
paid for ONLINE news service in the last year? Base: Those who give positive/negative responses 45
to different evaluations: Tone of coverage = 12295/29774, Topic relevance = 21950/18876, Watchdog DEN
= 31465/14479, Immediacy of coverage = 46881/8699, Helps with understanding = 38786/11061.
TUR 45
SUI 43
THE NEWS MEDIA’S WATCHDOG ROLE MYS 42
UK 42
We can also take a closer look at attitudes towards the watchdog 42
BGR
role of the news media – whether they succeed in monitoring and 42
CZE
scrutinising the powerful. As we have already seen, a majority of 41
ARG
those who think that the news media fulfil their watchdog role
IRE 40
trust the news (55%), whereas only about a quarter (28%) of
SPA 40
those believing they do not fulfil this role say the same.
AUT 39
We find large variations in attitudes towards the media’s watchdog GRE 39
role country to country. In Brazil, South Africa, Poland, Norway, BEL 38
Finland, and Portugal, a majority agrees that the news media do HK 38
indeed monitor and scrutinise powerful people. On the other hand, GER 37
in Korea, Hungary, and Japan only about a fifth of respondents NLD 36
agree with that statement. In Japan, in particular, the press is seen CHL 36
as being too close to the government, with most coverage rarely ITA 33
deviating from the official line. 32
SGP
TWN 30
The other side of this is how journalists in different countries
KOR 21
evaluate their own role as watchdogs. We compare our audience
HUN 20
evaluations of the watchdog role with how journalists in different
countries evaluate the importance of being a watchdog in the JPN 17
2016 Worlds of Journalism Study.23 We find that in countries like 0% 25% 50% 75%
Germany or the UK, there are few discrepancies between how
Q15_2019_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: The news
important journalists think being a watchdog is for their work, and media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses. Base: Total sample in each market
how audiences see the news media’s performance as watchdogs. ≈ 2000, Taiwan = 1005.
http://www.worldsofjournalism.org
23
Denmark
80
45
Reuters Institute
USA for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
86
38
Hong Kong
80
21
South Korea
However, we see large discrepancies in other countries. 86 In Our research shows that most people want some simple, basic
Japan, 91% of journalists 17 think that monitoring and scrutinising things from the news media – to keep them up to date, help
political leaders is important for their work, whereas only
Japan
91
17% them understand what is going on, and keep an eye on those in
of news users in Japan agree that the news media monitor and a position of power. These are things that many journalists and
scrutinise powerful people and businesses. We further find news media would argue they are already doing, though our
Q15_2019_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: The news
large discrepancies
media monitor and scrutinisein the US,
powerful where
people 86% ofBase:
and businesses. journalists
Total sample inconsider
each market data suggest that there is still a significant gap to close in terms
being a watchdog
≈ 2000. Note: important
Data for journalists’ to their
opinions taken from thework, butofonly
2016 Worlds 45%
Journalism ofPlease
Study. of public perception. Better transparency about journalistic
tell me how important each of these things is in your work: Monitor and scrutinise political leaders.
American news users think that the news media are fulfilling processes might help, along with improved marketing of the
their watchdog role. important work journalists do.
PROPORTION OF AUDIENCE AND JOURNALISTS THAT AGREE THAT THE NEWS MEDIA
MONITOR AND SCRUTINISE THE POWERFUL – SELECTED MARKETS
91
86 86
78 80 80
75%
64 65 66
50% 51 51
48
44 45 45
42
37 39 38
36 36
33
25%
21
17
0%
Germany UK Italy Finland Greece Portugal Chile Denmark USA Hong Kong South Korea Japan
Q15_2019_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: The news media monitor and scrutinise powerful people and businesses. Base: Total sample in each market ≈ 2000.
Note: Data for journalists’ opinions taken from the 2016 Worlds of Journalism Study. Please tell me how important each of these things is in your work: Monitor and scrutinise political leaders.
54 / 55
In this section we look at the news consumption They use them for communication, for media, for games, for
dating – and for news. Across all markets, our survey data reveal
of younger generations – a group that is of great
that the smartphone is the main device used for accessing news
interest to news publishers around the world, but for the vast majority of under 35s (69%).
also one they are finding it increasingly hard to
Another way of illustrating the primacy of smartphone news
reach. We explore the attitudes and behaviours for young people is to look at data on their first contact with
that define the under 35s, and ask what kind of news on a typical day.25 Nearly half of Gen Z news users (45%)
journalism or brand positioning might appeal to in our combined sample come into first contact with news in
the morning via the smartphone, with only 19% via TV and 5%
them. Our data highlight that young people are very via desktops/laptops. Similar trends can be seen among Gen
reliant on mobile, and spend a lot of time with a Y, who also
REUTERS first turn
INSTITUTE FORto their
THE smartphone
STUDY (39%)
OF JOURNALISM over TV ANALYSIS
/ FURTHER (22%)
range of different social networks. As such, much of Slide 43
or the computer (8%). By sharp contrast, for over 35s television
is still the most likely first contact point with news (30%), with
their media use is on-demand and algorithmically smartphone (19%) and radio (18%) some way behind.
curated/personalised. The problem for publishers is
that this means that individual news brands tend to
PROPORTION THAT SAID EACH WAS THEIR FIRST CONTACT
play a relatively small role in young people’s lives. WITH NEWS IN THE MORNING BY AGE – SELECTED MARKETS
50% 18-24 25-34 35+
Here, we make a distinction between Generation Y (Gen Y) – often
called millennials and represented in our sample by those aged
45
25–34 – and Generation Z (Gen Z), those born after the mid-1990s
and aged 18–24.24 The reason for this separation is that Gen Z are 39
often thought of as digital natives with no memories of the pre-
internet age. Gen Y, on the other hand, grew up at the turn of the
millennium in a world without Facebook and YouTube. 30
25%
Throughout this section we will combine our survey data with
22
detailed qualitative data collected from young people in the UK
19 18 19
and the US. This study, conducted by market research agency
Flamingo, was based on tracking the news behaviour of a strategic 13
12 11
sample of 20 participants over two weeks in January/February
8 9
2019, followed by in-depth interviews with them and their friends.
The sample was made up of young people with different news 5 4 4
habits, from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. 0%
Smartphone Desktop Print Radio TV
Q9c_new2016. What is the FIRST way you typically come across news in the morning? Base:
PRIMACY OF THE SMARTPHONE 18-24/25-34/35+: selected countries = 1863/3019/15247. Note: Data from US, UK, France, Italy, Spain,
Ireland, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Japan.
Data from both the survey and the qualitative research emphasise
what we have known for some time – that young people are highly
reliant on their phones. Our digital tracking in the US and UK shows
that Gen Z and Gen Y spend a large part of their waking hours
interacting with smartphones.
While there is no agreement on the year of birth that separates the two generations, we used 1995, which is the most commonly used.
24
The data on first contact with news from a question asked in ten countries: US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Japan.
25
Reuters
REUTERS Institute for theFOR
INSTITUTE Study of Journalism
THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM
/ Digital News Report 2019
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 44
PROPORTION THAT USES EACH DURING FIRST CONTACT WITH NEWS IN THE MORNING VIA SMARTPHONE BY AGE –
SELECTED MARKETS
YOUNGER OLDER
57
50%
43
39
33
29 28 29
25%
23
19
12 13
9 3 8 9 8
6 1 7 7
5
0%
Social Media Facebook Twitter Instagram Aggregators Alerts Direct
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
(incl. messaging apps)
Slide 45
Q9d_2016_rc5. You mentioned that your FIRST contact with news in the morning is using internet via smartphone, in which ONE of the following places do you typically find your first news? Base:
18-24/25-34/35+: selected countries = 842/1195/2982. Note: Data from US, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Japan.
FOUR
We canTYPICAL
also lookKEY NEWS
in more MOMENTS
depth at whereFOR YOUNGER
people go whenGROUPSthey FOUR TYPICAL KEY NEWS MOMENTS FOR YOUNGER GROUPS
first pick up their smartphones for news. While those over 35
DIRECT DIRECT
are likely to first go directly to a news site via an app or the
mobile browser (39%), Gen Z are more likely to turn to social
media and messaging apps (57%). In other words, news brands
are less important for this group than for over 35s. Gen Y are
DEDICATED DEDICATED
somewhere in the middle,
Finding timewith 43%
to focus getting
on the news,their newsorvia
like a novel social
a TV series Finding time to focus on the news, like a novel or a TV series
media and messaging apps and
Less common; suits33% directly.
evenings Facebook is equally
or weekends Less common; suits evenings or weekends
popular as a firstMindset:
destination with both groups,
more introspective; deepeningandunderstanding
Instagram Mindset: more introspective; deepening understanding
Young news users also rely on news aggregators like Apple News, Our survey data suggest that most young people (and in particular
Flipboard, and Upday, particularly when they use news in ‘time those in INSTITUTE
REUTERS Gen Z), spent a lotSTUDY
FOR THE moreOF
time on Instagram
JOURNALISM this ANALYSIS
/ FURTHER year
filler’ moments or want to get a quick update about what is
happening during intercepted moments (e.g. via a news alert).
Slide 47
compared to last. On the other hand, there was a decrease in time
spent with Snapchat – something that might worry publishers
Aggregators are increasingly prominent on smartphones, where who have invested heavily in the Discover news platform.
headline lists can be accessed by swiping left or right from the
smartphone homescreen on many handsets. According to the
NET DIFFERENCE IN TIME SPENT WITH EACH SOCIAL
interview findings, aggregators have two distinct audiences. NETWORK IN LAST YEAR BY UNDER 35s – ALL MARKETS
Among engaged young users they are used to curate the news
they want and exploit the diversity of sources. For more passive
news users, using an aggregator is an easy way to browse around +1
series of headlines.
+24
“If I’m somewhere where I don’t really have time to read
a news story, I do rely on headlines. The fact that I have
+25
access so that I can look at it in two seconds, because
I’m not really supposed to be on my phone at work but if
-1
I can just pull it out, click one button to get to the Apple
News story and the answer is right there for me.”
+22
Maggie, Gen Z, US
For Gen Z, and to a lesser extent Gen Y, the key appeal of these -19
services is convenience. Both groups enjoy multitasking, and
they want media to fit the device and networks where they
Q12C_2019. You say you use the following social networks for any purpose, in the last 12
spend their time. months, has the amount of time you spend using them changed? Base: Under 35s that used
each social network in the last week: Facebook = 15,267, YouTube = 15,838, WhatsApp = 11,448,
Instagram = 11,725, Snapchat = 4674, Twitter = 5249. Note: Showing difference between proportion
that said ‘more time’ and proportion who said ‘less time’.
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE CHANGING THEIR
PREFERENCES AROUND SOCIAL MEDIA
However, while many publishers think of Instagram as ‘the
Looking in more depth at the role of social media networks, we
platform’ to reach younger groups, young people themselves
find significant differences between the groups, and also changes
often do not see it as the right environment for news:
over time. Facebook is used slightly more by Gen Y (52%), while
Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are used significantly more by “I don’t think I would follow them [news
Gen Z news users than millennials or by users over 35. organisations] on Instagram. … When I go
on Instagram my mindset is ‘I’m going to get
“[Facebook is] ancient. Like, a mum’s thing.
information but it’s more related to entertainment.’”
I don’t really use it anymore.”
Richard, Gen Y, UK
Ellie, Gen Z, UK
Once again, understanding the expectations of different audiences
We can also consider the amount of time that people spend
and the ‘moments’ they are in will be critical for engagement with
on these platforms, and how it’s changing.
particular platforms.
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 46
PROPORTION THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
32
29
25% 26
24
20 19
18 17
16
13 13 12 12
9 10
8 2
5
0%
Facebook YouTube WhatsApp FB Messenger Twitter Instagram Snapchat
Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading, watching, sharing, or discussing news in the last week? Base: 18-24/25-34/35+: All markets = 8272/13361/54116.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
20 18 20
20 14 19
Slide 50
18-24 58 17 15 10
25-34 64 15 11 10
35+ 70 11 8 10
OPTQ11D. In thinking about your online news habits, which of the following statements applies
best to you? Base: 18-24/25-34/35+: All markets = 3642/5878/28770
Slide 52
In the Executive
PROPORTION Summary
THAT USED weIN
A PODCAST saw
THEhow
LAST podcast
MONTH – PROPORTION THAT USED A PODCAST IN THE LAST MONTH –
USA AND SWEDEN BY AGE
consumption is growing in a number of countries
USA
and how
REUTERS monetisation
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDYmodels
OF JOURNALISM are /emerging.
FURTHER ANALYSIS
Young more likely to consume
Podcast listeners by age – USA
Slide 53Proportion
In this section we explore the demographics
of each age group listening monthly in 75%
41 0%
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+
MOST PODCAST LISTENERS ARE YOUNG
25% 30
The most striking aspect
Smartphone of podcast consumption
Laptop Tablet is the appeal
Desktopto Sweden
19
55%
younger 27%and the United
people. In Sweden 26% 18%
States, two countries Young more likely to consume
75%
that
0%
have embraced podcasts, we find that over half of under 35s
have used a podcast monthly
18-24 25-34 compared
35-44 with less than a fifth55+
45-54
of over 55s. 50% 59 57
Podcast listeners by age – Sweden
By contrast, these older of
Proportion listeners
each age are
group twice as likely
listening monthly to consume 43
38
Smart speaker Stereo system MP3 Smart wearable
traditional radio news as the young, many of whom do not even 25%
8% 8% 6% 4%
own a radio. This is the plugged-in Young more likelysmartphone
to consumegeneration and it’s
75% 16
no surprise that the majority of usage is through these connected
Which, if any, of the following device(s) do you use to listen to podcasts? Source: UK YouGov
0%
devices,
Profiles, manyrepresentative
nationally of which come pre-installed
sample, March with podcast apps and
2019. Base = 921. 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+
now come equipped with high fidelity wireless headphones. In
59 57 takes place via smartphone, a figure that Q11F_2018. A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files, which you can download,
the
50%UK, 55% of listening
subscribe, or listen to. Which of the following types of podcast have you listened to in the last
rises to 62% for under 35s. month? Base: 18-24/25-34/45-54: USA = 177/380/320/246/889, Sweden = 132/335/323/343/874.
43
38
25%
Q11F_2018. A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files, which you can download,
subscribe, or listen to. Which of the following types of podcast have you listened to in the last
month? Base: 18-24/25-34/45-54: USA = 177/380/320/246/889, Sweden = 132/335/323/343/874.
Smartphone Laptop Tablet Desktop Smart speaker Stereo system MP3 Smart wearable
55% 27% 26% 18% 8% 8% 6% 4%
Which, if any, of the following device(s) do you use to listen to podcasts? Source: UK YouGov Profiles, nationally representative sample, March 2019. Base = 921.
60 52 / 61
At home REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
61
17
Slide 55
At work
15
Public transport 30
WHERE DO
(bus, trainPEOPLE
etc.) LISTEN
20 TO PODCASTS? PROPORTION THAT USED A PODCAST VIA PRIVATE/PUBLIC
TRANSPORT IN THE LAST MONTH – SELECTED MARKETS
The majority of podcast usage is24
Private transport at home (58%), commuting on
(e.g. car) 50%
public transport (24%) or via18 private transport such as the car or Car etc. (private transport) Bus, train etc. (public transport)
bike (20%). Around
Exercise
a fifth (18%)
20 listen when out and about
generally (goingetc.)
(gym, running for a walk 12 to the shops), with a similar
or
proportion
REUTERS (16%) listening
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDYwhenOF taking exercise.
JOURNALISM A further
/ FURTHER 16%
ANALYSIS
Slide 54
Out and
finds about
the time or opportunity to23
generally
(park, shops etc.)
Younger groups are slightly
listen to podcasts at work.
13more likely to listen on the move, 25% 28
30
26
23
whereas over 45s are 0%twice as likely 25%to listen in the
50%home. 75% 21
50% 18
16 16
Slide 57
Further insights on motivation came from our in-depth PROPORTION THAT USED EACH PODCAST GENRE IN THE LAST
interviews with young people, supporting this year’s research. MONTH – ALL MARKETS
The first relates to the convenience. Podcasts are great for
multitasking but they also don’t require complex interfaces: Any podcast 36
“I think it’s a bit more passive … You’re able to multitask.
