DNR 2018-Final Web

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Reuters Institute
Digital News Report 2018

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2018
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Reuters Institute
Digital News Report 2018
Nic Newman with Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos,
David A. L. Levy and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Supported by
Surveyed by
© Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Contents
Foreword by David A. L. Levy 5 3.12 Hungary 84

Methodology6 3.13 Ireland 86
Authorship and Research Acknowledgements 7 3.14 Italy 88
3.15 Netherlands 90
SECTION 1 3.16 Norway 92
Executive Summary and Key Findings by Nic Newman 8 3.17 Poland 94
3.18 Portugal 96
SECTION 2 3.19 Romania 98
Further Analysis and International Comparison 32 3.20 Slovakia 100
2.1 The Impact of Greater News Literacy 34 3.21 Spain 102
2.2 Misinformation and Disinformation Unpacked 38 3.22 Sweden 104
2.3 Which Brands do we Trust and Why? 42 3.23 Switzerland 106
2.4 Who Uses Alternative and Partisan News Brands? 45 3.24 Turkey 108
2.5 Donations & Crowdfunding: an Emerging Opportunity? 49 Americas
2.6 The Rise of Messaging Apps for News 52 3.25 United States 112
2.7 Podcasts and New Audio Strategies 55 3.26 Argentina 114
3.27 Brazil 116
SECTION 3 3.28 Canada 118
Analysis by Country 58 3.29 Chile 120
Europe 3.30 Mexico 122
3.01 United Kingdom 62 Asia Pacific
3.02 Austria 64 3.31 Australia 126
3.03 Belgium 66 3.32 Hong Kong 128
3.04 Bulgaria 68 3.33 Japan 130
3.05 Croatia 70 3.34 Malaysia 132
3.06 Czech Republic 72 3.35 Singapore 134
3.07 Denmark 74 3.36 South Korea 136
3.08 Finland 76 3.37 Taiwan 138
3.09 France 78
3.10 Germany 80 SECTION 4
3.11 Greece 82 Postscript and Further Reading 140
4 / 5
Foreword
Dr David A. L. Levy
Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ)
This is our seventh annual report that explores the changing This year we’ve looked in much more detail at the changing shape
environment around news across countries. The report is based of social media and the increasing importance of messaging apps
on a survey of more than 74,000 people in 37 markets, along with for news. We conducted a series of focus groups in four countries
additional qualitative research, which together make it the most (United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Brazil) where
comprehensive ongoing comparative study of news consumption we talked to users of Facebook and WhatsApp about how they
in the world. Europe remains a key focus, where we cover 25 used these networks for news. This has brought out a rich set of
countries including Bulgaria for the first time this year, but we insights about why people are often reluctant to share and post
also cover six markets in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong openly about contentious subjects and are increasingly choosing
Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) along with four Latin American safer, more private spaces.
countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico) and the United
States and Canada from North America. In terms of partnerships we continue to deepen our relationships
across the world with a multiplicity of distinguished academic
The report has expanded more than sevenfold since its creation, institutions. These have helped in a variety of different ways, from
from five countries in 2012 to 37 in 2018, but it is not yet fully preparing country profiles to in-depth analysis of the results.
global. Our use of online polling and the need to make meaningful Many of our partners are also organising events or country reports
comparisons have meant we have focused on countries with looking in more detail at national themes – adding wider value to
high internet penetration and which are either broadly this international project.
democratic or generally compare themselves to countries with
a democratic tradition. Inevitably this printed report can only convey a small part of the
data that we’ve captured. More detail is available on our website
This year’s report comes amid continuing concern about so-called (www.digitalnewsreport.org), which contains slidepacks, charts,
‘fake news’ and about the role of tech companies (platforms) in along with a licence that encourages reuse, subject to attribution
facilitating the spread of misinformation. Investigations have to the Reuters Institute. All of the website charts have a feature
been launched in many countries, whether about misinformation, which allows them to be used by – or be embedded in – any
use of customer data to target political advertising, or the other website or blog. On the website, you can also find a full
impact of the tech companies on the news industry. Against that description of our survey methodology, the full questionnaire, and
background we’ve tried to understand more about audience an interactive charting feature, which allows data to be compared
concerns about different kinds of information online, to provide across countries, and over time. Raw data tables are also available
evidence about the state of the industry across our 37 countries on request along with documentation for reuse.
as well as insights into the relationship between news publishers
and their users. Making all this possible, we are hugely grateful to our sponsors:
Google, the BBC, Ofcom, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland,
As with previous reports we’ve done this by triangulating survey the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM), the Media Industry Research
data, focus groups and intelligence from expert contributors Foundation of Finland, the Fritt Ord Foundation in Norway, the
across all of our countries. We have also introduced some new Korea Press Foundation, and Edelman UK, as well as our academic
approaches, through looking at trust at the brand level and the use sponsors at the Hans Bredow Institute, the University of Navarra,
of focus groups. As politicians and industry grapple for solutions the University of Canberra, the Centre d’études sur les médias,
on how to balance freedom of expression and regulation in a Université Laval, Canada, and Roskilde University in Denmark.
digital age we also bring further evidence about how audiences
view these issues. We have explored news literacy for the first We are also grateful to YouGov, our polling company, who did
time, developing a model that allows us to understand more about everything possible to accommodate our increasingly complex
how this influences trust and the ability to spot misinformation. requirements and helped our research team analyse and
contextualise the data.

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Slide 2
Methodology
This study has been commissioned by the Reuters Institute Final Total Internet
Country
for the Study of Journalism to understand how news is being sample size population penetration
consumed in a range of countries. Research was conducted by Europe
YouGov using an online questionnaire at the end of January/
UK 2117 66m 95%
beginning of February 2018.
Austria 2010 8.6m 85%
• The data were weighted to targets based on census/industry
Belgium 2006 11m 88%
accepted data on age, gender, and region to represent the
total population of each country. The sample is reflective Bulgaria 2021 7m 60%
of the population that has access to the internet. Croatia 2010 4.2m 74%
• As this survey deals with news consumption, we filtered out Czech Rep. 2020 11m 88%
anyone who said that they had not consumed any news in the Denmark 2025 5.7m 97%
past month, in order to ensure that irrelevant responses didn’t Finland 2012 5.5m 93%
adversely affect data quality. This category was lower than 1% France 2006 65m 87%
in Finland, averaged around 3%, but was as high as 8% in the
Germany 2038 81m 90%
United States.
Greece 2014 11m 69%
• A comprehensive online questionnaire1 was designed to
Hungary 2005 9.8m 81%
capture different aspects of news consumption.
Italy 2040 60m 87%
• Face-to-face focus groups were held in the US, UK, Germany,
Ireland 2007 4.7m 94%
and Brazil to explore issues relating to social media and
messaging apps. These were conducted by Kantar Media. Netherlands 2010 17m 95%
Norway 2027 5.3m >99%

Our survey was conducted using established online panels run by
our polling company YouGov and their partners. Because this is an Poland 2005 39m 73%
online survey the results will under-represent the consumption Portugal 2008 10m 72%
habits of people who are not online (typically older, less affluent, Romania 2048 19m 63%
and with limited formal education). Where relevant, we have tried
Slovakia 2006 5.4m 85%
to make this clear within the text. The main purpose is to track
Spain 2023 46m 87%
the activities and changes over time within the digital space as
well as gaining understanding about how offline media and online Sweden 2016 9.9m 93%
media are used together. A fuller description of the methodology Switzerland 2120 8.5m 89%
and a discussion of non-probability sampling techniques can be Turkey* 2019 80m 70%
found on our website. Americas
Along with country-based figures, throughout the report we also US 2401 327m 96%
use aggregate figures based on responses from all respondents Argentina 2012 44m 79%
across all the countries covered. These figures are meant only to Brazil* 2007 211m 66%
indicate overall tendencies and should be treated with caution.
Canada 2022 37m 90%
In fourteen countries, respondents this year were only able to Chile 2008 18m 77%
take the survey using a desktop or laptop computer. Although Mexico* 2007 130m 65%
all other quotas were met (e.g. age, gender, region), it is possible Asia Pacific
that the figures for device use in those countries may have been
Australia 2026 25m 88%
affected, specifically computer/laptop figures may be inflated and
Hong Kong 2016 7.4m 87%
in some countries smartphone and tablet numbers may be lower
than expected. It is important to keep in mind that many people Japan 2033 127m 93%
use multiple devices, and the dataset still contains smartphone Malaysia 2013 32m 78%
and tablet users who also use a computer. The countries affected Singapore 2018 5.8m 84%
were Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, Canada, Czech
South Korea 2010 51m 93%
Republic, Poland, Portugal, Austria, South Korea, Switzerland,
Taiwan 1008 24m 88%
Hungary, and Turkey. We have flagged the problem on country
pages where appropriate. * Please note that in Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey our samples are more
representative of urban rather than national populations, which should be taken
into consideration when interpreting results.
Source: Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com)
The full questionnaire can be accessed at www.digitalnewsreport.org

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Authorship and research

acknowledgements
Dr David A. L. Levy is Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism and an expert in media policy and regulation. He is the author
of Europe’s Digital Revolution: Broadcasting Regulation, the EU and the
Nation State (Routledge, 1999/2001), and joint author or editor of several
RISJ publications.
Nic Newman is Research Associate at the Reuters Institute and is also

a consultant on digital media, working actively with news companies on
product, audience, and business strategies for digital transition. He writes
an annual report for the Institute on future media and technology trends.
Dr Richard Fletcher is a Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for

the Study of Journalism. He is primarily interested in global trends in
digital news consumption, the use of social media by journalists and
news organisations, and more broadly, the relationship between
computer-based technologies and journalism.
Dr Antonis Kalogeropoulos is a Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute

for the Study of Journalism. His doctoral work was focused on the effects
of exposure to economic news. His research interests include political
communication, journalism, and audience research.
Prof. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is Director of Research at the Reuters Institute

for the Study of Journalism, Professor of Political Communication at the
University of Oxford, and Editor in Chief of the International Journal of
Press/Politics. His work focuses on changes in the news media, political
communication, and the role of digital technologies in both.
Country-level commentary and additional insight around media

developments have been provided by academic partners and by our
network of Reuters Journalist Fellows around the world2. Authorship is
referenced at the bottom of the respective country page in Section 3.
Additional expert analysis and interpretation of the survey data were

provided by the team at YouGov, in particular, Charlotte Clifford, Justin
Marshall, Sloane Francis Grant, David Eastbury, and Stephanie Frost.
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.
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Section 1
Executive Summary
and Key Findings
Nic Newman
Research Associate, Reuters Institute
for the Study of Journalism

This year’s report contains signs of hope for the use most of the time. By contrast, 34% of respondents say they
trust news they find via search and fewer than a quarter (23%)
news industry following the green shoots that
say they trust the news they find in social media.
emerged 12 months ago. Change is in the air with
• Over half (54%) agree or strongly agree that they are
many media companies shifting models towards concerned about what is real and fake on the internet. This
higher quality content and more emphasis on is highest in countries like Brazil (85%), Spain (69%), and
reader payment. the United States (64%) where polarised political situations
combine with high social media use. It is lowest in Germany
We find that the move to distributed content via social media and (37%) and the Netherlands (30%) where recent elections were
aggregators has been halted – or is even starting to reverse, while largely untroubled by concerns over fake content.
subscriptions are increasing in a number of countries. Meanwhile • Most respondents believe that publishers (75%) and platforms
notions of trust and quality are being incorporated into the (71%) have the biggest responsibility to fix problems of fake
algorithms of some tech platforms as they respond to political and unreliable news. This is because much of the news they
and consumer demands to fix the reliability of information in complain about relates to biased or inaccurate news from the
their systems. mainstream media rather than news that is completely made
up or distributed by foreign powers.
And yet these changes are fragile, unevenly distributed, and come
on top of many years of digital disruption, which has undermined • There is some public appetite for government intervention to
confidence of both publishers and consumers. Our data show that stop ‘fake news’, especially in Europe (60%) and Asia (63%).
consumer trust in news remains worryingly low in most countries, By contrast, only four in ten Americans (41%) thought that
often linked to high levels of media polarisation, and the perception government should do more.
of undue political influence. Adding to the mix are high levels of • For the first time we have measured news literacy. Those
concern about so-called ‘fake news’, partly stoked by politicians, with higher levels of news literacy tend to prefer newspaper
who in some countries are already using this as an opportunity brands over TV, and use social media for news very differently
to clamp down on media freedom. On the business side, pain has from the wider population. They are also more cautious about
intensified for many traditional media companies in the last year interventions by governments to deal with misinformation.
with any rise in reader revenue often offset by continuing falls in
• With Facebook looking to incorporate survey-driven brand
print and digital advertising. Part of the digital-born news sector
trust scores into its algorithms, we reveal in this report the
is being hit by Facebook’s decision to downgrade news and the
most and least trusted brands in 37 countries based on similar
continuing hold platforms have over online advertising.
methodologies. We find that brands with a broadcasting
With data covering nearly 40 countries and five continents, background and long heritage tend to be trusted most, with
this research is a reminder that the digital revolution is full of popular newspapers and digital-born brands trusted least.
contradictions and exceptions. Countries started in different • News apps, email newsletters, and mobile notifications
places, and the speed and extent of digital disruption partly continue to gain in importance. But in some countries users are
depends on history, geography, politics, and regulation. These starting to complain they are being bombarded with too many
differences are captured in individual country pages that can be messages. This appears to be partly because of the growth of
found towards the end of this report. They contain important alerts from aggregators such as Apple News and Upday.
industry context written by local experts – alongside key charts
• The average number of people paying for online news has
and data points from each market. The overall story is captured
edged up in many countries, with significant increases coming
in this executive summary, followed by Section 2 with chapters
from Norway (+4 percentage points), Sweden (+6), and Finland
containing additional analysis on key themes.
(+4). All these countries have a small number of publishers, the
majority of whom are relentlessly pursuing a variety of paywall
strategies. But in more complex and fragmented markets,
A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT there are still many publishers who offer online news for free.
FINDINGS FROM OUR 2018 RESEARCH
• Last year’s significant increase in subscription in the United
• The use of social media for news has started to fall in a number States (the so-called Trump Bump) has been maintained, while
of key markets after years of continuous growth. Usage is down donations and donation-based memberships are emerging as
six percentage points in the United States, and is also down in a significant alternative strategy in Spain, and the UK as well
the UK and France.3 Almost all of this is due to a specific decline as in the United States. These payments are closely linked with
in the discovery, posting, and sharing of news in Facebook. political belief and come disproportionately from the young.
• At the same time, we continue to see a rise in the use of • Privacy concerns have reignited the growth in ad-blocking
messaging apps for news as consumers look for more private software. More than a quarter now block on any device (27%)
(and less confrontational) spaces to communicate. WhatsApp but that ranges from 42% in Greece to 13% in South Korea.
is now used for news by around half of our sample of online • Television remains a critical source of news for many – but
users in Malaysia (54%) and Brazil (48%) and by around third declines in annual audience continue to raise new questions
in Spain (36%) and Turkey (30%). about the future role of public broadcasters and their ability
• Across all countries, the average level of trust in the news in to attract the next generation of viewers.
general remains relatively stable at 44%, with just over half
(51%) agreeing that they trust the news media they themselves
Polling was done before the full effect of Facebook’s January algorithm changes had come into effect – perhaps with the exception of the United States.
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• Consumers remain reluctant to view news video within PROPORTION THAT USED FACEBOOK AS A SOURCE OF NEWS
publisher websites and apps. Over half of consumption IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS
happens in third-party environments like Facebook and
YouTube. Americans and Europeans would like to see Country 2018 Change from 2017
fewer online news videos; Asians tend to want more.
US 39% (-9)
• Podcasts are becoming popular across the world due to better
UK 27% (-2)
content and easier distribution. They are almost twice as
popular in the United States (33%) as they are in the UK (18%). Germany 24% (-1)
Young people are far more likely to use podcasts than listen to
Italy 51% (-)
speech radio.
• Voice-activated digital assistants like the Amazon Echo Spain 48% (+1)
and Google Home continue to grow rapidly, opening new Ireland 38% (-3)
opportunities for news audio. Usage has more than doubled in
Norway 40% (-1)
the United States, Germany, and the UK with around half of those
who have such devices using them for news and information. Sweden 36% (-)
Finland 33% (-2)
SOCIAL MEDIA REVERSE Denmark 34% (-5)
For the last seven years we have tracked the key sources for Netherlands 29% (-3)
news across major countries and have reported a picture of Greece 60% (-2)
relentless growth in the use of social media for news. Now, in
many countries, growth has stopped or gone into reverse. Austria 30% (-4)
Slide 3
Taking the United States as an example, weekly social media use
Czech Rep. 57% (+10)
for news grew steadily from 27% in 2013 to a peak of 51% before Poland 54% (+1)
falling back significantly this year to 45% (-6). To some extent
Hungary 60% (-4)
this represents a readjustment after the social media frenzy
around the Trump inauguration last year – but these patterns Turkey 51% (-3)
also exist elsewhere. In the UK usage grew from 20% in 2013
Japan 9% (-)
to 41% in 2017 before falling back. The decline in Brazil appears
to have started in 2016. South Korea 25% (-3)
100% Hong Kong 56% (+2)

Germany
PROPORTION THAT USED SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SOURCE OFFrance
100% NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK (2013–18) – SELECTED MARKETS
UK
Germany
Malaysia 64% (+6)
66% USA
France
100% Canada 38% (-2)
100% Brazil
UK
Germany
50% Germany
45%
66% USA
France
100% 39% Brazil France 52% (-5)
36% Germany
Brazil
UK
50% 31%
45% UK
66% France
USA Mexico 61% (-2)
100% 39%
36% 66% UK
Germany
Brazil USA
50% 31%
45%
66% Australia Brazil 41% (+2)
USA
France
0% 39%
2013 50%
2014 2015 2016 2017 36%
2018 45% Brazil
UK
50% 31%
45%
66% 39% Portugal 53% (-1)
USA
0% 39% 36%
36% Brazil
50%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
31% 31% Argentina 60% (-5)
45%
0% 39%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 36%
2018
31%
Q12b Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading, watching, sharing
0%
2013 0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 or discussing news in the last week? Base: Total 2017/2018 sample in each market.
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Note: Also showing change from 2017.
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news?
Base: Total 2013–2018 sample in each market. It is worth noting that average Facebook use for any purpose
has remained broadly static since 2015, while its use for news
has declined. This suggests either a fall in general engagement
Looking in more detail at these declines, we can see that they are or a reduction in exposure to news by the Facebook algorithm,
almost entirely due to changes in the use of Facebook, consistently as the company prioritises interactions with family and friends
the most widely used social network for news in almost every and tries to limit the impact of ‘fake news’. At the same time
country. News consumption via Facebook is down 9 percentage we have seen a rise in the usage of alternative platforms such
points in the United States and 20 points with younger groups. In as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat. In the next two charts
our urban Brazilian sample the use of Facebook for news has fallen we have averaged social news usage for around a dozen of the
to 52% – a 17 point change from 2016. It is important to note that countries we have been tracking since 2014. Average news usage
the decline is not universal. Facebook news usage is up significantly for Facebook has fallen from 42% in 2016 to 36% today while
in Malaysia and the Czech Republic. But in most countries the other networks are stable or have been growing rapidly.
picture is one of decline.

PROPORTION THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR PROPORTION THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR ANY
NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK (2014–18) – SELECTED MARKETS PURPOSE IN THE LAST WEEK (2014–18) – SELECTED MARKETS
36% Facebook
75% 75%
15% WhatsApp
36% Facebook 11% Twitter 65%

75%
50% 42% -6pp 15% WhatsApp 50% 8% FB Messenger 42%
36%
11% Twitter 6% Instagram 36%
42% -6pp 50% 8% FB Messenger 3% 27%
25% 25% Snapchat
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE36%
STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
6% 23%
Slide 7
Instagram
25% 3% Snapchat 12%

0% 0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading, watching,
0% sharing or discussing Q12A. Which, if any, of the following have you used for any purpose in the last week?
2015 news2016 2017
in the last week? 2018 in selected markets: 2014 = 18859, 2015 = 23557, 2016
Base: Total sample 2014 2015
= 24814, 2017 Base:2016
Total sample 2017
across selected2018
markets: 2014 = 18859, 2015 = 23557, 2016 = 24814, 2017 = 24487,
= 24487, 2018 = 24735. Note: From 2015-18, the 12 markets included are UK, US, Germany, France, Spain, 2018 = 24735. Note: From 2015-18, the 12 markets included are UK, US, Germany, France, Spain, Italy,
Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Australia, Brazil. In 2014, we did not poll in Australia or Ireland. Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Australia, Brazil. In 2014, we did not poll in Australia or Ireland.
PROPORTION OF REFERRALS TO NEWS WEBSITES FROM FACEBOOK (FEB 2017–MAR 2018)
Facebook algorithm change

50%
Summer 2017
Facebook algorithm change
de-prioritises ‘less meaningful’
news content
25%
Source: Parsely. Based on

share of referrers attributed to
Facebook across 2500
publishers across countries
within the Parsely network
0%
FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCTREUTERS
NOV INSTITUTE
DEC FOR
JAN FEB OF JOURNALISM
THE STUDY MAR / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Slide 8
2017 2018
It should be noted that our polling was conducted (mostly) before There have also been substantial increases in the use of other
the implementation of a much-publicised Facebook algorithm networks in a number of countries. WhatsApp and Instagram
change in January 2018 reorientating towards ‘meaningful have taken off in Latin America and parts of Asia. Snapchat
interactions’, with a consequent reduction in news content. Since is making progress in parts of Europe and the United States,
then, a number of publishers have reported a further substantial particularly with younger users.
decline in referrals. One publisher, Little Things, went out of
business in early 2018, citing Facebook’s algorithm changes as a PROPORTION THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS
critical factor.4 IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS
OTHER NETWORKS ARE TAKING UP THE SLACK

WhatsApp use for news has almost tripled since 2014 and
has overtaken Twitter in importance in many countries. WhatsApp Snapchat Instagram
But this conceals wide variations from 54% in Malaysia (+3) Malaysia 54% (+3) Norway 9% (+4) Brazil 16% (+4)
and 48% in Brazil (+2) to 14% in Germany (+2) and just 4% in Brazil 48% (+2) France 6% (+3) Argentina 13% (+4)
the United States (+1). Turkey 30% (+5) USA 5% (+3) Chile 12% (+4)
Q12b. Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading, watching, sharing or discussing
news in the last week? Base: Total 2017/2018 sample in each market. Note: Also showing change from 2017.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2018/03/06/facebooks-latest-algorithm-change-here-are-the-news-sites-that-stand-to-lose-the-most/#2b70d00334ec
4
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To some extent these increases have also been driven by publishers
changing their strategies in a bid to become less dependent on
Slide 10
WHY ARE CONSUMERS RELYING LESS ON
FACEBOOK FOR NEWS?
Facebook. For example, more media companies have adopted the
‘Instagram story’ format, which now attracts around 300m daily Survey and focus group evidence suggests a combination of
active users per day.5 The BBC have extended their activities on push and pull factors at play. Consumers are being put off by
Instagram into longer features and quizzes reaching 4.8m followers. toxic debates and unreliable news, but they are also finding
that alternative networks offer more convenience, greater
Meanwhile, Snapchat became an important source of news during privacy, and less opportunity to be misunderstood.
the school shootings in Florida in February 2018, illustrating the
subsequent anti-gun protests across the state with a navigable map
(see below). The Snapchat Discover (news section) now reaches 17% FACEBOOK vs WHATSAPP – HOW CONSUMERS PERCEIVE
Slide 9
of 18–24s in the United States, 13% in France, and 32% in Norway. THESE BRANDS
“What I’ve noticed was Facebook was everything to me

but now Snapchat and Instagram through different
Multi-faceted, creepy,
mediums are coming right up and making things more ego-centric, uncool uncle,
convenient than Facebook.” mid-life crisis, clean, generic
(M, 20–29, US focus group)
Best friend, fun, brings people

SNAP MAP OF STUDENT PROTESTS ON GUN LAWS & BBC together, straightforward,
REFOCUS ON INSTAGRAM
honest, reliable, discrete
Source: Focus group participants aged 20-45 in US, UK, Brazil, Germany. Conducted Feb 2018.
One common theory is that people’s Facebook networks have

got so big over time that they no longer feel comfortable sharing
content openly. As a result, they are moving discussion to
messaging apps where they can be sure that they are talking to
‘real friends’. This is sometimes referred to as context collapse,6
an idea reflected in these focus group comments.
“I use Facebook less, because I don’t want to have a close

contact to many of my ‘friends’ there. These friends on
Facebook are not important for me anymore. With my
inner circle of friends I communicate via WhatsApp.”
(M, 20–29, Germany)
“It’s a message to you [on WhatsApp] not a message

to everyone.”
(F, 30–45, US)
Focus group respondents still talk about finding stories on

Facebook (and Twitter) but then they will often post them to a
WhatsApp group for discussion, often using a screen grab or a
Source: Snap Inc and BBC/Instagram.
headline without a link. This is partly to avoid uncomfortable
political debates over Brexit or Donald Trump:
WhatsApp does not currently make it easy to distribute news or “I’ve actually pulled back from using Facebook a lot since
engage directly with users, but a number of media organisations
the whole political landscape changed over the last few
in Latin America and Spain have been experimenting with
years because I just find everyone’s got an opinion.”
‘broadcast lists’, news groups, quizzes, and audio notes. (F, 30–45, UK)
For more analysis see Section 2.6: The Rise of Messaging Apps “Even though you may disagree with your friend on
for News WhatsApp, friends are able to keep that good level of
respect, everybody shares their opinion, and anyone who
disagrees can joke about it. It’s a lighter mood to debate
news with friends on WhatsApp than on Facebook.”
(M, 20–29, Brazil)
5
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/01/instagram-whatsapp-vs-snapchat
6
This term was coined by danah boyd: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2013/12/08/coining-context-collapse.html

