Highlights from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report

Here are some details from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2020.

• The coronavirus crisis has substantially increased news consumption for mainstream media in all of the countries where the institute conducted surveys before and after the pandemic had taken root. Television news and online sources have seen significant upticks, and more people identify television as their main source of news, providing temporary respite from a picture of steady decline. Consumption of printed newspapers, has fallen as lockdowns undermine physical distribution, almost certainly accelerating the shift to an all-digital future.

• The use of online and social media substantially increased in most countries. WhatsApp saw the biggest growth in general with increases of around ten percentage points in some countries.

• Global concerns about misinformation remain high. Even before the coronavirus crisis hit, more than half of the institute’s global sample said they were concerned about what is true or false on the internet when it comes to news. Despite this, the survey shows that the majority (60%) still prefer news that has no particular point of view and that only a minority (28%) prefer news that shares or reinforces their views. Partisan preferences have slightly increased in the U.S. since the institute last asked this question in 2013 but even here a silent majority seems to be looking for news that at least tries to be objective.

• The surveys sees significant increases in payment for online news in a number of countries including the U.S. 20% (+4) and Norway 42% (+8), with smaller rises in a range of other markets. Across all countries, most people are still not paying for online news, even if some publishers have since reported a coronavirus bump.

• In countries with higher levels of payment (e.g. the U.S. and Norway) between a third and half of all subscriptions go to just a few big national brands. But in both these countries a significant minority are now taking out more than one subscription, often adding a local or specialist publication.

• In most countries, local newspapers and their websites remain the top source of news about a particular town or region, reaching four in ten (44%) weekly. But the institute finds that Facebook and other social media groups are now used on average by around a third (31%) for local news and information.

• Across age groups, use of Instagram for news has doubled since 2018 and looks likely to overtake Twitter over the next year.

The research was conducted by YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/beginning of February 2020.

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