Like, I can cook and listen to a podcast, for example …” News, politics etc 15
Sam, 25–30, US
Lifestyle
In this sense podcasts bring information to listeners in a way that (fashion, food arts)
15
is effortless, but the linear nature is a welcome break from the
usual distractions of digital media. On the other hand, they Specialist (tech,
business, health etc)
14
maintain the element of control and choice that is second nature
to millennials and digital natives, but that traditional radio lacks:
True crime, society 12
“[With] radio you can’t control what shows are on,
whereas podcasts you can.” Sports 9
Mark, 31–35, US
0% 20% 40%
Then there is the content itself, which young people feel is often Male
more diverse, more entertaining, and less stuffy than traditional Female
In this chapter we have seen how podcasts carry many of the same
benefits as radio – such as multitasking and ease of use – but they
have characteristics of their own which are enhancing audio
storytelling and engaging new groups. Q11F_podcast_location. In what circumstances do you tend to consume podcasts regularly? Base:
Those that consumed a podcast in the last month: USA = 667, UK = 379, France = 475, Denmark = 487.
Section 3
Analysis by Country
In this section we publish a country-based view of the findings, which includes an overview of media
characteristics and the most important data points in terms of digital news.
Section 3 Europe
3.01 United Kingdom 68
Analysis by Country
3.02 Austria 70
3.03 Belgium 72
3.04 Bulgaria 74
3.05 Croatia 76
Europe
3.06 Czech Republic 78
3.07 Denmark 80
3.08 Finland 82
3.09 France 84
3.10 Germany 86
3.11 Greece 88
3.12 Hungary 90
3.13 Ireland 92
3.14 Italy 94
3.15 Netherlands 96
3.16 Norway 98
3.17 Poland 100
3.18 Portugal 102
3.19 Romania 104
3.20 Slovakia 106
3.21 Spain 108
3.22 Sweden 110
3.23 Switzerland 112
3.24 Turkey 114
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
More than a third (35%) say they often BuzzFeed. But it is the local and regional father told the media that he holds the
or sometimes avoid the news in the UK sector that has been hit hardest with social media giant partly responsible for
and the majority of these cite Brexit as the net closure of 245 local news titles her death. By this time next year, the UK
the main reason. Avoiders say coverage in the last 13 years according to Press could have among the most stringent
negatively affects their mood or they feel Gazette research. One of the UK’s largest regulation of online platforms in the world,
powerless to affect events. Partly as a publishers, debt-laden Johnston Press, even as critics warn about the potential
result, and with the exception of television collapsed in November 2018, though most implications for free speech.
(+5pp), there has been no Brexit bounce titles continue under a new company
for the media, with online usage flat and owned by its creditors (JPI media). The BBC also faces new scrutiny from both
newspapers on the slide. politicians and commercial rivals. Its online
Against this background, a government- news site came under fire from commercial
Popular newspaper brands have suffered appointed review, headed by Dame rivals for publishing too much ‘soft
double digit falls in print circulation with Frances Cairncross, argued that local news’ and for an obsession with younger
the Daily Star (-18%), Daily Mirror (-13%), news coverage could disappear unless audiences. It has been accused of wasting
and Daily Express (-12%) hardest hit.26 These the government provides direct financial millions on promoting a new podcast-filled
titles are now owned by Reach plc, which support. Her report, published in February app (BBC Sounds) and neglecting its core
has merged some editorial operations to 2019, recommended the introduction of speech radio channel (Radio 4). Meanwhile
cut costs by over £10m. a range of different direct and indirect licence fee income is being squeezed by
public subsidies to support high-quality lack of interest from the Netflix generation
Broadsheet titles have also suffered
journalism and that Google and Facebook’s and a government plan to give free TV
significant year on year declines in print
approach to news should be scrutinised by licences to the over 75s.
but are pinning their hopes on new online
a new regulator.
revenue. The Financial Times hit its target Further pressure comes from calls
of a million paying subscribers a year ahead Further pressure on the platforms to increase BBC funding for the local
of schedule, while The Times and Sunday came with a highly critical report by a democracy reporting scheme, which has
Times have around half a million paying parliamentary committee of MPs that supported more than 130 new jobs in
customers with the majority now digital- had been looking into disinformation. commercial newsrooms, and delivered
only. And after years of making substantial The committee accused Facebook of more than 50,000 stories in its first year.
losses, the Guardian announced a small purposefully obstructing its inquiry and
operating profit for 2018-19. More than a failing to tackle attempts by Russia to More publishers are getting involved in
million people worldwide have contributed manipulate elections. audio. The Guardian, The Economist, and
to the Guardian in the last three years, the FT have launched or rebranded daily
with 650,000 currently paying to support And in April the government announced news podcasts in the last year. The BBC
the publication on an ongoing basis27. A its plans to fine or block tech platforms is investing heavily in smart speakers
new ‘slow news’ venture, Tortoise News, if they fail to tackle ‘online harms’ such and AI while the Guardian has set up an
launched in April with 2,500 members – as terrorist propaganda, child abuse, experimental Voice Lab.
40% of its early backers are under 30. and other distressing material. The issue
captured public attention with the case Nic Newman
By contrast, advertising-supported media of 14-year-old Molly Russell who took Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
has been affected by widespread job cuts her own life after looking at posts about
including around a dozen at digital-born suicide on her Instagram account. Molly’s
26
ABC figures Feb. 2018—Feb. 2019 via Press Gazette.
27
BBC News:’Guardian records first operating profit since 1998’, www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48111464
68 / 69
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
79% Online (incl. social media)
TV news reach has100% started
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
to decline but a key 74%
59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
parliamentary Brexit 50%
50% vote
59%
59% 40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media
50% 100% 40%
36% 100%
during our survey period
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media Online (incl. social media) Tablet
20% 79% 36%
showed how people still20% turn
20% 74% 75% TV Smartp
20% 71% 67%
to the medium at times0%
0% of 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
59%
2018 2019 Print 63% Comput
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
crisis. In terms of online
0% 2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015
50%2016
2017
2017
2018
2018
2019
2019 50%Social media 49%
40%
news, the British are 36%
29% 29%
becoming increasingly 20%
16%
dependent on smartphones.
0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Trust in the news has fallen DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
over 11 percentage points since THIS BRAND
40% (-2)
ITV News 6.82 7.23
by many as pushing or
suppressing agendas –
=21st/38
51% Financial Times
Channel 4 News
6.68
6.66
7.63
7.27
9%
The Sun 3.92 5.73
* No figure for users of the Canary (did not meet 50 minimum threshold)
pay for
ONLINE NEWS TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
27%
Rank Brand For News For All
21%
3 YouTube 10% (+2) 52%
19%
4 WhatsApp 9% (+4) 50%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 6% (+3) 46%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 4% (+3) 29%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
AUSTRIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
8.8m
88%
Kronen Zeitung 14
37 Kronen Zeitung online 8
25
TOP BRANDS ZDF News 12
24 GMX News 7
17
% Weekly usage Puls 4 News 11
21 Der Standard online 5
13
Heute 11
20 Heute online 6
12
Weekly use
ServusTV News 10
19 meinbezirk.at/woche.at/bezirksrundschau.at 7
11
TV, radio & print
RTL News 10
19 Kurier online 6
11
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print ARD News 9
19 Kleine Zeitung online 4
10
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
79%
Austrians have traditionally
100%
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
read more newspapers and 74%
59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2015–19
59% 71% Print
magazines than any50% other
50%
59%
59% 40%
Social media
Print
Social media
50% 100% 40%
36% Social media 100%
country in our survey, but
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media Social media Tablet
20% 78% 36%
this is beginning to change.
20%
20% 71%
75% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 70% 67%
Online media now outstrips
0%
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 70%2018
2017 2019 Printed newspapers 64% Comput
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 56%
both print and TV with0%
the 2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015
50%2016
2017
2017
2018
2018
2019
2019 50%TV 52%
45% 41%
smartphone (64%) overtaking 38%
the computer (52%) to 18% 20%
become the most important
device for accessing 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
online news. NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
TRUST
Despite conflicts with DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
government leaders, the THIS BRAND
public service media ORF News overall ORF News 6.67 6.95
39% (-2)
remains the most trusted News I use Die Presse 6.53 7.5
news service in Austria.
Following the ORF are the
=25th/38
53% ZDF News
Der Standard
6.47
6.42
7.09
7.44
5.48
5.31
6.38
6.43
6.21
oe24 TV 5.21 5.6
Heute 5.01 5.71
PAY GMX 4.98 5.76
9%
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
33%
Rank Brand For News For All
32%
3 YouTube 23% (+4) 63%
18%
4 Instagram 8% (+4) 28%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 6% (-) 32%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 4% (-) 11%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
BELGIUM STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
11m
94.4%
www.digimeter.be
28
72 / 73
WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FLEMISH) ONLINE (FLEMISH)
AND ONLINE 76
16 53
11
VRT News (public broadcaster) Het Laatste News online
VTM 11
43 Het Nieuwsblad online 10
35
TOP BRANDS Het Laatste Nieuws 12
36 VRT News online 9
27
% Weekly usage Het Nieuwsblad 9
26 VTM News online 10
24
Qmusic 7
15 De Standaard online 5
14
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Nostalgie 5
11 Gazet van Antwerpen online 4
12
TF1 15
34 DH online 10
24
11%
Bel-RTL 7
23 Le Soir online 10
23
Le Soir 10
20 7sur7 5
21
Metro 11
18 MSN News 7
15
pay for 9
15 5
11
Other regional or local newspapers RTBF News Regional news sites
ONLINE NEWS L’Avenir 6
15
La Une 52%
La Deux 16% La Libre 5
11
Flanders 11% La Dernière Heure 8
15 La Trois 5%
Metro 5
9
--------------
Wallonia 11% Radio Contact 5
15 Vivacité 20% L’Echo 3
8
La Premiere 18%
Le Vif/L’Express/Trends 5
9 Classic21 12% Yahoo! News 5
8
Musiq3 2%
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
79%
74%
79%
74%
SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
71%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
79% 75% TV
74%
59%
74% 2016–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2016–19
59% 71% Print
50% 59% Social
Print media
50% 59% 40% Social media
50% 100% 40%
36% Social media 100%
50% 40%
36%
Social media Social media Tablet
40%
16%
20% 82% 36%
36%
20% 79% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 75%
20% 71% 70%
0% Printed newspapers
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 59% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 58%
50%2016 2017 46% 50%TV
listen to
2013 2014 2015 2018 2019
40%
45% 39% 39%
PODCASTS in
20% 20%
the last month
0% 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
News brands have traditionally enjoyed high levels DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST
of trust in Belgium, especially in Flanders.
Remarkably, this year we see a drop in the score. News overall News I use News in search News in social
BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
(FLEMISH) (FRENCH)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT Rank Brand For News For All
HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND
* Some brands do not have trust scores for users of those brands (did not meet minimum 50 threshold or did not specifically
ask about the use of the brand)
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
BULGARIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
7m
66%
29
www.24chasa.bg/novini/article/4052053
30
www.novinite.com/articles/195306/Bulgarian+Businessman+Kiril+Domuschiev+Buys+Nova+Broadcasting+Group
31
www.dnevnik.bg/bulgaria/2019/04/12/3418591_prokuratura_ne_nameri_dokazatelstva_sreshtu_ministur/
74 / 75
BTV News 10
71 NovaTV News online 9
47
TOP BRANDS BNT News (Bulgarian National Television) 13
52 BTV News online 9
44
% Weekly usage 24 Chasa 21
32 novini.bg 16
37
Bulgaria On Air 11
25 24 Chasa online 17
31
Weekly use
TV Evropa News 9
23 dir.bg 12
29
TV, radio & print
Telegraf 11
18 BNT (Bulgarian National Television) 7
26
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print BNR News (Bulgarian National Radio) 6
18 Blitz.bg 10
22
Capital 7
10 Capital (Capital.bg) 8
13
Sega 4
7 Regional/local newspaper website 9
13
foreign foundations. This in News overall Bulgarian National Television 7.35 7.81
News I use
40% (+2)
turn has reduced independence
43%
Bulgarian National Radio 7.33 8.18
and trust, with the media Nova TV News 7.15 7.49
34% 31%
Sega 5.71 6.97
less popular in terms of reach
Offnews.bg 5.59 6.49
than commercial rivals, Blitz.bg 5.18 5.8
but remains the most trusted Pik.bg 4.6 5.19
for news in our survey.
PAY -
7%
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
52%
Rank Brand For News For All
56%
3 Facebook Messenger 20% (+2) 60%
41%
4 Viber 16% (+2) 60%
listen to
5 Instagram 10% (+5) 26%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 6% (-) 13%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
CROATIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
4.2m
91%
The negative trend in regard to media government cut the support to third 50–60% of the audience market, includes
independence started in 2016 soon sector media awarded by the previous the tabloid daily 24 sata and Večernji
after the election of the HDZ governing social-democratic government. This list. Hanza media, which owns popular
coalition. Particularly troublesome is is also interpreted as a move against daily Jutarnji list and the regional daily
the editorial policy of the HTV (Croatian media pluralism, as non-profit media are Slobodna Dalmacija has some 30–40%
television, the public service broadcaster) predominantly progressive. A government share of daily newspapers and 40–50%
with its pro-government and new Christian media strategy has been promised for in the magazines market.34 According to
conservative bias (pro-government bias some time but its unveiling has been the Croatian association of advertising
was generally not present from 2000 to constantly postponed. Strong action agencies, total advertising revenues
2016). Public outrage was caused when was announced against misinformation (€196.4m) decreased slightly in 2017, the
legal action was brought by the public and hate speech on the internet, but latest year for which we have data, though
broadcaster against its own journalists who no proposals were presented amidst internet advertising increased by 14.5%.35
were publicly critical of its non-pluralistic anxieties that censorship might be
editorial policies. introduced unwittingly. Public broadcaster HRT is funded by
advertising and a licence fee. It faces
In March a few thousand journalists and While there have been no significant stiff competition from private networks,
citizens marched in Zagreb in support changes in the ownership of national-level including leading national station Nova
of media freedom and journalistic media, it was recently revealed that Viktor TV. HTV has kept its third place as source
independence after the Croatian Journalist Orbán’s favourite media baron, a member of offline news, but TV reach is down 3%
Association (HND) highlighted 1,160 law- of the government-promoted Central from last year, while its radio branch HR
suits that had been taken out by politicians European Press and Media Foundation slipped by 2%. HTV’s two commercial
and public figures against journalists in the KESMA which now controls much of the rivals retained their positions – Nova TV
course of their work. The Association has media in Hungary, is interested in buying is at 59%, the top source of news offline
demanded that the government work to a local television in Zagreb (Z1). Media and online in Croatia, and the television
stop this practice, seen by the journalists as companies from KESMA acquired parts branch of the Croatian RTL is in second
harassment, and guarantee the autonomy of the Slovenian and Macedonian media place, one point down from 2018 (58%).
of editorial and journalistic work from in 2016 and 2017, and supported far-right N1, the 24-hour news channel, has also
media owners.32 The Croatian Journalist candidates and parties in the election maintained its share and rank.
Association was awarded the Miko Tripalo campaigns. Any similar move in Croatia
Democracy Prize for their contribution to would be viewed with great concern in The growth of podcasts is a new
democracy in Croatia in 2018 by the Centre the light of upcoming presidential and development with around a third (37%)
for Democracy and Law Miko Tripalo, a parliamentary elections for 2019 and accessing at least once a month – with
progressive think-tank. 2020, respectively.33 more than one in ten using podcasts
relating to news and information.
Government is also criticised for not Print circulation continued to fall by
distributing the funding for the non- 10% in 2017 across the board, with the Zrinjka Peruško
profit media sector earmarked several two main press companies maintaining Centre for Media and Communication
years ago by the EU Social fund. The 2016 their relative shares. Styria, with some Research, University of Zagreb
32
Osam zahtjeva protiv cenzure, 1 Mar. 2019. www.hnd.hr/osam-zahtjeva-protiv-cenzure1
33
Berislav Jelinić, Orbanova medijska hobotnica preuzima Z1, 19 Feb. 2019. No. 1087, pp. 8–12, www.nacional.hr/orbanova-medijska-hobotnica-preuzima-z1/
34
Agencija za zaštitu tržišnog natjecanja, www.aztn.hr/24-sata-prvi-na-trzistu-prodaje-jutarnji-list-na-trzistu-oglasavanja-u-dnevnim-novinama-a-7dnevno-i-
medimurjenajprodavaniji-o
35
hura.hr/istrazivanja/medijska-potrosnja-u-hr
76 / 77
RTL News 15
58 Index.hr 20
56
TOP BRANDS HTV & HR News (public broadcaster) 16
57 Jutarnji online 16
46
% Weekly usage 24sata 18
37 Net.hr 19
43
Jutarnji list 15
29 Dnevnik.hr 20
36
Weekly use
Otvoreni radio 8
21 Tportal.hr 18
35
TV, radio & print
Večernji list 10
19 Večernji online 14
34
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Narodni radio 7
16 HRT news online (public broadcaster) 13
20
Al-Jazeera 5
8 Local radio news online 6
10
Novi list 4
7 N1 online 3 6
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
Internet penetration100%
in 79%
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
Croatia is now over 90% 74%and
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
this growing connectedness
50%
50% 59% is
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media
50% 40%
36% 100%
Social media
also reflected in smartphone
50% 91% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
89% Tablet
20% 36%
use – 76% use the device20% for 79% 78% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20%
72% 76%
20%
68%
news weekly. Croatians0%
0% also2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 66%
Printed newspapers Comput
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 56%2019
2018 55%
love their social networks
0% 2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
2018 2019
2018 2019 50% TV
43% 39%
with Facebook, YouTube,
WhatsApp, and Viber most
17% 17%
regularly used for news.