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2018 %00
Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to fix Facebook and to recreate a GATEWAYS TO NEWS
safer and less toxic environment. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has
also made cleaning his network of trolls and harassment a priority. The vast majority of our respondents (65%) prefer to get to news
The next year is likely to be a critical test for both companies through a side door, rather than going directly to a news website
in restoring trust and interaction on their platforms. Facebook or app. Over half (53%) prefer to access news through search
REUTERS
engines,INSTITUTE FOR THE
social media, STUDYaggregators,
or news OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE
interfaces thatSUMMARY
use
believe that deprioritising some news content is part of that
process, but our qualitative research suggests they need to be Slide 12
ranking algorithms to select stories, rather than interfaces driven
careful. Consumers still value news as part of the wider mix – by humans (homepage, email and mobile notifications).
they would just like it to be more reliable and more relevant.
Our survey has tracked the advance of distributed and
With discussion moving to other platforms, they say, Facebook
algorithmic access over the last seven years but our 2018 data
could end up feeling rather empty.
suggest a pause at least. The figures are almost identical with
a year ago with just mobile alerts, which tend to be produced
by human editors, edging up slightly.
MESSAGING APPS ON THE RISE IN
AUTHORITARIAN COUNTRIES
PROPORTION THAT SAY 01100 Algorithmic selection
(search, social media,
A safe place for free expression has been one factor driving EACH IS THEIR MAIN GATEWAY
the rapid growth of messaging apps in markets like Turkey, TO NEWS – ALL MARKETS
10110 aggregators) as
popular as editorial
Malaysia, and Hong Kong. In our data we find a strong 11110 selection (53%)
correlation between use of networks like WhatsApp and

self-expressed concern about the safety of posting political 50%
65% side-door access
messages. The highest levels of concern (65%) are in Turkey
(73% for U35s)
where a failed coup two years ago led to opponents of President
Erdoğan being jailed and the media muzzled. In a country that
the US NGO Freedom House recently labelled ‘not free’ for 32
the first time, encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp have 25%
24 23
proved a relatively safe way to express political views. Malaysia
which is labelled ‘partly free’ by Freedom House is introducing
Slide 11
new laws that could see anyone convicted of peddling ‘fake
news’ imprisoned for up to six years.7 6 6 6
0%
Direct Search Social Email Mobile Aggregators
media alerts
Q10a_new2017_rc. Which of these was the MAIN way in which you came across news in the last
week? Base: All/under 35s that used a gateway to news in the last week: All markets = 69246/19755.
PROPORTION CONCERNED THAT OPENLY EXPRESSING THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS ONLINE COULD GET THEM
INTO TROUBLE WITH THE AUTHORITIES – SELECTED MARKETS
100%
100%
100%
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey Malaysia
Malaysia
Malaysia Hong
HongKong
Hong
KongKong USA
USA USA
Norway
Norway
Norway
WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp
WhatsApp
30%
30% 30% 54%
54% 54% 38%38% 38% 4%4% 4% 2%2% 2%
6565 65 6363 63
5757 57 5656 56
50%
50%50% 5252 52 5050 50
4848 48
4545 45
2626 26 2424 24
2323 23 2121 21
0%
0% 0%
TUR TURSGN
TUR SGNSGNMYS
MYSMYSBRA
BRA BRAKOR
KORKORAUT
AUT AUT HK
HK HK CRO
CROCRO DENDENSWE
DEN SWESWEUSA
USA USANOR
NORNOR
Most
MostMost
concerned
concerned
concerned Least
Least
Least
concerned
concerned
concerned
Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading, watching, sharing or discussing news in the last week? Q13a_2018_1. Please indicate your level of
agreement with the following statements. I tend to think carefully about expressing my political views openly on the internet because this could get me into trouble with the
authorities. Base: Total sample in each market.
7
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/world/asia/malaysia-fake-news-law.html
14 / 15
Behind the averages, however, we find very significant country PROPORTION THAT SAY EACH IS THEIR MAIN GATEWAY
differences. Two-thirds of respondents in Finland (65%) and TO NEWS – SELECTED MARKETS
Norway (62%) prefer to go direct to a website or app. Elsewhere,
preferred access is often via social media, with over four in Top Direct Top Social
ten preferring this route in Chile (43%), Bulgaria (42%), and
Finland 65% Chile 43%
Malaysia (40%). In some Asian countries, aggregators or search
are the main gateways. In South Korea, where Naver and Daum Norway 62% Bulgaria 42%
are dominant platform players, 47% say they prefer to access
Sweden 52% Malaysia 40%
via search and 30% via a news aggregator. Just 5% prefer to
go directly to a news website or app, by far the lowest in our Denmark 52% Argentina 37%
survey. In Japan, where Yahoo! is the main news portal, the
figure is just 15%.
These differences in preferred access points are critical. They Top Aggregators Top Search
show that Nordic publishers still have direct relationships Japan 36% South Korea 47%
with their readers, making it much easier to charge for content
online. Korean and Japanese publishers, on the other hand, South Korea 30% Poland 39%
find themselves much more dependent on third-party Taiwan 21% Italy 39%
platforms to access audiences.
Hungary 11% Czech Rep 38%
AGE DIFFERENCES
Top Email Top Mobile Alerts
Though the shift to distributed and side door access seems to have
Belgium 24% Mexico 13%
slowed down for now, this may just be a temporary pause with
new technologies such as Voice on the way. The demographic push France 14% Taiwan 12%
from under 35s remains towards greater use of mobile aggregators
Portugal 14% Sweden 12%
and social platforms and less direct access. Pulling in the opposite
direction is the rebirth of email, which is being used as an effective USA 10% Singapore 10%
tactic to bring consumers back to news websites directly, but this
channel mainly resonates with over 45s. It is unlikely to attract
Q10a_new2017_rc. Which of these was the MAIN way in which you came across news in the
younger users. last week? Base: All that used a gateway to news in the last week in each market. Note: Base size
is around 2000 in each market.
Slide 15
PROPORTION THAT USED EACH AS A GATEWAY TO NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK BY AGE – ALL MARKETS
% 75%
Younger Younger Older Older
53 53
% 50%
47 47 48 47 48 47
45 45 45 46 46 45 46 46
42 42 42 41 42 41 18-24 18-24
40 40
36 34 36 34
33 33 25-34 25-34
% 25% 35-44
23 23 35-44
18 16 18
14 15 14 14 15 14 1214 16 12 14 45-54 45-54
12 11 12 11
55+ 55+
% 0%
Social media Social mediaSearch SearchAggregators Aggregators Email EmailDirect access Direct access
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: 18-24/25-34/35-44/45-54/55+:
All markets = 8179/12922/13672/13369/26052.

NOTIFICATIONS
REUTERS INSTITUTE FORAS
THEA GATEWAY
STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Slide 16
The fastest growing gateway to news over the last three years has been
mobile news alerts. These resonate with younger users who frequently
start their day with the lock screen. Picking up on this opportunity,
publishers have been sending more alerts on a wider range of subjects.
They are also starting to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make them
more relevant. In the last year we have seen strong growth in Latin
America, Spain, and most of Asia. Access has been stable in the US, UK,
and much of Europe after two strong years of growth.
PROPORTION THAT RECEIVED A MOBILE NEWS ALERT IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
50%
+3 +3
+2
35 35
+3 +2
29 +4
25% 25 +4 +3
24 23 +3 +2
22 22 +2
19 19 19 18 18 17 17 16 16 16
15 15 15 15 14 13 13 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 7
5
0%
MEX TWN HK TUR SNG POR SWE MYS ROU USA BRA AUS KOR SUI IRE CHL ARG SPA DEN FRA NLD UK NOR AUT GRE BEL CAN ITA BUL GER POL SVK JPN CRO HUN FIN CZE ALL
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: Total sample in each market.
Note: Also showing change from 2017.
One key question for news companies is whether consumers are “I don’t know the name of the app. I have an app on my
receiving too many alerts from too many different providers. Our phone, it was already there from the beginning, and
data show that for those receiving alerts the average number of breaking news notifications pop up there just like when
organisations
REUTERS sending
INSTITUTE alerts
FOR THE is highest
STUDY in Hong/Kong
OF JOURNALISM (5.6) SUMMARY
EXECUTIVE and I get a message.”
Slide 17
lowest in the UK (3.1), with an average of 4.2 across all markets. (F, 20–29, Germany)
One reason for these relatively high numbers is that aggregators Across all markets twice as many people say they get too many
like Apple News and Upday are now sending alerts automatically news alerts (21%) as too few (10%), though the majority (65%)
in addition to individual news providers. This has increased the still feel they are getting the right amount.
number of alerts but also the number of duplicate alerts – and
also led to some confusion about where alerts may come from. Only in the UK do more people say they would like to get more
alerts than fewer. This is likely to be partly because the BBC News
app, which sends alerts to around 5m people, is relatively restrained.
PROPORTION WHO WANT TO RECEIVE MORE OR FEWER NEWS ALERTS – SELECTED MARKETS
100%
100%
More
More
Right
Right
amount
amount
Fewer
Fewer
74 74
71 71 71 71
66 66 65 65 65 65
50%
50%
42 42
34 34
100%
21 21 21 21 21 21 More
19 19 18 18 17 17 15 15 16 16
Right amount
3 3 5 5 10 10 10 10
9 9
Fewer
0%0% 74
71 71
Taiwan
Taiwan USAUSA Sweden
Sweden
66 France
France Germany
Germany UK UK 65 ALLALL
(selected
(selected
65 markets)
markets)
50%
Q10b_2018_2. Thinking about the news notifications you currently receive, which of the following statements do you most agree with? I get too many news notifications/I get the right number of news
notifications/I’d be happy getting more news notifi42 cations. Base: All who received a news alert in the last week in each/all markets: Taiwan = 350, US = 448, Sweden = 447, France = 299, Germany = 202, UK = 314, Selected
markets = 7494. Note: We also asked this question in Italy, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Canada.
34
19 21 21 21
18 17 16
15
3 5 10 10
9
16 / 17

ATTRACTING MORE PEOPLE TO USE ALERTS TRUST IN THE NEWS MEDIA
Slide 18
Around four in ten of those not using alerts (37%) say that nothing Winning consumer trust is becoming the central issue of our times
would persuade them to sign up. But there are opportunities as businesses
REUTERS compete
INSTITUTE forSTUDY
FOR THE attention in a digital/world
OF JOURNALISM – andSUMMARY
EXECUTIVE where
amongst other smartphone users who are interested in news but
so far have been reluctant to sign up. The main barriers are the Slide 19
user allegiance can transfer in the blink of an eye. As the Edelman
Trust Barometer8 has documented, trust has been declining in
fear of being bombarded with notifications (18%), and concern many institutions, as well as in the news media, over many years.
about receiving the same alert multiple times (16%).
But have we now reached the bottom? At an aggregate level,
this year, we see a relatively stable picture. Fewer than half of us
(44%) say we trust the media most of the time but we are more
PROPORTION THAT SAY EACH REASON WOULD ENCOURAGE likely to trust media we use ourselves (51%). This has increased by
THEM TO USE NEWS ALERTS – SELECTED MARKETS
2 percentage points in the last year.
PROPORTION THAT SAY THEY TRUST NEWS FROM EACH
37%
say ‘nothing’ would encourage them to
SOURCE – ALL MARKETS
Trust news Trust news Trust news Trust news

get news notifications / alerts overall I use in search in social
44% 51% 34% 23%
18%
would be encouraged if they could control
(+1) (+2)
the number received

Q6_2018_1/2/3/4. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements. I
think you can trust ‘most news’/’news I consume’/’news in social media’/’news in search engines’
most of the time. Base: Total sample in all markets = 74194.
16%
would be encouraged if they could reduce
By contrast, only a third of our aggregated sample says they trust
the news they find in search engines (34%) most of the time, while
duplication from different providers news in social media is seen as even more unreliable (23%). This
reflects the previous discussion about the often unsatisfying
experience of news in Facebook, but is also a natural consequence
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of seeing more sources when in aggregated environments (Digital
Q10b_2018_4. You use a mobile device but said you have not received a mobile notification in
Slide 20
the last week, which of the following features would encourage you to use or install alerts/
notifications for news? Base: All that use a smartphone or tablet but did not receive a news alert in
News Report, 2016, 2017). If these perspectives are different – which
they often are – this can lead to confusion, greater scepticism, and
the last week: Selected markets = 44746. Note: This question was not asked in Greece, Brazil,
Argentina, Mexico, Chile. ultimately to a lack of trust.
Looking at more detailed data on general news trust, we see more
movement and significant variations across countries. Finland is
holding steady at the top (62%) along with Portugal (62%). Greece
(26%) and South Korea (25%) remain anchored at the bottom,
though their scores have each increased by 2 percentage points.
Trust in the news is substantially up in a number of countries,
PROPORTION THAT AGREE YOU CAN TRUST MOST NEWS notably Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.
MOST OF THE TIME – ALL MARKETS
100%
-5
62 62
59 59 58
-7 -4
56
54
50% 53 53 52
50 50 49 48
-4
47 47
45 44 43 42 42 42 41 41 41
39 38 38
35 34 34
32 31 30 29
26 25
0%
FIN POR BRA NLD CAN DEN IRE BEL CHL SUI AUS GER MEX POL SGN NOR HK SPA JPN ROU ITA UK ARG SWE AUT CRO BUL TUR FRA SVK USA TWN CZE MYS HUN GRE 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. Note: Also showing change from 2017.
https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer
8

Declining trust often seems to be linked to political tension.

Slide 22
the last week. Local television news is most trusted, with a mean
Trust is down 7 points in Spain (44%) as the media have become score of over six (6.5), and Breitbart least trusted (3.69). However
caught up in the wider splits in Spanish society after the Catalan for those who use Breitbart regularly, the trust score jumps to
referendum. It is also down in Austria (-4) following a divisive 6.96 reflecting its highly partisan user base.
series of elections and in Poland (-5) where the government has
For more analysis see Section 2.3: Which Brands do we Trust and Why?
been accused of cracking down on private media in the name of
combating ‘fake news’.9
AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS – US

POLARISATION AND TRUST IN THE UNITED STATES
The impact of Donald Trump’s first year as US President can be 6.5
Local television news
seen in the next chart, which also shows how polarised the news 7.09 User of brand
media have become. Trust was already unevenly distributed in Wall Street Journal
6.06
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7.24
2016, but post-election we find that those who identify on the left
Slide 21
(49%) have almost three times as much trust in the news as those ABC News
5.84
7.17
on the right (17%). The left gave their support to newspapers like 5.84
Heard of brand
CBS News
the Washington Post and New York Times while the right’s alienation 7.27
from mainstream media has become ever more entrenched. 5.82

NPR News
7.98
This chart reminds us that trust or lack of trust in the media is 5.78
Washington Post
closely linked to perceived political bias. In this year’s Reuters 7.39
5.75
New York Times
7.42
5.56
NBC/MSNBC News
PROPORTION THAT AGREE YOU CAN TRUST MOST NEWS 7.21
MOST OF THE TIME BY POLITICAL LEANING (2016-18) – US 5.38
CNN
7.2
100% 5.24
Trump victory Media trust Yahoo! News
6.27
leads left to on the right hits
re-invest trust in a low Left 5.11
liberal media HuffPost
Right 6.74
6.5 5.07
Local television news Vice News
7.09 6.56 User of brand
50%
51 49 6.06 4.85
Wall Street Journal
Buzzfeed News 7.24 6.12
100% 34 5.84 4.84

Trump victory Media trust ABC News Fox News
7.17
leads left to 23 20
on the right hits
7.0
Heard of brand
re-invest trust in a low 17 Left 5.846.5
3.69
liberal media Local television
Right news Breitbart
CBS News
7.09
7.27 6.96 User of brand
0%
2016 2017 2018 6.06
5.82
Wall Street
NPR Journal
News
50% 0 7.247.98
5 10 15
51 49
Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this 5.84
5.78
ABC News
Washington Post How trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale
34 in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Q6_2018_1. Please indicate your Q6_2018. 7.17
7.39
level of agreement with the following statements. I think you can trust most news most of the below, where 0 is ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: TotalHeard
sample/all
of brand
23 Base: Left/right: 2016
time. 20= 476/591, 2017 = 530/533, 2018 = 567/550. who used each brand in the last week. Note: People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand
5.84
5.75
17 CBS
New York News
wereTimes
excluded. Bases vary for users of each
7.42 brand, but all were above 50.
7.27
0%
Institute Memorial
2016 2017 Lecture, Washington Post Editor Marty
2018
NPRNews
NBC/MSNBC News
5.82
5.56
7.217.98
Baron accepted that in the United States ‘tribalism in media
5.78
5.38
consumption is becoming more pronounced’,10 which is why WashingtonCNN
Post
7.39
7.2
attempts to improve trust levels with better facts or more 5.75
5.24
New York Times
Yahoo! News
transparency alone may not be enough. Inclusive reporting that 6.27 7.42
bridges political divides and reflects different perspectives and 5.56

5.11
NBC/MSNBC News
HuffPost
7.21
6.74
voices will need to be part of the solution too.
5.38
5.07
CNN
Vice News
6.567.2
5.24
4.85
BRAND LEVEL TRUST Yahoo! News
Buzzfeed
6.27
6.12
5.11
4.84
We can see this story about polarisation and perceived bias HuffPost
Fox News
6.74
7.0
expressed in a new and powerful way with the help of brand level 3.69 5.07
Vice News
Breitbart
trust scores. For the first time this year, we asked respondents to 6.56
6.96
score top brands in each country (where 0 is not at all trustworthy Buzzfeed News 0
4.85
56.12 10 15
and 10 is completely trustworthy). Taking the US as an example,
4.84
we can see scores for all those who have heard of the brand, Fox News
7.0
followed by a second score for those who have actually used it in
3.69
Breitbart
6.96
0 5 10 15
9
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/12/11/the-polish-government-is-cracking-down-on-private-media-in-the-name-of-combating-fake-news (paywall).
10
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/full-text-when-president-wages-war-press-work
18 / 19
We can also
REUTERS look at
INSTITUTE theTHE
FOR same data
STUDY OFthrough a political
JOURNALISM lens.SUMMARY
/ EXECUTIVE In the established brands like the New York Times in the US or BBC News
Slide 23
next chart the trust scores of those who self-identify on the right
are represented by blue dots, those from the left by red dots, and
in the UK. This approach would also tend to down-rate hyper
partisan brands like Breitbart because they do not have trust with
those in the centre with orange dots. different types of people. On the other hand, if they take notice
of whether an individual uses the brand, people could see more
Fox News and Breitbart have much higher levels of trust from content from hyper partisan sites.
those on the right (represented by the blue dots) whereas CNN
and MSNBC show the reverse. Those on the left give CNN a score Looking at brand trust across countries, we find that TV brands
of 7.1, with right-leaning respondents rating the network just 2.4. (or digital brands with a TV heritage) score best, followed by
Fox News gets a high rating from the right (6.9) and a very low one upmarket newspaper brands. Digital-born brands and popular
from those on the left (2.4). Breitbart News is also well trusted newspaper brands do worst. Public broadcasters (PSBs) score
on the right (5.5) but those on the left give it a score of less than best in countries where they are seen to be independent of
two (1.9). Similar charts for other countries (e.g. Germany and UK) government. But in countries like Italy and Spain they have lower
show far narrower gaps in partisan trust. scores in absolute terms but also in relation to other types. In
Spain, flourishing digital-born brands carry more trust than any
AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN type of ‘legacy media’.
SELECTED NEWS BRANDS – US Left Centre Right
Fox News
‘FAKE NEWS’ EXPLORED
CNN
Related to trust, we have asked a series of further questions this
NBC/MSNBC News
year to understand public concern about ‘fake’ or unreliable news.
Breitbart This is a difficult area to research because the term is both poorly
0 2 4 6 8 10 defined and highly politicised. Our approach was, first, to ask about
general concern to capture variation across countries and then
Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this
to break the term down to understand how much people were
in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Q6_2018. How trustworthy exposed to different types of unreliable information, identified by
would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale below, where 0 is ‘not at all
trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: Left/centre/right: US = 567/970/550. Note: audiences in focus groups last year.12
People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand were excluded.
More than half of our global sample (54%) expresses concern or

TRUST SCORES AND FACEBOOK strong concern about ‘what is real or fake’, when thinking about
online news. There are significant country variations, with Brazil
These scores are important because Facebook have decided to (85%), Spain (69%), France (62%), and the US (64%) at the top end.
ask an almost identical question of their community as part of the These are all polarised countries where recent or ongoing election
response to what they call ‘false news’. It’s not entirely clear how or referendum campaigns have been affected by disinformation
they willINSTITUTE
REUTERS use the results
FOR THEinSTUDY
their OF
ranking algorithm
JOURNALISM but it isSUMMARY
/ EXECUTIVE likely and misinformation. By contrast, there is much less concern
in Germany (37%)13 and the Netherlands (30%)14 where recent
Slide 24
they will downgrade brands with low trust scores and upgrade
brands with high scores. This process has already started in the elections passed off largely without alarm. It is also worth noting
US where they have also said they will uprate brands that are that politics tends to be less polarised in these countries and social
trusted by different types of people.11 media play a less important role as a source of news.
Facebook will not reveal their scores, but we are publishing For more see Section 2.2: Misinformation and Disinformation Unpacked
our results for the top news brands in our 37 country pages
(see Section 3: Analysis by Country). If Facebook mainly look at
all those who have heard of the brand, this is likely to benefit
PROPORTION WHO SAY THEY ARE VERY OR EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT IS REAL AND
WHAT IS FAKE ON THE INTERNET WHEN IT COMES TO NEWS – ALL MARKETS
Issue in
upcoming
elections Catalan Popularised by
independence Trump and the
a flashpoint media itself
100% Low level

concern post
85 election
71 69 66 66 66 65
64 63 63 62 61 60 60 60 60 58
50% 57 55 53 54
51 50 50 49 49 48 47 46 44 43 42 41 38 37 36 36
30
0%
BRA POR SPA CHL GRE SGN AUS USA MYS MEX FRA KOR ARG TUR ROU CAN UK IRE FIN CRO ITA TWN HUN BUL SWE JPN SUI BEL HK CZE POL NOR AUT GER SVK DEN NLD ALL
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.
11
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/23/16925898/facebook-trust-survey-news-feed-media
12
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, and Lucas Graves, “News You Don’t Believe”: Audience Perspectives on ‘Fake News’, Oxford: RISJ, 2016.
13
https://www.poynter.org/news/fake-news-probably-wont-affect-outcome-germanys-election-heres-why
14
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/14/heres-why-the-dutch-election-is-resilient-to-fake-news.html

DEFINING ‘FAKE NEWS’ IN MORE DETAIL MIXED PICTURE FOR GOVERNMENT REGULATION
OF CONTENT
In focus groups (UK, US, Brazil, Germany this year) we find that Slide 26
ordinary people spontaneously raise the issue of ‘fake news’ in a Across countries respondents think that media companies and
way they didn’t a year ago. This is not surprising given extensive journalists have the biggest responsibility (75%) to sort this out,
use by some politicians to describe media they don’t like – and not surprising given that most of the content they describe as
widespread coverage by the media. But we find audience ‘fake news’ is generated by them. Consumers also think that tech
perceptions of these issues are very different from those of companies like Google and Facebook should do more to prevent
politicians and media insiders. misinformation (71%). But there is a much more mixed picture
when it comes to government intervention.
Yes, people worry about fabricated or ‘made up’ news (58%), but
they struggle to find examples of when they’ve actually seen this
PROPORTION THAT AGREE THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO
(26%). Of all our categories this is the biggest single gap between
MORE TO COMBAT MISINFORMATION – SELECTED MARKETS
perception and what people actually see. Even in the United
States, examples tend to be historic rather than current: MORE SUPPORT IN EUROPE
“I think during the election, the biggest thing I disliked The Catalonia crisis and alleged use of Russian bots has
Spain 72%
about Facebook was the amount of fake stories that escalated the issue with politicians demanding action
were on there. And I think since then it has gotten so
MPs investigating possible interference in the Brexit
much better.” UK 61% vote. The government says it will consider legislation
(M, 30–45, US) if tech platforms don’t clean up their act
French President Emmanuel Macron is proposing

Looking at our survey results, we find that when consumers talk France 61% legislation to ban ‘fake news’ on websites and in social
about ‘fake news’ they are often just as concerned about poor media during elections
journalism, clickbait, or biased/spun journalism. Indeed, this is New law already in place demands tech platforms to
the type of misrepresentation that they say they are most often Germany 59% remove offensive and illegal content within 24 hours
exposed to (42%).
LESS INTEREST IN US
“I see ‘fake news’ every day. I mean for example, some of

