Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024

"Our data suggest we are now at the beginning of a technology shift which is bringing a new wave of innovation to the platform environment, presenting challenges for incumbent technology companies, the news industry, and for society."

The Digital News Report, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, investigates how news is being consumed across the globe. Now in its thirteenth edition, the 2024 report is based on data from 47 markets across six continents and offers individual country analyses of data on news consumption, as well as more in-depth comparative analyses on emerging issues.

As explained in the executive summary, the ongoing challenges faced by the media - rising mis- and disinformation, low trust, attacks by politicians, and an uncertain business environment - "are being compounded by the power and changing strategies of rival big tech companies, including social media, search engines, and video platforms. Some are now explicitly deprioritising news and political content, while others have switched focus from publishers to 'creators', and pushing more fun and engaging formats - including video - to keep more attention within their own platforms. These private companies do not have any obligations to the news, but with many people now getting much of their information via these competing platforms, these shifts have consequences not only for the news industry, but also our societies. As if this were not enough, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are about to set in motion a further series of changes including AI-driven search interfaces and chatbots that could further reduce traffic flows to news websites and apps, adding further uncertainty to how information environments might look in a few years."

Based on a YouGov survey of almost 100,000 online news consumers in 47 markets (conducted at the end of January/beginning of February 2024), the report offers statistics and analysis on a country-by-country basis. The data offers an overview of consumption in each market, including details of the most popular online and offline news outlets, statistics about the different sources of news over time, devices used to access news (computer, smartphone, tablet), overall trust scores for news, public opinion on brand trust, and top social messaging and video networks. 

The 2024 report also includes the following chapters, which offer a comparative analyses on a number of emerging issues: 
 

• Public Perspectives on Trust in News
• Public Attitudes Towards the Use of AI in Journalism
• More than 'Just the Facts': How News Audiences Think about 'User Needs'
• How Much do People Pay for Online News? And What Might Encourage More People to Pay? 
• What Do We Know about the Rise of Alternative Voices and News Influencers in Social and Video Networks?

Within these chapters, the report offers insight into: the different levels of confidence people have in their ability to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy content on a range of popular third-party platforms around the world; consumer attitudes towards the use of AI in the news, supported by qualitative research in three countries (the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), and Mexico); the biggest gaps that lie between what audiences want and what publishers currently provide; the price that some consumers are currently paying for online news and what might entice more people to join them; and the rise of alternative voices and news influencers in social and video networks.

The following is a summary of some of the overall key findings:
 

• In many countries, especially outside Europe and the US, the study finds a significant further decline in the use of Facebook for news and a growing reliance on a range of alternatives, including private messaging apps and video networks. Facebook news consumption is down 4 percentage points (pp), across all countries, in the last year.
• News use across online platforms is fragmenting, with six networks now reaching at least 10% of survey respondents, compared with just two a decade ago. YouTube is used for news by almost a third (31%) of the global sample each week and WhatsApp by around a fifth (21%), while TikTok (13%) has overtaken Twitter (10%), now rebranded X, for the first time.
• Linked to these shifts, video is becoming a more important source of online news, especially with younger groups. Short news videos are accessed by two-thirds (66%) of the survey sample each week, with longer formats attracting around half (51%). The main locus of news video consumption is online platforms (72%) rather than publisher websites (22%), increasing the challenges around monetisation and connection.
• Although the platform mix is shifting, the majority continue to identify platforms including social media, search, or aggregators as their main gateway to online news. Across markets, only around a fifth of respondents (22%) identify news websites or apps as their main source of online news - that's down 10pp on 2018. Publishers in a few Northern European markets have managed to buck this trend, but younger groups everywhere are showing a weaker connection with news brands than they did in the past.
• Turning to the sources that people pay most attention to when it comes to news on various platforms, the study finds an increasing focus on partisan commentators, influencers, and young news creators, especially on YouTube and TikTok. But in social networks such as Facebook and X, traditional news brands and journalists still tend to play a prominent role.
• Concern about what is real and what is fake on the internet when it comes to online news has risen by 3pp in the last year, with around six in ten (59%) saying they are concerned. The figure is considerably higher in South Africa (81%) and the US (72%), both countries with elections in 2024.
• Worries about how to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy content in online platforms is highest for TikTok and X when compared with other online networks. Both platforms have hosted misinformation or conspiracies around stories such as the war in Gaza and the Princess of Wales's health, as well as so-called 'deep fake' pictures and videos.
• As publishers embrace the use of AI, the study finds widespread suspicion about how it might be used, especially for 'hard' news stories such as politics or war. There is more comfort with the use of AI in behind-the-scenes tasks such as transcription and translation - that is, in supporting rather than replacing journalists.
• Trust in the news (40%) has remained stable over the last year, but is still four points lower overall than it was at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. Finland remains the country with the highest levels of overall trust (69%), while Greece (23%) and Hungary (23%) have the lowest levels, amid concerns about undue political and business influence over the media.
• Elections have increased interest in the news in a few countries, including the US (+3), but the overall trend remains downward. Interest in news in Argentina, for example, has fallen from 77% in 2017 to 45% today. In the UK, interest in news has almost halved since 2015. In both countries, the change is mirrored by a similar decline in interest in politics.
• At the same time, the study finds a rise in selective news avoidance. Around four in ten (39%) now say they sometimes or often avoid the news - up 3pp on 2023's average - with more significant increases in Brazil, Spain, Germany, and Finland. Open comments suggest that the intractable conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East may have had some impact. In a separate question, the study finds that the proportion who say they feel 'overloaded' by the amount of news these days has grown substantially (+11pp) since 2019, when the question was last asked.
• In exploring user needs around news, the data suggest that publishers may be focusing too much on updating people on top news stories and not spending enough time providing different perspectives on issues or reporting stories that can provide a basis for occasional optimism. In terms of topics, the study finds that audiences feel mostly well served by political and sports news, but there are gaps around local news in some countries, as well as health and education news.
• The data show little growth in news subscription, with just 17% saying they paid for any online news in the last year, across a basket of 20 richer countries. North European countries such as Norway (40%) and Sweden (31%) have the highest proportion of those paying, with Japan (9%) and the UK (8%) amongst the lowest. As in previous years, the study finds that a large proportion of digital subscriptions go to just a few upmarket national brands - reinforcing the winner-takes-most dynamics that are often linked with digital media.
• In some countries, the study finds evidence of heavy discounting, with around four in ten (41%) saying they currently pay less than the full price. Prospects of attracting new subscribers remain limited by a continued reluctance to pay for news, linked to low interest and an abundance of free sources. Well over half (55%) of those who are not currently subscribing say they would pay nothing for online news, with most of the rest prepared to offer the equivalent of just a few dollars per month, when pressed. Across markets, just 2% of non-payers say that they would pay the equivalent of an average full-price subscription.
• News podcasting remains a bright spot for publishers, attracting younger, well-educated audiences but is a minority activity overall. Across a basket of 20 countries, just over a third (35%) access a podcast monthly, with 13% accessing a show relating to news and current affairs. Many of the most popular podcasts are now filmed and distributed via video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

Click here to read an executive summary of the report.

Click here for the interactive online version.