0% 0%
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Trust in the media remains
stable with the ranking of
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
media brands similar to last ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
year. The most trusted news
sources are two commercial News overall NovaTV 6.86 7.29
News I use
31% 30%
6.18
portals – Dnevno.hr on the index.hr 5.6 6.27
PAY
6%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
40%
Rank Brand For News For All
37%
3 WhatsApp 14% (+3) 56%
25%
4 Viber 13% (+1) 59%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 12% (+1) 53%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 10% (+4) 34%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
36
www.spir.cz/28-6-miliard-korun-investovali-zadavatele-do-internetove-reklamy-v-roce-2018-vice-nez-polovina
37
www.mediaguru.cz/clanky/2019/02/prodej-deniku-loni-ovlivnil-i-problem-s-predplatnym
38
www.reuters.com/article/czech-media/czech-pms-former-firm-buys-bauer-media-groups-local-publisher-idUSL8N1WP4AX
39
www.tol.org/client/article/27653-the-battle-for-czech-public-media.html
78 / 79
TV Nova News 12
50 iDnes.cz 12
37
TOP BRANDS Prima News 13
43 Novinky.cz 8
30
% Weekly usage Mlada Fronta DNES 9
19 Aktualne.cz 13
29
Blesk 7
16 TN.cz 8
22
Weekly use
Regional or local newspaper 10
16 CT (Česká Televize) News online 10
22
TV, radio & print
Czech Radio News 5
15 iPrima.cz 8
19
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print TV Barrandov News 6
15 Blesk.cz 6
16
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
79% Online (incl. social media)
Smartphones have 100%
continued
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
to rise as the second most74%
59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2015–19
59% 71% Print
popular device for accessing
50%
50%
59%
59% 40%
Social media
Print
Social media
50% 100% 40%
36% Social media 100%
91%
news, while the use of tablets
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
85%
Social media Tablet
20% 85% 36% 83%
has further stagnated. 20%20% 77% Online (incl. social media) Smartph
20% 70%
However, the consumption
0%
0% of
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed newspapers Comput
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
news on social media0%has 2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
41%
2018
2018
2019
2019 49% 50%TV 51%
0% 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
TRUST
The tendency towards DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
declining trust in news, THIS BRAND
recorded in previous years, has News overall Czech Radio (public broadcaster) 6.58 7.4
News I use
33% (+2)
been stopped and slightly
39%
Czech Television (public broadcaster) 6.51 7.02
reversed, even if the overall iDnes.cz 6.31 6.8
33% 20%
6.22
are trusted least.
Denik N 5.5 6.08
Parlamentnilisty.cz 5.28 6.57
Blesk 3.55 4.88
PAY
7%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
37%
Rank Brand For News For All
37%
3 Facebook Messenger 17% (+1) 51%
22%
4 WhatsApp 10% (+3) 32%
listen to
5 Instagram 8% (+4) 23%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 4% (-1) 9%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
DENMARK STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
5.8m
97%
40
Mediawatch, 27 Sept. 2018.
41
Mediawatch, 13 Aug. 2018.
80 / 81
Local/regional newspaper 4
11 Politiken online 5
13
Weekly use
BT Metro 4
10 Jyllandsposten online 4
11
TV, radio & print
Commercial radio news 5
10 Local/regional newspaper website 4
10
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Ekstrabladet 4
9 Local weekly website 6
10
Weekly use BT 5
9 Berlingske online 4
9
online brands Radio 24syv 4
8 Avisen online 5
8
More than 3 days per week Politiken 3 6 Altinget online 3
7
online brands
Jyllandsposten 3 6 Radio24syv News online 3 6
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
In 2019 there is a continued
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
move away from accessing74%59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
news on computers50% and
50%
50%
tablets
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
towards smartphones. More
50%
85%
40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36%
than two-thirds of the Danes
20% 81% 80% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20%
20% 69%
now use their smartphones
0%
0% to
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 65% Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 57%
access news. 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 49%
2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019
45%
50%TV 50%
43%
31% 31%
25%
22%
0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
News trust levels are slightly DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
up on last year, in contrast to THIS BRAND
57% (+1)
countries. Public
63%
TV2 News 7.42 7.7
broadcasters DR and TV2 still Børsen 7.31 8.12
carry the most trust with 3rd/38 Berlingske 7.01 7.88
popular tabloid Ekstra Bladet Politiken 6.99 7.91
and extreme-right Den Korte Jyllands Posten 6.97 7.69
Avis trusted least by the Information 6.88 7.87
Danish public. News in search News in social Radio 24syv news 6.47 7.21
26% 15%
Søndagsavisen 6.24 6.09
Avisen.dk 5.87 6.74
BT Metro 5.51 5.7
BT 5.44 6.33
Dagens.dk 5.34 6.41
15%
7.24
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
19%
Rank Brand For News For All
24%
3 Facebook Messenger 8% (+1) 52%
12%
4 Instagram 6% (+2) 36%
listen to
5 Twitter 5% (-) 11%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 LinkedIn 5% (+1) 19%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
FINLAND STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
5.5m
94%
vipepister.puheenvuoro.uusisuomi.fi/218550-vihreat-tyytyvaisia-mediaan-perussuomalaiset-pettyneita
43
82 / 83
MTV3 News 17
55 Iltalehti online 10
54
TOP BRANDS Free city paper 21
31 Yle News online (incl Areena News) 13
35
% Weekly usage Regional newspaper 7
23 Helsingin Sanomat online 8
27
Local newspaper 10
19 MTV news online (incl. Katsomo news) 11
23
Weekly use
Ilta-Sanomat 8
18 Regional newspapers online 6
15
TV, radio & print
Helsingin Sanomat 6
17 Local newspapers online 6
13
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Iltalehti 6
16 Taloussanomat online 8
13
MSN News 4
8 ALSO
HS TV news on Channel 4 4 5
MV-Lehti 4%
BBC News 3 5 Foreign newspapers online 2 5
Nykysuomi 2%
Talouselämä 2 4 Foreign TV news online 3 5
Oikea Media 2%
CNN 3 News on commercial radio online 3 5 Kansalainen 2%
CHANGING MEDIA
The weekly reach of100%all sources
100% Online (incl. social media)
of news is either declining
100%
100% or
79%
Online (incl. social media)
Online (incl. social media)
79%
74% SOURCES OF NEWS
75% TV
Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS
flat, which may be because 79%
74%
79%
75%
71%
75%
TV
TV
74%
59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2014–19
other media are increasingly
50%
59%
59%
71% Print
Social media
Print
50% 59% 40% Social media
competing for people’s50% time.
50% 100% 40%
36%
40%
Social media
Social media
100%
Social media Tablet
90% 36%
40%
Meanwhile the smartphone 20%is 36% 85%
Online80%
36%
20%
20% 75% (incl. social media) Smartp
rapidly increasing its0% 20% 66% 62%
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed newspapers Compu
importance. 62% of Finns
0%
0% now
2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015 2016
2017 2018
53%2018
2017
2019
2019
62%
2013 2014 50%2016
2015 2017 2018 2019 50%TV
use the smartphone for news 40% 39% 41%
39%
weekly, with 43% of Finns 24%
23%
saying it is their main device,
compared with 39% in 2018. 0% 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Even in Finland, trust in news DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
is slowly declining. This may be THIS BRAND
59% (-3)
tendencies in this traditionally
70%
Helsingin Sanomat 7.27 7.7
consensual and trustful Kauppalehti 7.25 7.82
society, or because the debate 1st/38 Local newspapers 7.21 7.61
28% 18%
Talouselämä 7.15 7.65
retains its position as the most
Maaseudun Tulevaisuus 6.86 7.96
trusted media in Finland. News on commercial 6.53 7.24
radio channels
Uusisuomi 6.46 6.99
Free city newspapers 6.26 6.92
16%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
27%
Rank Brand For News For All
26%
3 WhatsApp 10% (-) 61%
15%
4 Twitter 8% (+1) 16%
listen to
5 Instagram 6% (+2) 37%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 6% (+1) 39%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
FRANCE STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
65m
93%
www.rferl.org/a/france-warns-rt-claims-broadcast-syrian-chemical-weapons-attack-douma/29326822.html
44
www.digiday.com/media/le-monde-site-tweaks-helped-increase-subscriptions-20-percent-2018
45
84 / 85
BFM TV 14
43 Regional or local newspaper website 6
14
TOP BRANDS France Télévisions (public broadcaster) 11
37 Le Monde online 6
13
% Weekly usage M6 News 10
27 France Info (public broadcaster) 5
12
Le Figaro 5
7 Le Point online 4 6 ALSO
4
7 5 6
RT France online 3%
Ouest France Linternaute.com
Sputnik 3%
France 24 4 6 Brut 3 6
Le Media 2%
La Voix du Nord 3 5 Aufeminin.com 4 6
Agence LCD News 1%
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
TV news reach continues to
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
decline even if people still74%
turn
59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
to this medium during50%
50%
50%
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
moments of national crisis. The
50%
84%
40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36%
Yellow Vests protests have20% also
20%
71% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 69%
68%
boosted use of social0%media for
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed newspapers 59% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
news (42%) while French
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 46%
2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 50%TV 50% 52%
42%
people are more likely to access
news from a smartphone than 18% 18%
24%
19%
11%
a computer for the first time.
0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Trust in news in France is now
the lowest (24%) in Europe
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
– hit by coverage of the ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
Yellow Vest protests. Trust
Le Monde 6.36
in the 24-hour channel BFM News overall 7.31
News I use
24% (-11)
Le Figaro 5.96 6.82
has fallen from 5.9 to 4.9
(on a ten-point scale) over
the past year and is now the 37th/38
34% Mediapart
L'Express
5.94
5.87
7.44
6.78
Le Point 5.87 6.8
least trusted brand in our list. L'Obs 5.87 6.81
Social media are also blamed France Télévisions News 5.85 6.39
(14% trust score) for Le Parisien 5.85 6.78
spreading conspiracy News in search News in social 20 minutes 5.77 6.68
theories, bias, and
algorithmic filtering. 21% 14% Libération
M6 News
5.75
5.75
6.63
6.38
TF1 News 5.64 6.33
Le HuffPost 5.57 6.61
PAY
Brut 5.24 7.13
BFM TV 4.94 5.77
9%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
30%
Rank Brand For News For All
25%
3 Facebook Messenger 13% (+3) 38%
22%
4 Twitter 9% (-) 17%
listen to
5 Instagram 8% (+3) 24%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 8% (+2) 24%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
GERMANY STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
82m
96%
www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/netzdg-koalitionspolitiker-sehen-gesetz-gegen-hass-als-erfolg-opposition-bekraeftigt-kritik/23815526.html
46
86 / 87
WDR News 4
9 ZEIT online 5
8 ALSO
6
8 4
7
Junge Freiheit 3%
Focus ZDF News (Heute.de etc)
Compact online 3%
ProSieben Newstime 5
8 Stern.de 4
7
PI News 2%
Stern 5
7 HuffPost 3 6
Epoch Times 2%
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
most79%
Television is still the100% 79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
widely used source of news 74%in
59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
Germany but its reach 50%
50%
50%
has59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
been steadily declining in
50%
82%
40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36%
recent years. The internet20% has
20% 72% Online (incl. social media)
71%
Smartp
20% 66% 68%
gained in popularity,0% including
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 63%
2017 2018 2019 Printed newspapers 56% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
the use of social media 0%
and 2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
2018
2018
2019
2019 50%TV
55%
TRUST
A fraud scandal shattered the DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
German press in the end of THIS BRAND
47% (-3)
ZDF heute 6.8 7.57
manipulated reports in
various media outlets. This
12th/38
60% Regional/local newspaper
n-tv
6.72
6.55
7.34
7.08
year’s brand figures show Süddeutsche Zeitung 6.45 6.97
newspaper/website Bild.
27% 16% Spiegel online
Stern
5.99
5.84
6.62
6.68
Sat.1 Nachrichten 5.68 6.85
RTL aktuell 5.53 6.87
8%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
22%
Rank Brand For News For All
21%
3 WhatsApp 16% (+2) 66%
14%
4 Instagram 6% (+3) 23%
listen to
5 Twitter 5% (-) 12%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 4% (-) 24%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
GREECE STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration 70%
11m
47
Data from Argos (www.argoscom.gr) and the Athens Daily Newspaper Publishers Association (eihea.gr). It should be noted that a handful of large newspapers have asked to be
excluded from the industry circulation data published from the Argos press distribution agency.
88 / 89
ANT1 News 19
45 Dikaiologitika.gr 13
30
TOP BRANDS Alpha News 17
44 SKAI online 14
25
% Weekly usage Star News 18
35 News247.gr 13
25
BBC News 5
10 Iefimerida.gr 9
16
CNN 4
9 Enikos.gr 10
16
Ethnos 6
8 Yahoo! News 5
14
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Smartphones are now used
79%
74%
79%
to SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
access news as often as 74%
59%
74% 2016–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2016–19
59% 71% Print
computers for the first
50% time.
50% 59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
100%
50% 96% 40%
36% Social media
Social media Tablet
Almost all Greeks online get
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media 92%
20% 36%
news via online sources 20%
20% 74%
68%
Online (incl.
72% social media) Smartp
20%
66% 65%
(92%), with social media
0%
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 67% Printed newspapers
65%
Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
(67%) considerably 0%more 2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
2018
2018
2019
2019 50%TV 47%
popular for news than in 31%
28% 26%
many other countries. TV 24%
TRUST
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
Only a third trust the news ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
they use themselves, while
News overall Kathimerini 6.13
Greece ranks 36th across 7.25
News I use
27% (+1)
Real News 6.03 6.87
38 countries in overall
trust in news. Decades of
corruption, political and 36th/38
33% Alpha News
Ant1 News
5.99
5.93
6.75
6.69
To Vima 5.84 7.15
business undue influences,
in.gr 5.83 6.63
and their targeting by news247.gr 5.75 6.66
left- and right-wing populist newsit.gr 5.62 6.85
parties have resulted in News in search News in social Efimerida ton Sintakton 5.59 6.98
the media being widely
distrusted by Greeks. 35% 22% Star News
Proto Thema
5.59
5.52
6.44
6.71
SKAI News 5.48 6.62
Newsbomb.gr 5.47 6.32
7%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
46%
Rank Brand For News For All
36%
3 Facebook Messenger 25% (+3) 63%
31%
4 Viber 17% (+3) 54%
listen to
5 Instagram 15% (+5) 42%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 12% (-1) 24%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
HUNGARY STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
9.7m
89%
48
transparency.hu/en/news/hungary-bringing-up-the-rear-of-the-region-in-transparency-internationals-most-recent-world-corruption-ranking
49
forbes.hu/a-magazin/magyarorszag-50-leggazdagabb-embere-mar-nem-csanyi-az-elso
50
Later in 2019, the pro-government daily, Magyar Idok took on the ‘Magyar Nemzet’ name and brand.
51
english.atlatszo.hu/2018/11/30/data-visualization-this-is-how-the-pro-government-media-empire-owning-476-outlets-was-formed
52
mertek.atlatszo.hu/a-sajtoszabadsag-lapzartaja
53
mertek.atlatszo.hu/state-advertising-2006-2017
90 / 91
TV2 15
38 24.hu 19
36
TOP BRANDS ATV 11
28 origo.hu 18
33
% Weekly usage HírTV 13
23 rtl.hu 11
26
Blikk 16
22 hvg.hu 15
26
Weekly use
MTV (public television) 9
21 444.hu 13
24
TV, radio & print
Duna TV 11
20 tv2.hu 9
22
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print HVG 10
15 blikk.hu 13
21
ECHO TV 5
9 napi.hu 8
11
168 óra 6
8 hirado.hu (public broadcaster) 6
11
Nemzeti Sport 4
7 portfolio.hu 4
7
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Though online channels are
79%
74%
79%
the SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
most significant news source,
74%
59%
74% 2016–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2016–19
59% 71% Print
television still scores very
50%
50%
50%
high
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
considering the composition
50% 88% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
85%
20% 36%
of our sample (online news 20%
20% 72%
Online (incl.