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Congressional investigation into Russian interference
US 41%
the stuff is just mediocre and over exaggerating and it’s
Slide 25
in US election using social and digital media
not always what it seems.”
(F, 30–45, US) Q_FAKE_NEWS_4_2_3. Please indicate your agreement with the following statement. The
Government should do more to make it easier to separate what is real and fake on the internet.
Base: Total sample in each market.
While politicians and the media often talk about ‘fake news’
in terms of Russian propaganda or for-profit fabrication by
Macedonian teenagers, it is clear that audience concerns are
very different, relating to different kinds of deception largely While almost two-thirds (61%) agree that governments should
perpetrated by journalists, politicians, and advertisers. do more, it is striking that sentiment is much more in favour of
action in Europe (60%) than in the United States (41%), where the
issue of ‘fake news’ seems to have had the most impact.
PROPORTION WHO SAY THEY ARE VERY OR
EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT EACH, AND
PROPORTION WHO SAY THEY SAW EACH IN THE
LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
When facts are spun or twisted 59
to push a particular agenda 39
When facts are spun or twisted 59
Stories that are completely made up agenda 58
to push a particular 39 Biggest mismatch between
for political or commercial reasons 26 59
When facts are spun or twisted concern and exposure
Stories
to push that are completely
a particular agendamade up 58
39 55
Poor journalism (factual mistakes,reasons Biggest mismatch between
for political or commercial 26 concern and exposure
misleading headlines/clickbait) 42 58 Greatest exposure
Stories that are completely made up
Poor
for political orjournalism
commercial (factual
reasons mistakes, 55 Biggest mismatch between
26 49 concern and exposure
Use of misleading
term ‘fake news’ (e.g. by
headlines/clickbait) 42 Greatest exposure
politicians) to discredit news media 31 55
Poor journalism (factual mistakes,
misleadingUse of term ‘fake news’ (e.g. by
headlines/clickbait) 49
42
43 Greatest exposure
Advertisements
politicians) that media
to discredit news 31
look like news stories 34 49
Use of term ‘fake news’ (e.g. by
politicians) to discreditAdvertisements
news media that 43
24 31 Exposed
Stories that are made
look likeup to stories
news 34
make people laugh (satire) 23 43
Advertisements that Exposed
Stories
look that are
like news made up to
stories 24 Concern
34
make people laugh0% (satire) 25%23 50% 75%
24 Exposed
Stories that are made up to Concern
make people laugh (satire) 0% 23 25% 50% 75%
Concern
0% if at all, are you concerned 25%
Q_FAKE_NEWS_2. To what extent, 50% In the last week which of
about the following. Q_FAKE_NEWS_3. 75%the following have you personally come across? Base: Total sample
in all markets.
20 / 21
In the United States, focus group participants were extremely THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE AND PARTISAN
wary of government interference, preferring solutions that NEWS WEBSITES
encouraged users of the platforms to behave more responsibly.
In recent years we’ve seen the emergence of a number of
“Well it’s free speech, right.” alternative, populist, or partisan websites that have grown
“Yeah it’s what our country is based on, right?” rapidly in some countries largely through free social media
“You can’t have the government doing that.” distribution. In most cases these sites have a political or
ideological agenda and their user base tends to passionately
(Fs, 20–29, US)
share these views.15 Examples are Breitbart and InfoWars in the
United States (right-wing), the Canary and Evolve Politics in the
But in Germany, there was a different picture with respondents
UK (left-wing).
often recognising the value of government intervention.
“I noticed that disclaimed content is removed within These sites should be distinguished from those that ‘deliberately
a few hours.” fabricate the news’, even if they are often accused of
exaggerating or tailoring the facts to fit their cause. Partisan sites
are said to have played a part in bringing Donald Trump to power
“If the trolls stop posting inadequate comments and in the United States and in mobilising support for Jeremy Corbyn
debates that would be great.” in the UK. Though ideology is a key motivator, some sites are also
looking to make money from these activities. The narrowness
of their focus also separates them from established news sites
like Fox News and Mail Online, which also have a reputation for
This research is a timely reminder that there is no clear
partisan political coverage, but tend to cover the full range of
agreement on where the limits of free speech should be set.
news (world news, sport, entertainment). Their audiences also
In the design of their software, US technology companies
tend to be more mixed in terms of left and right.
have long reflected a perspective that is heavily influenced
by the First Amendment, but that is now running up against This year we wanted to understand if these newer, alternative
European and Asian traditions that are more mindful of the sites and blogs were gaining traction outside the United States.
historic dangers of unregulated free speech. Striking the right We worked with local European partners in ten countries to
balance,INSTITUTE
REUTERS particularly
FORat a time
THE STUDY ofOF
greater polarisation,
JOURNALISM will SUMMARY
/ EXECUTIVE be identify a number of sites that matched our criteria; namely
Slide 29
critical for society but also for journalism. websites or blogs which have a political or ideological agenda,
mainly distributed through social media.
For more on proposed legislation on ‘fake news’ see Section 3:
Analysis by Country This methodology has a number of drawbacks; these sites are
hard to classify and compare. We may have failed to capture
important sites in some countries and survey respondents may
not always remember smaller sites that they come across in
social media.
PROPORTION WHO ARE AWARE OF/USED SELECTED ALTERNATIVE AND PARTISAN

BRANDS FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS
US UK Germany
7 2 1
Breitbart (right) Breitbart (right) Breitbart Germany (right)
45 19 17
3 2 3
Infowars (right) The Canary (left) Junge Freiheit (right)
29 16 11
5 2 2
Daily Caller (right) Westmonster (right) Politically Incorrect (PI-News) (right)
25 6 7
4 2 2
The Blaze (right) Another Angry Voice (left) Compact online (right)
32 9 9
5 1
Occupy Democrats (left) Evolve Politics (left)
24 5
1
Wings over Scotland (nat)
4
0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50%
Weekly use Heard of
Q5c_2018_12. Which, if any, of the following have you heard of/used to access news in last week? Base: Total sample in each market.
We can see from our data that the audience is overwhelmingly partisan. For example, over 80% of Breitbart’s audience in the US identifies as right-wing. In the UK around 75%
15
of the Canary’s audience identifies as left-wing, though with a small base.

Firstly, we compare the United States with the United Kingdom In Germany it might be more accurate to characterise these
and Germany, both of which have significantly lower levels of sites as anti-establishment. Politically Incorrect News (2%)
usage. Breitbart, for example, which operates in all three countries, takes a critical stance on Islam16 along with multiculturalism
reaches 7% of the US sample each week, 2% in the UK and just 1% and immigration and attracts an audience from the extreme
in Germany. In all three countries we also see a large gap between left as well as the extreme right. Compact Online (2%) is closely
awareness of these sites and actual usage. This suggests either that associated with the right-wing populist party AfD17, while Junge
their impact has been amplified by mainstream media coverage Freiheit (3%) is a nationalist newspaper brand that is reaching
or that people have used them in the past, but that they are less new audiences on the web.
relevant today.
Next we compare three more countries with active alternative
Most partisan sites in the United States come from a right-wing and partisan sites. In the Czech Republic a number of sites have
perspective and are popular with users who see the mainstream been labelled as disinformation websites by NGOs as well as
media as overwhelmingly liberal. Many are run by talk radio hosts the Centre against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats set up by the
(InfoWars, TheBlaze), or outspoken conservative commentators Ministry of Interior in 2016. The best known alternative site is
(Daily Caller). Here, one survey respondent offers a clear rationale Parlamentnilisty.cz which reaches 17% of our sample.18 Other
for using these sites. websites, many of which pursue an anti-EU and pro-Russian
agenda, have a more limited reach.
“Quite frankly, I get more substantial “real” information
from The Blaze and Infowars than I get from today’s In Sweden, a small number of right-wing websites reach around
‘fake news’ media and government pundits.” 10% of our sample each week with an agenda that is largely
(M, 76, US) critical of the country’s liberal immigration policy. Meanwhile
in Spain the situation is a little different. The weakness of
In the UK there is more of a political mix. Westmonster (2%) is a mainstream media has spawned a large range of alternative
pro-Brexit site partly funded by right-wing businessman Arron political websites and blogs, some of which have existed for
Banks, while the Canary (2%), Another Angry Voice (2%), and many years. Libertad Digital and Periodista Digital follow an
Evolve Politics (1%), represent various shades of radical opinion anti-Podemos and anti-Catalan independence agenda. Other
on the left. Wings over Scotland is a popular and influential blog sites such as Dolça Catalunya (3%) and Directe.cat (3%) focus
that fights for Scottish independence. Users of these sites say exclusively on the Catalan issue but from opposing perspectives.
they are looking for alternatives to the mainstream media: OK Diario, which styles itself as the ‘website of the unconformists’,
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY has featured in our list of main Spanish online sites for the last
Slide 30
“I’m keen for Brexit to happen. Westmonster and similar
news providers report on news the BBC and others avoid
few years with 12% weekly reach.
because it does not fit with their biased view.” “They tell the truth I like, not the damned politically
(M, 66, UK) correct truth.”
M, 65, Spain
“MSM [mainstream media] is biased, always covers the
news to show the Tories in a good light, you have to
look further if you want the truth.”
(F, 48, UK)
PROPORTION WHO ARE AWARE OF/USED SELECTED ALTERNATIVE AND PARTISAN BRANDS FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK –
SELECTED MARKETS
Czech Republic Sweden Spain
17 11 14
Parlamentnilisty.cz Fria Tider Libertad Digital
46 39 39
4 10 8
Prvnizpravy.cz Nyheter Idag Periodista Digital
10 27 27
3 8 4
Ac24.cz Samhällsnytt Elplural.com
9 18 18
2 8 3
Aeronet.cz Ledarsidorna Dolça Catalunya
11 17 8
2 6 3
Sputnik.cz Nya tider Directe.cat
10 31 7
6
Samtiden
22
0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50%
Weekly use Heard of
Q5c_2018_1/2. Which, if any, of the following have you heard of/used to access news in last week? Base: Total sample in each market.
PI News says it is engaged in a ‘fight against the Islamisation of Europe’. See: http://www.pi-news.org/about-us/
16
https://www.zeit.de/2016/25/afd-compact-juergen-elsaesser/komplettansicht
17
A round up of alternative sites in the Czech Republic by Forum24: http://forum24.cz/kdo-nas-dezinformuje-aktualni-prehled-hlavnich-zdroju-a-siritelu-fake-news-v-cesku/

18
22 / 23
PARTISAN AND ALTERNATIVE SITES IN EUROPE PAYING FOR ONLINE NEWS
German blog, founded 2004 While digital advertising remains a critical source of revenue,
Stance: Anti-immigration, critical of Islam most publishers recognise that this will not be enough, on its
own, to support high quality journalism. Across the industry we
are seeing a renewed push to persuade consumers to pay directly
for online news through subscription, membership, donations or
Czech portal, operating since 2008
per-article payments.
Stance: Pro-Russia, anti-immigration
Our data suggest that these efforts are paying off in some
countries, but not yet in others – with significant progress being
made by Nordic countries in particular. Substantial increases
Spanish ‘website of the unconformists’
have come from market leaders Norway (+4) and Sweden (+6), as
Stance: Anti-Podemos, anti-independence
well as Finland (+4).
All these countries have a small number of publishers who are
These sites reflect the wider populist and anti-establishment relentlessly pursuing a variety of paywall strategies. They have
movements that are sweeping Europe. Many set out to present the added benefit of coming from wealthy societies that value
an alternative to mainstream media, which they see as part news, have a strong subscription tradition, and where language
of a corporatist or politically correct consensus. For the most and the small size of their market protects them from foreign
part their reach remains limited, but high awareness suggests competition.
that their perspectives have been noted by the public and by
Many Norwegian newspapers use a hybrid paywall model
mainstream media.
(a combination of a monthly page view limit and some premium
These sites have been able to gain currency through social media content) supported by data driven editorial and marketing
distribution. But as Facebook takes into account trust scores, teams looking to convert users. Using these techniques,
becomes more risk averse on content, and refocuses on friends AftenPosten reached 100,000 digital subscribers in December
and family, we could see these alternative websites struggle to 2017 after just two years.
retain attention. Norwegian publishers are even able to charge for local news.
The Amedia group, which runs about 60 local newspapers and
For more analysis see Section 2.4: Who Uses Alternative and websites, has 160,000 digital subscribers, up 45% on last year.
Partisan News Brands? Adjusting for population size, this would be the equivalent of
Trinity Mirror in the UK selling 2m digital subscriptions – or
Slide 32
For detailed figures see Section 3: Analysis by Country
10m for Gannett in the United States.
In Sweden, leading daily Dagens Nyheter (DN) has more than
120,000 digital subscribers, with an average age 20 years younger
than the print readership. The company uses predictive data
techniques to target likely new subscribers and reduce churn.
PROPORTION THAT HAVE PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS IN THE

LAST YEAR – ALL MARKETS
Nordic countries lead the world in paying for online news.

Small markets with strong tradition for reading and subscription
14% 19% +2
ALL MARKET AVERAGE 10%
50% AVERAGE OF BENELUX
15%
AND NORDIC
COUNTRIES 20%
25%
+5
30%
+6
30 +7
25% 26 +4 +3
+2
20 20 +2 +2
18 18
16 16 16 15 14 13 12 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 6
0%
NOR SWE AUS HK FIN TWN SGP POL USA DEN BEL NLD ITA ARG SUI SVK IRE SPA ROU FRA KOR JPN CAN POR CHL AUT CZE HUN GER BUL UK CRO GRE
Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in the last year? (This could be a digital subscription, combined digital/print subscription or one off payment for
an article or app or e-edition). Base: Total sample in each market.

NORWAY The main beneficiaries of the US surge in subscriptions since

AFTENPOSTEN 2016 have been liberal newspapers like the New York Times and
100,000 Digital Subscribers the Washington Post. The Times has increased digital subscription
revenues by almost 50% in the last year as it heads for a target of
Meter + Premium REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
10m subscribers globally. The Washington Post does not give official
Cost / month: €21
Slide 35
numbers but an internal memo revealed digital-only subscribers
had reached more than 1 million, doubling in the last year.19 As the
SWEDEN
following chart shows, almost all the growth in the last two years
DAGENS NYHETER has come from those who identify on the left or in the centre – along
122,000 Digital Subscribers with under 35s. This is clear statement from those groups about
Meter + Premium the continuing need for high-quality journalism that can hold
Cost / month: €10 the Trump administration to account. These are also frequently
respondents with much higher trust in news than most Americans.
FINLAND
HELSINGIN SANOMAT PROPORTION THAT HAVE PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS IN THE
70,000 Digital Subscribers LAST YEAR BY POLITICAL LEANING (2016 AND 2018) – US
Meter + Premium 50%
Cost / month: €17.50
50%
2018
In Finland quality news provider Helsingin Sanomat has returned
to growth after 25 years of declining circulation thanks to digital. 2016
25% 29
They have 230,000 readers who pay for digital access, of whom
70,000 are digital only (up 40% in the last year) – part of a total
subscriber base of almost 400,000. 25% 29 16
15
9 8
It is not clear if the conditions for this Nordic success are 7
replicable elsewhere but more publishers across the world 15 0% 16
Left Centre Right
REUTERS
are now INSTITUTE FOR THE
experimenting STUDY
with OF JOURNALISM
these approaches./ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9 8
Slide 34
7
0% Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this
Left Centre Right
in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE
news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in the last year? (This could be a digital
TRUMP BUMP MAINTAINED subscription, combined digital/print subscription or one off payment for an article or app or
e-edition). Base: Left/right: 2016 = 476/591, 2018 = 567/550.
In the United States, last year’s Trump Bump in subscriptions
has been maintained with a headline rate of 16% paying for
some kind of online news. Elsewhere, there has been a slight Across countries, future likelihood to pay has also increased
uptick but progress remains painfully slow. amongst those who are not already paying. Almost one in five (17%)
of those who were not already paying said they are likely to do so in
PROPORTION THAT HAVE PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS IN THE the next twelve months – up 2 percentage points on a year ago.
LAST YEAR (2014–18) – SELECTED MARKETS
50%
RISE IN DONATIONS FROM A LOW BASE
The rise of subscription has raised concerns about a two-tier
Norway
50%
Sweden
system, where high-quality news is reserved for those who can
Norway
afford it. This is why some news organisations prefer to keep access
Australia
30% Sweden free but to ask for voluntary contributions.

Finland
Australia USA
26% In the UK, the Guardian adopted the approach in 2016 and since
Finland Denmark
25% 30%
USA then it has received 600,000 voluntary payments, raising tens
France
26% 20%
25% 18% Denmark of millions of pounds each year. It has also started to crowdfund
Spain
16% France around specific stories such as the recent US school shootings
Germany
20% 15%
18% Spain
16%
11% where it raised $125,000 to produce solutions-based reporting.
UK
15% 11% Germany
11% 8%
11% 7% UK Digital-born organisations in Spain have been partly funded this
8%
7% way for some time, along with National Public Radio (NPR) in the
0% United States and some local news non-profits. Some partisan and
0% 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 right-wing websites also appeal regularly for donations.
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in
the last year? (This could be a digital subscription, combined digital/print subscription or one off
payment for an article or app or e-edition). Base: Total 2014-18 sample in each market.
19
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/26/media/washington-post-digital-subscriptions/index.html
20
https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21735046-two-years-ago-newspaper-was-making-existentially-worrying-losses-next-year-it-hopes-break
24 / 25
One of our new questions this year reveals that more than two-
thirds of respondents (68%) are either unaware of the problems
of the news industry or believe that most news organisations are
making aINSTITUTE
REUTERS profit from
FORdigital news.
THE STUDY OFIn reality, most
JOURNALISM digital news
/ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Slide 39
sites are operating at a loss, subsidised by investors, alternative
revenue streams, or historic profits from broadcast or print.
Those that were aware that digital newspapers are making a loss
(10% of our sample) are more likely to pay for a news subscription
or give a donation. More widely, this year we have identified
different levels of news literacy within our online sample and the
next chart shows a clear link between knowledge about how the
news industry works and likelihood to pay in the future.
LIKELIHOOD TO PAY FOR THE NEWS IN THE FUTURE

BY NEWS LITERACY – SELECTED MARKETS
50%
50%
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WouldWould
consider
consider
Slide 38 36%
donating in
donating
the future
the future
in
36% Likely to pay

We find that relatively small numbers currently donate to news Likely to pay
for online news
organisations – just 1% in the UK and Germany, rising to 2% in in the for online news
future
25% in the future
25% 20%
Spain and 3% in the United States. But the scale of the opportunity
20%
could be much bigger. On average a quarter of our online sample
(22%) say they might be prepared to donate to a news organisation
in the future if they felt if could not cover their costs in other ways.
0%
Very low Low High Very high
0%
PROPORTION THAT MADE A DONATION TO A NEWS Very low Low High Very high
ORGANISATION IN THE LAST YEAR/WOULD CONSIDER
DONATING IN THE FUTURE – SELECTED MARKETS Q7aiv. You said you have not paid for online digital content in the last year. How likely or unlikely
would you be to pay in the next 12 months for online news from particular sources that you like?
Base: All with very low/low/high/very high news literacy in selected markets = 9926/10037/6619/2869.
WOULD CONSIDER Q7c_DONATE_2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement. I would
consider making a donation to a news outlet I like if they were unable to cover their costs in other
DONATING IN THE ways. Base: All with very low/low/high/very high news literacy in selected markets =
TODAY FUTURE? 11149/11898/8069/3790. Note: See Section 2.1: The Impact of Greater News Literacy for a list of markets
that were included and for details of how it was calculated.
US 3% 26%
This helps explain why the Guardian’s messaging – which flags
Spain 2% 28% ‘how much quality journalism costs to produce’ – has been so
successful. Raising awareness about the problems of the industry,
UK 1% 18% consistently applied, will resonate with those people who trust
news and find it valuable, and is likely to make all reader payment
models much easier to implement in the future.
Q7ai. You said you have accessed paid for ONLINE news content in the last year. Which, if any,
of the following ways have you used to pay for ONLINE news content in the last year?
Q7c_DONATE_2. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement. I would For more analysis see Section 2.1: The Impact of Greater News Literacy
consider making a donation to a news outlet I like if they were unable to cover their costs in
other ways. Base: Total sample in each market.
In qualitative responses, donations seem to strike a chord with

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTERS UNDER THREAT
those who are worried about ‘fake news’ and the independence of Many public service broadcasters across Europe have faced
the media. increasing pressures over the last year. Some politicians and
sections of the public routinely criticise PSBs for being biased
For more analysis see section 2.5: Donations and Crowdfunding: an
– often from a partisan point of view – while some publishers
Emerging Opportunity?
claim that their existence makes it harder for them to make a
profit in an already-challenging environment. This culminated
dramatically in Switzerland, where a recent referendum asked
THE LINK BETWEEN NEWS LITERACY AND PAYING
citizens to vote on the abolition of the licence fee. The result,
FOR ONLINE NEWS however, indicated strong support for public broadcasting, with
Success in raising donations (or acquiring new subscriptions) is 72% voting to keep it. Meanwhile, in France, President Macron
likely to be linked to the extent to which consumer awareness has reportedly described public broadcasters as a ‘disgrace’ and
can be raised about the value of journalism and the financial has pledged to make big changes. In Denmark, a right-wing
difficulties being faced by many news organisations.

PROPORTION WHO EXCLUSIVELY RELY ON PSBs FOR ONLINE NEWS – SELECTED MARKETS
25%
20%
15%
14
10%
5% 3
2 2 2
5 1 1 1 1 1 1
0%
BBC (UK) ORF (AUT) DR (DEN) Yle (FIN) RTE (IRE) NHK (JPN) NRK (NOR) CT (CZE) ARD (GER) France.tv (FRA) Rai (ITA) ZDF (GER)
Q5B. Which of the following brands have you used to access news online in the last week (via websites, apps, social media, and other forms of internet access)? Base: Total sample in each market.
coalition government has pushed through cuts at the main public More broadly, the proportion of people who exclusively get their
broadcaster (DR) of 20% over the next five years, while the BBC online news from public broadcasters is very low. In the UK 14%
needs to find £80m in savings from its news division over a similar only use the BBC as an online news source, but the figure for PSBs
time period. elsewhere is 5% or lower. Even in countries like Finland, Denmark,
and Norway, where investment in public media is considerable,
Criticism of public service media comes at a time when media most people who use a public broadcaster supplement this with
fragmentation and digital disruption, combined with the rise of news from other commercial sources.
‘fake news’, has led some commentators to argue that investment
in public media is more necessary than since the end of the It is certainly true that many public broadcasters do attract
Second World War.21 Public broadcasters and their websites tend large online news audiences. But almost all are more widely
to have the highest trust scores in our survey, at least in countries used offline. The best performing – typically those in Northern
where their independence is not in doubt. In these cases, overall and Western European countries – have a weekly online news
Slide 41
trust in the news also tends to be higher. audience that’s around half the size of its offline audience. In
countries where public broadcasting has traditionally received
There is also little independent research supporting the idea that less support, that figure drops to around a one-third or less. This
public broadcasters have a negative impact upon commercial pattern remains largely unchanged from when we made a similar
publishers.22 Our 2016 report highlighted that people who use comparison in our 2016 report, and could present a challenge for
public service media are no less likely to pay for online news. public broadcasters in the future as offline news use dwindles.
Online
Offline
PROPORTION WHO USED SELECTED PSBs ONLINE OR OFFLINE FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS Online
100%
HIGH ONLINE REACH LOW ONLINE REACH
Offline
Online
82
100%
HIGH ONLINE REACH LOW ONLINE REACH
72 Offline
67 65
64 62 62
82 56 57 55
50%
100%
HIGH ONLINE REACH LOW ONLINE REACH 48
72
41 43 67
64 65
36 62 37 62 37
33 31 57
50% 82 56 55
24 48
72 19
43 18
41 67 65 14
64 37 37 13
36 62 62
33 31 57 7
0%
50% 56 55
ORF (AUT) Yle (FIN) BBC (UK) DR (DEN) RTE (IRE) NRK (NOR) 24
CT (CZE) Rai (ITA) NHK (JPN) ARD (GER) ZDF
48 (GER) France.tv (FRA)
43 18 19
41 14
37 37 13
Q5A. Which of the following brands36 have you used to access news offline in the last week (via TV, radio, print, and other traditional media)? Q5B. Which of the following brands have you used to access
33 31 Base: Total sample in each market. 7
news
0%online in the last week (via websites, apps, social media, and other forms of Internet access)?
ORF (AUT) Yle (FIN) BBC (UK) DR (DEN) RTE (IRE) NRK (NOR) 24
CT (CZE) Rai (ITA) NHK (JPN) ARD (GER) ZDF (GER) France.tv (FRA)
18 19
14 13
7
0%
21
http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/04/emily-bell-thinks-public-service-media-today-has-its-most-important-role-to-play-since-world-war-ii/
ORF (AUT) Yle (FIN) BBC (UK) DR (DEN) RTE (IRE) NRK (NOR) CT (CZE) Rai (ITA) NHK (JPN) ARD (GER) ZDF (GER) France.tv (FRA)
22
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Richard Fletcher, Annika Sehl, and David A. L. Levy, Analysis of the Relation between and Impact of Public Service Media and Private Media. Oxford: RISJ, 2016.
26 / 27
WEEKLY ONLINE REACH OF GLOBAL NEWS BRANDS – SELECTED MARKETS
Country HuffPost BuzzFeed Vice CNN BBC NYT Yahoo!

US 18% (-6) 14% (-3) 5% (+1) 16% (-6) 10% (-2) 17% (-1) 18% (-7)
UK 10% (-4) 6% (-2) 2% (-) 2% (-) 43% (-4) 3% (+1) 5% (-1)
Ireland 7% (-3) 8% (+1) 3% (+1) 6% (-1) 17% (+1) 4% (-1) 8% (-4)
Canada 16% (-3) 12% (+1) 6% (+3) 15% (-) 10% (+1) 7% (-) 15% (+1)
Australia 9% (-2) 11% (+4) 5% (+2) 10% (+2) 14% (+3) 7% (+1) 17% (-)
France 10% (-2) 3% (-1) 2% (-) 2% (-) 2% (-1) 2% (-) 10% (+1)
Germany 7% (-) 2% (+1) 1% (-) 3% (-) 3% (-) 2% (-) 6% (-)
Japan 4% (-) 3% (+1) 1% (-) 4% (-) 3% (-1) 1% (-) 51% (-2)
Taiwan 2% (+1) 4% (+1) 2% (+1) 7% (+1) 8% (+3) 3% 54% (+6)
Weighted 10% 6% 3% 8% 10% 8% 18%

Average (33 countries)
Q5B. Which of the following brands have you used to access news online in the last week (via websites, apps, social media, and other forms of internet access)? Base: Total sample in each market. Note:
Weighted average calculated using population data from Internet World Stats and the World Bank: weighted = (country population * percentage adults * internet penetration * percentage accessed)/total population of
all countries surveyed. Brazil, Mexico, and Turkey are not included due to the absence of reliable data about their urban population. Bulgaria is not included to maintain comparability with last year. Figures for NYT are
based on data from 15 countries.
AD-SUPPORTED NEWS MODELS AND Weekly reach of the rebranded HuffPost is down in most of the
THE BATTLE FOR GLOBAL REACH countries we measure, perhaps affected by changes to Facebook
algorithms, while BuzzFeed News is also down in the US and UK
Despite the shift towards reader payment models, it is worth but generally up elsewhere. Traditional news brands, the BBC and
remembering that the majority of online news consumption still CNN, continue to build audiences in multiple languages alongside
happens through free websites, largely supported by advertising their broadcast output, which they monetise through advertising
(or through public subsidy). This is particularly true for a number and sponsored content.
of media companies that have set out to create truly global
brands. In the last few years many of these brands have been Ad models continue to be undermined by low rates of return,
focusingINSTITUTE
REUTERS on building
FORup a STUDY
THE local reporting presence
OF JOURNALISM in a number
/ EXECUTIVE of
SUMMARY
fraud, and increased consumer concerns about privacy. After a
Slide 43
countries, sometimes using local partnerships. In the following
table, we compare some of the leading companies in terms of
pause in growth last year, the use of ad-blockers is on the rise
again, alongside privacy browser extensions that allow specific
weekly reach, by country but also weighted by population. advertisers to be blocked. More than four in ten (42%) now use
blockers in Greece (+6) with significant increases in Germany (+5)
Yahoo! (18%), one of the internet’s first portals, remains by far
and the United States (+4). Concerns about privacy may be driving
the most popular global player even if it does largely aggregate
these changes along with greater awareness.
content rather than produce original journalism. It is strong in
North America, Latin America, and Asia.
PROPORTION CURRENTLY USING AN AD-BLOCKER – ALL MARKETS

10% 14% 31%
50%
+6 of smartphone of tablet of computer
users block users block users block
+4
42 +6 +5 +5 +5 +6
+6 +6 +10
36 +4
34 33 33 +4 +5
32 32 32 31 31 31 30 30 29 29 28 28 27 27 27
25% 26 26 26 26 25 25 25 25 25 +4
24 24 23 23 23
21 20
17
13
0%
GRE POL FRA TUR GER HUN CRO SWE POR SPA AUT AUS ROU CAN SUI ARG MYS IRE USA MEX SGP NLD DEN FIN BEL CZE ITA BUL CHL NOR SVK TWN BRA UK HK JPN KOR ALL
QAD3. And do you currently use software on any of your personal devices (e.g. laptop, smartphone, etc.) that allows you to block adverts on the internet (e.g. Adblock Plus)? Base: Total sample in each
market. Note. Also showing change from 2017.

