A series of ‘platform resets’ create new uncertainties for publishers as audiences worry about AI and misinformation.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has released its Digital News Report 2024, the most comprehensive piece of research on news consumption worldwide. It is based on a survey of over 95,000 news consumers and covers 47 markets, including Morocco, for the first time.
Here are some key findings:
- The report offers fresh data on a series of platform resets that are changing the way audiences consume news, including the rise of video platforms and news influencers, especially amongst the young. Across markets, only 22% identify news websites or apps as their main source of online news – down 10 points in 2018.
- Concerns about misinformation have risen by 3 points in the last year with around six in ten (59%) saying they are concerned. The figure is considerably higher for news content on X and TikTok, and is more widespread in South Africa (81%) and the United States (72%), both countries that have been holding elections this year.
- Audiences remain cautious about the uses of AI in the news, especially around hard news topics. There is more comfort with the use of AI in backend tasks such as transcription and translation, and in supporting rather than replacing journalists. Respondents in the US are more comfortable about different uses of AI than those living in Europe.
- Our figures suggest that news avoidance is at record levels. Up to 39% now say they sometimes or often avoid the news – up 3 points on last year’s average – with more significant increases in Brazil, Spain, Germany, and Finland. Interest in news has also plummeted in some of the countries we covered. For example, it has fallen in Argentina from 77% in 2017 to 45%. In the UK it has almost halved since 2015.
- News subscriptions have stalled in many of the countries we cover, with many people saying they would pay nothing and a significant proportion of subscribers paying less than full price.
Click here to download a South African-focused press release of the report.