74% social media) Smartp
20% 68%
consumers). Social media
0%
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 201764%
2018 2019 63% Printed newspapers 63% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 59%
as news source, especially
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017 2018 2019
2013 2014 2015 50%TV
43%
Facebook, are high in
27%
international comparison.
16% 12% 10%
0% 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
Trust in the news remains
extremely low in general
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
(28%), though is much higher ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
for sources that people use
themselves (54%). This News overall RTL Klub 6.41 7.59
News I use
41% 28%
Origo.hu 5.19 6.31
who are aware of a brand and Magyar Idők 4.87 6.42
users of that brand. MTV (public broadcaster) 4.75 6.26
TV2 4.74 6.4
PAY
7%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
37%
Rank Brand For News For All
32%
3 Facebook Messenger 16% (+5) 64%
23%
4 Instagram 7% (+3) 26%
listen to
5 Twitter 4% (-1) 11%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Viber 4% (+1) 29%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
IRELAND STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
4.8m
93%
54
www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/revenues-at-virgin-media-ireland-rose-7-in-2018-1.3809619
55
www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/daily-mail-to-cut-more-than-20-of-its-irish-staff-1.3811222
56
www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/independent-news-media-eyes-digital-subscriptions-as-profits-fall-15-4-1.3842795
92 / 93
Irish Examiner 5
10 BuzzFeed News 5
8
Sunday World 6
8 The Times (Ireland) online 4
7
The prevalence of digital news
use has not fluctuated much
100%
over five years, holding
100% at an
100%
Online (incl. social media)
Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
average of 84%. However,79% the
74%
79%
74%
SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
71%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
79% 75% TV
use of TV news has continued74%
59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2015–19
59% 71% Print
50% 59% Social media
to decline by almost50%10 59%
50%
100%
40%
40%
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
50% 36%
40% Social media Social media Tablet
percentage points over four 20% 83%
36%
40%
36% 84%
36%
Online (incl. social media) Smartp
years to 67%. In line with 20%
20%
20%
76% 74%
67% 68%
international trends,0%
0%
0%
the use2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015 2016
2017 2018
2017 2018
2019
2019
Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 201750%
2018 2019 52%
of smartphones continued to 2013 2014 50%2016
2015 2017 2018
49%
2019 50% 50%TV 48%
increase over the past five 37%
25%
years, rising to 68% from 52%, 22%
TRUST
Trust levels are relatively high DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
by international standards THIS BRAND
with the highest trust among News overall RTÉ News 7.28 7.7
News I use
48% (-6)
RTÉ consumers. However,
55%
BBC News 7.16 7.58
continued discussion about Irish Times 7.16 7.64
the quality of news media and =9th/38 Irish Independent 7 7.46
31% 17%
Today FM 6.77 7.37
to an overall decline of trust
Breakingnews.ie 6.32 7.1
in news to just 48%.
Journal.ie 6.27 6.94
Irish Daily Mail 5.57 6.41
her.ie/joe.ie 5.48 6.49
12%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
36%
Rank Brand For News For All
37%
3 WhatsApp 15% (+2) 58%
21%
4 Twitter 12% (+1) 23%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 9% (-) 44%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 7% (+2) 31%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
ITALY STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
59m
92%
57
www.repubblica.it/politica/2018/06/14/news/matteo_salvini_e_il_politico_europeo_piu_popolare_su_facebook-199008668
58
cpj.org/blog/COE_JournalistsReport_2019.pdf
59
agensir.it/quotidiano/2019/4/1/osservatorio-tg-eurispes-numerosi-i-cambi-di-direzione-nellinformazione-televisiva/
60
www.agcom.it/osservatorio-sulle-comunicazioni
94 / 95
RAI News24 13
25 Fanpage 10
16
Weekly use
Tg La7 10
22 Il Corriere della Sera online 8
16
TV, radio & print
Regional or local newspaper 14
20 Il Fatto Quotidiano online 7
14
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Il Corriere della Sera 10
16 Notizie Libero online 8
14
Il Fatto Quotidiano 5
10 Local newspaper online 5
9
La Stampa 6
9 TgLa7 online 5
9
Dimartedi 7
9 La Stampa online 5
9
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Newspaper readership 79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
continues to fall steadily while
74%
59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
television news viewership
50%
50%
50%
59%
59%has 100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
been more stable than in many
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 80% 36% 78%
other countries. With over20%half
20%
74% 76% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20%
of our sample (58%)0% using it2013
0%
for 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 59%2017 2018 2019 58% 58%
news each week, smartphone
0%
2013 is2014 2015
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017 2018 2019 47% 50%TV
46%
now the main device used to get
27% 25% 25%
online news. 18%
14%
0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
TRUST
Trust in news is particularly DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
low. This long-standing THIS BRAND
40% (-2)
partisan nature of Italian SkyTG24 6.97 7.5
6.67
7.92
6.94
Tg La7 6.58 7.33
and business interests on
Il Corriere della Sera 6.51 7.39
news organisations. Brands
La Stampa 6.27 7.22
that are most trusted are
La Repubblica 6.26 7.19
generally those that are News in search News in social Il Fatto Quotidiano 6.12 6.98
35% 23%
known for lower levels of Mediaset News 6.01 6.55
political partisanship. Porta a Porta 5.8 7.31
HuffPost 5.73 6.79
Il Giornale 5.66 7.02
Libero Quotidiano 5.49 6.35
PAY Fanpage 5.33 6.26
9%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
41%
Rank Brand For News For All
30%
3 YouTube 25% (-) 69%
27%
4 Instagram 13% (+6) 41%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 8% (-) 40%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 8% (-2) 19%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
NETHERLANDS STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
17m
96%
61
www.denieuwereporter.nl/2018/11/micro-targeting-bots-en-algoritmes-ondermijnen-democratieen-wereldwijd
62
www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2019/hoe-youtube-rechtse-radicalisering-in-de-hand-werkt and www.decorrespondent.nl/9149/aanbevolen-voor-jou-op-youtube-racisme-
vrouwenhaat-en-antisemitisme/445528853-0f710148
63
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/02/26/factchecken-facebook-loopt-stuk-op-aansprakelijkheid-a3655348
64
www.quotenet.nl/Nieuws/Blendle-eindigt-dieper-in-de-rode-cijfers-in-2017-maar-is-positief-over-de-toekomst-219024
96 / 97
Local/regional newspaper 8
19 RTL News online 7
17
Weekly use
Other NPO TV news programmes 8
18 Other regional or local newspaper website 5
12
TV, radio & print
De Telegraaf 7
18 Regional/Local TV news online 5
11
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 6
16 SBS News online 4
8
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
news79%
Traditional forms of100% such
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
as TV and print have become 74%
59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2015–19
59% 71% Print
less important in the last
50%
50%
50%
five
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
years while online news has
50%
80%
40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36%
remained broadly flat. The 20% 78% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 76%
20% 70%
smartphone is now the 0% most
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed64%
newspapers 58% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
popular device for digital
0%
news,
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017
2013 2014 2015 43%2018 2019 50%TV 50%
42% 39% 42%
switching places with the 33%
computer. The tablet is slightly 25% 23%
TRUST
While trust is still relatively DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
high in the Netherlands THIS BRAND
(4th place), overall trust in News overall NOS News 7.42 7.75
News I use
53% (-6)
news is slightly in decline. RTL News 6.89 7.45
6.68
7.23
7.26
De Volkskrant 6.65
disinformation and fake 7.52
NRC Handelsblad 6.61 7.33
news on social media, rather
Het Financieele Dagblad 6.6 7.26
than by declining quality of
Trouw 6.55 7.26
mainstream news. News in search News in social BNR News radio 6.37 7.38
6.09
7.35
6.63
De Telegraaf 6.02 6.88
De Correspondent* 5.91 -
Linda news 5.36 6.37
PAY GeenStijl 4.74 6.08
11%
-
* No figure for users of De Correspondent
(did not meet 50 minimum threshold)
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
22%
Rank Brand For News For All
21%
3 YouTube 14% (-) 52%
15%
4 Twitter 7% (-) 16%
listen to
5 Instagram 6% (+1) 27%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 4% (+1) 29%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
NORWAY STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
5.4m
99%
Norway remains the country with the service broadcaster NRK from licence fee to Politics and social media have become
highest number of consumers (34%) willing tax, and to redistribute some existing press increasingly interlinked in Norway. As
to pay for online news, up 4 percentage subsidies to local news and innovation. in many other countries, the #MeToo
points since last year, with growth movement has sparked heated debates.
skewed towards those with high income. Almost a third of Norwegians (31%) have The prime case has been the fall of Labour
Norwegians have had a strong tradition for used podcasts during the last month, party Deputy Leader Trond Giske, following
reading print newspapers and the transition and several of the major newspapers a number of sexual harassment allegations
to digital subscriptions has been facilitated have launched a range of podcasts, against him – with accompanying
through hybrid solutions that typically especially focused on news commentary. condemnation on social media. When
bundle paper and digital content. This, and Public service radio broadcaster NRK Giske attempted a political comeback
the absence of freesheets, explains why has responded by adding podcasts to its in early 2019, the tabloid VG reported
Norway remains on top when it comes to already rich menu of programming, for a further incident in an Oslo bar, but
paying for online news. example by relaunching older shows or was forced to apologise when it turned
developing niche podcasts for popular out that the woman involved had been
These trends are reflected in the balance hosts. Podcasts especially reach younger misquoted.65 All this triggered widespread
sheets of traditional publishers. The age-groups, where over half (52%) of discussion, and a major documentary on
foundation-owned local newspaper those under 35 years have used podcasts, public television about sexual harassment,
company Amedia, for instance, reported compared to only 22% of those over the ethics of reporting such cases, and the
a €40m (EBITDA: 13.1%) operating the age of 35. The growth of podcasts treatment of sources.
profit in 2018, with a solid increase in has sparked a debate on regulation in
local digital advertising revenue partly comparison with other news media. Like many other countries, Norway has
replacing falls in print. Schibsted, which Comedians’ podcasts that cover politics, seen the rise of ‘partisan’ news sites in the
owns the largest quality newspaper for example, are accused of repeatedly last few years. Resett.no, document.no, and
Aftenposten as well as the popular breaching ethical guidelines widely rights.no, are among the most used, all with
tabloid VG, and numerous regional observed in Norwegian journalism. a tough stance on issues of immigration
newspapers and publishers abroad, and Islam, and all causing public debates
reported record operating profits Meanwhile the toxic nature of online that extend beyond their relatively small
(EBITDA: 19%). In 2019, Schibsted will comments has led a number of major audiences, thus influencing the wider news
divide its businesses into two parts; a news brands to pull back from offering agenda. These sites are, however, much
consumer media division focused on the these services. Digital-born tabloid less trusted than mainstream media, with
Nordics region and an internationally Nettavisen followed suit in early 2019, the public broadcaster NRK still topping
focused online classifieds business. The despite earlier having launched an the list in our survey. There is an ongoing
split may give Schibsted more cash to elaborate system to counter anonymous debate about partisan media and whether
invest in strategic acquisitions. trolling and hate speech. Meanwhile, they should be part of Norway’s self-
relations between Norwegian news regulatory regime. In 2018, the Association
In March 2019, a much-anticipated white providers and the global platforms of Norwegian Editors granted membership
paper on media policy was published by remained strained. Non-profit fact- to the editor of Document.no, but denied an
the Conservative-led coalition government. checker Faktisk.no, entered into a application from the editor of Resett, based
The white paper restated the need for an collaboration with Facebook, but this on repeated violations of ethical guidelines.
arm’s length distance between government led to questions and a debate about its
and the media – an important principle, not editorial independence, given that it now Hallvard Moe and Hilde Sakariassen
to be taken for granted. It also proposed takes money directly from the platform. University of Bergen
changing the funding model for public
www.newsinenglish.no/2019/04/26/lack-of-humility-led-to-giskes-fall
65
98 / 99
TV2 News 14
49 NRK News online 24
33
TOP BRANDS VG (tabloid newspaper) 10
24 Dagbladet online 24
33
% Weekly usage Local or regional paper 10
22 TV2 News online 20
28
P4 News (radio) 7
16 Nettavisen 15
25
Weekly use
Local radio news 6
15 Aftenposten online 16
24
TV, radio & print
Aftenposten 6
14 Local/regional newspaper websites 15
21
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Dagbladet 7
12 ABC News online 5
11
0% 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Trust in news is fairly
low (13th of 38 countries
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
surveyed), despite little social ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
and political polarisation
in media use patterns, News overall NRK News 7.5 7.83
News I use
29% 17%
Dagsavisen 6.28 7.07
strong views on immigration Morgenbladet 6.23 7.2
expressing most mistrust. Nettavisen 6 6.69
Klassekampen 5.94 7.7
Document.no 4.7 6.98
34%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
25%
Rank Brand For News* For All
31%
3 Facebook Messenger 14% (+3) 57%
16%
4 Snapchat 10% (+1) 47%
listen to
5 Instagram 10% (+4) 41%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 6% (-) 15%
via social or website
* Note: Due to a scripting error, the news figures come from a re-poll in March 2019.
The base is slightly lower than for other questions. 1387 of the original 2000 sample
responded to the re-contact request.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
POLAND STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
38m
78%
66
Estimates from Wavemaker, the biggest media agency in Poland.
67
www.politico.eu/article/tvp-pis-poland-media-battle-gets-political
68
www.press.pl/tresc/56634,prawicowe-tytuly-z-najwiekszymi-przychodami-z-reklam-od-panstwowych-spolek
69
mappingmediafreedom.ushahidi.io/posts/22887
70
www.tvn24.pl/tvn24-news-in-english,157,m/private-polish-broadcaster-tvn-says-is-facing-intimidation-from-state,886858.html
71
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-13/poland-premier-to-probe-bank-watchdog-over-getin-bribe-report
72
www.ft.com/content/b08c0e68-2550-11e9-b329-c7e6ceb5ffdf
73
www.reuters.com/article/agora-radiozet-soros/polish-media-group-agora-buys-minority-share-in-radio-zet-idUSL5N20F62M
74
wyborcza.pl/7,156282,23983125,audio-pozostanie-nisza-ale-przychodowa-jak-zarabiac-na-podcastach.html
100 / 101
RMF FM 13
42 WP.pl 13
47
TOP BRANDS Polsat News 13
36 TVN24.pl 12
38
% Weekly usage TVP News (public broadcaster) 9
31 Interia.pl 12
32
Radio Zet 12
30 Fakt.pl 11
23
Weekly use
Gazeta Wyborcza 13
24 TVP.info 7
21
TV, radio & print
Fakt 14
24 RMF24.pl 9
20
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Eska 8
20 (Gazeta) Wyborcza.pl 10
19
0% 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
TRUST NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
The general trend is that
private independent media
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
score higher on a trust ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
scale than public service
broadcasters acting in recent News overall RMF FM 6.93 7.55
News I use
50% 42%
Wpolityce.pl 5.28 6.57
partisan media failed to Gazeta Polska Codziennie 5.15 5.82
grow audience or trust. TVP News 5.15 6.7
Radio Maryja 3.06 7.02
PAY
16%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
43%
Rank Brand For News For All
38%
3 Facebook Messenger 22% (+9) 53%
29%
4 Twitter 10% (+2) 18%
listen to
5 Instagram 9% (+4) 27%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 9% (+3) 24%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
PORTUGAL STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
10m
78%
combatefakenews.lusa.pt
75
O Observador (online media outlet) already had a fact-checking space within its website.
76
102 / 103
TVI 18
59 Notícias ao Minuto 13
29
TOP BRANDS RTP/RDP News (public broadcaster) 16
47 SIC News online 11
28
% Weekly usage Correio da Manhã 18
33 Sapo 11
26
Correio da Manhã TV 11
30 TVI News online 10
25
Weekly use
Jornal de Notícias 14
25 Jornal de Notícias online 10
22
TV, radio & print
RFM 10
23 MSN News 7
17
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Rádio Comercial 10
22 Observador 8
17
A Bola 4
10 A Bola online 3
11
Rádio Renascença 5
10 Dinheiro Vivo 7
10
Record 5
9 Jornal Económico 5
9
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Television is increasingly 79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
challenged by online and74% 59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2015–19
59% 71% Print
social media as the most
50%
50%
50%
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
important source of news.