Slide 46
SMARTPHONES AND NEW DEVICES VIDEO NEWS CONSUMPTION OVER TIME
The importance of smartphones – and our dependence on Consumption of online video has grown in recent years, largely
them – shows no sign of slowing down. On average 62% of our through the adoption of native video formats by social media
sample say they use the smartphone for news weekly (+6), only platforms (autoplay, short texted clips, Facebook Live, Periscope,
just behind the laptop/computer at 64%. In most countries, Snapchat video, etc.).
smartphone reach for news has doubled in six years.
The social video trend may help explain significant country-based
PROPORTION THAT USED A SMARTPHONE FOR NEWS IN THE differences in consumption, where the highest level of usage
LAST WEEK (2013–18) – SELECTED MARKETS tends to be in countries with higher social media use and more
offsite traffic (see chart on opposite page).
100%100%
62% (+6) SpainSpain Splitting this down further, the next chart shows that the majority
access news via USA USA of news video is now consumed offsite (51%). Facebook alone
smartphone across
all 36 countries UK UK (33%) accounts for as much video consumption as all news
64%64%
56%56% websites put together (33%). But an even larger number (35%)
France
France
56%56% REUTERS INSTITUTE
reject news video FOR THE STUDY
entirely; OF JOURNALISM
that figure / EXECUTIVE
rises to more SUMMARY
than six in ten
51%51%
Slide 50
50% 50% Germany
Germany
47%47% in the UK (62%) and over half of our German sample (56%).
Some markets, such as Hong Kong, have been more successful

than others in driving onsite usage (48%) with publishers like
Apple Daily pioneering and pushing new video formats. Indeed
0% 0%
2013 2013
2014 2014
2015 2015
2016 2016
2017 2017
2018 2018 the appetite for video in Asia (except Japan where there is a
very strong reading tradition) appears to be much higher than
Northern European countries.
Q8B. Which, if any, of the following devices have you used to access news in the last week? Base:
Total 2013-18 sample in each market.
PROPORTION THAT USED ONLINE NEWS VIDEO OFFSITE

In the UK, as one example, we now see the smartphone AND ONSITE – ALL MARKETS
overtaking the computer as the MAIN (preferred) device for
accessing news. The tablet has started to decline in importance Facebook 33%
100% 62% 48% 79%
as smartphones have become more powerful and versatile. no news onsite in offsite
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY video in UK Hong Kong in Turkey
Slide 47
These trends are important because shorter audience attention 56% 41% 74%
spans and smaller mobile screens are affecting the type of in Germany in Finland in Malaysia YouTube 25%
news content produced. Visually rich formats such as Snapchat, 50%
Instagram, and Google (AMP) stories are starting to offer new 51
opportunities for mobile storytelling, using native taps and swipes
35 33 Others 14%
to break up narratives. Pictures and videos need to be reformatted
using vertical aspect ratios and often annotated with text to work
in a mobile context. 0%
Consumed Consumed Consumed
no news-related news-related news-related
videos in the video onsite video offsite
PROPORTION THAT SAY EACH IS THEIR MAIN NEWS DEVICE last week
100% (2013–18) – UK Smartphone
100% Smartphone
+ Tablet
+ Tablet Q11_VIDEO_2018a. Thinking about consuming online news video (of any kind) over the
Tablet
Smartphone
Tablet Smartphone
100% 100% last week, which of the following did you do? Base: Total sample in all markets.
+ Tablet+ Tablet
Smartphone
100% 60% Smartphone
Tablet Tablet
60% + Tablet
Computer
50% Computer
Smartphone
Smartphone
50% 44%
60%
44% 60% Tablet
34%
34%
ComputerComputer
Smartphone
50% 50%
60%
44% 44%
Computer
50%
16%
34%
16% 34%
44%
0%
0% 34%
16% 16%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 16%
2013 2013
2014 2014
2015 2015
2016 2016
2017 2017
2018 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
UK8b6_5. You’ve said you use the following devices to access news in the last week, which is
your MAIN way of accessing online news? Base: All in 2013–2018 who used a device for news in the
last week: UK = 1638/1598/1795/1691/1733/1816.”
28 / 29
PROPORTION THAT USED ONLINE NEWS VIDEO IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
100%
86
81 81 78 78
76 76 75 73
72 72 71 70 70 70
64 63 62 61 65
60 59 58 58 57
50% 55 54 53
51 49 48
47 46 44
38
0%
HK BUL TWN KOR CHL ROU BRA CRO GRE HUN CZE POL SPA SGP ARG SVK AUS ITA POR IRE SUI CAN USA FIN NOR BEL AUT SWE FRA NLD JPN DEN GER UK ALL
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 in each market (excluding urban markets Brazil, Turkey
and Mexico).
PREFERENCE REMAINS FOR TEXT MORE VIDEOS REQUIRED?

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THEwe
STUDY OFbeen
JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY There are commercial pressures to push consumers towards
In a number of countries have tracking content type
Slide 51
preferences since 2014 and in all countries we still find an
more video, not least because ad premiums are generally higher.
But would consumers be happy if text stories were replaced with
overwhelming preference towards reading rather than watching.
video? The result of this question is fascinating as it once again
The US has pushed furthest towards video with 12% saying they
reveals a split between different countries and cultures. All Asian
mostly consume news in video (+2), but even here 62% say they
countries (including Japan) lean towards wanting more online
mostly prefer to consume in text. This figure rises to 86% in
news video, even if that means sacrificing text. In the US and
Finland. There have been some changes over time (especially in
Northern European countries there is a strong vote for fewer
the US and Spain), but these have been modest given the increase
online videos. Age does not seem to be a significant factor.
in exposure to video through social media.
Also showing change from 2014 -7 +2 +2
Don't know
PROPORTION
USA THAT PREFER NEWS IN TEXT OVER VIDEO 62 13 12 13
– SELECTED MARKETS Mostly video
- +2 -2
Also showing change from 2014 -7 +2 +2 I read text stories and watch
77+2 7 3 13 Don't know
UK showing change from 2014
Also -7
62 13 12
+2 13
video news about the same
USA Don't know
+6 +2 +2 video
Mostly text
USA 62 - 13 +2 -2 12 13
Also showing change from 2014 -7 71 +2 +2
Don't know Mostly video
Spain 16 7 6 I read text stories and watch
UK 77 - 7 3+2 -2 13 video news about the same
USA 62 13 12 13
-2 +2 +1 I read text stories and watch
+6 77 +2 +2 7 3+2 13 video
Mostly text
UK - -2 video news about the same
REUTERSFinland
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
-7 86 6 2 6
Also showing change from 2014 71 +2 +2
16 7 6 I read text stories and watch
Slide 52
Spain Don't know Mostly text
UK +6 77 7 3 +2 13
+2 video news about the same
USA 62 13 12 13
0% 25% 50% 75% -2 +2 +1 100%
+6 71 +2 +2
16 7 6 video
Mostly text
Spain - +286-2
Finland 6 2 6
Spain 71 16 7 6 I read text stories and watch
UK 77 7 3 -2 +213+1 video news about the same
0% 25% 50% 75% -2 +2 +1 100%
Finland +6 +2 86+2 6 2 6 Mostly text
Finland 86 6 2 6
Spain 71 16 7 6
0% 0% 25% 25% 50%
50% 75%75% -2 +2 +1 100% 100%
Finland 86 6 2 6
OPTQ11D. In thinking about your online news habits, which of the following statements applies best to you? Base: Total sample in each market. Note: Also showing change from 2014.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
PROPORTION THAT WANT TO SEE MORE ONLINE NEWS VIDEOS – SELECTED MARKETS
EUROPE AND US HAVE HAD ENOUGH ASIAN MARKETS WANT MORE
50%50%50%
EUROPE
EUROPE
EUROPE
AND
AND
US
AND
US HAVE
USHAD
HAVE HAVE
HAD
ENOUGH
HAD
ENOUGH
ENOUGH ASIAN
ASIAN
ASIAN
MARKETS
MARKETS
MARKETS
WANT
WANT
MORE
WANT
MORE
MORE Fewer videos
More videos Fewer
Fewer
videos
Fewer
video
v
33 33
29 More
More
videos
More
videos
vid
26 33 33 33 33 33 33
24 23
29 29 29 29 29 29
25%25%25% 26 26 26 19 18 18
24 24 24 23 23 23 15
13 19 19
11 18 19
18 18 11 9
18 18 18
7 7 15 15 15
13 13 13 5
11 11 11 11 11 11 9 9 9
SA UK GER 7 FIN
7 7 7 of7 all 7markets
Average JPN KOR5 5 5HK MYS
0% 0% 0%
USAUSAUSA UK UK UK GERGERGER FIN FIN FIN Average
Average
Average
of allofmarkets
allofmarkets
all markets JPN JPN JPN KORKORKOR HK HK HK MYSMYSMYS
Q11_VIDEO_2018b. News organisations can decide to produce stories in text or video format. With this in mind, in the future would you like to see more videos/the same number/fewer? Base: Total sample
in each market.

These differences do not seem to be related to underlying PROPORTION WHO ACCESSED A PODCAST IN THE LAST
preference, as two-thirds of respondents in Asian countries MONTH – SELECTED MARKETS
say they mostly prefer text. The explanation is more likely to
be connected to a certain weariness picked up in our European Greatest reach Lowest reach
and US focus groups about the amount and type of video being
South Korea 58% Netherlands 18%
pushed through social media feeds (e.g. Facebook’s news feed).
Hong Kong 55% UK 18%
“In some groups, people post videos all the time…”
Spain 40% Belgium 20%
(M, 30–45, Brazil)
Ireland 38% Germany 22%
“To me it is about the amount of time. I mean I like
visuals when you can put a chart, I like photographs,
but I don’t want someone to dictate to me how long I
have to watch it for.”
(M, 30–45, Brazil)
Some of the reluctance to use news video online comes down to a

perceived loss of control, while other factors include limited data
100m+ downloads
when on a smartphone and the difficulty of accessing sound on the
Est 3m regular listeners
move. Meanwhile publishers are struggling to monetise short-
form formats in particular, with changes in Facebook strategy and
algorithms proving an additional frustration. Many are now pivoting 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
away from short-form video and looking for other opportunities. month? Base: Total sample in each market.
THE RISE OF AUDIO AND THE ROLE OF PODCASTS

Podcasts have been around for many years but these episodic
VOICE-ACTIVATED SPEAKERS MORE THAN DOUBLE
digital audio files appear to be reaching critical mass as a One further driver of on-demand audio growth has been the
consequence of better content and easier distribution. The New emergence of voice-activated speakers. These allow access to
York Times has found success with its Daily Podcast, a 20-minute existing podcasts as well as new formats such as automated news
audio briefing, which has been downloaded more than 100m audio briefings. Media companies like Quartz are also developing
times. In the UK, the BBC has hundreds of podcasts, most apps (or ‘skills’ as they are known) that allow conversational
reformatted from radio output. Connectivity is improving in cars, interaction with the devices.
new audio devices are making discovery easier, while advertising
and sponsorship opportunities are growing. The Amazon Echo range (using the Alexa assistant) is the market
leader but is only available in a few markets like the US, UK,
Overall, a third of our entire sample (34%) listens to a podcast Germany, and Australia. South Korea’s tech companies Naver and
at least monthly but there are significant country differences. Kakao have their own devices, Apple has launched the HomePod,
Podcasts are twice as popular in Ireland (38%) as they are in while the Google Home and Google Assistant will be expanded to
the UK (18%) despite the BBC’s extensive, well-promoted, and over 30 countries this year. Usage for any purpose has more than
high-quality podcast output. One theory is that podcasts tend doubled in early adopter markets. Almost one in ten (9%) now
to perform best in countries like the US (33%) and Australia use them in the United States, 7% in the UK, and 5% in Germany.
(33%) where people spend a lot of time in their cars. The lower
levels of usage in the Netherlands (18%) may relate to shorter
commuting distances and more bike travel. But this can’t be the
full explanation. Loyalty to radio, levels of supply, and the amount
of promotion will also be important factors.
Proportionally under 35s listen to twice as many podcasts as over

45s. This is not surprising given that this is a generation that has
embraced both smartphones and on-demand services such as
Netflix and Spotify. Older groups, by contrast, remain more likely
to listen to radio.
For more analysis see Section 2.7: Podcasts and New Audio Strategies
30 / 31
PROPORTION THAT USE A VOICE-ACTIVATED SPEAKER some countries are looking to seize this opportunity to undermine
(2017–18) – SELECTED MARKETS or control the media. In authoritarian countries, in particular, we
9
2017 see often-draconian laws being introduced with extremely unclear
USA
definitions of what ‘fake news’ means.
2017
4 2018 9
USA
2017
USA
7 9 4 This is particularly worrying, because as our report documents, the
2018
UK
2 4 2018 7
root causes of this crisis of information do not all lie at the hands of
UK
2
technology companies or malevolent foreign powers. Indeed our
5 7
REUTERS INSTITUTE
UK FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Germany research suggests that audiences are more likely to blame media
Slide 55 1 2
Germany
5 publishers for spinning or twisting facts in a world that often feels
Germany
5 1
more angry and more partisan. Some may be enjoying the discomfort
South Korea
1
5
of tech executives as they get hauled in front of powerful politicians,
South Korea
0% 10% but the implications could be serious if new regulation makes it
55%
South Korea harder for journalists to hold the rich and powerful to account.
0% 5% 10%
0% 5% 10% In the light of this, the challenge for media companies is two-
Q8A. Which, if any, of the following devices do you ever use (for any purpose)? Base: Total 2017-18 fold. Firstly, there are the difficulties involved in navigating an
sample in each market.
increasingly polarised political climate. From Donald Trump in
the United States to Victor Orbán in Hungary, journalists are faced
with the choice of sticking to the facts or taking sides. A partisan
HOW PEOPLE USE VOICE-ACTIVATED SPEAKERS approach risks inflaming passions and potentially alienating
– SELECTED MARKETS some readers, while a more balanced approach can lead to false
equivalence and undermining trust of both sides.
Listen to music 77
The second challenge is economic and has been building for some
Access latest weather 67
time, but may be exacerbated for some by Facebook’s decision
to focus less on news. As our country pages document, journalist
lay-offs continue as media companies look to cut costs and diversify
Ask questions to get facts or info 61
revenue streams. ‘Fake news’ has galvanised and to some extent
woken people up to the importance of quality news, but that
Set alarms 47
narrative only seems to be true for a relatively small subset of the
audience; those with more money, those with more education,
Access latest news 43 those who trust the news media, and often those on the political left.
Others remain less engaged and less trusting of media than ever.
Shopping
(ordering goods, saving lists)
18
Uses for news/information
This year’s data show that the move to subscriptions and reader
Access podcasts 14 payment is real if unequally distributed. This in turn raises new
Other uses
questions about a two-tier system where those with the least
0% 50% 100% money also have the worst information. In some European
countries, PSBs may be part of the answer but many are losing
Q8C_2018. You say you have a smart speaker (e.g. Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple Home audiences and legitimacy in the move to online with their funding
Pod) which of the following do you do regularly, by regularly we mean most weeks? Base: All
who use a voice-activated speaker: Selected markets = 601. Note: We asked this question in US, UK, increasingly questioned by hostile politicians. Donations and
Germany, and South Korea. membership are emerging as alternative routes to squaring the
circle of open access and high quality content but it is far too early
to know how far this can develop.
AND FOR NEWS? Elsewhere, other potential solutions are being tried to help to
sustain quality journalism. These include many more examples of
Three-quarters of owners use their speakers for listening to music,
co-operation between publishers over journalistic investigations,
but news and information is also an important element. Almost half
and sharing of technology or data.
(43%) access news in some way (flash briefings or similar). Weather
is popular (67%), while six in ten (61%) access quick facts. More than This year has been a reminder that things that once seemed
one in ten (14%) say they use the device to listen to podcasts. certain – the importance of Facebook and the online advertising
model - can shift quickly.
CONCLUSION Nothing stands still for long; new technologies like voice-
activated interfaces and artificial intelligence are on the way
Concerns about the quality of information that emerged in our
offering new opportunities but also new challenges for audiences,
data last year seem to have solidified now across our 37 countries.
regulators and media companies alike. The future of news
Looking back, we can see that disillusion with Facebook set in
remains uncertain but these pages offer some hope at least that
as early as 2016 while this year’s focus groups show heightened
quality content may be more rewarded in the future than it has
worries about privacy, heated conversations and unreliable news.
been in the recent past.
While Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to ‘fix’ Facebook, politicians in

32 / 33
Section 2
Further Analysis
and International
Comparison
Richard Fletcher
Research Fellow, Reuters Institute
Antonis Kalogeropoulos
Nic Newman

2.1 The Impact of

Greater News Literacy
Richard Fletcher
Discussions over misinformation, disinformation, THE QUESTIONS

and ‘fake news’ have reignited interest in news Our first question asked respondents to identify which news
literacy. A wide range of different actors – from outlet from a list of four is not primarily funded by money from
educators to technology companies – believe that advertising.24 This question essentially asks respondents to
identify the public broadcaster from a list of television and print
raising news literacy would make people better able outlets that are funded by advertisers. The available options were
to separate fact from fiction, potentially limiting the adjusted to make them country-specific, but always comprised of
spread of false information and leaving them better a commercial broadcaster and two popular newspapers. Here, as
with all of the other questions, we included a ‘Don’t know’ option
equipped to navigate partisan media environments.
which was treated as incorrect.
Others, however, have struck a note of caution by arguing that Across the 18 countries we have included in the analysis here,
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
we need to think carefully about what news literacy should look just over half (52%) were able to correctly identify the public
like.23 In the past, news literacy largely meant teaching people to Slide 2
broadcaster.25 This varies nationally, with higher figures in
be sceptical, or giving them ways of questioning the stories told countries like the UK (73%), where the public broadcaster is by
by the mass media. How useful are such skills in a world where far the most widely used news source. Only 46% of respondents
many believe that trust in institutions, including the news media, in the US correctly identified PBS. Across all countries, 15%
is already dangerously low? of respondents incorrectly thought that various commercial
TV news outlets or newspapers were not primarily funded by
In this section we will describe how we measured individual news
advertising. Around one-third (34%) said they did not know.
literacy, before taking a more detailed look at its relationship with
different news diets. For us, news literacy refers to knowledge about
how the news is made: who makes it, how it is selected, and how it
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING NEWS OUTLETS DOES NOT
is financed. To do this, we asked respondents in certain countries PRIMARILY DEPEND ON ADVERTISING FOR FINANCIAL
a series of multiple-choice questions with correct answers. By SUPPORT? – SELECTED MARKETS
combining these data with that from other parts of the survey, we can
see differences in attitudes and behaviours between those with high
75%
and low levels of news literacy. This in turn provides an indication of
the possible effect that increasing news literacy might have.
50%
52
MEASURING NEWS LITERACY
To establish a proxy measure of news literacy, we asked 34
25%
respondents three factual questions. Each probed a different
dimension of how the news is made. The questions were multiple 6 5 4
choice with a single correct answer. Each respondent’s level of
0%
news literacy was determined by the number of correct answers <Public <Commercial <Newspaper 1> <Newspaper 2> Don't know
they were able to provide. Of course, three questions cannot broadcaster> broadcaster>
(correct)
accurately measure exactly how knowledgeable a person is
about an issue as complex and multifaceted as news production.
Q14_2018a. Which of the following news outlets does NOT depend primarily on advertising for
However, they can be used to establish a reliable proxy, and there financial support? Base: Total sample: Selected markets = 36911.
is a long history of the use of factual questions in survey research
to establish knowledge levels among respondents.
https://points.datasociety.net/you-think-you-want-media-literacy-do-you-7cad6af18ec2
23
The first two questions we used were adapted from the questions about media knowledge structures described here: Adam Maksl, Seth Ashley, and Stephanie Craft, ‘Measuring
24
News Media Literacy’, Journal of Media Literacy Education 6(3) (2015): 29–45.
34 / 35
Slide 3
Our second question asked respondents who they thought was We can convert these responses into a news literacy scale. When
typically responsible for writing a press release. Just 31% of Slide 5
we do this, we can see that news literacy is much lower than many
respondents across all countries were able to do this. This figure within the news industry might like or expect. We can see that
rises to nearly half in Sweden (45%) and Denmark (47%). Around one-third (32%) did not get any of these questions correct. A similar
a quarter across all countries incorrectly thought that they are number got just one correct – normally the first question on public
written by journalists working for news organisations. broadcasters. Just 10% answered all three correctly. We’ve attached
labels to each of these groups ranging from ‘very low’ to ‘very high’
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS TYPICALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR to indicate how we think this translates into news literacy, and will
WRITING A PRESS RELEASE? – SELECTED MARKETS use them throughout the rest of this section.
75% NEWS LITERACY SCALE BASED ON NUMBER OF CORRECT

ANSWERS – SELECTED MARKETS
50% 75%
31
25% 26 28 50%
12 3
32 34
0% 25%
A spokesperson A reporter A producer A lawyer Don't know
for an for a news for a news for a news 23
organisation organisation organisation aggregator
(correct)
10
0%
0 correct 1 correct 2 correct 3 correct
Q14_2018b. Which of the following is typically responsible for writing a press release? Base: Total (very low) (low) (high) (very high)
sample: Selected markets = 36911.
Q14_2018a_combined2. News literacy scale. Base: Total sample: Selected markets = 36911.
Our third question asked about how news is selected on social

PEOPLE WITH HIGHER NEWS LITERACY PREFER
media,
REUTERS which as weFOR
INSTITUTE have
THEdocumented for several
STUDY OF JOURNALISM years has
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
NEWSPAPER BRANDS
Slide 4
emerged as an important source of news for many people. Just
under a third (29%) correctly stated that most of the individual In the remainder of this section, we will focus on how different
decisions about news people see on Facebook are made by levels of news literacy are related to different news diets. We
computer analysis of what stories might interest them. More than start by looking at people’s main source of news. In general, the
one in ten (12%) said that these decisions were made by journalists preference for newspapers and newspaper websites (which we
working for news organisations, with a similar number (11%) have grouped together here) is more widespread among those
believing that Facebook employs journalists for this task. Just with higher levels of news literacy; rising from 20% to 34%.
under one in ten (9%) thought the selection process was random. Conversely, the preference for television and television/radio
websites is more widespread among those with low levels. The
HOW ARE MOST OF THE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS ABOUT preference for social media as a news source is largely consistent
WHAT NEWS STORIES TO SHOW PEOPLE ON FACEBOOK across all groups, but is slightly higher among those with the
MADE? – SELECTED MARKETS lowest levels of news literacy (15% compared to 10%).
75%
50%
40
25% 29
12 11 9
0%
By computer By editors and By editors and At random Don't know
analysis of what journalists journalists
stories might that work for that work
interest you news outlets for Facebook
(correct)
Q14_2018c. How are most of the individual decisions about what news stories to show people on
Facebook made? Base: Total sample: Selected markets = 36911.
Due to the difficulties associated with asking knowledge questions across different countries, we decided to focus this section on the Northern, Western and (most of the) Southern
25
European markets within our sample, as well as the English-language markets from the rest of the world. The 18 markets included here and throughout the rest of this section were
therefore: Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, UK, Germany, USA, Switzerland, Netherlands, Australia, Spain, France, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal.

