Reuters Institute and Digital News Report for 2024 - "A Platform Reset"

The Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford have released a report - Reuters Institute and Digital News Report for 2024.

The report that looks at the growing importance of platforms in news consumption and production, including more visual and video-led social media such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

It explores audience attitudes towards the use of AI in news, the role of creators and news influencers, how much people pay for news and more.

The report documents the scale and impact of these ‘platform resets’. With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube on the rise, they look at why consumers are embracing more video consumption and investigate which mainstream and alternative accounts – including creators and influencers – are getting most attention when it comes to news.

Amazing data and trends coming out of the Reuters Institute and Digital News Report for 2024 . This comprehensive document is a goldmine of news consumption insights.

The Digital News Report 2024 Executive Summary summarizes the report's findings about the consumption of online news globally. It is based on a YouGov survey of more than 95,000 people in 47 countries representing half of the world's population.

With TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube on the rise, we look at why consumers are embracing more video consumption and investigate which mainstream and alternative accounts – including creators and influencers – are getting most attention when it comes to news. - Reuters Institute and Digital News Report for 2024

It delves into pivotal areas such as:

• We explore the very 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.
• For the first time in our survey, we also take a detailed look at consumer attitudes towards the use of AI in the news, supported by qualitative research in three countries (the UK, US, and Mexico).
• As publishers rapidly adopt AI, to make their businesses more efficient and to personalise content, our research suggests they need to proceed with caution, as the public generally wants humans in the driving seat at all times.

Top 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report Findings

The 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report highlights several key trends in news consumption:

1. Preferred Formats: While most users still prefer reading news, video news consumption is growing, particularly in countries like the Philippines and Thailand.
2. Podcast Popularity: News podcasts are popular among educated and younger audiences, though still a minority activity.
3. Platform Influence: The dominance of platforms like Google and Facebook is decreasing, with more providers entering the market.
4. Access Points: Social media is now a more important gateway for news than direct access to news sites, especially among younger users.
5. Social Media Trends: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Telegram are gaining popularity, especially among younger audiences.

These findings indicate a shift towards diverse digital platforms and formats for news consumption, with significant implications for news publishers.

Key 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report Takeaways

• In many countries, especially outside Europe and the United States, we find 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, across all countries, in the last year.
• News use across online platforms is fragmenting, with six?networks now reaching at least 10% of our respondents, compared with just two a decade ago. YouTube is used for news by almost a third (31%) of our global sample each week, 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 our 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.

• At the same time, we find a rise in selective news avoidance. Around four in ten?(39%) now say they sometimes or often avoid the news – up 3 percentage points on last year’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, we find that the proportion that say they feel ‘overloaded’ by the amount of news these days has grown substantially (+11pp) since 2019 when we last asked this question.
• In exploring user needs around news, our 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, we find 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.
• Our 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 United Kingdom (8%) amongst the lowest.?As in previous years, we find 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.
• 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.

It is also worth noting the increasing success of mobile aggregators in some countries, many of which are increasingly powered by AI. In the United States, News Break (9%), which was founded by a Chinese tech veteran, has been growing fast with a similar market share to market leader Apple News (11%). In Asian markets, multiple aggregator apps and portals play important gateway and consumption roles, with AI features typically driving ever greater levels of personalisation. - Reuters Institute and Digital News Report for 2024

Conclusion:

the 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report reveals a shift towards video content, with platforms like TikTok and YouTube gaining traction, especially among younger audiences. News consumption is increasingly influenced by social media, while direct access to news sites declines. Podcasts also resonate with younger, educated users. Publishers must navigate this complex environment, balancing traditional methods with emerging trends to effectively reach diverse audiences.

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