50%
86% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 85% 36% 81%
WhatsApp now reaches 20% 20% 79% 78%social media)
Online (incl. Smartp
20%
almost half of our sample
0%
0% 61%2018 2019
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Printed newspapers 62% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 57% 57%
(47%) and is used by0% five times
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017
2013 2014 2015 47%2018 2019 50%TV
more people for news than in 36% 34%
2015. Instagram is growing fast 21% 17%
with the young.
0% 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
TRUST
This year trust overall DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
has come down to 58% THIS BRAND
58% (-4)
heightened concern about
61%
SIC News 7.31 7.62
misinformation, but still leaves Expresso 7.19 7.93
Portugal in second position 2nd/38 Jornal de Notícias 7.17 7.68
43% 27%
TVI News 6.77 7.3
trusted – but widely read in
Sapo 6.47 7.26
both print and online.
O Observador 6.38 7.53
Correio da Manhá 5.45 6.22
PAY
7%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
49%
Rank Brand For News For All
34%
3 Facebook Messenger 20% (+1) 61%
29%
4 WhatsApp 15% (+4) 47%
listen to
5 Instagram 12% (+6) 40%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 LinkedIn 6% (-1) 17%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
ROMANIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
20m
74%
Dragoș Pătraru, 3 May 2018, ‘A message on the Freedom of Speech Day: Get your Paws off the Public Television’, https://patraru.ro/2018/05/03/un-mesaj-de-ziua-libertatii-de-
77
exprimare-jos-labele-de-pe-tvr/
104 / 105
Digi 24 13
43 Digi 24 online 9
29
TOP BRANDS Antena 1 News 15
39 Ziare.com 18
29
% Weekly usage Realitatea TV 12
34 Yahoo! News 10
26
Adevarul 11
15 Cancan 9
15
Prima TV News 7
14 Antena 3 online 4
14
Libertatea 10
14 Click online 7
13
Radio ZU News 7
14 Antena 1 online 5
13
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100%
TV and online remain the79%
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
most important news sources74%
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
in Romania with declared
50%
50%
50%
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
printed newspaper 50%
88% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
87%
20% 84% 36% 80%
consumption (19%) amongst 20%
20%
Online (incl. social media)
72% 71%
Smartp
20%
65%
the lowest in our survey.
0%
0% The
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 62% Printed newspapers 64% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 56%
smartphone (71% weekly
0%
use)
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017 2018 2019
2013 2014 2015 50%TV
has overtaken computers this
year as the most important 22% 19% 17% 15%
access point for digital news.
0% 0%
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Declining trust in the news DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
puts Romania at the lower THIS BRAND
35% (-7)
survey. Increased polarisation
43%
Ziarul Financiar 7.03 7.88
and rising political attacks Digi 24 6.98 7.79
on journalists are part of the 29th/38 Mediafax 6.79 7.62
39% 27%
stiripesurse.ro 5.99 6.85
tend to rate lower in general,
Realitatea TV 5.94 7.23
though not with regular users
Libertatea 5.77 6.93
of those brands. Antena 1 News 5.69 7.22
B1 TV 5.6 7.08
România TV 5.34 6.87
Antena 3 4.82 7.24
40%
2 YouTube 32% (+1) 78%
pay for
ONLINE NEWS 3 WhatsApp 23% (+5) 64%
32%
6 LinkedIn 7% (+1) 24%
COMMENT ON NEWS
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
SLOVAKIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
5.4m
85%
spectator.sme.sk/c/22024637/new-investigative-centre-will-seek-cooperation-among-media.html
79
80
It was eventually expelled from the National Association of Public Relations for breaching its ethical codes (dennikn.sk/minuta/1360244/).
podcasty.sme.sk/c/22024994/podcasty-v-roku-2018-statistiky-a-grafy-pocuvanosti.html
81
106 / 107
TV JOJ 17
59 aktuality.sk 17
43
TOP BRANDS RTVS (Public Broadcaster) 15
50 sme.sk 15
28
% Weekly usage TA3 15
42 cas.sk 12
27
Rádio Expres 14
32 tvnoviny.sk 14
24
Weekly use
Nový Čas 16
26 aktualne.sk 14
22
TV, radio & print
SME 10
15 noviny.sk 14
20
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Plus 7 dní 11
14 pravda.sk 9
19
Rádio Jemné 5
9 dnes24.sk 5
8
Rádio Europa 2 5
9 zive.sk 5
8
Hospodárske noviny 5
7 webnoviny.sk 5
7
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
79% Online (incl. social media)
TV and online news100%
remain79%
74%
79%
the SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
most popular sources of news
74%
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
in Slovakia, with usage
50%
50%
50%
of print
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
newspapers among the lowest
50%
86%
40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36% 80%
in our survey. Smartphone use
20%
20%
79% 79% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20%
is growing but many0% people2013
0%
still2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 64%
Printed newspapers 62% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 58%
2018 2019
53% 53%
access news using a 0%
laptop or2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017 2018 2019
2013 2014 2015 50%TV
41%
desktop computer.
29%
25%
16% 14%
0% 0%
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Trust in the news overall
remains amongst the lowest in
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
our 38-country survey, though ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
trust in specific news brands
is higher. Those that featured News overall TA3 7.03 7.44
News I use
in last year’s sample show
slightly lower levels of trust, 33% (-1) 43%
RTVS
Hospodárske noviny
6.88
6.55
7.29
7.38
but the order is identical, with =30th/38 Rádio Expres 6.26 7.14
Aktuality.sk 6.21 6.8
the rolling news channel TA3
TV JOJ 6.17 6.79
regarded for the second year Pravda 6.17 7.03
running as the most trusted TV Markiza 5.99 6.61
source and popular tabloid News in search News in social
32% 19%
Sme 5.91 6.79
Nový Čas as least trusted. Fun rádio 5.75 6.68
webnoviny.sk 5.69 6.15
Denník N 5.52 6.73
Plus 7 dní 5.36 6.34
8%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
42%
Rank Brand For News For All
43%
3 Facebook Messenger 18% (+4) 51%
24%
4 Instagram 8% (+3) 23%
listen to
5 Pokec.sk 7% (+1) 15%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 5% (-) 20%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
SPAIN STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
46m
93%
www.elconfidencialdigital.com/articulo/medios/mediaset-lanzara-portal-noticias-liderado-juan-pedro-valentin/20190315135925123119.html
82
108 / 109
LaSexta News 12
40 El Mundo online 8
18
TOP BRANDS TVE News (public broadcaster) 14
39 Antena 3 online 8
18
% Weekly usage Telecinco News 10
38 ElDiario.es 11
18
Cuatro News 12
30 20 Minutos online 6
15
Weekly use
El País 14
24 El Confidencial 8
14
TV, radio & print
Regional or local TV news 8
19 Marca online 4
13
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print El Mundo 11
19 La Vanguardia online 6
13
34% 25%
Eldiario.es 5.94 7.04
pages and airtime and boosted El Periódico 5.93 6.92
audiences for two weeks. 20 Minutos 5.85 6.58
El Confidencial 5.81 6.64
ABC 5.76 7.02
10%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
52%
Rank Brand For News For All
39%
3 YouTube 26% (-) 68%
27%
4 Twitter 16% (-6) 29%
listen to
5 Instagram 12% (+4) 38%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 7% (+2) 27%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
SWEDEN STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
10m
97%
From 2008 to 2018 Swedish commercial In Sweden many news media have The shift to a reader revenue model will
news media lost more than one-third of continued to cut staffing levels require changes to analytics infrastructure
their advertising revenues, and since figures and improve efficiency. Some have and the metrics used for understanding the
are quite stable for television, the biggest implemented or expanded their use of the needs of existing and potential customers.
losers are organisations formerly known as services for automated content production In light of this, some Swedish news
newspapers. Clearly, the digital and mobile offered by companies like United Robots. publishers are trying to reduce their
advertising markets have grown over time, Others, like the largest local news dependency on platform companies by
but most of that growth has gone to global organisation in Sweden (MittMedia), have focusing more on creating value on their
platform companies such as Facebook and focused on developing and running better own websites and apps (Chua and Westlund
Google (and increasingly also Amazon). technical systems for their digital news 2019). Having said this, several news media
Advertisers have also shifted marketing publishing, analytics, and advertising sales. recently partnered with Facebook over
spend towards paying influencers to talk This has allowed them to syndicate news fact-checking ahead of and throughout the
about their brands, especially on Instagram more easily, as well as increasing revenues general election, to combat disinformation.
and YouTube. across 28 local markets.
Lastly, let us turn to partisan and
So far Swedish news media remain in Our Digital News Report survey data show alternative sites, what Holt et al. (2019)
business, albeit a great number are that 27% of Swedes have paid for online conceptualise as ‘alternative news media’.
dependent on press subsidies from the news in the last year, one of the highest levels In Sweden these are mostly found on
Swedish state, with a budget of nearly in our survey. Several news publishers offer the right wing, and have positioned
500m SEK (US$53m) in 2018. Following special promotions with reduced pricing to themselves as ‘alternatives’ for those who
a media inquiry, the government decided convert readers into registered subscribers. do not find legacy news media credible.
to increase subsidies to publications that However, churn rates are often high, with Fria Tider, Nyheter Idag, and Samhällsnytt
regularly produce original news content many people ending subscriptions after the are the three most widely used, each
comprising at least 55% of their content, promotional period ends. reaching around one-tenth of the Swedish
and have at least 1,500 news consumers, online population on a weekly basis,
predominantly in Sweden. Support for print Swedish news publishers continue to according to our recall-based survey.
has increased by 10%, with distribution accelerate their efforts to increase reader These figures are comparable to survey
support increasing by 50%. The new deal revenue, experimenting with different findings for the two largest quality
also adds more support for innovation and approaches to online subscription models. newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska
a subsidy of up to 1m SEK to local areas MittMedia made a bold move during the Dagbladet in print and a bit lower than
with limited news provision (so-called autumn, enforcing a paywall for all of their online news consumption figures.
news deserts).83 Meanwhile, public service their own news materials (not newswire
broadcasters continue to attract sufficient materials), and across their portfolio of Oscar Westlund
reach among the Swedish population (and local news publishers. Before making Oslo Metropolitan University, Volda University
the young) to maintain their legitimacy and this move, their data scientists, analysts, College, and University of Gothenburg
public acceptance for the tax payments. The and business developers carried out tests
publicly funded television company SVT has with such paywalls on a small selection
reworked their proprietary website, while of local markets. A baseline requirement
SR continues to work strategically with for reader revenue also involves making
non-proprietary social media platforms, and use of functioning systems for subscriber
has experimented with atomised audio. SR management. In 2018 Bonnier Magazines
produces a substantial number of podcasts, lost approximately 10–20% of all their
which are also accessible via commercial subscribers in the course of a few months
audio streaming service provider Spotify. due to problems with their systems.
www.nordicom.gu.se/en/latest/news/new-media-subsidy-scheme-suggested-sweden
83
110 / 111
CHANGING MEDIA Media from outside country 3 5 Metro online 3 5 Det Goda Samhället 4%
TRUST
Four out of ten Swedes DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
express a general trust in THIS BRAND
the news, similar to previous News overall Sveriges Radio (SR) News 6.61 7.36
News I use
39% (-2)
years. Trust is naturally
48%
Sveriges Television (SVT) News 6.59 7.14
higher for the news sources Local or regional newspaper 6.41 6.87
people regularly turn to. =25th/38 Svenska Dagbladet 6.26 7.05
30% 13%
Nyheter 24 (News 24) 5.13 6.8
trust in news exposed via
Nyheter Idag 5.06 6.8
social media.
Aftonbladet 5.02 5.69
Samhällsnytt 4.9 6.93
Nya Tider 4.15 4.91
27%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
27%
Rank Brand For News For All
35%
3 Facebook Messenger 10% (+1) 50%
19%
4 Instagram 9% (+2) 50%
listen to
5 Twitter 8% (-) 16%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 3% (-) 19%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
SWITZERLAND STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
8.5m
91%
Media organisations have continued Worries about diversity also affect the While it claims increasing digital news
to bear down on costs in the face of multi-lingual public service broadcaster subscriptions (e.g. day passes), the data
stiffening economic headwinds – with SRG SSR (including SRF and RTS), which from this year’s survey again show that the
centralised newsrooms becoming announced in 2018 it would centralise number of Swiss willing to pay for online
standard. A new joint venture (CH Media) more resources in its main studio in news remains very low (11%). The ‘news-
is merging all content, except regional Zurich at the expense of Bern, where its deprived’ now constitute the largest (36%)
news, for its outlets such as Luzerner prestigious radio studio would be given up. and fastest-growing group, where if people
Zeitung and Aargauer Zeitung. The Similar ideas are being tested in French- consume content at all, it tends to be from
company announced in 2018 it would speaking Switzerland. Politicians have more popular sources and mainly accessed
cut 20% of its journalists in the next launched a bid in Parliament to stop the via social media.85
few years. In a similar move, Tamedia, moves. The SRG SSR, which won a widely
Switzerland’s largest private media debated referendum in early 2018 on Media companies are experimenting
company, installed central newsrooms the abolition of the licence fee, is under with new formats. Tamedia is testing
for its German-speaking and French- political pressure again. ‘robo-journalism’ on referendum results,
speaking outlets such as Tages-Anzeiger, producing hundreds of articles based
24heures, and Basler Zeitung, a traditional At the same time, the SRG SSR and private on polls which are customised for each
newspaper it had only recently bought media organisations are taking a few steps voting district. Ringier has recently hired a
from Christoph Blocher, a well-known to increase co-operation. While SRG SSR is well-known political news anchorman to
right-wing politician. Only Tamedia’s 20 leaving the advertising platform Admeira, enhance its efforts in producing video on
Minuten and 20 minutes, Switzerland’s which had been seen as a threat by some its widely used websites, and Neue Zürcher
largest online and offline brands (offering private operators, it is joining with private Zeitung works with a newsletter tailored
tabloid-like journalism), have kept their media in a national radio player app. for audiences in neighbouring Germany.
own newsrooms. To cut costs, publishers They are also planning a ‘log-in alliance’ It increasingly offers its articles in audio,
have given up parts of print production which would allow sharing of user data as does the digital-only Republik.
in 2018; Tamedia’s Le Matin, a traditional for targeted advertising. Swiss media have
and popular tabloid, and Ringier’s Blick come to identify global tech companies Conditions for new players remain difficult.
am Abend, a widely circulated free-sheet, as the cause of their problems, even as Watson.ch (launched in 2014) has found
have become online-only outlets. they offer even more content on social an audience but is not profitable, and new
platforms, including those which had been players like crowdfunded Republik still are
These mergers and centralised newsrooms neglected (20 Minuten, for example, is niche products. Thus, success for planned
have reduced the diversity of content. planning a WhatsApp newsletter). Thus, start-ups in French-speaking Switzerland
Most international and domestic political as in the EU, Swiss publishers are seeking like Heidi News (partially supported by
news coverage, including commentary, financial compensation from Google and Google’s News Initiative) is by no means
is increasingly shared among outlets others through new copyright laws. guaranteed.
belonging to the same company. Taking
three different news outlets of Tamedia as The financial situation for publishers Linards Udris and Mark Eisenegger
an example, 68% of political commentary remains difficult, not least because more Research Institute for the Public Sphere and
is now identical.84 This shrinking diversity is companies, most notably Switzerland’s Society, Department of Communication and
a problem in a country where the diversity largest telecom provider, have stopped Media Research, University of Zurich
of opinions is institutionally needed, since advertising in newspapers completely.
several referendums take place each year. Tamedia, for instance, is still profitable
but mainly because of businesses other
than news.