MAIN SOURCE OF NEWS BY NEWS LITERACY NEWS LITERACY AND NEWS BRANDS
– SELECTED MARKETS
News literacy is also strongly associated with different news diets.
Very high
Unsurprisingly, people with higher levels of news literacy tend
75% High
to consume news from a wider range of sources. Thinking about Very high
Low
online use only, people with the highest levels of literacy use on
High
Very low average roughly twice as many news brands each week as those Low
50% 50 50 with the lowest levels (4.22 compared to 2.39 across all markets).
Very low
45
38
34 The specific brands used by different groups also varies a lot
25% 28 in some countries. In US (and also Germany), lists of the most
23 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
20 popular brands become inverted as news literacy rises. Yahoo!
' '
15
' 11 10 10 Slide 9
and Fox are the most popular news brands among those with the
0% lowest levels of news literacy, but among those with the highest
Television and Social media Newspapers and ' ' '
broadcadster websites newspaper websites levels they are overtaken by brands like the New York Times and
the Washington Post. This is highly likely to be due to differences in
content. Importantly, Yahoo! and Fox are used by roughly similar
Q14_2018a_combined2. News literacy scale. Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in
the last week, which would you say is your MAIN source of news? 75% Base: All with very low/low/
numbers of people within each news literacy group, but the
Fox News online
high/very high news literacy who used a source of news in the last
75%week: Selected markets = reason they fall behind is because certain other brands become
11032/12383/8453/3882. Fox News
Yahoo! online
News
much more popular as literacy rises. Yahoo! News
75% 50%
50% 47% Fox News online
50% Washington Post online
PEOPLE WITH HIGH LITERACY USE
75% SOCIAL MEDIA
50% WEEKLY
47%
39%
REACH OF TOP ONLINE NEWS BRANDS BYNews
Yahoo! NEWS
Washington Post online
LITERACY – USA CNN.com
Fox News online
DIFFERENTLY 39%
31%
50% CNN.com
New York
Yahoo! Times online
News
50% 31%
47%
25% 75% New York Times
Washington
HuffPost Postonline
online
75%
Those with higher levels of news literacy 50%
may
25% rely less on social 18%
39%
50%
14%
Fox News online
HuffPost
CNN.com
47%
media for news, but they appear to be more discerning when they 31%
14% Yahoo! News
New York Times online
39% CNN.com
do use it. When deciding whether to click25% through
75%
0% to a story, they 50%
HuffPost
50%
31%
18%
50% Fox News
New onlineonline
York Times
are more likely to pay attention to a range50% of
0% Very low
different Low High
credibility Very high
47%
14% 47% Washington
25% Very low Low High Very high Yahoo! NewsPost online
HuffPost
cues. Compared to those with lower levels of news literacy, they 39%
18% 39% CNN.com
14%
31%
are more likely to say that the news brand, 50%theVery
0% headline,
low
and the
Low High
50%
Very high
31% New York Times online
person who shared the story are important 25% in deciding whether 25% HuffPost
0% 39%
18% CNN.com
it is worth their time. The exception to this ruleVery is the
low number
Low High Very high
14% 18%
31% 14% New York Times online
REUTERS
of INSTITUTE
comments, FOR
likes, orTHE STUDY
shares, OF JOURNALISM
which least/ FURTHER
is the25% important ANALYSIS
cue
Slide 7
HuffPost
across all groups, but is more important among 0% those
low with
Low the High
18%
Very 0%
Very high
14%
lowest level of news literacy. However, they are also less likely to Very low Low High Very high
share or comment on news themselves, so0% the simple idea that
low-quality news is primarily spread by peopleVery withlowlowLow
news High Very high
literacy may only be partly true.
PROPORTION THAT AGREE EACH ATTRIBUTE IS IMPORTANT WHEN DECIDING TO CLICK THROUGH TO A
NEWS STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY NEWS LITERACY – SELECTED MARKETS
Very high
75% Very high
73 High
Low High
61
58
50% 54 56 56 52
Very low
Low
50 48
44 43
34 Very low
38
28
23
25% 25 24
19
13
spapers and ' ' '
aper websites 0%
Person who Headline Brand Comments, likes, ' '
shared it or picture or shares
Q14_2018a_combined2. News literacy scale. Q12C_2018_1-4. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements. When looking at stories in social media, the news brand/
headline or picture/person who shared the story/number of comments or shares is very important in helping me decide whether information is likely to be worth my time. Base: All with very low/
low/high/very high news literacy who used a social network in the last week: Selected markets = 10274/11529/8027/3802.
36 / 37
Slide
We also see11
elements of this pattern in the UK. As in the US, COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUST AND
people with higher levels of news literacy are more discerning, NEWS LITERACY
and have a (collective) sense of what brands are worth paying
more attention to. Use of the Guardian, for example, rises sharply Finally, we consider the relationship between trust and news
as literacy increases. But perhaps the key difference is that the literacy.
REUTERS Many people
INSTITUTE FOR hope that OF
THE STUDY increasing overall
JOURNALISM levels ANALYSIS
/ FURTHER of news
Slide 14
MailOnline
same
66% brand (BBC News online) is the most widely used across all literacy will reverse the decline in news trust we see in many
levels of literacy. countries. This sounds like a reasonable assumption, but as we
Sky News online
MailOnline
66% suggested at the beginning of this section, news literacy may also
go hand in hand with a high degree of scepticism. Even if we focus
38% MailOnline Sky News online
WEEKLY
66% REACH OF TOP ONLINE NEWS BRANDS BY NEWS
Telegraph online on news production, the more people know about how the news is
LITERACY – UK Huffington Post made, the more knowledgeable they will be about its limitations
18%
38% Sky News online
Guardian online
16% Telegraph online and imperfections. This may be why we see only a very small
15%
75% MailOnline
BBC News online
Huffington Post
12%
66% 75% MailOnline
increase in trust levels as news literacy increases.
18%
38% 66% Guardian
Telegraphonline
online
16%
15% Sky
BBCNews
Newsonline
Huffington online
Post
High 12%
Very high Sky News online
18% 75% Guardian online News in social media
50%
16% 50%
MailOnline
MailOnline PROPORTION THAT TRUST NEWS FROM DIFFERENT
50%
66%
15%
66%
High
38%
12%
Very high
BBC Newsonline
Telegraph online SOURCES BY NEWS LITERACY - SELECTED MARKETS
News in search engines
38% Telegraph online
Sky News
News online
Huffington
Sky Post
online
75% News in social media
18% Guardian online 75%
50% Huffington Post News overall
50%
High 16%
Very high 24%
25%
15% 18% 25% BBC News online Guardian online News in search engines
38%
12% 16% Telegraph
38% 15% Telegraph online
online
BBC News online News in social media
12% Huffington
Huffington Post 9%
50% Post 50% News overall
18% Guardian 50%
24% 50%
High 18%
Very high
16%
25% Guardian online
online News in search engines
16%
15%
0% 0%
15% BBC
BBC News
Very low Lowonline
News onlineHigh Very high
12%
12% Very low Low High Very high
9% News overall
25% 24%
High Very high 0% 25% 24%
High VeryQ14_2018a_combined2.
high News literacy scale. Q5B. Which of theVery
following
low brands
Lowhave you
High Very high
used to access news online in the last week (via websites, apps, social media, and other forms of 9%
internet access)? Base: All with very low/low/high/very high news literacy: UK = 358/732/679/348.
9%
0%
0%
Differences between
REUTERS INSTITUTE FORbrands appear
THE STUDY to be less important
OF JOURNALISM in the
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide 12
Nordic countries. Here, people’s news diets tend to be similar
across different levels of news literacy, with most brands
becoming consistently more popular as literacy rises, and the We also see that trust in news from search engines and news
rank order remaining largely the same. This is likely to be due to from social media becomes less widespread as news literacy
similarities in terms of tone and coverage across most brands. The increases. One possible reason for this may be that those with
exception to this rule is commercial television Kauppalehti
news, suchonline
as MTV high news literacy are better able to use credibility cues to
64%
62%
in Finland and TV2 in Norway. They do not become more popular identify untrustworthy news on search and social. But it may
as literacy rises.
50% also be because much of the discussion about the impact of
49% MTV news online
algorithmically-driven platforms has so far focused on the
Kauppalehti
Kauppalehti online
64%
online risks, with terms like ‘echo chamber’ and ‘filter bubble’ starting
WEEKLY REACH OF TOP ONLINE NEWS BRANDS BY NEWS
64%
62% to enter the vernacular.
62%
25% Helsingin Sanomat online
LITERACY – FINLAND
24%
50% Yle news online
50% MTV news
news online
online
49%
49% MTV These discussions are important, but we should not lose sight of
75% Iltalehti online
Kauppalehti
some of the potential online highlighted by academic research.
benefits
64% Ilta-Sanomat online
Kauppalehti online
64% 62% Helsingin
The use of social media for news has been associated with more
High 25%
Very high
25%
62% Helsingin Sanomat
Sanomat online
online
24%
24% 50% Yle
Yle news
news online
online
diverse news diets, increases in political participation, and
50%
50% 49% MTV newsof
modest depolarisation online
political attitudes.26 As search engines
49% Iltalehti
MTV news
Iltalehti online
online
online
Ilta-Sanomat
Ilta-Sanomat online
online
Kauppalehti online
and social media become more important to the news ecosystem,
High Very 64% any attempt to raise news literacy should also aim to improve the
High Very high
high
62% 25% Helsingin Sanomat online
25%
25% 24% Helsingin Sanomat online knowledge of both the positive and negative outcomes.
24%
50% Yle news online
Yle news online
49% MTV news online
Iltalehti online Iltalehti online
Ilta-Sanomat online Ilta-Sanomat online
0%
High 25%
Very high Very low Low High Very high Helsingin Sanomat online
24% Yle news online
Iltalehti online
Ilta-Sanomat online
High Very high
26
Richard Fletcher and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, ‘Are People Incidentally Exposed to News on Social Media? A Comparative Analysis’, New Media and Society, 0(0) (2017): 1–19; Augusto
Valeriani and Cristian Vaccari, ‘Accidental Exposure to Politics on Social Media as Online Participation Equalizer in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom’, New Media and
Society, 18(9) (2016): 1857–74; Michael A. Beam, Myiah J. Hutchens, and Jay D. Hmielowski, ‘Facebook News and (De)Polarization: Reinforcing Spirals in the 2016 US Election’,
Information, Communication and Society, 21(7) (2018): 940–58.

2.2 Misinformation and

DisinformationSlide
Unpacked
15
Richard Fletcher
The global debate over so-called ‘fake news’ has PROPORTION WHO ARE VERY OR EXTREMELY CONCERNED
ABOUT EACH TYPE OF MISINFORMATION
changed a lot in the last year. What began as concern
over the narrow problem of completely made-up US
news stories has since sparked a renewed interest in
Stories where facts are
the much broader issue of online misinformation. twisted to push an agenda 67

for commercial or political reasons 65
In a sense, the debate has gone full circle, with some of the most
active participants now urging people to abandon the term ‘fake Poor journalism 60
news’ to allow the broader issues to be discussed, and to disarm The use of the term ‘fake news’
48
politicians and other powerful people that seek to ‘weaponise’ the to discredit news media
term for their own ends.27 Headlines that look like news
45
but turn out to be adverts
In this section we take a more global look at what is often incorrectly Satire 22
perceived as an American problem. We measure ‘concern over’ and
0% 25% 50% 75%
‘exposure to’ multiple forms of misinformation, and look at how
both vary across countries. Based on how audiences perceive the
problem, we consider different types of what our previous audience UK
research suggests ordinary media users consider misinformation, REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
including some content produced by the journalistic profession,
as well as content produced outside.28 We also consider possible
Slide 16 Stories where facts are twisted
to push an agenda 55

59
responses to the problem of misinformation, and uncover which of for commercial or political reasons
these audiences would most like to see. Poor journalism 51
The use of the term ‘fake news’

44
SOME NATIONAL VARIATION IN CONCERN OVER to discredit news media
DIFFERENT TYPES OF MISINFORMATION Headlines that look like news

but turn out to be adverts 39
In the Executive Summary we described how, across all markets, Satire 16
concern over completely made-up news is often matched by 0% 25% 50% 75%
concern over practices that have been partially legitimised by
some in the journalistic profession.
Norway
This global picture remains fairly consistent when we drill down into
individual countries. In the USA and the UK, the pattern is similar, Stories where facts are
twisted to push an agenda 43
with the either completely made-up stories or journalistic spin
attracting the most widespread concern. But there are also some for commercial or political reasons 37
notable national differences. In some European countries, such
as Norway and Austria, poor journalism is more concerning than Poor journalism 40
completely made-up stories (notice also that concern over all types The use of the term ‘fake news’
to discredit news media 34
is low in Norway), perhaps due to a stronger tradition of objective
Headlines that look like news
reporting. Concern over the misuse of the term ‘fake news’ is also but turn out to be adverts 29
high in countries like the USA and Austria, where politicians have
Satire 13
been using it to denigrate the news media in recent years. Concern
over headlines that turn out to be adverts is more widespread than 0% 25% 50% 75%
average in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. However, it is unclear

whether this concern reflects differences in content.
Austria
https://firstdraftnews.com:443/fake-news-complicated
27
Stories where facts are twisted
66
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen and Lucas Graves, ‘News You Don’t Believe’: Audience Perspectives on ‘Fake News’. Oxford: RISJ,
28
2017.an agenda
to push
for commercial or political reasons 59
38
Headlines that look like news / 39
Satire 13
0% 25% 50% 75%
Austria PROPORTION WHO ARE VERY OR EXTREMELY CONCERNED

ABOUT EACH TYPE OF MISINFORMATION BY NEWS LITERACY
Slide 17 Stories where facts are twisted
to push an agenda 75%
75%
75%
75%
66
Stories that
Stories that are
are completely
completely
75%
75% 66%
66% Stories that
Stories that are
that are completely
are completely
completely
Stories
made up for commercial or
Stories that are completely made up 75% 66%
66%
62%
66%
62%
62%
66%
made
Stories
made
made up
made
up
up
up
forare
that
for commercial
completely
for commercial
for commercial
or
or
or
for commercial or political reasons 59 62%
62%
62%
political
political
political for commercial or
commercial
reasons
reasons
made upreasons
reasons or
62%
55%
62% 66% political
political
55%
62%
55%
55% 62% political reasons
reasons
50% 55%
55%
50% Stories where
where facts
facts are
are twisted
twisted
Poor journalism 50%
50%
50% 62 62% Stories
Stories where
Stories where facts
facts are
are twisted
twisted
50% 40% 55% to pushwhere
Stories
to push
Stories an
facts
agenda are
facts are twisted
an agenda
40%
40%
40%
to
to pushwhere
to push
push an
an agenda
an agenda twisted
40% Poor
to push
Poor an agenda
journalism
agenda
journalism
The use of the term ‘fake news’ 50% 40% Poor journalism
Poor
Poor journalism
journalism
to discredit news media 56 The use
Poor
The use of the
the term
journalism
of term ‘fake
‘fake news’
news’
25% The use
The use
use of the
of the term
the term ‘fake
term ‘fake news’
‘fake news’
news’
25%
25%
25% 40% The
to
The
to use of
to discredit
discredit news
news
of the media
media
term ‘fake news’
Headlines that look like news 25%
25% to discredit
to discredit
discredit news
news
news media
media
media
47 to discreditthat
Headlines
Headlines news
that media
look
look like news
like news
but turn out to be adverts 10% Headlines that
Headlines
Headlines that look
that look like
look like news
like news
news
10%
10% but
but turn
turn out
Headlines out to
to be
that be adverts
adverts
look like news
10%
10% but
but turn
turn out
out to
to be
be adverts
adverts
10% but
but turn
turn out
Satire out to
to be
be adverts
0%
25% Satire
Satire
adverts
Satire 19 0%
0% Very
Satire
Satire
0% low Low High Very high
high Satire
0% Very
0% Very low
Very
Very low
low
Low
Low
Low
High
High
High
Very
Very high
Very high
high
0% 25% 50%low
Very low Low
Low 75%High
High Very
Very high
10%
0%
Czech Republic Very low Low High Very high
Stories where facts are twisted Q14_2018a_combined2. News literacy scale. Q_FAKE_NEWS_2_1-6. To what extent, if at all,
are you concerned about the following. Base: All with very low/low/high/very high news literacy:
Stories that are completely made up for Selected markets = 11841/12625/8538/3910.
commercial or political reasons 66
Poor journalism 56
EXPOSURE TO COMPLETELY MADE-UP NEWS IS LOW
This year we also measured people’s self-reported exposure to
but turn out to be adverts 48 the different forms of misinformation people express concern
over (notINSTITUTE
REUTERS all of them are
FOR necessarily
THE equally worrying).
STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHERClearly,
ANALYSIS
Satire
0%
21
25% 50% 75%

Slide 22
exposure is much harder to measure than concern, because
in some cases it relies on people’s ability to correctly identify
information that has been deliberately designed to be misleading,
and because what exactly constitutes misinformation is partly
Bulgaria
subjective. Even with this is mind, it is striking that, although
Stories where facts are concern over completely made-up news is high, self-reported
twisted to push an agenda 59
exposure across all markets is relatively low (26%); considerably
Stories that are completely made up for
commercial or political reasons 61 lower than exposure to poor journalism (42%) and spin (39%).
Poor journalism 59
PROPORTION WHO WERE EXPOSED TO EACH TYPE OF
to discredit news media 53 MISINFORMATION IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
Poor journalism 42
Satire 33 Stories where facts are twisted

0% 25% 50% 75%
Q_FAKE_NEWS_2_1-6. To what extent, if at all, are you concerned about the following. Base:
Total sample in each country. The use of the term ‘fake news’
Stories that are completely made up for

commercial or political reasons 26
CONCERN GREATER AMONGST THE WELL-
INFORMED Satire 23
0% 25% 50% 75%

Perhaps unsurprisingly, concern over misinformation is generally
greater among those with higher levels of interest in the news and Q_FAKE_NEWS_3. In the LAST WEEK which of the following have you personally come across?
Base: Total sample in all markets.
lower levels of trust. Looking at how the data break down by different
levels of news literacy is interesting, however, because it shows how
concern goes up in line with literacy in some cases (made-up stories,
spin, and poor journalism) but down in the case of satire.29
This is likely to be because those with higher levels of news

literacy feel they are more likely to be able to spot satirical stories,
and also have a clearer sense of what they should be concerned
about. However, the data also throw doubt on the possible impact
of attempts to increase news literacy, given that they suggest
that an increase might lead people to be less trusting of some
journalistic work.
See Section 2.1, The Impact of Greater News Literacy, for an explanation of how we measured news literacy.
29

PROPORTION WHO SAY THEY WERE EXPOSED TO COMPLETELY MADE-UP NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
75%
50%
49
44 44 43 42
38 36 35 34 34
31 31 30 30 29
25% 28 26 25 25 23 22 21 20 19 19 19 17 17 16 15 14 14 13 13
10 9 9
0%
TUR GRE MYS MEX HUN ROU CZE BRA BUL ARG CRO USA CHL KOR SPA POL TWN ITA AUS HK SWE SVK FIN CAN POR SGP IRE JPN FRA UK NOR AUT SUI BEL NLD DEN GER
Q_FAKE_NEWS_3. In the LAST WEEK which of the following have you personally come across? Stories that are completely made-up for political or commercial reasons. Base: Total sample in all markets.
EXPOSURE TO MADE-UP NEWS IS HIGHER THAN More striking still is that, in the US, self-reported exposure to
REUTERS INSTITUTE FORnews
THE STUDY OF is
JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
THE US IN SOME COUNTRIES completely made-up stories actually more widespread
Slide 25
among those that mainly consume news offline (36%, compared
Considering exposure to completely made-up news stories, the to 29% for those that mainly consume news online). When we
figure in the US is high at 31%, but exposure is even more widespread dig deeper into the data we see that this is mainly due to right-
in Eastern European countries like Hungary (42%) and Romania wingers that consume a lot of 24-hour TV news. This suggests
(38%), and Mediterranean countries like Greece (44%) and Turkey that people are encountering left-leaning TV news and concluding
(49%). In the UK, the figure is 15%, and lower still in other Northern that many of the stories they see are made up – something
and Western European countries like Germany (9%), Denmark potentially exacerbated by the lack of overlap in content between
(9%), and the Netherlands (10%). In these countries, exposure to left- and right-wing media.
completely made-up news stories is typically less widespread than
all of the other forms of misinformation we asked about.
PROPORTION WHO SAY THEY WERE EXPOSED TO EACH TYPE
OF MISINFORMATION BY MAIN SOURCE OF NEWS – US
MISINFORMATION IS AN OFFLINE PROBLEM TOO

75%
75% Mainly consumes news online
Many people instinctively think of misinformation as an online
Slide 24
Mainly consumes news offline
problem, but all of our categories
50% can be found offline too. 51 It is
53
50 50
striking that there is little difference 39 in self-reported exposure 43

50%
44
51
53
50 50
36
to misinformation between those that mainly 29
consume
32
34
news 43 44
25% 26 39
offline and those that mainly consume news online (though in 36
34
32
most cases exposure online is slightly higher). This runs counter 25% 26
29
to the frequent tendency in0%public discussions to associate

Satire Stories that are Headlines The use of Stories where Poor
misinformation with online media. completely that look like the term facts are journalism
made up for news but ‘fake news’ twisted to
commercial turn out to to discredit push an 0%
or political be adverts news media agenda Satire Stories that are Headlines The use of Stories where Poor
reasons completely that look like the term facts are journalism
made up for news but ‘fake news’ twisted to
PROPORTION WHO WERE EXPOSED TO EACH TYPE OF commercial turn out to to discredit push an
MISINFORMATION IN THE LAST WEEK BY MAIN SOURCE OF or political be adverts news media agenda
reasons
NEWS – ALL MARKETS
Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in the last week, which would you say is your
75% Mainly consumes news online MAIN source of news? Q_FAKE_NEWS_3. In the LAST WEEK which of the following have you
personally come across? Base: All that mainly consume news offlconsumes
Mainly ine/online: US = 1131/1115.
news online
46
42 50%
40
7 38 46
42
40
37 38
32 32 33
25% 26 25
27
21
es Stories where Poor

like facts are journalism
ut twisted to
to push an 0%
rts agenda Satire Stories that are The use of Headlines Stories where Poor
completely the term that look like facts are journalism
made up for ‘fake news’ news but twisted to
commercial to discredit turn out to push an
or political news media be adverts agenda
reasons
Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in the last week, which would you say is your MAIN
source of news? Q_FAKE_NEWS_3. In the LAST WEEK which of the following have you personally
come across? Base: All that mainly consume news offline/online: All markets = 39595/32567.
40 / 41
Slide 28
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE ACTION TO COMBAT Echoes of this view can be found across all countries when we
MISINFORMATION consider news literacy. Support for action by technology and media
companies rises among those with high news literacy, but starts
Given
REUTERSthat concernFOR
INSTITUTE overTHE
misinformation when it comes
STUDY OF JOURNALISM to news
/ FURTHER is
ANALYSIS to drop again in the case of government intervention. This may be
Slide 26
high, it’s not surprising that most people think that media companies,
technology companies, and government should all do more to
because people with high news literacy are more sensitive to the
risks of over-regulation and the consequences for free speech.
combat it. Across the 23 markets where we asked this question,
three-quarters (75%) agreed that media companies should do more
to separate what is real and what is fake on the internet.30 The figure PROPORTION WHO AGREE THAT EACH SHOULD DO MORE TO
was slightly lower (71%) for technology companies like Facebook and SEPARATE WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FAKE ON THE INTERNET
BY NEWS LITERACY – SELECTED MARKETS
Google. Just under two-thirds (61%) said government should
100% do more.
100% 85% Government
76% Media companies
100% 85% Technology companies
PROPORTION WHO AGREE THAT EACH SHOULD DO MORE 76%
85% Government
TO SEPARATE WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FAKE ON
50%THE
51%
76% Media companies
INTERNET – SELECTED MARKETS Technology companies
Agree
Disagree
50% 51%
51%
The government 61 50%27 12
Neither agree nor disagree
Technology companies 71 0% 21 8
Media companies 75 19 6
0% 25%
Agree 50% 75% 0% 100%
Disagree Agree Very low Low High Very high
61 27 12
Disagree
0%
The government Agree 61 Neither agree
27
nor 12
disagree Very low Low High Very high
8 Disagree
Neither agree nor disagree
61 27 71 12 21
Neither
Q_FAKE_NEWS_4_2_1-3. Please
Technology companies agree
indicate noragreement
your
71 disagree
21 with
8 the following statements.
Technology
71 companies/media
21 75 8 19 6 companies/the government should do more to make it easier to
Media companies Q14_2018a_combined2. News literacy scale. Q_FAKE_NEWS_4_2_1-3. Please indicate your
Base: Total19sample:
separate what is real and fake on the internet. 75 6 Selected markets = 46010.
25% 50%
75
75%
19 6
100% agreement with the following statements. Technology companies/media companies/the
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% government should do more to make it easier to separate what is real and fake on the internet.
50% 75% 100% Base: All with very low/low/high/very high news literacy: Selected markets = 11149/11898/8069/3790.
PEOPLE ARE CAUTIOUS ABOUT GOVERNMENT

INTERVENTION
Views about whether media or technology companies should do
Slide 27
more are fairly consistent across countries, but as we described
in the Executive Summary, we do see variation in terms of views
about government intervention. Over 70% in Spain and South
Korea think that the government should do more, but the figure
drops below half in Sweden (48%) and Denmark (43%). The
figure is lowest of all in the US (41%), perhaps because of a strong
commitment to the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
PROPORTION WHO AGREE THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO MORE TO SEPARATE

WHAT IS REAL AND WHAT IS FAKE ON THE INTERNET – SELECTED MARKETS
75%
73 72
70 69 68 68
67 65
64 64 63 63 63
61 61 60 59 59
55
50% 51
48
43 41
25%
0%
KOR SPA TWN ITA TUR AUS NLD BEL CAN NOR SGP IRE AUT UK FRA SUI GER JPN HK FIN SWE DEN USA
Q_FAKE_NEWS_4_2_3. Please indicate your agreement with the following statements. The government should do more to make it easier to separate what is real and fake on the internet.
Base: Total sample in each market.
These questions were asked in UK, USA, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, Japan,
30
South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Canada.

2.3 Which Brands Do We Trust

and Why? Slide 29
This year, as well as general trust in news, we have explored the AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS –
trust that news users place in specific brands. Brand trust is FINLAND AND SPAIN
particularly interesting given that Facebook announced that it
FINNISH BRANDS SPANISH BRANDS
will prioritise news ‘from publications that the community rates
as trustworthy’,31 using an online survey. YLE News 7.91 Antena 3 6.08
Kauppalehti 7.44 LaSexta 6.06

In our report this year we have taken a similar approach to Helsingin Sanomat 7.42 El PaÌs 5.94
understanding news brand trust. We asked our survey respondents Suomen Kuvalehti 7.34 Cadena SER 5.92
to indicate their trust in selected news brands, on a scale of 0 Taloussanomat.fi 7.33 Eldiario.es 5.89
(completely untrustworthy) to 10 (completely trustworthy). They Talouselämä 7.33 El Confidencial 5.85
also had the option of choosing ‘I have not heard of this brand’. The Local Newspapers 7.31 Cuatro 5.84
trust scores reported below are calculated after excluding those who Regional newspapers 7.27 El Mundo 5.84
claimed not to have heard of the brand in question. Our calculations MTV News 7.19 20 Minutos 5.78
include all respondents, regardless of whether they use Facebook Hufvudstadsbladet 7.02 El Periodico 5.76
or not. However, the scores produced by Facebook users are very Uusisuomi.fi 6.56 La Vanguardia 5.61
similar to the overall figures.32 First, as seen in the chart on the right, Commercial radio news 6.54 TVE 5.54
we observe large variations in brand trust from country to country. Free newspapers 6.26 ABC 5.41
Even the lowest ranked Finnish news brands included in this study Ilta-Sanomat 6.12 COPE 5.32
score higher than almost all Spanish news brands. Iltalehti 6.07 Telecinco 5.25
We also find that across a number of countries news brand trust

differs by type. In the UK, Germany, Denmark, Italy, and Japan, the Q6_2018. How trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale
below, where 0 is ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: Total sample in
public
REUTERS service broadcaster
INSTITUTE is the OF
FOR THE STUDY most trusted type
JOURNALISM of brand.
/ FURTHER This is
ANALYSIS each market. Note: People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand were excluded.
Slide 30
not the case in Spain, where TVE is one of the least trusted brands
of those we asked about (5.54 average trust). Spain is also an outlier
when it comes to trust in digital-born brands. While in every other
country people tend to trust digital-born outlets less, in Spain they
are trusted more on average (led by Eldiario.es with 5.89 average
trust). This is partly because of the low trust for traditional brands
and partly because
10 many digital brands in Spain were started by Digital born
well-known journalists with a strong track record.
Print
10 7.48
7.23 Digital born TV
7.02 6.93 Commercial
6.58
AVERAGE LEVEL OF5.57
TRUST5.82
IN5.66
SELECTED NEWS BRANDS WITHIN6.23
EACH TYPE 5.54
6.15 6.12 6.27
5.86 5.75
5.49
5.81 5.71 5.84 5.67 5.51 5.63 Print
PSB
5 4.9
5.17 5.0 5.21
10 4.79 7.48
7.23 4.73
Digital born TV
7.02 6.93 Commercial
6.58
10 6.15 6.12 6.27 6.23
Digital born
5.82 5.66 5.86 5.75 5.81 5.71 5.84 5.67 5.51 5.63 Print
5
5.57
5.17
5.49
5.21
5.54 PSB
4.9 5.0
10 4.79 7.48
7.23
4.73
Digital born TV
7.02
6.58
6.93 Commercial Print
6.15 6.12 6.27 6.23
0 5.82 5.66 5.86 7.48 5.75 5.81 5.71 5.84 5.67 5.51 5.63 Print
5.57 7.23 5.49 5.54 PSB
7.02 5 UK 4.9 US 6.93 Germany 5.17 Denmark 5.0 Japan 5.21 Spain Hungary Commercial TV
Q6_2018. How trustworthy
6.58 4.79 7.48 4.73
6.156.936.12 6.27
7.23 6.23
7.02
6.58 5.82 5.66 5.86 5.81 5.71 5.84
wouldCommercial
you say news
TVfrom the
5.75 5.67 5.51 5.63
5
5.57 6.15 6.12
5.17
6.27 6.23 5.49
5.21
5.54 following brands is?PSB
Use the
0 5.82 5.66 5.86 5.0 5.75 5.81 5.71 5.84 5.67 5.51 5.63
4.9 5.57 4.79 5.49 5.54 4.73 scale below,
PSB where 0 is ‘not at
5 UK 4.9
US Germany 5.17 Denmark 5.0 Japan 5.21 Spain Hungary
4.79 4.73 all trustworthy’ and 10 is
‘completely trustworthy’. Base:
Total sample in each market.
0
UK US Germany Denmark Japan Spain Hungary Note: People who indicated that
they have not heard of a brand
were excluded.
0 0
UK UK US US Germany
Germany Denmark
Denmark Japan
Japan Spain
Spain Hungary
Hungary
31
As announced on Facebook: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/01/trusted-sources. It was later reported that Facebook’s survey contains two questions:
‘Do you recognize the following websites?’ and ‘How much do you trust each of these domains?’ (answered in a 1–5 scale from ‘Entirely’ to ‘Not at all’)
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/this-is-facebooks-news-survey?utm_term=.kky08GjeqZ#.babvn4mM1k
32
In this survey, we asked for a number of news brands in each country. The list of news brands included TV, print, and digital-born outlets.
42 / 43
AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS BY AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS
POLITICAL LEANING - UK BY POLITICAL LEANING – USA
Left Centre Right Left Centre Right
Local newspaper Local TV News

ITV News Wall Street Journal
Sky News Yahoo! News
The Times Buzzfeed news
Daily Mirror Vice News
HuffPost ABC News
BuzzFeed News CBS News
Daily Telegraph Breitbart
Canary HuffPost
Independent Washigton Post
BBC News NBC/MSNBC News
Channel 4 News NPR news
Guardian Fox News
Sun New York Times
Daily Mail CNN
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With
With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Q6_2018. How this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Q6_2018. How
trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale below, where 0 is trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale below, where 0 is
‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: Left/Centre/Right: UK = ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: Left/Centre/Right: US =
523/1021/292. Note: People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand were excluded. 567/970/550. Note: People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand were excluded.
In many countries we see differences in brand trust according An example of a less polarised country in terms of news brand
to different political leanings. This is particularly the case in the REUTERS
trust INSTITUTE While
is Denmark. FOR THE STUDY
there OFstrong
are JOURNALISM / FURTHER
differences ANALYSIS
for brands like
United States, which as we have previously shown in our 2017 Slide 34
the right-wing digital-born website Denkorteavis (trusted more by
report has some of the most polarised news audiences in the those on the right) and Information (trusted more by those on the
world. Right-leaning respondents (marked in blue on the chart) left), these gaps are much smaller than polarised outlets in the US.
strongly distrust many of the news brands we asked about with In the UK, polarisation in terms of news brand trust is higher than
scores around 3/10 for many legacy American news outlets such in Denmark, but still low compared to the US. The most polarised
as MSNBC, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Left- brands in the UK are the two most popular tabloids that are
leaning respondents show similarly low levels of distrust in two trusted more by those on the right (the Sun and the Mail), followed
brands, Fox News and Breitbart. by the left-leaning Guardian which shows the reverse pattern.
The least polarising brands in the US are local TV news, the Wall
AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS BY
Street Journal, and Yahoo! News. Local news tends to be less affected
POLITICAL LEANING – DENMARK
by the bitter national polarised political debates while Yahoo! News
follows a relatively neutral fact-based approach and partly relies Left Centre Right
on news agencies. For almost all other brands, the differences are TV2 Nyheder
staggeringly large – the biggest gap is for CNN (7.08/10 for those Ekstra Bladet
Metroxpres
on the left side of the political spectrum, and 2.4 for those on the Radio 24syv nyheder
right). These differences reflect the current political rhetoric from Dagens.dk
Berlingske
the right. President Trump has repeatedly accused CNN, the New Avisen.dk
York Times, Washington Post, NBC, and other brands of being biased Søndagsavisen
BT
and ‘fake news’,33 while repeatedly praising Fox News (particularly Børsen
morning shows like Fox and Friends).34 Jyllands Posten
DR Nyheder
Politiken
Information
Denkorteavis
0 2 4 6 8 10
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? Q6_2018. How
trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale below, where 0 is
‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: Left/Centre/Right: Denmark =
348/1113/353. Note: People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand were excluded.
For instance: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-18/trump-unveils-fake-news-awards-as-senators-decry-press-attacks

33
https://www.vox.com/2018/2/9/16997022/strikethrough-trump-fox-friends-feedback-loop-explained-tweet
34

Slide 31at differences in brand trust by age, we can see that in

When looking We have also examined differences in trust for public service
the UK people under and over 35 show similar levels of trust for all broadcasters. In countries like Denmark, and to some extent the
brands, with the exception of the three tabloid/mid-market brands UK, the differences by political leaning are small (though perhaps
– the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, and the Sun – which are more trusted not as small as the PSBs would like). In Greece, Hungary, and
by those over 35. Old-style tabloids may need to change their tone in Spain, however, trust in public broadcasting is compromised
or style to win the trust of younger audiences. It is interesting to by perceived government interference in editorial decisions or
note that news brands that are specifically geared towards younger appointments. In these countries PSB trust is lower in general but
audiences (e.g. BuzzFeed) are equally trusted by young and old. is very unevenly distributed between left and right.
In the United States, National Public Radio generates most of its

AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS BY
funding directly from its predominantly liberal audience and the
AGE – UK
U35 +35
greater trust scores from the left reflect that reality.
BBC News
ITV News
Sky News CONCLUSIONS
Channel 4 News
Daily Mail
Guardian
This analysis shows that some brands are trusted much more than
Independent others but also underlines how strongly trust can be influenced by
The Times
Daily Telegraph
pre-existing views about politics. It also suggests that traditional
HuffPost brands with a long track record may have an advantage over
BuzzFeed News
REUTERS
DailyINSTITUTE
Mirror FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS digital-born brands and tabloids, even though these also frequently
Slide 36 Sun
Local newspaper
Canary
produce high-quality and accessible journalism, as Facebook starts
to implement brand trust scores into its algorithms. These findings
0 2 4 6 8 10 underline the difficulties in determining which brands should be
promoted or demoted as tech companies look to find sustainable
Q6_2018. How trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale solutions to the problems of unreliable news and misinformation.
below, where 0 is ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely trustworthy’. Base: Total sample in
each market. Note: People who indicated that they have not heard of a brand were excluded.
10% Right
Centre
AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN 7.8 SELECTED
7.57 PUBLIC SERVICE
7.7 BROADCASTERS
10% 7.11 7.26 7.14 Right
BY POLITICAL LEANING – SELECTED MARKETS 6.71
Left
6.0 6.23
5.93 5.91 5.94
Centre
5% 5.24
10% 7.8 7.57 7.7 Right
10% 7.26 4.5
7.11 7.14 4.0 Right
Left
3.91 6.71
5.93 5.91 6.0 3.33 6.23 3.2 5.94 Centre
5% 5.24
Centre
7.8 7.57 7.8 7.7 7.7
7.26 7.57 4.5
7.11 7.11 7.26 7.14 7.14 3.91 4.0 Left Left
6.71
6.71
0% 3.33 6.236.23 3.2
5.93
5.93 BBC News 5.91
DR News 5.91
ERT News 6.0NPR6.0
News TVE News MTV 5.94
5.94 Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe
5% 5% 5.24 parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place
(UK) (Denmark) 5.24 (Greece) (USA) (Spain) (Hungary)
4.5 yourself on the following scale? Q6_2018. How trustworthy
3.91 4.0 4.5
would you say news from the following brands is? Use the scale
0% 3.91 3.334.0 3.2
3.33 below, where 0 is ‘not at all trustworthy’ and 10 is ‘completely
BBC News DR News ERT News NPR News TVE News 3.2 MTV trustworthy’. Base: Left/Centre/Right: UK = 523/1018/292, Denmark
(UK) (Denmark) (Greece) (USA) (Spain) (Hungary)
= 345/1108/351, Greece = 336/1196/192, Spain = 587/1097/142, USA =
526/801/450, Hungary = 195/1162/314. Note: People who indicated
0% that they have not heard of a brand were excluded.
BBC News DR News ERT News NPR News TVE News MTV
0% (UK) (Denmark) (Greece) (USA) (Spain) (Hungary)
BBC News DR News ERT News NPR News TVE News MTV
(UK) (Denmark) (Greece) (USA) (Spain) (Hungary)
44 / 45
2.4 Who Uses Alternative and

Partisan Brands?
Nic Newman and Antonis Kalogeropoulos
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
In this section, we look in more detail at who uses alternative and left of the mid-point if it has an audience that contains a higher
partisan websites in different countries. We have defined these as proportion of left-leaning people than the sample as a whole.
websites or blogs with a political or ideological agenda with a user
base that tends to share these often partisan views. Most were In the UK, the Another Angry Voice blog and the Canary
created relatively recently and are mainly distributed through website are placed further to the left of the map, because a high
social media. The motivation may not be purely political as there proportion of their users self-identify on the left. By contrast
may also be a strong business opportunity in focusing on these users of Breitbart UK and of the Brexit supporting Westmonster
topics. The narrowness of their focus also separates them from are further to the right of the map, because the majority of the
some established news sites, which may also have a reputation users of these sites self-identify on the right.
for partisan political coverage.
In the US, the users of the right-wing websites Breitbart, The Daily
We have worked with partners in ten European countries to Caller, and InfoWars have an audience profile that is much further
identify a number of sites that fit these criteria and then to to the right than other websites (with the exception of Fox News).
measure usage via our survey. Across these sites, net usage and Occupy Democrats’ audience is at the left side of the political
awareness was higher in Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, and spectrum, close to other outlets with predominantly left-wing
Sweden, but lower in Austria, Finland, Germany, and the UK. audiences like NPR and Huffington Post.
In this chapter we explore the profile of the users of these sites In Sweden, the audience of Fria Tider, Nyheter Idag, and
including demographic breakdown and political orientation. Ledarsidorna are further to the right of the audience of the top
Using open-ended survey responses we also hear more about the 15 news brands. Academic research shows that these sites tend
motivations people have for using these websites. to come from a right-wing position and present themselves as
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS alternatives to the legacy media, who they perceive as censoring
Slide 37 critical information on issues such as immigration.35 In Austria,
we also see that users of the far-right Unzensiriert (Uncensored),
HOW PARTISAN ARE THESE WEBSITES?
founded by a former Freedom Party (FPO) official, are furthest to
To examine whether the users of alternative and partisan the right of the audience map while Kontrast.at, a news blog run
websites are on the left or the right of the political spectrum, by the parliamentary club of the social-democratic party SPÖ,
we asked all respondents to self-identify their political views and also pushed through social media channels, is more on the left
then we combined these data with the online sources they use to side of our audience map.36
create the audience maps seen below. An outlet appears to the
AUDIENCE MAPS FOR THE TOP 15 ONLINE NEWS SOURCES AND SELECTED ALTERNATIVE OR Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’,
PARTISAN BRANDS – UK and ‘centre’ to describe parties and
politicians. With this in mind, where would
you place yourself on the following scale?
The Canary Westmonster Q5b. Which of the following brands have
you used to access news online in the last
Breitbart week (via websites, apps, social media, and
Another other forms of internet access)?
BBC Online Q5c_2018_2. Which, if any, of the following
Angry Voice News have you used to access news in the last
Guardian Mail
Online Online week? Base: Total sample in each market.
Note: Those who answered don’t know to Q1F
were excluded.
More left-leaning More right-leaning

audience audience
Mid-point within country
35
K. Holt, ‘Journalistik bortom redaktionerna?’ in SOU 2016:30 Människorna, medierna, marknaden (pp. 403–428). Stockholm: Wolter Kluwers, 2016. See also Dagens
Nyheterinvestigation into these sites that it says share criticisms of Sweden’s immigration policy and contempt for the established media.
https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/brottsdomda-nolltaxerare-och-jagade-av-kronofogden/
36
ORF News discusses SPO’s blogs and Facebook strategy, 7 July 2017, accessed Apr. 2018. https://oe1.orf.at/artikel/635301

PARTISAN BRANDS – USA and ‘centre’ to describe parties and
Info Wars politicians. With this in mind, where would
Occupy you place yourself on the following scale?
Democrats Q5b. Which of the following brands have
The week (via websites, apps, social media, and
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS Daily Caller other forms of internet access)?
Q5c_2018_2. Which, if any, of the following
Slide 39 Yahoo! News
have you used to access news in the last
week? Base: Total sample in each market.
were excluded.

audience New York Fox News audience
TImes Online online
PARTISAN BRANDS – SWEDEN and ‘centre’ to describe parties and
Ledarsidorna Nyheter idag Fria tider politicians. With this in mind, where would
Q5b. Which of the following brands have
week (via websites, apps, social media, and
REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS other forms of internet access)?
Slide 40
Aftonbladet online
were excluded.

audience audience
SVT News online

PARTISAN BRANDS – AUSTRIA and ‘centre’ to describe parties and
unzensuriert.at you place yourself on the following scale?
Kontrast.at Q5b. Which of the following brands have
other forms of internet access)?
were excluded.

audience Krone online audience
Der Standard online ORF News online
These maps show that these new websites and blogs have given Further complicating the situation, in some Central and Eastern
voice to views that previously may have been unrepresented European countries the government itself also engages in
in the media, but they also show the difficulties in classifying populist narratives, which are covered by sympathetic (or more
partisan sites. We find traditional media sites, like Fox News and directly controlled) traditional media outlets. Here the divisions
some UK newspapers, also talking to partisan audiences even if between traditional and partisan brands may blur compared
they cover a much wider range of news beyond politics. with the examples on the maps above. In Poland, for example,
the mainstream public broadcaster TVP, which has an editorial
In other countries we find that these sites often speak to line that supports the ruling Law and Justice party,37 appears in a
different kinds of divisions that are not fully captured by similar position on our map to PolskaNiepodlegla.pl (Independent
a traditional left–right spectrum. Often we find sites on the Poland) a right-wing nationalist site created in 2013. Recent
both left and the right sharing a common anti-immigration headlines from this publication include ‘Islam is violence and rape’,
and anti-establishment agenda. ‘Poland for Poles’, and ‘German arrogance on the rise’. 38 Another
37
Reporters Without Borders World Freedom Index 2017 report says that controversial reforms carried out by Poland’s ultra-conservative Law and Justice
government since late 2015 include bringing public radio and TV broadcasters under its control, replacing their directors, and turning them into propaganda outlets.
https://rsf.org/en/journalism-weakened-democracys-erosion
38
http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Recent-covers-from-Polska-Niepodlegla.pdf
46 / 47
site with a partisan audience is WPolityce.pl, which is at the centre What users of most of these websites have in common is low trust
of a number of sites (and a TV station) that are supportive of the in news, compared to the total sample in their countries. Fewer
Law and INSTITUTE
REUTERS Justice party
FORand
THEits policies.
STUDY By contrast,
OF JOURNALISM Koduj24.pl
/ FURTHER is
ANALYSIS users of Breitbart in the US show trust in news (13%) compared to
Slide 41
a liberal news website launched in 2016 by a former public radio
editor as an official news service of Komitet Obrony Demokracji,
the country average (34%). And the same is true for users of anti-
immigration and right-wing sites Unzensuriert in Austria and Fria
or the Committee for the Defence of Democracy, one of the Tider and Nyheter Idag in Sweden, when compared to national
major opposition organisations in Poland that recently mobilised averages. By contrast some left-leaning partisan sites like Occupy
thousands of people to demonstrate in defence of the constitutional Democrats have much higher trust levels (56%) than the average,
tribunal and the judiciary.39 in common with other left-wingers in the United States.
PARTISAN BRANDS – POLAND and ‘centre’ to describe parties and
Koduj24.pl PolskaNiepodlegla.pl WPolityce.pl Q5b. Which of the following brands have
other forms of internet access)?
Onet.pl Q5c_2018_2. Which, if any, of the following
were excluded.

audience TVP Online audience
TVN24 Online
MOTIVATIONS FOR USE “I generally agree with the views of these sites, and they
don’t report ‘fake news’ like CNN and the other Lame
When asked about motivations for using these websites on an Stream Media!”
open-ended form in the survey, most respondents talked about
Slide 42
their distrust of – or lack of respect for – mainstream media
(M, 71, Breitbart user, US)
(MSM). In the US, right-wing respondents used similar language In other countries too, the rejection of mainstream, ‘biased’,
to that adopted by the US president. ‘political correct’ media was a core reason for using these websites:
“Conservative news is real news as opposed to totali- “Mainstream media is biased, always covers the news
tarian socialist propaganda from elite media sources.” to show the Tories in a good light, you have to look
(M, 64, Breitbart user, US) further if you want the truth.
(F, 48, Another Angry Voice user, UK)
PROPORTION OF USERS OF SELECTED ALTERNATIVE “ I like to read articles which don’t appear in the mass
OR PARTISAN BRANDS THAT TRUST MOST NEWS MOST media for reasons of political correctness.”
OF THE TIME – US AND SWEDEN
(M, 47, Politically Incorrect news user, Germany)
50% 50%
In Germany and Austria in particular, a key motivation expressed
was about finding alternative and different perspectives on the
41 41
subject of immigration. Here traditional media, and in particular
34 34 Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs), are seen by some as
25% 25%
deliberately concealing the truth:
24 24 24 24
18 18
“I believe that the public service broadcasters such as
13 13
ARD and ZDF are controlled by the state. That’s why
I also inform myself on websites that offer free and
uncensored news.”
0% 0%
Breitbart
Breitbart
Daily Caller
Daily Caller
All users
All users
Fria Tider
Fria Tider
Nyheter
Nyheter
All users
All users (M, 67, Politically Incorrect (PI-News), and Junge Freiheit
users users users users USA USA users users Idag users
Idag users
Sweden Sweden
user, Germany)
Q5c_2018_2. Which, if any, of the following have you used to access news in the last week.
Q6_2016_1. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement. I think you
can trust most news most of the time. Base: All those that used Breitbart/Daily Caller in the US and
Fria Tider/Nyhter Idag in Sweden: US = 171/133, Sweden 212/198.
Freedom House report Poland 2017: https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/NIT2017_Poland_0.pdf

39

“Because it is interesting and because as opposed In the UK, there are no significant differences in terms of age in
to the ORF, it provides uncensored news.” the use of the right-wing Breitbart or the left-wing Canary, which
(M, 61, Unzensuriert user, Austria) are used only by a small fraction of the UK population. But in
REUTERS INSTITUTE
Germany, we see aFOR THE STUDY
different OF JOURNALISM
demographic / FURTHER
profile. ANALYSIS
When looking
“The Junge Freiheit often reports about things that Slide 43
at whether people use at least one of a number of right-wing
interest me: when dole sanctions are tightened, when websites, (Breitbart, Politically Incorrect (PI-News), Compact
things are concealed in the media, or simply when Online, Junge Freiheit), we find that they are more popular among
information are tried to be kept away from us. It is not those under 35, while they are predominantly used by men
my first point of contact but when it comes to social (60% of those who use at least one of these websites). We also
injustices etc., it is my reference.” do not find any clear association with income. These websites in
(F, 35, Junge Freiheit user, Germany) Germany are similarly popular among individuals in low, medium,
and high-income households.
In Spain the character of these sites is distinctly different. The
weakness of mainstream media has led to a range of alternative 10%
PROPORTION THAT USED SELECTED ALTERNATIVE OR
political websites and blogs that do not always fit a left/right PARTISAN BRANDS IN THE LAST WEEK BY AGE – GERMANY
agenda. Partisanship could be related to the territorial integrity
of Spain (Catalan independence) or more closely related with a
particular political party. But the motivation for using these sites 5%
is similar, to gain perspectives that are not represented by the
4
mainstream media. 3 3 3
1 1
2 2
“To get news from a Catalan point of view because
I don’t trust news from Spain.” 0%
U35 35+ U35 35+ U35 35+ U35 35+
(F, 34, Directe.Cat user, Spain) Breitbart Politically Incorrect Compact Online Junge Freiheit
(PI-News)
Q5c_2018_2. Which, if any, of the following have you used to access news in the last week.
“To have another perspective of the news and current Base: Under 35s/35s and over: Germany = 510/1528.
affairs. Each organisation according to its ideology

tells the stories a certain way.”
(M, 40, OK Diario and Libertad Digital user, Spain) Overall, we find that the users of alternative or partisan websites
in a number of countries show a more diverse profile than
Many respondents expressed the view in open-ended comments expected, although they tend to be predominately male. Most
that alternative sites provide accurate reporting and valuable users of these sites have low trust in the news and in mainstream
perspectives and that it is mainstream media that are biased. media outlets in particular, which they think fail to tell the
However, amongst others, there is a recognition that the coverage truth on issues like Europe and immigration. Some sites have
they consume is politically partisan, indeed this is part of the close links to politicians and political parties, others are run by
attraction: individuals with strong beliefs. But with significant and surprising
usage in some countries, these sites reflect and to some extent
“[they are] honest about the bias they have.”
inflame populist and anti-establishment narratives that are
(M, 31, Another Angry Voice and Evolve Politics user, UK) sweeping much of Europe.
This chapter was compiled with the help of research and insight
USE OF ALTERNATIVE WEBSITES AND AGE/GENDER from Grzegorz Piechota, Reuters Institute (Poland), Kristoffer Holt,
Linnæus University, Kalmar (Sweden), Samuel Negredo Bruna,
Looking at the demographic profile of different sites in the US, we University of Navarra, (Spain), Sergio Sparviero and Josef Trappel,
see that they are used by both young and old, though Breitbart Salzburg University (Austria), Sascha Hölig, Hans-Bredow-Institut für
in the US is more popular among those over 35 (8% reach vs 3% Medienforschung (Germany).
reach among those below 35). It is also predominantly used by
men (68% of its audience).
48 / 49
2.5 Donations and Crowdfunding:

an Emerging Opportunity?
Nic Newman
While some countries see significant progress WHO DONATES TO NEWS ORGANISATIONS?
in persuading consumers to pay for digital
subscriptions, this is proving more challenging for
Slide
Donations 46
tend to come from the younger half of the population.
This millennial group is more confident about paying for online
less wealthy countries, for poorer groups, and for services in general and gives more regularly to online charities.41
As our own research into paying for news showed last year, many
particular types of content that are democratically younger people are reluctant to sign up for just one subscription
important or less commercially valued. for fear of missing out on being able to pick and choose sources.
Any message that suggests contributions might keep journalism
In these cases, donations could be one way of maintaining existing open is likely to work well with this group.
legacy news organisations and funding new enterprises. News
organisations like the Guardian are building their future business
GUARDIAN MESSAGING THAT APPEARS
on the back of donation-based membership, while our country
ON MOST NEWS STORIES
pages are full of examples of new crowdfunded start-ups. In this
chapter we look at the extent and limits of this approach across
countries and explore the reasons why more people are donating
to news, INSTITUTE
REUTERS with a focus
FORon the
THE US, OF
STUDY Spain,40
and the
JOURNALISM UK.
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
Slide
Overall we 45
find that the percentage of people donating to news
organisations is small, just 1% in the UK rising to 3% in the US.
But the scale of the opportunity looks to be much greater, with
on average, a quarter of our sample (22%) saying they might be
prepared to donate to a news organisation in the future if they felt
if could not cover their costs in other ways.
PROPORTION
50%
THAT MADE A DONATION TO A NEWS ORGANISATION IN THE LAST YEAR/WOULD CONSIDER DONATING IN THE
FUTURE – SELECTED MARKETS Might be prepared to
donate in the future
50% Currently donates to
aMight
news be prepared to
organisation
50% donate in the future
Might be prepared
Currently donatestoto
donate in the future
28 a news organisation
25% 26 26 Currently donates to
24
22 a news organisation
19 18
28 17
25% 26 26
28 24
25% 26 26 22
3 3 2 2 24 2 22 1
19
1 18 1 17 Scale of
0% 19 18 17 opportunity
USA SWE SPA NOR IRE GER UK FIN
3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1
3 3 2 2 2
0% 1 1 1
USA
0% SWE SPA NOR IRE GER UK FIN
USA SWE SPA NOR IRE GER UK FIN
Q7ai. You said you have accessed paid for ONLINE news content in the last year. Which, if any, of the following ways have you used to pay for ONLINE news content in the last year? Q7c_DONATE_2. Please
indicate your level of agreement with the following statement. I would consider making a donation to a news outlet I like if they were unable to cover their costs in other ways. Base: Total sample in each market.
For information about donations in Spain we are grateful to Samuel Negredo Bruna and the team at the University of Navarra.
40
https://www.thebalance.com/how-millennials-have-changed-charitable-giving-2501900
41

PROPORTION OF PEOPLE WHO PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS VIA

DONATION BY AGE – ALL MARKETS
50%
Under 45s more
likely to donate
25%
19
16 17
11
8
This messaging is designed to strike a chord with those who are
0%
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ worried about ‘fake news’, partisan news, and poor journalism.
“I now realise that good journalism requires money.