See the summary of the ‘Yearbook Quality of the Media 2018’ (in English, French and Italian) and the full version (in German) at www.qualitaet-der-medien.ch/downloads
84
WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT (GERMAN) ONLINE (GERMAN)
AND ONLINE SRF News (public broadcaster) 67
17 20 Minuten online 55
11
20 Minuten 16
52 Blick and Blick am Abend online 11
31
20 Minutes 19
61 16
28
11%
RTS News online
French private TV news 15
39 Le Matin online (incl Sunday) 13
28
24 heures 10
23 24 heures.ch 7
20
pay for Le Matin Dimanche 13
20 Teletext online 8
17
ONLINE NEWS Private radio news 8
18 MSN News 6
11
Swiss French 15% Le Temps 8
14 Yahoo! News 5
10
Swiss German 9% Regional or local newspaper 8
14 Tribune de Genève online 4
10
Tribune de Genève 6
12 LeNouvelliste.ch 3
9
Commercial TV news 7
11 Le Temps online 5
9
Le Nouvelliste 3
10 Le Monde online 5
8
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
79%
74%
79%
74%
SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
71%
TV
Online
TV
(incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS
79% 75% TV
2016–19 71%
2016–19
30%
74% 75% Print
TV
59%
74% 71% Print
59% 71% Print
50% 59% Social media
Print NB: 2018 figures for
50% 59% 40% Social media
50% 100% 40%
36% Social media 100% computer use were
50% 40%
36%
Social media Social media likely overstated due Tablet
40%
36%
20% 82% 36% 83% to an error in polling
listen to 20%
20%
20% 69%
Online (incl. social media)
71%
Smartp
61%
PODCASTS in
0% Printed newspapers
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 201763%
2018 2019 62% Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 60% 57%
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
49%
the last month 2013 2014 50%2016
2015 201747%
2018 2019
45%
50%TV
BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
(GERMAN) (FRENCH)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT Rank Brand For News For All
HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND
SRF News 7.25 7.5 RTS News 7.42 7.77 1 Facebook 32% (-1) 60%
NZZ 6.9 7.83 Le Temps 6.98 7.36
Tages Anzeiger 6.72 7.43 24 heures 6.83 7.41 2 YouTube 26% (+2) 64%
ARD* 6.68 – Tribune de Genѐve 6.73 7.25
Tele Züri* 6.17 – TF1* 6.48 –
3 WhatsApp 26% (+4) 74%
Aargauer Zeitung 6.12 7.02 La Liberté 6.46 7.38
Weltwoche 5.93 7.07 Le Nouvelliste 6.45 7.36
20 Minuten 5.92 6.32 Le Matin 6.44 7.14
4 Instagram 10% (+3) 32%
WochenZeitung (WoZ) 5.91 6.94 France Télévisions 6.41 6.82
Bluewin 5.85 6.9 20 minutes 6.24 6.55 5 Facebook Messenger 8% (+1) 32%
Watson 5.56 6.46 Arcinfo 6.17 7.76
RTL* 5.35 – Private TV news 6.15 6.46 6 LinkedIn 6% (-1) 17%
Republik* 5.28 – Bluewin 6.01 6.96
gmx 5.18 6.11 Bon pour la tête* 5.66 –
Blick 4.77 5.62 MSN 5.02 6.09
- -
* Some brands do not have trust scores for users of those brands (did not meet minimum 50 threshold or did not specifically
ask about the use of the brand)
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
TURKEY STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
82m
68%
The second development was the ending While small-scale digital-born brands
of the print edition of two newspapers, continue to provide alternative
Habertürk and Vatan, in mid-2018 due to perspectives, they have not managed to
reduced sales and rising costs. The former achieve significant reach. Many showcase
was one of Turkey’s largest-circulation stories from international brands such as
newspapers, and its CEO explained the BBC Turkish, DW, and Euronews as they
move saying: ‘The cost of publishing a have limited staff to generate original
newspaper has become unsustainable at content. Other perspectives are provided
a time when advertisements are mainly by foreign media like Russian-backed
channelled into digital media outlets and Sputnik, and a new Turkish version of the
broadcasters.’ The circulation of Turkish (UK-based) Independent, financed and
newspapers and their share of advertising run by the Saudi Research and Marketing
revenues has been declining steadily, while Group (SRMG) that has close links to the
printing costs have also risen as a weak Saudi royal family.91
Turkish lira makes imported newsprint
86
www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/ekonomi/2019/02/23/ziraat-bankasindan-demirorene-kredi-aciklamasi-paramiz-vardi-verdik
87
www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-turkish-medias-credibility-dead
88
www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-daily-haberturk-decides-to-end-print-edition-134085
89
Yanatma, S. 2018. Digital News Report: Turkey Supplementary Report. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/digital-news-report-2018-turkey-supplementary-report
90
freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2019/turkey
91
www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jul/19/independent-joins-saudi-group-to-launch-middle-east-websites
114 / 115
CNN Türk 15
44 NTV online 15
35
TOP BRANDS NTV 14
38 Hürriyet online 16
33
% Weekly usage Sözcü 17
38 Sözcü online 11
31
Hürriyet 23
38 Sondakika.com 13
29
Weekly use
TRT News (Public Broadcaster) 14
38 Mynet 11
29
TV, radio & print
Kanal D News 16
34 Milliyet online 13
26
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print ATV News 12
31 Haberler.com 13
25
Show TV 12
28 BBC News online 9
20
Cumhuriyet 14
26 TRT News online 10
19
Posta 14
23 ĺnternethaber 10
19
Ahaber 9
21 Ensonhaber 10
18
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
CHANGING MEDIA 79%
74%
79%
74%
79%
SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
71%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV
TV
DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
59%
74% 2015–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2015–19
Although online news
50% is widely
59%
59%
71% Print
Social media
Print
50% 59% 40% Social media
used by our urban-based
50%
50%
100% 40%
36%
40%
Social media
Social media
100%
Social media Tablet
88% 36%
40% 87%
sample, across Turkey as20%
a
20%
36%
36%
Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 75% 74%
whole television remains the
20%
67%
71%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed 65%
newspapers Compu
0% 59%
most important source
0% of 2013 2014
2013 2014
2015 2016
2015 2016
2017 2018
2017
2019 57%
52%
0%
2013 2014 50%2016
2015 50%2018
2017 2018
2019
2019 50%TV
46%
news. Print newspapers also
continue to be well read by 24% 27%
international standards,
though use is declining. 0% 0%
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Smartphones are now easily
NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
the most important device for due to an error in polling
accessing online news.
47% 40%
Kanal D News 6.04 7.14
tend to be most highly rated
TRT News 5.96 7.57
for trust. Pro-government Milliyet 5.95 7.1
media tend to be trusted AA (Anadolu Ajansi) 5.81 7.84
less, though they have Show TV News 5.73 7.02
higher scores from those Sabah 5.28 7.18
that use them. Ahaber 4.95 7.23
-
PAY
60%
Rank Brand For News For All
34% 1 YouTube
2 Facebook
49% (+8)
47% (-4)
76%
71%
SHARE NEWS
pay for via social, messaging or email
ONLINE NEWS 3 WhatsApp 33% (+3) 74%
45%
4 Instagram 33% (+9) 64%
Section 3 Americas
3.25 United States 118
Analysis by Country
3.26 Argentina 120
3.27 Brazil 122
3.28 Canada 124
3.29 Chile 126
Americas
3.30 Mexico 128
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/expanding-news-desert
92
118 / 119
Fox News 8
29 CNN.com 7
19
TOP BRANDS NBC/MSNBC News 9
25 Fox News online 6
19
% Weekly usage CNN 8
22 HuffPost 9
18
ABC News 9
22 New York Times online 8
17
Weekly use
Regional/local newspaper 10
20 Washington Post online 7
15
TV, radio & print
CBS News 9
20 BuzzFeed News 9
15
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Local radio news 7
17 NBC/MSNBC News online 7
15
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
The bump in news100% 79% 79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
consumption is clearly visible
74%
59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
in 2017 after the election
50%
50%
50%
of
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
Donald Trump but since then
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36%
TV, print, and social media
20%
20%
75%
72% 72%
Online (incl. social media)
71%
Smartp
20%
news use is significantly
0%
0% down.
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
58%
Printed newspapers
57%
Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Meanwhile the smartphone
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 47%
2013 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 46% 50%TV 53%
TRUST
Already low, overall levels of DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
trust in news declined only THIS BRAND
slightly since last year, but this News overall Local television news 6.43 7.02
News I use
32% (-2)
masks a deeper divide. Under
50%
Wall Street Journal 6.09 7.22
Trump, trust in news has risen NPR News 5.89 8.12
among audiences on the left 32nd/38 ABC News 5.78 7.31
while falling sharply on the CBS News 5.78 7.21
right – from 17% to 9% in the Washington Post 5.69 7.74
25% 14%
CNN 5.38 7.33
Yahoo! News 5.13 6.13
HuffPost 5.01 6.92
Vox 5.01 6.72
Fox News 4.82 6.98
16%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
37%
Rank Brand For News For All
35%
3 Twitter 15% (+1) 27%
29%
4 Facebook Messenger 9% (+2) 40%
listen to
5 Instagram 7% (+1) 29%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 4% (-) 10%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
ARGENTINA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
45m
93%
News consumption in Argentina has telecommunications company. The newly Political interference in media regulation
decreased across all platforms, from print merged corporation accounts for 42% of and polarisation could be related to low
to social media, but print has suffered fixed telephone lines, 34% of the mobile levels of trust in news in general (39%)
the largest losses, with circulations of telephony market, 56% of fixed internet in 2019. There were also changes in news
the ten top-selling dailies down by 8% connections, and 40% of cable television consumption on social media platforms,
in 2018 compared to 2017. La Nación, the connections, in addition to owning the which increased on Facebook, WhatsApp,
second-largest daily, closed its print plant top-selling newspaper, the 24-hour news Instagram, and Facebook Messenger
early in 2019, which led to around 100 jobs channel with the largest audience, the and decreased on Twitter and YouTube.
being lost. Editorial Atlántida cancelled leading AM radio stations, and several Argentines spend, on average, more
the weekly print editions of 97-year-old FM radio stations. than three hours a day on social media,
women’s magazine Para Ti and 99-year-old which could explain, at least partly, the
children’s publication Billiken. In all, more Grupo Clarín’s dominant position is evident growing reliance on these platforms for
than 500 jobs were lost in the news media in the ranking of the top brands examined information. The role of social media will
industry during 2018.93 for this report. The corporation owns three probably be a hot issue during the electoral
of the top ten brands in the offline ranking campaigns this year, and several local and
Paywalls have been one of newspapers’ (TN, Canal 13, and Clarín), and three of global organisations, such as Chequeado
ways of responding to falling circulation the top ten brands in the online ranking and First Draft News, respectively, are
numbers in the digital space. However, (TN, Clarín, and sports newspaper Olé). gearing up to combat false information
so far only three newspapers, top-selling However, for the second year in a row news on these platforms.
Clarín and La Nación from the city of website Infobae, which is not part of Grupo
Buenos Aires, and La Voz del Interior from Clarín, was the top-ranked online brand. Eugenia Mitchelstein and Pablo J.
Córdoba have implemented them. Clarín This year it also became the top-ranked Boczkowski
reached 150,000 digital subscribers in brand overall. Center for the Study of Media and Society,
December 2018.94 However, only 8% of our Argentina (MESO)
survey respondents said they had paid for The government drafted legislation which
online news in the past year. would have allowed other corporations to
offer ‘quadruple play’ services (landlines,
Due to competition with streaming mobile phones, pay television, and
services such as Netflix and YouTube, broadband internet). The bill was approved
broadcast television ratings reached their in the Senate, but stalled in the Chamber of
lowest level since 2004 and advertising Deputies due to lack of consensus between
decreased significantly in 2018. Pay the government and the opposition. The
television had the highest market share bill is not likely to pass during 2019, which
ever, and in November 2018 Kantar Ibope is a presidential election year. The lack of a
media, in charge of measuring TV ratings, law means that media regulation is mostly
announced it would start measuring Time conducted by executive order. Polarisation
Shifted Viewing. has also influenced news coverage of
corruption scandals, with most media
Political polarisation has influenced
devoting space and attention according
both telecommunication regulation
to their political alignments. Public
and news coverage. In June 2018, the
media have remained relatively neutral,
government formally approved the merger
something which did not happen under
between Grupo Clarín, the largest media
the previous administration.
organisation in Argentina, and Telecom, a
Fopea (Foto de Periodismo Argentino). INFORME 2017–2018 Observatorio y alerta laboral de periodistas (2019), https://www.fopea.org/informe-observatorio-y-alerta-laboral-de-
93
periodistas-de-fopea-2017-2018/
Grupo Clarín, Memoria y Estados Financieros Consolidados, 2018, grupoclarin.com/IR/files/ESTADOS-CONTABLES/2018/GCSA%20-%20EEFF%20-%2012-2018.PDF
94
120 / 121
Telefe News 12
37 TN online 12
34
TOP BRANDS Canal 13 News 11
32 Clarín online 12
30
% Weekly usage C5N 10
28 La Nación online 9
22
Canal 26 News 6
12 Cadena 3 online 4
8
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Online and television remain
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
the most popular sources of
74%
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
news in Argentina,50%while
50%
50%
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
92% 40%36% Social media Tablet
weekly print consumption
50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
86%
20% 81% 36%
has fallen from 45% to 28% 20% Online (incl. social media) 78% Smartp
20%
20%
74% 72%
over the last three years.
0%
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
68% 62%
Printed newspapers
62%
Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Almost eight out of0% ten (78%)
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015
45% 2019 50%TV
45%
respondents say they now
28%
use the smartphone to 17%
access news. 10%
0% 0%
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
Trust has declined from the DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
previous year, from 41% to THIS BRAND
39% for ‘news overall’ and News overall Telefé News 6.25 7.2
News I use
39% (-2)
from 51% to 47% in ‘news I
47%
Infobae 5.93 6.49
use’. However, trust in news in TN (Todo Noticias) 5.85 6.83
search remained stable and =25th/38 La Nación 5.81 6.9
trust in news in social media Radio Mitre 5.7 7.84
went from 29% to 32%. A24 5.58 6.67
Minuto Uno 5.31 6.48
TV pública 5.29 6.23
News in search News in social
38% 32%
Clarín 5.24 6.36
C5N 5.12 6.49
Página/12 5.07 7.02
Perfil 5 6.01
PAY
8%
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
56%
Rank Brand For News For All
31%
3 YouTube 25% (-2) 73%
31%
4 Instagram 18% (+5) 49%
listen to
5 Twitter 15% (-3) 24%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 11% (+2) 39%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
BRAZIL STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
211m
71%
Overall trust in news, however, dipped 11 Though Bolsonaro had stated his
percentage points to 48% in comparison commitment to freedom of the press
with last year’s survey, directly in the weeks prior to the second round,
affected by an atmosphere of political his relationship with the media, both
polarisation. The environment of political as candidate and president, has been
confrontation brought partisan media fractious, at best. In an audio message
to mainstream attention, as a significant leaked to the media in February 2018,
number of voters were divided between he referred to the largest media
the left-wing and the far-right candidates. conglomerate in the country, Grupo
95
Non-governmental organisation SaferNet Brasil.
96
Top 10 best-selling dailies, according to Instituto Verificador de Comunicação (IVC Brasil).
97
www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/bolsonaro-brazil-fake-news-journalist-media-attack
98
Conselho Executivo de Normas-Padrão (CENP).
122 / 123
Record News 13
42 Globo News online (inc. G1) 14
39
TOP BRANDS Jornal do SBT 14
39 O Globo online 14
31
% Weekly usage BandNews 14
38 Yahoo! News 10
25
O Globo 13
26 Record News online (inc. R7.com) 9
24
Weekly use
Regional/local newspaper 13
24 Folha de S. Paulo online 10
21
TV, radio & print
Folha de S. Paulo 10
20 MSN News 9
21
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 6
14 Jornal do SBT online 8
20
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Online and television remain
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
the most important source74% of
59%
74% 2013–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2013–19
59% 71% Print
news in Brazil while print
50%
50%
50%
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
readership has almost halved
50%
90% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
87% 81%
20% 36%
since 2013. Meanwhile 20%20%
75% 73%
Online (incl. social media) 77% Smartp
20%
smartphones not only0% overtook
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 64% Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
55%
computers as the primary
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 50%
2017 2018 2019
50%2016 2017 2018 2019
2013 2014 2015
47%
50%TV
means of accessing online
27%
news, they also established 23%
14% 11%
a wide lead.