Q7ai. You said you have accessed paid for ONLINE news content in the last year. Which, if any, of If I keep relying only on free news stories, the quality
the following ways have you used to pay for ONLINE news content in the last year? Base:
18–24/25–34/35–44/45–54/55+ who paid for online news in the last year: All markets = of journalism I get will be dumbed down and made
1197/2280/2060/1578/2962. much worse.”
(M, 52, US)
Many donations are also politically driven, with the vast majority For others, the rise of subscription has raised concerns about a
coming from the centre or the left. In part this is a reflection of two-tier system, where high-quality news is reserved for those
historical ideological battles, when many left-wing newspapers who can afford it. This is why some organisations prefer to keep
were funded by co-operatives or unions as a counter to a access free but ask for voluntary contributions. The majority of
capitalist-funded press. But in countries like the United States the the Guardian’s one-off donations come from the United States.42
media are again increasingly seen as part of a political struggle
– between supporters and opponents of Donald Trump. In this “I paid for The Guardian because I read its work and it
context, our open-ended survey responses suggest that donation doesn’t have a paywall. I didn’t pay as much as I would
is often seen as a political act: for a typical year’s subscription, though, because I don’t
read it very often.”
“I donate in support of the First Amendment, which
(F, 60, US)
I feel is under attack by this administration.”
(M, 34, US) In this respect the donation model may be a good fit for the
Guardian outside the UK, as they are unlikely to be first choice
“I want to make sure those news outlets stay open.” for an expensive subscription but provide a strong value-based
(F, 64, US) proposition for those with a liberal outlook. For similar reasons,
there is also a wide range of small blogs and writers that are
But donations are not exclusively the preserve of the left, starting to use donations as a model.
with partisan conservative sites increasingly appealing to
their supporter base to donate – especially as many advertisers “I feel that independent journalists bring truth to what
are now boycotting these sites. is going on in the world. Aeon Magazine, Medium,
Elephant Journal, Carolyn Baker – these are examples
of who I pay to support.”
TRADITION OF PHILANTHROPY IN THE UNITED (F, 60, US)
STATES
A wide variety of publications ask for donations in the United
States. NPR has been running funding drives for decades and the
bulk of its revenue comes this way (for radio and now its popular
website). The same is true for local NPR and PBS affiliates. Some
thriving local news providers, such as the non-profit Texas Tribune
and Mississippi Today also ask for reader contributions, stressing in
their messaging the benefits of a fact-based approach. Launched
in 2009, the Tribune generates $6.5 million in annual revenue,
with a staff of nearly 60 people.
Respondents in our survey repeatedly talked about wishing to

support independent writers, even if they don’t use them every
day. Regular donations or one-off tips for well-researched articles
are one way of showing appreciation.
https://www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-office/2018/jan/26/guardian-us-reaches-milestone-with-over-300000-paying-supporters-in-america
42
50 / 51
DONATIONS AND CROWDFUNDING IN SPAIN surprising given that very few others are asking for donations.
A key motivation is a desire to preserve one of the few
Independent media in Spain have been experimenting with a mainstream news organisations with a distinctly liberal agenda.
range of donation models for years. This has been important in
a country with little tradition of print subscription and where “It is important that the Guardian continues to be
journalism is threatened by declining revenues and a perceived available to counter nearly all the other newspapers
lack of independence. which are right-wing.”
(F. 63, UK)
“It is the only way to maintain free media that is
independent of political power.” For others, donation is more about guilt. Respondents say they
(M, 45, Spain) used to pay for the printed paper but now access it free on the
internet so they feel they should contribute.
As far back as October 2015, El Español raised €3.6m (£2.6m;
$4m) through equity crowdfunding. At launch it had 5,624 small A few other small UK publications that now ask for donations
shareholders and around 10,000 subscribers. But now its strategy were also mentioned by respondents. These include bloggers and
has switched to ongoing donation models, something it has in political sites like pro-independence Scottish site Bella Caledonia
common with many other digital-native news organisations. and Scot goes Pop. The Canary is a left-wing partisan site that
relies on monthly contributions from around 1,500 supporters.
These usually take the form of voluntary subscriptions or
memberships, pioneered by Vilaweb in Catalonia and successfully
adopted by Eldiario.es, which had more than 30,000 members in
April 2018.43 Users donate money on a regular basis and obtain
extra benefits in return such as an ad-free website or participating
in meetings. The annual membership fee is €60 though you can
choose to donate more.
The key messages are about defending journalism and improving

society – ideas that strike a chord with many of our respondents.
“Paying a subscription or giving a donation is, for my

part, a way to maintain a service to the community.”
(M, 70, Spain)
Across all countries we find that donations are increasingly asked

for, and increasingly given. Part of the motivation is to support
fact-based journalism in an era of ‘fake news’ and support a greater
variety of independent voices. But many of our respondents
also talked about giving money because they wanted to identify
with a cause, or set of values. This matters because it deepens
the relationship between some audience members and some
journalists at the same time as potentially increasing the supply
of more partisan journalism.
REASONS FOR DONATIONS – UNITED KINGDOM Perhaps the most significant finding is that younger groups are
most likely to give money for news. Donations may help bridge
In the UK, news has traditionally been supplied by a strong and the gap between paying nothing and an expensive subscription,
vibrant commercial newspaper sector, commercial TV, and the but they also work better for a generation that likes to access
publicly funded BBC. Donation is a relatively new concept. Just 1% multiple sources on multiple devices. For both these reasons
of our sample gives to a news organisation and from comments we can expect pay-as-you-go models like donations and
it is clear that most are donating to the Guardian. This is not crowdfunding to be an increasingly important part of the picture.
https://l.eldiario.es/30000-socios
43

2.6 The Rise of Messaging Apps

for News
Slide 53
In this chapter, we explore the rise of the use of In the US, which is one of the countries with the steepest decrease
in Facebook use for news, we can see that this is much greater
messaging apps for news and how this is related
among young users (14 percentage points difference between
to decline in Facebook use for news. As seen in 2016 and 2018) whereas among the oldest age group there are no
the Executive Summary of this report, the use of differences reported. At the same time, use of messenger apps for
news (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, Telegram, etc.) has
Facebook for news has been falling since 2016 in
grown with all groups but under 35s are the heaviest users.
many countries, especially in some that have been
affected by public debate over misinformation. PROPORTION THAT USED FACEBOOK FOR NEWS IN THE LAST
WEEK BY AGE (2016-18) – US
At the same time, more people have been using
messaging apps such as WhatsApp for any purpose75% 75%
2018 20
(44%), while average usage for news has more 2016 20
than doubled to 16% in four years.
50% 50%54 54
48 46 48 46
45 45
In terms of definition, it can be hard to separate social networks 42
39
42 41 39 41
38 38 38 38
from messaging
REUTERS applications,
INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY though we have attempted
OF JOURNALISM to do so
/ FURTHER ANALYSIS
31 31
Slide 52
on the basis of whether they are principally used for messaging
25% or
not. Twitter and Instagram, of course, have messaging built into
25%
their service but it is not their primary purpose. Snapchat started

as an app for ephemeral messaging but has now developed0% a 0%
18-24 25-34
18-24 35-44
25-34 45-54
35-44 55+45-54 55+
richer feature set.
Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week for news? Base: 18–24/25–
34/35–44/45–54/55+: 2016 = 175/329/377/300/1016, 2018 = 232/386/441/355/987.
PROPORTION THAT USED SELECTED SOCIAL NETWORKS AND MESSAGING APPS IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS
Social networks Messaging apps
71 +1 44 +4
Facebook 46 -1
WhatsApp 16 +1
66 +5 41 +5
YouTube 24 +2
FB Messenger 10 +2
30 +6 10 +1
Instagram 7 +1
Snapchat 2–
26% use for news (+3)
20 – 9 +2
Twitter 10 –
Viber 2–
16 +2
For news 4 +1 For news
LinkedIn 4 Any purpose Telegram 2 +1 Any purpose
+1
0% 25% 50% 75% 0% 25% 50% 75%
Q12A/B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for any purpose/news in the last week? Base: Total sample in all markets. Note: Also showing change from 2017.
52 / 53
Slide 56
The majority of those who use messaging apps for news also use
PROPORTION THAT USE WHATSAPP AND FACEBOOK FOR
EACH – ALL MARKETS Facebook for news. This is particularly the case in the United
States where Facebook Messenger dominates and WhatsApp
75%
Facebook is rarely used. But in Brazil and Germany, where WhatsApp is
Facebook
widespread, there is slightly less overlap with Facebook. In these
WhatsApp WhatsApp
markets more reading and sharing seems to have moved to
50% 54 54 WhatsApp as well as discussion – at least for some people.
42 42
39 39
OVERLAP IN USE OF FACEBOOK AND WHATSAPP FOR NEWS
30 25% 30 – SELECTED MARKETS
24 24
17 16 17 16
11 11
0%
Looked at ClickedLooked
on at TakenClicked
part on Taken part Taken in part Taken part in
news headlines a link
news
to get
headlines in a private
a link to get a groupinset
a private
up a group set up
/videos (but more information
/videos (but discussion
more information to discuss
discussion
a to discuss a
not clicked (e.g. from
not clicked about a(e.g.
newsfrom particular
about a news particular
for further a news website)
for further story a (one
newsor website) newsstory
topic(one or news topic
information) information) more people) more people)
US
Use Facebook for news: 39%.
Q12_2018_FB/WA. Thinking about the news you get via Facebook/WhatsApp, which of the Use Messenger for news: 7%.
following have you done in the last week? Base: All that used Facebook/WhatsApp for news in the
Use Facebook and Messenger for news: 6%
last week. All markets = 34014/11660.
When looking at different news-related activities on Facebook

and WhatsApp, we find that Facebook is most likely to be used
for reading or discovering news, either by glancing at headlines or
clicking to read a full story. On WhatsApp, users are more likely to
take part in a private discussion about news (24%) or to take part
in a group set up specifically to discuss a news topic (16%).
Focus groups, held in the US, UK, Brazil and Germany, give us more Brazil
insight this year about why messaging apps might be better at Use Facebook for news: 52%.
Use WhatsApp for news: 48%.
facilitating interaction and discussion. Users said that they have Use Facebook and WhatsApp for news: 28%.
groups set up for friends, family or work and that they can chat and
post articles about all sorts of topics including news more freely:
“The whole thing about social media is like wearing REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS
a mask. So when I am in my messaging groups with
my friends the mask comes off and I feel like I can
Slide 54
truly be myself” Germany
(F, 30-45, UK) Use Facebook for news: 24%.
Use WhatsApp for news: 14%.
Use Facebook and WhatsApp for news: 6%.
But the use of social networks and messaging apps for news is
not mutually exclusive. Respondents often talked about coming Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week for news? Base: Total sample
across news via Facebook or Twitter, but then posting it on in each market.
WhatsApp when they wanted a discussion or debate:
“Somehow WhatsApp seems a lot more private. Like PROPORTION THAT USED MESSAGING APPS FOR NEWS IN
it’s kind of a hybrid between texting and social media. THE LAST WEEK BY AGE – US
Whereas in Facebook, for some reason it just feels like 50%
it’s public. Even if you’re in Messenger.”
(F, 20-29, US)
“The source is still Facebook because when we’re going

to share something on WhatsApp, usually the article 25%
we’ve found is on Facebook. So Facebook is still king in 26
that sense.” 21
(M, 20-29, US) 13

11
8
0%
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+
Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week for news? Base: 18–24/25–
34/35–44/45–54/55+: 232/386/441/355/987. Note: Showing net usage for WhatsApp, Line, Viber,
Snapchat, WeChat, Kik, Slack, and Facebook Messenger.

PROPORTION THAT USE FACEBOOK MESSENGER AND WHATSAPP FOR NEWS – SELECTED MARKETS
Messaging Apps Greece Norway US Australia Finland Argentina Hong Kong Malaysia
FB Messenger for news 22% 11% 7% 11% 5% 9% 8% 12%
WhatsApp for news 4% 2% 4% 10% 10% 37% 38% 54%
Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week for news? Base: Total sample in each market.
Across a wider set of countries, we find that the use of Facebook One reason is that they do not always feel comfortable in
Messenger for news is high in a few countries like Greece or expressing their political views in front of friends, family, and
Norway where it is the dominant messaging app for news or for all acquaintances. In countries like Japan, Norway, the US, or the
purposes. However, in most countries, WhatsApp is the dominant UK (see chart below), more people are concerned that their
messaging app, particularly in Latin American, Southeast Asian, immediate or outer social circle will think differently about
and Southern European countries. them44, and that can be a reason why more people are using
messaging apps for news.
Elsewhere we see a range of other messaging apps that are
not owned or operated by Facebook. Viber is the most popular Overall, these findings highlight the move of audiences,
messaging app in a number of Balkan countries where it is used particularly younger groups, to more private apps for reading and
for news by 14% in Bulgaria and Greece and 12% in Croatia. Line is particularly discussing news. However, as the findings suggest,
widely used in Taiwan (73% for any purpose, 53% for news), while large and less private social networks (mainly Facebook) are
it is also the most popular messaging application in Japan (27% still largely used for finding and reading news stories. If these
for any purpose, 9% for news). trends towards messaging apps are strengthened, it could create
new dilemmas for publishers around being able to engage with
WeChat is widely used in Hong Kong (52% for all purposes and ordinary citizens. The shift to messaging apps is partly driven by
15% for news) and Malaysia (28% for all purposes and 10% for a desire for greater privacy, so pushing news into these spaces
news). Kakao Talk is the dominant messaging app in South Korea needs to be more organic and more conversational if it is to be
used by the large majority of online news users (39% also use accepted. In any case, setting up broadcast lists in WhatsApp is a
it for news). Telegram use is increasing but still at low levels. It complex and labour-intensive process (publishers have to provide
has doubled since 2016 in the 26 countries of the 2016 sample, a phone number45 which users then subscribe to). However,
reaching 3% in 2018. However Telegram, whose main feature is journalists have effectively used WhatsApp groups to distribute
strong encryption, is particularly popular in more authoritarian news when covering political development in places with
REUTERS INSTITUTE
countries FOR THE STUDY
such as Malaysia (21% OF
useJOURNALISM / FURTHER
it for all purposes andANALYSIS
9% for censorship.46 Facebook Messenger makes it easier for publishers
Slide 58
news) and Singapore (19% for all purposes and 6% use it for news). to create branded spaces and conversational interfaces but users
have so far proved reluctant to sign up. Finally, if more immediate
Privacy is an important issue for users, and this partly explains the
and intelligent discussion moves to messaging apps, this could
growth in use of messaging apps, as opposed to more open social
make Facebook and Twitter comments even less representative of
networks. As noted in the Executive Summary, users in some ‘less
general users
Online political than they already are.
expression:
free’ countries are more likely to think carefully before expressing
their political views online. However, we can see that people also Could make work colleagues or other
acquaintances think differently about me
turn to messaging apps in non-authoritarian countries. Could make friends or family think
differently about me
Could get me into trouble
with the authorities
PROPORTION CONCERNED ABOUT DIFFERENT CONSEQUENCES OF OPENLY EXPRESSING
THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS ONLINE – SELECTED MARKETS
50%
Online political expression:

36 37
34 34 34 33
32 32 Could make work colleagues or other
27 28 acquaintances think differently about me
25%
23 Could make friends or family think
21 differently about me
Could get me into trouble
with the authorities
0
US UK Japan Norway
50%
Q13a_2018_1-3. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements. I tend to think carefully about expressing my political views openly on the internet because this could get me
into trouble with the authorities/because this could make friends or family think differently about me/because this could make work colleagues or other acquaintances think differently about me.
Base: Total sample in each country.
36 37
44
A phenomenon called
34 ‘context
34 collapse’
34 by danah boyd, ‘Faceted Id/entity: Managing
33 Representation in a Digital World’, MA thesis, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 2002. 32 32
45
E.g.
25% http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-30821245
27 28
46
https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/foreign_correspondents_chat_apps_unrest.php
23
21
54 / 55
2.7 Podcasts and New Audio

Strategies
Nic Newman
Audio is attracting new renewed interest from Surprisingly, podcasts seem to be least accessed in North European
countries with a strong audio tradition such as Finland (24%),
publishers as mobile listening grows and on-
Germany (22%), the UK (18%), and the Netherlands (18%). This
demand technology in the car disrupts linear radio may be because popular public broadcasters have little incentive
listening. At home, voice-activated speakers like to undermine their linear radio listening by producing or promoting
podcasts. On the other hand, there may also problems of definition
the Amazon Echo and Google Home are creating
with the term podcast not equally understood across countries.
new opportunities to distribute linear podcasts as In the UK, for example, much listening comes via the popular BBC
well as create new audio products. iPlayer radio app but on-demand streams and downloads accessed
this way are not labelled specifically as podcasts and may not be
In this chapter we explore the popularity of news-related understood as such in surveys such as ours.
podcasts in 22 countries47 and also look at which demographics
are most likely to access these episodic digital audio files, which
can be downloaded, subscribed to, or listened to. For the first time PODCASTS ARE A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY TO
this year, we have also asked about the type of podcasts accessed, REACH YOUNGER AUDIENCES
and in a number of countries open-ended responses give us more
detail about the most popular programming. The most striking demographic trend is the extent to which young
people have embraced podcasts. The chart overleaf compares the
Overall, a third of our sample (34%) listens to a news-related proportion of each age group that uses podcasts at least monthly
REUTERS
podcast INSTITUTE FOR THE but
at least monthly STUDY OF JOURNALISM
there / FURTHER
are significant ANALYSIS
country with those that listen to radio news at least weekly. This is a
Slide 59
differences. In Asian countries like South Korea (58%) and Taiwan slightly unfair comparison given that monthly radio listening will
(55%), strong smartphone penetration together with high levels be somewhat higher than the chart suggests. Even so, just under
of social sharing have helped podcasts grow rapidly. In the United half of under 35s are using news-related podcasts, which is almost
States, which has produced much of the innovation in terms of certainly far more of this group than listen to traditional radio news.
formats (Serial, S-Town) and business models (sponsorship and
targeted advertising), a third (33%) say they have accessed a news
podcast in the last month.
PROPORTION WHO ACCESSED A PODCAST IN THE LAST MONTH – SELECTED MARKETS

75%
58
55
50%
47
40 38
36 34
33 33 33 32 31
30 28 28
25% 27 26 26
24 22
20 18 18
0%
KOR HK TWN SPA IRE SWE SUI AUS USA SGP NOR ITA CAN FRA AUT DEN JPN FIN GER BEL UK NLD ALL
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: Total
sample in each market.
US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
47
Singapore, Australia, Canada.

Slide 60
Following the release of iTunes analytics in December 2017, early
data suggest that most podcasts are listened to for at least 90%
of their duration, giving the lie to the view that young people have
minimal attention spans. With advertising spend on podcasts in
the United States rising to $220m they could offer a significant
commercial opportunity for publishers as well as a route to
attracting hard-to-reach millennials.48
PROPORTION THAT LISTEN TO PODCASTS AND RADIO NEWS

BY AGE – SELECTED MARKETS
75%
Radio News (weekly) Radio News (weekly)
Podcasts (monthly) Podcasts (monthly)
50%
48 48 48
39 3938 38
36 36
32 30 32 30
27 25% 27
2 22 22 22
0%
25-34 35-44
18-24 45-54
25-34 55+
35-44 45-54 55+
Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? 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:
18–24/25–34/35-44/45–54/55+: Selected markets = 4787/7575/8084/8566/16998.
TYPES OF PODCASTS CONSUMED

Slide 61at the types of popular podcasts accessed, we find

When looking
that news and politics is only one part of the mix. Podcast genres
seem to follow a similar mix to a speech radio schedule with
lifestyle, food, health, technology, business, and sport playing a
significant part. In our open-end responses, comedy programmes
were also mentioned but were not captured in our survey
question. Podcast listening tends to skew male along with wider
news use, with only lifestyle subjects attracting more women.
PROPORTION THAT LISTEN TO EACH TYPE OF PODCAST

Gender mix
Any podcast monthly 34
Sport 8 The US podcast scene is vibrant and varied. Over 500 different
podcasts were mentioned, ranging from political talk shows like
Contemporary life Ben Shapiro and Rush Limbaugh, adapted public radio shows like
(e.g. crime, societal issues) 10 This American Life and Freakonomics, and digital-born shows like
Specialist subjects Pod Save America, a progressive podcast run by four former aides
(e.g. science and technology, 14 to Barack Obama, Every Little Thing from Gimlet media, and Guys
business, media, health)
We F**ked, a podcast about sex from comics Krystyna Hutchinson
Lifestyle subjects and Corinne Fisher.
(e.g. food, fashion, arts, 13
literature, travel, fun)
News, politics,
international events 14
0% 25% 50%
Male Female
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: Total sample in selected markets.
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-podcast-analytics-first-month
48
56 / 57
In the UK, respondents referenced almost 100 different BBC CONCLUSION

programmes. Successful US podcasts were also widely consumed
while UK newspaper publishers like the Guardian, The Times Podcasts are both a threat and an opportunity for existing
and the Telegraph feature in the list, with podcasts ranging from broadcasters. They enable new audiences to be reached beyond
politics to sport, and health. New political podcasts consumed national boundaries – and on new devices – but the low barriers
include one from Brexiteer and Conservative MP Jacob Rees- to entry have also opened up competition to a vast array of
Mogg – known as the Moggcast. new entrants, including both newspapers and digital-born
brands. In many (European) countries they are also challenging
the relatively neutral tone of radio broadcasting by injecting
both stronger opinions and a greater variety of views. In less
free societies they are offering a relatively open platform for
democratic debate that is, in theory at least, a bit harder to shut
down. Critically, the demographics of podcasting are explosive.
The younger generation is embracing content at a time and in
a format that works for them – a trend that looks unlikely to be
reversed any time soon.
In addition to the 22 countries shown above, we also asked about
podcasts in Turkey, where we poll using an urban sample. Here we
find more than two-thirds of this group using podcasts monthly,
partly as a result of improving connectivity and ubiquitous
smartphone use amongst the urban population. A number of the
most popular podcasts are in English with the BBC’s Global News
topping the iTunes chart.
Improving English-language fluency is a key motivation for using

podcasts in Turkey, but the platform also provides an alternative
platform for free journalism. Many of the top Turkish-language
podcasts are critical of the government, with three outlets in
particular, Acik Radyo, Ünsal Ünlü, and Medyascope, providing
news and debate in this context. One of them is a radio channel,
and other two broadcast through Twitter’s Periscope platform.
The output is also then reversioned for podcast. Ünsal Ünlü
runs one of the most popular podcasts in Turkey, regularly
reaching around 45,000 people with broadcasts across all digital
platforms. His podcast subscribers alone have more than doubled
in the last year.49
Ünsal Ünlü
Broadcasts:
5 times a week at regular time
Channels:
YouTube, Twitter, Scope (Periscope),
Soundcloud and iTunes (Podcast)
Personal conversation with Ünsal Ünlü by Servet Yanatma, Visiting Research Fellow Reuters Institute, Mar. 2018, who also contributed to this section on Turkey.
49

58 / 59
Section 3 Europe
3.01 United Kingdom 62
Analysis by Country
3.02 Austria 64
3.03 Belgium 66
3.04 Bulgaria 68
3.05 Croatia 70
In this section we publish a country-based view of the findings, 3.06 Czech Republic 72
which includes an overview of media characteristics and the 3.07 Denmark 74
most important data points in terms of digital news. 3.08 Finland 76
These include headline figures on consumption in each country, including details 3.09 France 78
of the most popular news brands – traditional and online. The pages also contain 3.10 Germany 80
statistics about the use of new devices such as smartphones and tablets and
3.11 Greece 82
the role of different social networks for news. Information is drawn from the
2018 Digital News Report survey using the methodology outlined on p. 6, with 3.12 Hungary 84
the exception of population and internet levels which are drawn from Internet
3.13 Ireland 86
World Statistics (2017). Where appropriate, our country-based authors have also
referenced industry-based statistics that supplement our survey-based approach. 3.14 Italy 88
3.15 Netherlands 90
Whilst most of our countries see internet penetration of 80% or more, Brazil,
Mexico, and Turkey in particular have far lower levels of access. In those 3.16 Norway 92
countries we are looking at the habits of around (or less than) half the adult 3.17 Poland 94
population. It should also be noted that the Brazilian and Turkish samples are
urban-based samples (and skew far younger, with roughly half the proportion 3.18 Portugal 96
of over 55s, compared to the other countries surveyed). Many international 3.19 Romania 98
comparisons will still be relevant in terms of understanding differences in the
3.20 Slovakia 100
online sphere, but anyone interpreting these results should be careful not to
suggest these figures represent the total adult population, especially when 3.21 Spain 102
considering offline versus online consumption.
3.22 Sweden 104
In 14 countries the figures on device usage may have been affected by an issue 3.23 Switzerland 106
that meant the survey could only be taken on desktop devices (see Methodology
3.24 Turkey 108
for further information about which countries were involved).
Americas
The full questionnaire, additional charts, and tables – plus the raw data – are
3.25 United States 112
available from our website www.digitalnewsreport.org.
3.26 Argentina 114
We have ordered the countries by geography (Europe, Americas, and Asia-
Pacific) and within each region countries are then ordered alphabetically – with 3.27 Brazil 116
the exception of UK at the start of the Europe section and the United States at 3.28 Canada 118
the start of the Americas.
3.29 Chile 120
3.30 Mexico 122
Asia Pacific
3.31 Australia 126
3.32 Hong Kong 128
3.33 Japan 130
3.34 Malaysia 132
3.35 Singapore 134
3.36 South Korea 136
3.37 Taiwan 138