0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
due to an error in polling
TRUST
Trust has fallen 11 percentage DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
points in the last year after THIS BRAND
48% (-11)
8.03
election. Brazilians have
51%
Band News 7.07 7.72
the highest level of concern Record News 6.97 7.91
about misinformation and =9th/38 UOL 6.53 7.35
disinformation in our survey O Estado de S. Paulo 6.5 7.52
and high use of social media Terra online 6.37 7.39
facilitated the spread of Rede TV News 6.37 7.32
inaccurate information News in search News in social Folha de S. Paulo 6.26 7.45
47% 31%
during the election. O Globo 6.06 7.2
Globo News 5.97 6.97
iG. Online 5.96 7.68
HuffPost 5.54 7.73
PAY
22% -
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
58%
Rank Brand For News For All
51%
3 YouTube 42% (+8) 80%
36%
4 Instagram 26% (+10) 54%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 15% (+5) 44%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 15% (+1) 28%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
CANADA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
37m
90%
The past decade has been especially hard content, especially subscriptions. The Toronto Podcasts are as popular in English Canada
for local newspapers in Canada. Hundreds Star and the SaltWire Network, a chain of 35 as in the US, but much less among
of local news outlets – most of them newspapers in Atlantic Canada, launched Francophones. One in three Canadians
community newspapers – have closed, metered paywalls for online content. listen to podcasts and are highly engaged
though this has been somewhat offset by Ownership of La Presse, now entirely digital with this format, averaging five podcasts
launches of new local operations. Research and centred on its free tablet app, has been a week.101 Facebook, and increasingly
shows that depth of reporting about civic transferred to a non-profit structure. Facebook Messenger, are used more as
affairs declined sharply in small and mid- vehicles for news consumption by French-
sized Canadian communities between 2008 In its 2019 budget, the Canadian federal speaking Canadians than English speakers,
and 2017, leaving citizens less informed government outlined criteria for qualifying who in turn are more keen on Twitter.
about their democratic institutions.99 journalism organisations that will benefit
from non-profit status and refundable Attacks on media and journalists from
Advertising revenues in 2016/17 fell most tax credits on labour costs. Canadians right-wing politicians seem to mirror those of
sharply for newspapers (-20.4%) and with digital subscriptions to qualifying Donald Trump. They are coming from Ontario
magazines (-28%), -8% for media overall.100 Canadian news outlets will also be eligible Premier Doug Ford, who uses his ‘Ford Nation
Many media groups made significant layoffs, for an annual tax credit until 2025. The TV’ on YouTube to connect directly with
including the Postmedia group, owner of government initiatives, which won’t come voters, and from Maxime Bernier, a former
the largest newspaper chain in Canada; Vice into effect until 2020, raised concerns Conservative minister who launched a new
Canada; Rogers; Huffington Post; Canadian in the journalism community about federal party with a populist platform.
Press; and Star Metro, a group of free dailies transparency, as well as comment about
owned by Torstar and Metro International. the types of media that would be excluded Oil pipelines, immigration, and – especially
The new ownership of Métro Montréal (i.e. broadcasters, specialised outlets, small in Quebec – religion continue to be
appears to be off to a rocky start, with a local publications with a single journalist). polarising issues, and concern regarding
series of resignations, including several disinformation is on the rise. However, trust
newsroom managers. Also in Montreal, Agence France-Presse became the in traditional and online media remains
Voir ended publication of its monthly print Canadian partner of Facebook’s third-party higher in Canada than in the US.
magazine, launched in 2016. fact-checking programme, with a journalist
dedicated to rating accuracy of news stories In early February, the Globe and Mail
Rogers, once Canada’s biggest print circulating on the social media platform. published allegations of political
magazine publisher, sold its remaining After ending its joint venture with Rogers, interference in criminal proceedings against
publications including Maclean’s (news) Vice Canada entered a broadcast agreement SNC-Lavalin, an engineering firm. This led
and Chatelaine (women, general interest), with Bell Media. to the resignation of two cabinet ministers,
to St Joseph Communications. Torstar the Prime Minister’s closest adviser and the
acquired iPolitics, a digital news source Several industry-based initiatives were Clerk of the Privy Council, the top federal
focusing on Canadian politics. New launched to foster news literacy, digital civil servant. Although early polls suggest
media initiatives include the Logic, a citizenship, and ‘counter-disinformation’, the scandal has been damaging to the
subscription-based digital news source with new projects focusing on local news governing Liberal party, it remains to be
focusing on the innovation economy, and (Facebook) and underserved communities seen whether trust in media will be affected
QUB, an online French-language radio (The Discourse/Public Policy Forum) and as a result of this heavily covered story.
service from Québecor. teens (CIVIX). Partisan news sites such as
Rebel Media and National Observer still Colette Brin
National newspapers the Globe and Mail and have limited reach in Canada. Centre d’études sur les médias, Université Laval
Le Devoir continue to focus on paid online
99
A. Lindgren et al., Local News Map, www.localnewsresearchproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/LocalNewsMapDataasofFebruary12019.pdf ; Public Policy Forum (2018), Mind
the Gaps, www.ppforum.ca/publications/mind-the-gaps/?sf_data=all&sf_paged=5
100
Compiled by ThinkTV for 2016–17, based on data from Statistics Canada, Television Bureau, IAB Canada, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
101
GlobalWebIndex Q3-Q4 2018; Edison Research, The Infinite Dial Canada 2018.
124 / 125
WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT (ENGLISH) ONLINE (ENGLISH)
AND ONLINE CTV News 41
12 CBC News online 26
9
Global News 12
33 CTV News online 9
23
TOP BRANDS CBC News (public broadcaster) 12
32 CNN.com 7
19
9%
Radio-Canada/RDI (public broadcaster) 13
51 Radio-Canada/ICI RDI Nouvelles online 9
31
ONLINE NEWS
TV5 Nouvelles 6
12 Canoe 7
10
Le Devoir 5
9 Le Devoir online 5
9
English 9% 5
9 5
9
CNN HuffPost
French 8%
Le Soleil or regional daily 4
8 Yahoo! News 4
8
Métro 4
8 L’Actualité online 5
8
L’Actualité 5
7 Local radio online 3
8
24 hours 4
7 Regional/local paper website 67
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
79%
74% SOURCES OF NEWS
75% TV
Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS
29%
79% 75%
71% TV
74%
79% 75% TV
74%
59%
74% 2016–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2016–19
59% 71% Print
50% 59% Social media
Print
50% 59% 40% Social media NB: 2018 figures for
50% 100% 40%
36% Social media 100%
50% 40%
36%
Social media Social media computer use were Tablet
40%
listen to 20%
20% 75%
36%
36%
76% Online (incl. social media)
likely overstated due
to an error in polling Smartp
20%
PODCASTS in 0%
0%
20%
2013 2014 2015 2016
71%
2017 2018 2019
66% 64%
Printed newspapers Compu
57%
the last month
0%
0%
2013
2013
2013
2014
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017 2018
2017 2018
201748%
2018
2019
2019
2019 50% 50%TV 51%
39%
36%
28% 25%
24%
0% 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2016 2017 2018 2019
BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
(ENGLISH) (FRENCH)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT Rank Brand For News For All
HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND
CTV News 7.22 7.68 ICI Radio-Canada Info/ICI RDI 7.82 8.21 1 Facebook 40% (+2) 70%
CBC News/Newsworld 7.21 7.78 TVA Nouvelles/LCN 7.45 7.89
Global News 7.17 7.6 La Presse 7.44 8.09 2 YouTube 25% (+3) 65%
CityTV News 6.97 7.67 Le Devoir 7.35 7.8
Globe and Mail 6.96 7.52 La Presse Canadienne* 7.29 –
3 Facebook Messenger 12% (+2) 49%
The Canadian Press* 6.8 – TV5 Nouvelles 7.13 8.03
National Post 6.77 7.73 L’Actualité 7.03 7.3
Maclean’s 6.7 8.01 CBC/Newsworld 6.98 7.7
4 Twitter 11% (-1) 24%
Toronto Star 6.64 7.42 CTV News 6.92 7.54
Vancouver Sun 6.41 7.45 Journal de Montréal ou Québec 6.9 7.56 5 Instagram 8% (+2) 31%
24 Hours 6.27 7.17 24 Heures 6.57 6.89
Metro 6.12 7.52 Canoe.ca 6.43 7.35 6 WhatsApp 4% (-1) 16%
Huffpost 6.09 6.8 Métro 6.36 7.21
MSN News 6.07 7.08 HuffPost 6.27 7.37
The Rebel.media* 5.11 – MSN News 6.18 6.81
- -
* Some brands do not have trust scores for users of those brands (did not meet minimum 50 threshold or did not specifically
ask about the use of the brand)
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
CHILE STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
18m
78%
Canal 13 News 15
46 24horas online 10
29
TOP BRANDS Chilevisión News 13
40 Lun.com 11
28
% Weekly usage 24 Horas 16
40 Biobiochile online 8
28
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
Online and social media are
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
used by the vast majority74%
for
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
news each week, with50%
50%
50%
both
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
93% 40%
36% Social media Tablet
WhatsApp and YouTube50% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
86%
20% 80% 36%
becoming more influential 80%
20% and
20%
75% Online (incl. social media) Smartp
76% 74%
20% 71%
Facebook losing some 0% ground.
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Smartphones have 0% become the
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2013 50%2016 2017 46%
2014 2015 2018 2019 50%TV 51%
TRUST
Trust in the news has fallen DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
substantially in the last year, THIS BRAND
45% (-8)
7.79
to global rather than local
47%
CNN 7.33 7.76
trends. Journalism in Chile Cooperativa 7.21 7.76
tends to be less polarised 17th/38 24 Horas 6.74 7.32
than many other countries Canal 13 6.7 7.3
in the region. Radio and MEGA News 6.66 7.51
TV brands top the list for Chilevisión 6.46 7.2
audience-rated trust, with News in search News in social TVN (public broadcaster) 6.42 7.07
44% 34%
tabloid newspapers and La Tercera 6.31 7.01
PAY
7% -
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
57%
Rank Brand For News For All
38%
3 YouTube 31% (+4) 76%
37%
4 Instagram 20% (+8) 48%
listen to
5 Twitter 16% (-2) 25%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 14% (+1) 45%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
MEXICO STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
131m
65%
Televisa News 11
40 Aristegui Noticias 11
31
TOP BRANDS El Universal 19
31 TV Azteca news online 10
26
% Weekly usage A regional or local newspaper 19
29 CNN.com 11
24
CNN 12
28 Yahoo! News 11
23
Weekly use
Milenio News 12
27 Website of a city newspaper 12
23
TV, radio & print
Imagen News 11
26 UnoTV online 10
21
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Reforma 14
21 Reforma por Internet 13
21
El Financiero 8
13 La Jornada por Internet 9
16
El Sol de México 9
13 Radio Fórmula news online 8
15
BBC News 7
11 El Economista online 8
13
CHANGING MEDIA
Online and social media
100%
100%
100%
Online (incl. social media)
Online (incl. social media)
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
remain the most popular 79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS 75%
75%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
sources of news in Mexico74%
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
with our predominantly
50%
50% urban
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
100%
50% 40%
36% Social media
Social media Tablet
sample. TV and radio remain
50%
91% 40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
91%
20% 36% 81%
important to reach the 20%
20%
72% 73%
Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 70%
millions of people who 65%
0% are 2013
not 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
0% Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 59%
online. The majority0%of 51% 2019
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
50%2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015 2019 50%TV
45%
internet news access is now 38% 35%
via smartphones (81%) rather 24%
18%
than computers or tablets.
0% 0%
2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019
TRUST
The media have traditionally DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
enjoyed relatively high ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
THIS BRAND
levels of trust in Mexico
News overall Aristegui Noticias
News I use 7.43
50% (+1)
8.66
along with religious
55%
El Financiero 7.01 7.83
institutions and universities.
El Universal 7.00 7.58
Television is often the most
6th/38 El Economista 6.91 7.68
popular medium with both
Canal 22 6.90 7.59
audiences and advertisers, Radio Fórmula Noticias 6.82 7.59
but, unusually in our survey, Imagen Noticias 6.78 7.53
newspaper brands often Reforma
News in search News in social 6.71 7.39
score better in terms of
48% 39%
UnoTV 6.39 7.25
trust, along with some TV Azteca Noticias 6.18 7.29
digital-born brands. SinEmbargo 5.94 6.79
Televisa Noticias 5.34 6.77
PAY
16% -
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
64%
Rank Brand For News For All
57%
3 WhatsApp 41% (+6) 84%
43%
4 Twitter 23% (-) 40%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 19% (+4) 62%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 15% (+7) 46%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
130 / 131
Analysis by Country
3.32 Hong Kong 134
3.33 Japan 136
3.34 Malaysia 138
3.35 Singapore 140
Asia Pacific
3.36 South Korea 142
3.37 Taiwan 144
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
AUSTRALIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
25m
88%
Channel 7 News 11
39 ABC News online 7
22
TOP BRANDS Channel 9 News 14
37 nine.com.au 9
22
% Weekly usage Channel TEN News 10
24 Yahoo!7 5
13
Sky News 3
8 The Australian 4
7
BBC News 4
8 Channel TEN news online 4
7
44% (-6)
7.76
51%
with community concern SBS News 6.92 7.93
about the takeover of the Australian Financial Review 6.53 7.7
Fairfax newspaper stable by 18th/38 Channel 7 News 6.43 7.06
32% 18%
The Saturday Paper 6.04 7.97
Other data shows trust in
Guardian online 6.03 7.83
politics down in 2018.102
Sky News 5.96 7.25
Herald Sun 5.96 6.99
Daily Telegraph 5.79 6.97
14%
BuzzFeed News 5.06 6
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
27%
Rank Brand For News For All
27%
3 Facebook Messenger 10% (-1) 49%
19%
4 Twitter 9% (+1) 17%
listen to
5 Instagram 7% (-2) 30%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 6% (-4) 21%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
www.nielsen.com/hk/en/insights/news/2018/nielsen-media-index-take-up-of-mobile-first.html
103
134 / 135
Headline Daily 12
40 Apple Daily online 8
38
TOP BRANDS Apple Daily 8
28 Yahoo! News 10
36
% Weekly usage RTHK News (public broadcaster) 10
27 Headline Daily online 7
26
AM730 7
25 Hk01.com 10
21
Weekly use
Sky Post 8
24 Oriental Daily News online 8
21
TV, radio & print
NowTV News 8
23 RTHK News online 6
18
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Oriental Daily News 7
19 AM730 online 5
17
CNN 5
11 Commercial radio news online 4
10
Ming Pao 4
10 Ming Pao online 3
9
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
Consumption habits have79%
100%
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
Online (incl. social media)
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
74%
79% 71%
75% TV
changed little over the last
74%
59%
74% 2017–19 71%
75%
71%
Print
TV
Print 2017–19
59% 71% Print
few years with television
50%
50%
50%
and
59%
59%
100%
40%
Social media
Print
Social media
Social media 100%
40%
36% Social media Tablet
online remaining main50%
84%
40%
36%
40%
36%
Social media
20% 36% 82%
sources of news. The use20% of
20% 74% 75%
Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20%
67% 68%
social media is slightly
0% down
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 60%
2018 2019 Printed newspapers Compu
0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 57%
in the last year – mainly
0%
due2013
2013
2014
2014
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
2018 2019
48%
2018 2019 50%TV
44%
39%
to declines in Facebook usage 37%
26%
– while WhatsApp and 22%
TRUST
Hong Kong online news DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
consumers trusted the THIS BRAND
46% (+1)
7.64
much more than the news
52%
Now TV News 6.77 7.22
derived from online search Ming Pao 6.65 7.48
and available through social =13th/38 i-CABLE News 6.64 7.39
media. Compared to last year, Commercial radio news 6.57 7.22
overall trust in news and trust Sing Tao Daily 6.41 7.24
in ‘news I use’ remain largely AM730 6.41 6.98
the same, along with trust in News in search News in social Headline Daily 6.3 6.78
34% 26%
search and social media. Yahoo! News 6.3 6.76
TVB News 6.28 6.67
Oriental Daily News 6.02 6.71
HK01 5.84 6.41
Apple Daily 5.72 6.44
PAY Stand News 5.65 6.72
17%
Bastillepost 5.64 6.31
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
51%
Rank Brand For News For All
53%
3 YouTube 33% (-2) 73%
23%
4 WeChat 16% (+1) 54%
listen to
5 Instagram 13% (+4) 42%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 10% (+2) 39%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
JAPAN STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
127m
93%
TBS News 16
38 Nikkei online (Japan Economic Daily) 2
7
Weekly use
Regional or local newspaper 5
20 TBS News online 4
7
TV, radio & print
TV Tokyo News 7
15 Fuji TV News online 4
7
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print Yomiuri Shimbun 2
13 Asahi Shimbun online 3 6
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
Rank Brand For News For All
MALAYSIA STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
32m
78%
104
www.theedgemarkets.com/article/media-prima-returns-black-fy18-gain-property-sale
105
www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/02/08/utusan-no-longer-under-umnos-direct-control/1721079
106
www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2189352/malaysian-jailed-more-10-years-insulting-islam-social-media
107
www.mumbrella.asia/2018/02/malaysian-media-mogul-jahabar-sadiq-millennials-pay-for-lattes-so-why-not-news
108
www.events.wan-ifra.org/sites/default/files/field_ecm_file/7.3_malaysiakinis_digital_subscription_journey_sean_ho.pdf
138 / 139
Kosmo 7
12 The Malaysian Insight 7
10
BBC News 6
12 NST online 5
9
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
Online and social media
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
71%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
remain the predominant59% 74%
79%
74%
74% 2017–19
75%
71%
75%
71%
TV
Print
TV 2017–19
71% Print
59%
sources of news for50%our
50%
online
59%
59% 40%
Print
Social media
Print
Social media
50% 100% Social media 100%
sample of Malaysian 50%news
40%
36%
40%
36%
40%
Social media Social media Tablet
20%
86% 36% 87%
users. TV and print continue20%
20%
36%
Online (incl. social media) 77% Smartp
20% 69%
to play an important0%0%
role for
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
67%
2018 2019
65%
Printed newspapers Compu
56%
those not online. 0% 0% 2013
2013
2013
2014
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
2017
2018 2019
54%2019
2018
2018 2019 50%TV 48%
45% 45%
Smartphones are the main 37%
access point for digital news
18%
with access from computers 14%
TRUST
In spite of the assurances of
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
greater media freedom by ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
the new government, and THIS BRAND
31% (+1)
7.21
36%
industry-run and regulated Astro Awani 6.52 7.18
Media Council, overall NTV7 6.49 7.08
trust is similar to last year. 33rd/38 TV3 News 6.3 6.55
28% 18%
Harian Metro 5.64 6.73
approach to discussing news
Utusan Malaysia 5.32 6.61
and current affairs.
PAY
16% -
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
51%
Rank Brand For News For All
42%
3 YouTube 32% (-1) 72%
28%
4 Instagram 21% (+4) 48%
listen to
5 Twitter 14% (+1) 26%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 11% (-1) 37%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
SINGAPORE STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
5.8m
84%
In May 2019, the Singapore parliament If approved, the proposed ‘fake news’ law in However, digital media start-up
passed a controversial law to limit the Singapore will be in addition to regulation mothership.sg inched its way to become
spread of ‘fake news’. The Protection from that already applies to local broadcast and the fourth most used news site in
Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill online media outlets. Starting in 2013, the Singapore, from 23% in 2018 to 29% this
was the culmination of an extensive series government introduced a new framework year. Founded in 2014, mothership.sg is
of public hearings by a parliamentary that required individual licensing for known for its bite-sized articles, many
select committee. Under this law, all online news sites that publish regular sourced from viral social media posts.
government ministers will have the power articles on Singapore news and current The site claims to get an average of 9.2m
to direct individuals, publishers, internet affairs, and have large numbers of monthly visitors per month, some 60% of whom
platforms, and mainstream media to visitors.113 Licensed sites are required are between 25 and 44 years old.
publish corrections to a false statement to remove content that is in breach of
if the executive deems the falsehood in content standards, such as pornographic, Online media account for the bulk of news
question is a threat to the public interest.109 extremist, or racially insensitive content, consumption in Singapore, as television
The government says the law is necessary within 24 hours and post a performance and print continue to see sharp declines.
to protect Singaporeans from harmful bond of SG$50,000, similar to the bond TV was down 4 percentage points, to 51%,
content – in particular inciting racial and requirement for television broadcasters. while print fell to 38%, down 5 percentage
religious disharmony. But critics say the points from 2018 after a 10 point drop the
bill gives the government too much power, Just two big media companies dominate year before. Digital news consumption
potentially threatening civil liberties.110 the production of local news and in recent appears to have stabilised in 2019 after
years have extended their dominance from years of rapid growth, with 86% saying
This law comes after online site States traditional to online platforms. MediaCorp, they get news online each week and 62%
Times Review voluntarily closed down owned by a state investment agency, via social media. Social media use for
in November 2018 after being ordered operates all local television stations in news decreased slightly for both Facebook
by the Singapore government to take Singapore. The website of its cable news and WhatsApp – platforms that have
down an article it published that linked network Channel News Asia is by far the borne the brunt of blame for the spread
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with most popular online news source, used by of disinformation in Singapore – but
the 1Malaysia Development Berhad 46% in our survey. increased for both YouTube and Instagram.
(1MDB) corruption scandal. The Monetary
Authority of Singapore (MAS) had said such Meanwhile Singapore Press Holdings Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
insinuation was baseless and defamatory.111 (SPH), with close links to the ruling party, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication
Mr Lee also filed a defamation suit against has a virtual monopoly on the newspaper and Information, Nanyang Technological
another blogger who had shared the article industry and owns most local papers, University, Singapore
on Facebook.112 STR founder Alex Tan, who including Chinese-language Lianhe
operated the site while based in Australia, Zaobao, Malay-language Berita Harian, and
later announced that he was transferring Tamil-language Tamil Murasu. Its English-
control of the site to someone based in language broadsheet, the Straits Times, is in
Canada. STR has since been renamed as second place in online news at 37%, down
Singapore Herald and can still be accessed from 45% in 2018. Yahoo! News is the third
in Singapore. most frequently used news site (30%).
109
www.todayonline.com/singapore/explainer-how-online-news-sites-can-be-compelled-correct-take-down-fake-news
110
www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/world/asia/singapore-fake-news-law.html
111
www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/states-times-review-founder-says-will-shut-down-website-10914264
112
www.mothership.sg/2018/12/leong-sze-hian-lee-hsien-loong-defamation/
113
www.gov.sg/factually/content/what-is-the-licensing-framework-for-online-news-sites-all-about
140 / 141
21% 17%
TRUST 0%
2017 2018 2019
0%
2017 2018 2019
42% (-5)
7.32
45%
traditional media companies BBC News 6.9 7.46
tend to carry highest The Straits Times 6.88 7.24
levels of trust – along with 20th/38 MediaCorp Channel 5 News 6.81 7.14
30% 19%
The New Paper 6.18 6.79
and heritage that builds
Yahoo! News 6.08 6.55
credibility with news users.
Shin Min Daily 5.84 6.46
HuffPost 5.68 6.33
Mothership.sg 5.43 5.95
16%
All Singapore Stuff 5.18 5.96
-
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
41%
Rank Brand For News For All
28%
3 YouTube 27% (+2) 73%
17%
4 Instagram 15% (+4) 47%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 9% (-) 35%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 9% (-) 19%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
114
www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2018/08/129_253245.html
142 / 143
MBC News 15
36 YTN News online 9
23
Weekly use
Yonhap TV News 11
27 MBC News online 8
17
TV, radio & print
MBN News 9
20 SBS News online 7
17
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print TV Chosun News 9
20 Chosun Ilbo online 8
14
Hankyoreh Shinmun 8
12 Yonhap News online 5
10
Kyunghyang Shinmun 6
9 MBN News online 4
9
CHANGING MEDIA
100%
100% Online (incl. social media)
100% Online (incl. social media)
Audiences for traditional
100% 79% Online (incl. social media)
79%
74%
79% SOURCES OF NEWS
75%
75%
71%
TV
Online (incl. social media)
TV DEVICES FOR NEWS
TV news have started to 59%74%
79%
74%
74% 2016–19
75%
71%
75%
71%
TV
Print
TV 2016–19
71% Print
59%
dip partly due to more
50%
50%
59%
59% 40%
Print
Social media
Print
Social media
50% 100% Social media 100%
competition from long-
50% and 40%
36%
40%
36%
40%
Social media Social media Tablet
86% 36%
short-form video online. 20%
20%
20%
36% 83%
Online (incl. social media) Smartp
20% 71% 70%
Readership of newspapers
0%
0%
is
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
67% 66%
Printed newspapers Compu
60%
also significantly down
0% since
0% 2013
2013
2013
2014
2014
2014
2015 2016
2015 2016
50%2016
2015
2017
2017
2017
2018
2018
2018
2019
2019
2019 50%TV 52%
2016. More than two-thirds of
32%
our sample (70%) use a 28% 26%
19%
smartphone to access the 21% 17%
news each week. 0%
2016 2017 2018 2019
0%
2016 2017 2018 2019
NB: 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated
TRUST due to an error in polling
22% (-3)
7.03
26%
in individual news brands YTN News 5.97 6.68
is much higher. TV news KBS News 5.83 6.46
brands such as JTBC and 38th/38 SBS News 5.78 6.41
20% 15%
Kyunghyang Shinmun 5.14 6.45
trusted by those that use
Channel A News 4.99 6.37
the brands regularly.
Joongang Ilbo 4.91 6.04
Donga Ilbo 4.81 6.22
TV Chosun 4.57 6.31
10% -
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
26%
Rank Brand For News For All
53%
3 Facebook 22% (-3) 47%
16%
4 Instagram 8% (+1) 31%
listen to
5 Twitter 7% (-1) 19%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Kakao Story 7% (-5) 30%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
TAIWAN STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration
24m
88%
‘Goods will flow out, people will flood in, There have also been concerns about Niche outlets dedicated to quality journalism
and Kaohsiung will become a rich city’, possible interference from mainland China, have also seen modest successes. The
declared Han Kuo-yu, the newly elected with observers noting the large number Commonwealth Media Group, which grew
mayor of Taiwan’s third-largest city, in of foreign IP addresses amongst Han’s out of a respected business magazine, has
an inauguration ceremony shown across supporters on social media. It was also developed several digital news channels. The
Taiwan. The dark-horse mayoral candidate noted that the owners of some of the TV group enjoyed growing online use (13%) and
from the pro-unification Nationalist Party channels (like Chung Tien and TVBS) had relatively high trust (6.41) in our latest survey.
(KMT) captured national headlines with significant interests in China which may Meanwhile The Reporter, an independent
promises to focus on the economy, to be influencing their editorial line. At one news organisation, has continued to provide
show no tolerance for political protest, stage TVBS shelved an interview in which award-winning investigative stories on the
and to bypass long-standing laws barring the US de facto ambassador warned about environmental issues, children’s welfare, and
Chinese investment in real estate. Major external forces attempting to manipulate labour issues. The outlet has helped to create
news outlets rewarded Han’s populist public opinion. an ecosystem of public interest journalism by
rhetoric with coverage that drew still more working with freelance reporters.
attention, in an echo of successful populist In response to concerns, both citizens
campaigns in other countries. and politicians filed official complaints The spread of unreliable information
against Chung Tien with Taiwan’s National remains a problem in Taiwan. In September
At least two factors help to explain what Communications Commission (NCC), 2018, a false story about how the Chinese
came to be called the ‘Han Wave’. The charging that the network produced false Embassy in Japan had helped rescue a
first was the campaign’s media strategy news stories and violated professional number of Taiwanese tourists in an airport
in a pluralistic environment dominated norms in devoting disproportionate near Osaka after a typhoon was widely
by private sector, often partisan TV news coverage to Han’s campaign. It fined reported by the media. The Taiwanese
outlets. Han relied heavily on streams the network US$32,000 for breaching media blamed local officials for responding
carried live on social media, and supporters fact-checking principles. Chung Tien too slowly. The subsequent pressure on
were organised to disseminate pro-Han responded by accusing the agency the Taiwanese Embassy in Japan may have
messages online. These messages would of suppressing press freedom and contributed to the death of one official who
have reached large numbers of Taiwanese, attacking regulators personally in news later committed suicide.
given that 75% of our respondents used programmes, which in turn sparked
social media sites like Facebook and Line. a student demonstration against the Meanwhile Yahoo! News remains the most
media outlet for abusing its power. used online news source in Taiwan (51%
At the same time, Han’s positions drew weekly reach). It provides a convenient one-
glowing coverage from the pro-Beijing One bright spot is that this turmoil may stop for news from multiple news providers
Chung Tien News channel, which devoted improve the standing of public media, along with email, blogs, and games. Yahoo!
significant time to Han’s populist campaign. historically weak in Taiwan. The network does not provide direct revenue for news
The relationship proved mutually beneficial: is the most trusted in our survey, though providers but it does generate referral traffic
while Han gained attention, Chung Tien’s not competitive in terms of audience for publishers from the prominent links to
ratings climbed, with the share of (offline use: 16%). Media reform groups additional news stories. In the last two years,
respondents who use the network weekly have urged Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan to Yahoo! Taiwan has started to provide more
rising nearly 10 percentage points in our pass the Public Media Act in 2019, which of its own content including commentaries,
survey (to 44%). Other market-driven news would improve funding and support for online polls, and discussions.
outlets were forced to follow suit, covering major public media.
Han’s campaign heavily – and, according Lihyun Lin
to critics, often quite uncritically. National Taiwan University
144 / 145
Apple Daily 15
30 Apple Daily online 13
28
Weekly use
Formosa TV News 13
30 ChungTien News online 9
25
TV, radio & print
Liberty Times 12
24 Sanlih E-Television News online 11
24
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print ERA News 11
23 United Daily online 11
22
TRUST
Trust in news is down 4
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)
percentage points to 28% ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
with Taiwanese frequently THIS BRAND
28% (-4)
7.27
33%
through both mainstream and Common Wealth Magazine 6.41 6.84
social media. Fact-checking Business Weekly 6.25 7.12
Taiwan, an independent =34th/38 Economic Daily* 6.12 –
28% 19%
China Times 5.57 6.27
the lines of Facebook’s fact-
Chung Tien News 5.55 6.3
checking partnerships.
Apple Daily 5.42 5.95
The Reporter* 5.28 –
Storm Media 5.22 5.65
12%
Liberty Times 5.01 5.92
-
* Some brands do not have trust scores for users of those brands (did not meet
minimum 50 threshold or did not specifically ask about the use of the brand)
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
42%
Rank Brand For News For All
38%
3 YouTube 43% (+5) 75%
23%
4 PTT (bulletin board) 12% (-5) 22%
listen to
5 Facebook Messenger 8% (-) 37%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 7% (-) 28%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
146 / 147
Section 3 Africa
3.38 South Africa 148
Analysis by Country
Africa
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
115
Jackie Cameron, ‘Iqbal Survé, Specialist in Media Capture AND State Capture’, BizNews, 15 Apr. 2019. https://www.biznews.com/undictated/2019/04/15/media-capture-iqbal-surve
116
www.ewn.co.za/2018/10/14/sunday-times-apologises-for-tainted-scoops
117
Riaan Grobler, ‘Motsoeneng’s “reckless mismanagement” caused SABC’s problems – Sanef’, News24, 17 Sept. 2018. https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/motsoenengs-
reckless-mismanagement-caused-sabcs-problems-sanef-20180917
118
www.themediaonline.co.za/2018/03/gloomy-picture-for-tv-and-radio-advertising-spend-in-sa
119
Compiled by iSizwe Distributors from official data.
148 / 149
eNCA 11
38 SABC News online 14
45
TOP BRANDS Local radio news 11
30 ENCA 10
28
% Weekly usage SABC radio 12
29 BBC News online 9
19
BBC News 12
25 Daily Sun online 9
19
Weekly use
CNN 11
25 CNN.com 10
19
TV, radio & print
The Sunday Times 19
25 Netwerk24 6
15
More than 3 days per week
TV, radio & print A regional or local newspaper 14
21 Regional/local newspaper website 10
15
City Press 8
12 The Citizen online 8
13
SAFM 6
12 City Press 8
13
702/Cape Talk 4
10 MyBroadband 6
11
The Star 7
10 Yahoo! News 6
11
49%
7.91
and business interference
54%
eNCA 7.31 7.98
is an increasing concern. Business Day 7.16 7.78
The website News24 has =7th/38 SABC News 7.09 7.66
built credibility on the back Mail & Guardian 7.01 7.69
of investments in breaking Sunday Times 6.93 7.39
news. Tabloid newspaper EWN (Eye Witness News) 6.84 7.74
the Daily Sun is widely used News in search News in social City Press 6.5 7.65
43% 28%
but less well trusted. Cape Times 6.45 6.96
The Star 6.41 7.41
Daily Maverick 6.16 7.5
Sowetan 6.02 7.3
Daily Sun 5.38 6.34
PAY
16% -
pay for
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
ONLINE NEWS
59%
Rank Brand For News For All
43%
3 YouTube 35% 73%
39%
4 Twitter 20% 34%
listen to
5 Instagram 14% 41%
PODCASTS in
the last month COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 14% 48%
via social or website
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
150 / 151
Section 4
References and
Selected Publications
The authors welcome feedback on this report
and suggestions on how to improve our work
via reuters.institute@politics.ox.ac.uk as well
as potential partnerships and support for our
ongoing work.
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2019
References
Cornia, A., Sehl, A., Simon, F., Nielsen, R. K. 2017. Pay Models in
European News. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study
of Journalism.
Ziegele, M., Schultz, T., Jackob, N., Granow, V., Quiring, O., Schemer,
C. 2018. ‘Lügenpresse-Hysterie ebbt ab. Mainzer Langzeitstudie
“Medienvertrauen”’, Media Perspektiven 4/2018, 150–62.
152 / 153
Recent Reuters
Institute Publications
Felix M. Simon and Lucas Graves, Pay Models for Online News
in the US and Europe: 2019 Update (May 2019)
Nic Newman, The Future of Voice and the Implications for News
(Nov. 2018)
Jason Vir, Kathryn Hall, (Kantar Media), News in Social Media and
Messaging Apps (Sept. 2018)
Supported by
Surveyed by