60 / 61
Section 3 Europe
3.01 United Kingdom 62
Analysis by Country
3.02 Austria 64
3.03 Belgium 66
3.04 Bulgaria 68
3.05 Croatia 70
Europe
3.06 Czech Republic 72
3.07 Denmark 74
3.08 Finland 76
3.09 France 78
3.10 Germany 80
3.11 Greece 82
3.12 Hungary 84
3.13 Ireland 86
3.14 Italy 88
3.15 Netherlands 90
3.16 Norway 92
3.17 Poland 94
3.18 Portugal 96
3.19 Romania 98
3.20 Slovakia 100
3.21 Spain 102
3.22 Sweden 104
3.23 Switzerland 106
3.24 Turkey 108

UNITED KINGDOM STATISTICS

Population
Internet penetration
66m
95%
The UK media have played a

leading part in exposing the
shortcomings of tech companies
over internet safety, privacy, and
‘fake news’. Meanwhile, politicians
are looking into misinformation
and the role of platforms in
undermining journalism.
The Observer/Guardian and Channel 4 News

revealed that Cambridge Analytica used
information from more than 50 million
Facebook profiles to build a system that have halved in the last financial year, A prominent BBC journalist resigned
could target US voters. Earlier, investigations and it is hoping to break even by 2019. from her post when it emerged she was
by The Times embarrassed Google, showing The Financial Times topped 900,000 being paid considerably less than men in
that ads for reputable brands had appeared subscribers in 2017, three-quarters of similar roles. Carrie Gracie accused the
alongside YouTube videos advocating them digital. And The Times and Sunday BBC of a ‘secretive and illegal pay culture’.
extremism, as well as those featuring Times have more than 450,000 print and Coincidentally, new legislation forced all
children and sexualised content. digital customers, plus 2m registered users major companies to reveal gender pay
who have exchanged email addresses for gaps. Women at the Telegraph Media
Meanwhile a committee of British MPs a limited number of free articles. Despite Group were paid 35% less on average
has been investigating ‘fake news’ and these moves, our data show that fewer than men.51 The BBC figure was 9.3%,
demanded information from Facebook and than one in ten (7%) pay for online news, against a UK average of 18%. Fixing these
Twitter about any Russian activity during one of the lowest figures in our report. imbalances will be difficult when the BBC
the EU referendum. Pressure for some kind has savings targets of £80m.
of regulation is growing, even as our data Mass-market and local publishers find it
show social media usage for news starting harder to charge for online news and are Despite this, the BBC remains Europe’s
to go into reverse (-2). pursuing alternative strategies including most successful public broadcaster with
cost-cutting and consolidation. In one of impressive weekly reach online (43%) and
The power of platforms and changing the most significant newspaper mergers via TV and radio (64%). Britain’s vocal and
consumer habits were among the factors for years, the owner of the left-leaning partisan national newspapers have often
leading the government to set up a Mirror group bought right-wing tabloids the led the debate over Brexit, particularly
review into the sustainability of high- Daily Express and the Daily Star for £200m. in the absence of a strong government.
quality journalism. UK newspaper print The papers will maintain their editorial The Guardian’s (15%) online weekly reach
circulations have halved since 2001, with independence, but pooling reporters in overtook the Daily Mail (14%), while the
the average revenue from digital users less areas like sport may save £20m each year. Sun (7%) has been fastest-growing after
than 10% of a print reader. The review is Local news providers like Johnston Press are abandoning its paywall.
due to be published by early 2019. looking to save money by sharing content
via regional hubs. This year also sees the Awareness of alternative or partisan
But many publishers aren’t waiting for websites such as Breitbart (19%) and the
deployment of 150 new local democracy
government solutions. Quality newspapers Canary (16%) is relatively high, but weekly
reporters. They will be employed by local
are increasingly trying to charge online usage is very low (just 2% for each), not
newspapers but funded by the BBC at a
readers directly. The Telegraph has put least because the UK’s opinion-filled
cost of £8m – part of a range of initiatives in
most of its premium content behind a newspaper websites fill the gap.
which local media gets access to BBC local
paywall, and is looking to increase revenue
video and data journalism.50
from personal finance and technology.
The Guardian relaunched as a tabloid in It has been another difficult year for the Nic Newman
January and refocused its online strategy BBC with its Director of News leaving to Research Associate, Reuters Institute
on donations and membership. It says it start a ‘slow news’ website. It was also for the Study of Journalism
has 800,000 paying supporters; reader criticised over its Brexit coverage and
revenue now outstrips advertising; losses was at the centre of a row over equal pay.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/most-of-150-new-bbc-funded-local-democracy-reporters-go-to-trinity-mirror-newsquest-and-johnston-press
50
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/mar/26/telegraph-media-group-gender-pay-gap
51
62 / 63
TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE

BBC News (TV & Radio) 64 BBC News online 43
10
ITV News 33 Guardian online 7

15
Sky News 21 Mail online 4

14
TOP BRANDS Sun (& Sunday) 15 Sky News online 4
11
% Weekly usage Daily Mail (& Sunday) 13 HuffPost 7

10
Metro 11 Local newspaper website 4

9
Regional or local newspaper 11 Sun online 3

7
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Daily Mirror (Sunday Mirror/Sunday People) 10 Telegraph online 4
7
At least 3 days per week C4 News 10 MSN News 3

6
TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 10 Independent/ i100 online 4
6
Weekly use The Times / Sunday Times 7 Mirror online 3
6 ALSO
online brands Breitbart 2%
Guardian / Observer 5 BuzzFeed News 4
6
At least 3 days per week Canary 2%
London Evening Standard 4 Metro online 3 5
online brands Another Angry Voice 2%
Daily Telegraph (& Sunday) 4 Yahoo! News 2 5
Westmonster 2%
‘i’ 3 The Lad Bible 4 5 Skwawkbox 1%
CNN 3 Times online 3 5 Evolve Politics 1%
TV
Print
Online (incl. social media)
TV
CHANGING
100% MEDIA SOURCES OF NEWS Social
TV
Print media DEVICES
TV FOR NEWS
2013–18 Online
Print (incl. social media) 2013–18
Print
The continuing decline
79% of TV Social
Onlinemedia
(incl. social media) Online (incl. social media)
74%
and print 100%
news has been
74%
Social media 100%Social media
100% 100% 66% T
evident for the last six years
59%
79%
74%
74% S
with social50%
media79%
growth finally 79%
74% 74%
74% 74% 66%
39% 67%
59% C
levelling off. The smartphone 36%
66% 66% 56%
50% 59% 59%
has become 50%
the most
20% used
50% 39% 50% 50%
device for news, overtaking the 36% 39%
0%
39%
2018 36% 36% 29%
computer/laptop.20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 29%
20% 20% 16%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)

ALL THOSE THAT HAVEHEARD OF BRAND ALL THOSE THAT USE
Trust is particularly low in THIS BRAND
social media (12%), not News overall BBC News 7.02 7.35
News I use
surprising given widespread
42% (-1) 54%
ITV News 6.79 7.35
media coverage of ‘fake news’ Channel 4 News 6.68 7.51
and misinformation. The BBC 20th/37 Regional or local newspaper 6.42 6.58
is the most trusted news The Times 6.35 7.23
organisation in the UK with Sky News 6.26 7.29
tabloid papers amongst the The Guardian 6.24 6.95
least trusted. News in search News in social Independent/i100 6.05 6.58
23% 12%
The Daily Telegraph 6.02 6.66
HuffPost 5.43 6.3
Daily Mirror 4.94 6.52

PAY The Canary 4.69 6.65
Daily Mail/MailOnline 4.6 5.86
Buzzfeed News 4.59 5.65
7% (+1)
The Sun 3.91 5.85
(35th/37) pay for

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING
22%
ONLINE NEWS
Rank Brand For news All
1 Facebook 27% (-2) 66% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
2 Twitter 14% (+2) 29%
3 YouTube 8% (+1) 49%
21% (-1) 4 WhatsApp 5% (-) 44% 14%

(34th/37) use an 5 Facebook Messenger 3% (-2) 44% COMMENT ON NEWS
AD-BLOCKER via social or website
6 Snapchat 2% (+1) 12%

AUSTRIA STATISTICS
Population
8.6m
85%
Austrian media have benefited

from increased interest in news,
following heated parliamentary
elections, which saw the far right
join a coalition government in
December 2017. Meanwhile,
digital and social media have
contributed to an increasingly
polarised climate in which overall
trust in the media has suffered.
After winning a substantial victory in wing politicians. The former ÖVP leader Compared to the previous year, Der Standard
parliamentary elections, Sebastian Kurz, at 31 attacked the popular news anchor Armin reduced its print circulation by 12%, Die
years of age, became the youngest chancellor Wolf, following a joke on national television, Presse by 7%, and Kurier by 6%.52
in Austrian history by forming a coalition which undermined his position. Another
with the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria ÖVP politician accused Wolf of partisan Reach for the main brands remains relatively
(FPÖ). This victory came after almost a year of journalism and Freedom Party leader Strache stable with small percentage gains for all the
government crisis and a controversial re-run subsequently took to Facebook to accuse the top brands, and the percentage of people
of the presidential election. The agreement ORF and Wolf of lying. Meanwhile another extremely or very interested in news has
between Kurz’s centre right Austrian prominent ORF anchor-man was accused of increased to 69% of respondents.
People’s Party (ÖVP) and the FPÖ, led by favouring the SPÖ.
Heinz-Christian Strache, allowed the latter Trust in the news in general has fallen by
to gain control of key government positions, With ORF’s critics now in power it could 4 percentage points in the last year, while
including the ministries of Defence and face serious consequences. Politicians have there is a 2% increase in respondents
Interior, in exchange for a relaxation of their talked about reforming the ORF, including agreeing they trust the media they
anti-EU positions. the elimination of the mandatory licence themselves use. This suggests an increase
fee, its main source of funding – despite the in polarisation as readers become more
But these controversial political events fact that our data show ORF still as Austria’s entrenched in media that reflect their views.
were only the second-most covered topic most trusted news brand (6.60), just ahead
in national newspapers after stories about Indeed, Austria is home to a number
of Die Presse (6.59) and Der Standard (6.47).
immigration and asylum seekers, according of partisan websites that have gained
While the heated tones of the electoral
to the Austrian Press Agency (APA), with popularity through social media. The
campaign may have calmed down, the issue
Donald Trump’s presidency the third best known of these is Unzensuriert
has not been forgotten and detailed plans
most followed topic. The elections also (Uncensored), a site that the Austrian federal
are likely to emerge within the next year.
boosted television ratings, as more than 40 office for the protection of the constitution
candidates’ debates were televised, with In the media business world, the Austrian has described as xenophobic with anti-
the final one being, reportedly, the most private commercial TV operator ATV Semitic tendencies.53 Founded by a former
followed ever. was sold to its main competitor, the Freedom Party politician, almost one in five
ProSiebenSat1Puls4 group, raising plurality (19%) of our sample has heard of this site,
The role of social media in spreading so- concerns. The Federal Competition with 4% having accessed it in the previous
called ‘fake news’ became a central issue in Authority will be insisting that ATV week. Info Direct (2%), Alles Roger54 (1%),
the election campaign. A political consultant maintains its editorial independence as the and Contra Magazin (1%) are three other
hired by the Social Democratic Party of merger goes through. far-right, anti-EU websites/magazines.
Austria was alleged to be responsible for There are a number of other small sites that
two Facebook sites that provided false 2017 experienced the shutdown of NZZ.at, represent centrist and left-wing positions.
information about Sebastian Kurz. The the first online news publication in Austria
resulting outcry eventually led to the financed by digital subscriptions, and the
resignation of the SPÖ general secretary, launch of a new digital platform, Addendum, Sergio Sparviero and Josef Trappel,
who also served as campaign manager. managed by a non-profit company financed with the collaboration of Stefan Gadringer,
by Red Bull’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz. Roland Holzinger, and Isabella Nening,
Before, during and after the campaign, the University of Salzburg
role of Austria’s public broadcaster (ORF) Although Austria essentially remains a
and some of its journalists came under traditional news environment, printed
intense scrutiny from centre and right- copies of newspapers are in decline.
Source: http://www.oeak.at
52
https://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/Mediendateien/LK/beilage-kongress.pdf
53
https://derstandard.at/2000044079645/Zur-Info-Das-Facebook-Universum-des-HC-Strache
54
64 / 65

ORF News (Public Broadcaster) 82 ORF News online 41
12
Kronen Zeitung 39 Kronen Zeitung online 9

26
Puls 4 News 25 Der Standard online 6

18
TOP BRANDS ZDF news 20 GMX news 6
17
% Weekly usage ServusTV news 20 Kurier online 6

13
Bezirksblätter 19 Die Presse online 5

11
Heute 18 Heute online 5

10
Weekly use
TV, radio & print RTL news 17 OE24.at (e.g. österreich.at, sport.oe24.at) 5
10
At least 3 days per week ATV news 17 meinbezirk.at /woche.at /bezirksrundschau.at 7

10
TV, radio & print ARD news 16 MSN News 4
10
Weekly use Österreich 16 Kleine Zeitung online 4
9
online brands ALSO
Der Standard 14 KroneHit news online 5
8
At least 3 days per week Unzensuriert 4%
Kurier 14 nachrichten.at 4
8
online brands Kontrast 2%
Kleine Zeitung 14 heute.de (ZDF Germany) 3
6
Info Direkt 2%
KroneHit 12 news.at 3
6 Alles Roger? 1%
Regional or local newspaper 11 Tagesschau.de 3
6 Contra Magazin 1%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Print media DEVICES FOR NEWS*
2015–18 Online
Print (incl. social media) 2015–18
Online news is now 79% the most Social
Onlinemedia
(incl. social media)
100% 74%
popular news source
74% (76%) 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
with our Austrian59% respondents
79%
78% 74%
50% 74% 76% Online (inc. social) S
while TV news continues
79% to 71% 74% 69%
74% 70% 66%
39% 71% 67%
decline (-4). Social59%
media use 36%
66% 63%
Print
58%
C
50% 59%
for news continues
50%
20% to grow (+4) 50% 39%
49% 50% TV
36% 41%
amid political
0%
upheavals, which 38% 39%
2018 36%
have seen the far 20%
right2013 2014 2015 2016
take 2017
19%
20% 16%
posts in a coalition
0% government.
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018 2015 2016 2017 2018
* 2018 computer data may be overstated – see methodology for more information

Overall trust in the news is THIS BRAND
down 4 points and a closer News overall ORF news 6.6 6.98
News I use
analysis reveals that this fall
41% (-4) 55%
Die Presse 6.59 7.37
comes largely from those on ZDF news 6.47 7.13
the left and in the centre. Trust 23rd/37 Der Standard 6.47 7.3
amongst right-wingers has ServusTV news 6.2 7.14
increased, perhaps reflecting Kurier 5.95 6.75
wider satisfaction with the Puls 4 5.85 6.59
changing political situation. News in search News in social Bezirksblätter 5.8 6.47
24% 15%
Kleine Zeitung 5.78 6.83
NEWS 5.42 6.43
RTL news 5.27 6.42

PAY Kronen Zeitung 4.94 6.07
oe24 TV 4.87 5.68
GMX 4.74 5.59
8% (+1)
Heute 4.36 5.29
(30th/37) pay for

29%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 19% (+3) 66%
3 WhatsApp 19% (+3) 67%
31% (+8) 4 Facebook Messenger 6% (+1) 30% 18%

(9th/37) use an 5 Twitter 4% (-) 12% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 4% (+1) 20%

BELGIUM STATISTICS
Population
Internet penetration 88%
11m
Belgium is a small media market.

It effectively has two distinct
publishing sectors for the French
and Flemish speaking populations,
both with strong public service
broadcasters that have been
outstripped by commercial brands
online. Recent mergers and
acquisitions have raised concerns
about media concentration and
pluralism in the news.
online news (Het Laatste Nieuws/HLN.be), centred urban development project called
In the past year, Belgium’s largest and magazines (Dag Allemaal). Mediapark.Brussels. The first sketches of
publishers, De Persgroep, Mediahuis, and the building show VRT’s ambition to become
Roularta, continued to consolidate their In the French-speaking community, there a meeting space for citizens and media
market position by scaling-up their activities was heated debate about the possible professionals.
through mergers and acquisitions, strongly acquisition of Les Editions de L’Avenir
reshuffling the Belgian media landscape. by the Groupe Rossel. Fears of media Belgium’s media market seems trapped
This reorganisation of ownership seems to concentration lead politicians to ask the in a paradoxical situation where Belgian
be inspired by the desire to consolidate and Walloon government to temporarily put companies concentrate locally to better
expand core activities rather than to branch Les Editions de L’Avenir in public hands. compete globally (for advertising) with
out into new ones. Meanwhile, Rossel and news agency Belga the likes of Google, Facebook, and Netflix.
struck a deal which will see Belga become This has raised concerns by journalism
Mediahuis is exiting the audio-visual sector, the sole provider of news articles for the free organisations and policy-makers regarding
selling its stake in De Vijver Media, which daily Metro and its website metrotime.be. diversity in the news. After acquiring
runs the television channels Vier, Vijf, and Medialaan, De Persgroep announced it would
Zes and audio-visual production company All this took place against the backdrop regroup and relocate journalists, layout,
Woestijnvis. After having acquired the Dutch of readership levels for publishers’ news and production for all outlets in a central
publishers NRC Media in 2015 and Telegraaf brands that have remained stable over the newsroom called News City. For newspaper
Media Group in 2017, the company is clearly last three years, when taking into account De Morgen and magazine Humo, this also
betting its future on news publishing. total print and digital readership.56 But as means working under a single editor-in-chief.
Meanwhile telecom company Telenet has our Digital News Report data show, print While journalism organisations fear lay-offs,
bought De Vijver Media. Linear broadcasters is still losing ground year after year, with De Persgroep argues this will guarantee the
fear that Telenet might choose to limit local television also now seeing a slight decline. future of its news brands.
content access to its premium offerings.
The public broadcasters VRT and RTBF Finally, in relation to the growing calls for
Earlier, De Persgroep and Roularta traded remain firmly rooted in their respective holding platforms accountable, the Court
assets. De Persgroep acquired Roularta’s regions when it comes to offline news, of Brussels has found Facebook’s use of
stake in Medialaan, the largest commercial while still lagging behind when it comes personal tracking data to be non-compliant
broadcaster in Flanders. In turn, Roularta to online news. In Flanders, the revamping with Belgian privacy law. Facebook has
took over De Persgroep’s share in Mediafin, of the online news offering and renaming appealed the decision.
a joint venture with Groupe Rossel, which it VRT News has not yet improved
publishes financial newspapers De Tijd/ usage. The revamp coincided with the
L’Echo.55 Roularta now owns a profitable, new management agreement between Ike Picone
digitally savvy news brand and further the VRT and the Flemish government, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels
strengthened its magazine portfolio. De which confined the VRT’s online remit to
Persgroep, in turn, can now focus more mainly audio-visual news in order not to
prominently on monetising cross-media disrupt the online news market. By 2021
audiences in Flanders (and the Netherlands), both public broadcasters are planning to
owning the most popular news brands in build new offices on their shared current
commercial television (VTM), print and location, embedded into a bigger media-
https://www.persgroep.be/en/news/de-persgroep-expands-its-participation-medialaan-and-sells-its-50-interest-mediafin-roularta
55
The methodology for the official press metrics of the Centre for Information on the Media has been updated, with the print and digital circulation numbers merged. It is not
56
possible any more to distinguish digital from print readership

66 / 67
TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FLEMISH) ONLINE (FLEMISH)

VRT News (Public Broadcaster) 74 Het Laatste News online 52
11
VTM 41 Het Nieuwsblad online 9

36
Het Laatste Nieuws 31 VRT News online 8

25
TOP BRANDS Het Nieuwsblad 23 VTM News online 8
21
% Weekly usage Qmusic 15 De Standaard online 6

17
Metro 11 Gazet van Antwerpen online 5

16
Gazet van Antwerpen 11 De Morgen online 5

12
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Nostalgie 10 Het Belang van Limburg online 2
10
More than 3 days per week De Standaard 9 De Tijd online 4

9
TV, radio & print Het Belang van Limburg 9 MSN News 4
7
Weekly use Joe FM 9 Knack.be 3
7
online brands
De Morgen 8 Newsmonkey.be 3 5
More than 3 days per week
online brands
TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FRENCH) ONLINE (FRENCH)
RTBF News (Public Broadcaster) 71 RTL News online 37
11
PAY RTL 48 RTBF news online 13

30
TF1 31 L'Avenir online 9

27
Bel-RTL 22 DH online 10
23
French public TV (France Télévisions) 21 Le Soir online 10

22
14% (+2)
Le Soir 16 7sur7 6
20
L’Avenir 15 MSN News 6

13
Metro 15 La Libre 6
12
(15th/37) pay for Regional or local newspaper 15 Levif (incl. trends.levif.be) 5
10
ONLINE NEWS Radio Contact 15 Regional news sites 4

9
Flemish 13% La Dernière Heure 13 L’Echo 4

8
French 14% Le Vif/L’Express/Trends 9 Metro 4

7
TV
Print
SOURCES OF NEWS TV
Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS
2016–18 Social
TV
Print media 2016–18
100%
Print (incl. social media)
Online
79% 100% Social
Onlinemedia
(incl. social media) 100%
100% 74% Social media T
74% Social media
25% (+2)
100% 82% 66% 81%
59%
79% Online (incl. social media) S
75% 74%
74%
70% 70% 65%
50% 79% Printed newspapers C
74%
66%
39%
74%
59%
50% 46% 36% 50% TV 47%
50% use
(24th/37) an
59% 45% 66% 41%
20% 39%
39% 39%
AD-BLOCKER
50%
36%
39%
0% 20% 22%
20%2013
Flemish 20% 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 36%
20%
French 32%
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
27%
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST
News overall News I use News in search News in social
53% (+5) 59% 34% 21% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
8th/37
16%
Flemish 62% Flemish 66% Flemish 37% Flemish 23%
French 44% French 51% French 29% French 19%
BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) COMMENT ON NEWS
(FLEMISH) (FRENCH) via social or website
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT
HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND
VRT News 7.65 7.76 RTBF Info 7.11 7.36
Radio 1 7.33 7.94 Le Soir 6.93 7.26

De Tijd 7.33 7.96 La Première 6.85 7.3
De Standaard 7.24 7.81 La Libre 6.61 6.98 Rank Brand For news All
Radio 2 7.21 7.97 TF1 6.57 7.28
VTM News 7.15 7.62 Vivacité 6.57 7.24 1 Facebook 39% (-1) 65%
Het Nieuwsblad 6.98 7.37 RTL News 6.45 6.89
Knack.be 6.93 7.5 L'Avenir 6.4 7.12
2 YouTube 16% (+1) 54%
De Morgen 6.89 7.38 Bel-RTL 6.34 7.05
3 WhatsApp 8% (+3) 34%
Gazet van Antwerpen 6.79 7.25 DH 6.22 6.6
Het Laatste Nieuws 6.73 7.01 Radio Contact 6.12 7.35
4 Facebook Messenger 8% (+1) 42%
Qmusic 6.46 7.14 7sur7 6.04 6.75
Metro 6.39 6.76 Metro 5.96 6.77 5 Twitter 4% (-) 11%
Joe FM 6.33 7.08 MSN Actualités 5.42 6.36
Apache.be* 5.41 n/a * Note: No figure for users of Apache.be 6 Google Plus 4% (-) 9%
(did not meet 50 minimum threshold)

BULGARIA STATISTICS
Population
7m
Nearly 30 years after the fall of

communism Bulgaria remains
the poorest member of the
European Union, deeply divided
over old allegiances to Russia
and new alliances with the West.
The news media tend to take
an increasingly partisan view of
these issues, further polarising
society while reducing overall
trust in the news.
with a subscription to premium digital and BTV, the second most popular news
Now in his third term, Prime Minister magazine content costing around 29 lev broadcaster in our survey, also runs a
Boyko Borisov is the longest serving each month (€15). series of TV channels, radio stations,
leader since the communist dictator and websites. It too is foreign-owned,
Todor Zhivkov. His administration has Elsewhere, with advertising revenues having originally been established as a
been tainted by a series of scandals continuing to fall, many news organisations partnership between the Bulgarian mogul
involving party members and coalition have become increasingly reliant Krasimir Gergov and Rupert Murdoch’s
partners, resulting in declining personal on funding from oligarchs or foreign News Corp. A common feature among
popularity for Borisov. In this process foundations. This in turn has reduced the leading TV channels is a reluctance to
the mainstream media prefer to remain independence and trust, with the media criticise the top political leaders, allowing
witness to events rather than hold those increasingly becoming something of a statements by both the prime minister and
in power to account – except when it is in battlefield between Russia and the West. the opposition leaders to go unchallenged.
the interest of their powerful owners to do
A number of media companies get Western Public broadcaster Bulgarian National
so. Not surprising, then, overall trust in the
grants, for example, from the America Television (BNT) is less popular in terms of
news is just 38%, one of the lower scores in
for Bulgaria Foundation. Others receive reach than commercial rivals, but remains
our survey. Bulgaria has fallen in terms of
money from Russia. The pro-Western the most trusted for news in our survey.
press freedom (Index of Reporters Without
media (Capital, Mediapool) tend to criticise However, the TV service has recently been
Borders) to 109th place, from 68th in 2009.
Russia over its intervention in the Middle accused of underplaying the size of anti-
Newspapers in Bulgaria have come under East, while ignoring evidence that Western government protests, and continuing to
considerable financial pressure in recent weapons often find their way into the employ a host who made a rude gesture
years, despite pioneering successful ‘hybrid hands of Islamic States. Outlets openly towards an activist on an evening talk
tabloid’ newspapers such as 24 Chasa and siding with Russia have no hesitation in show. The broadcasting regulator, the
Trud in the 1990s. These publications mixed undermining pro-Western politicians by Council for Electronic Media (CEM), is
serious reporting and analysis with gossip speculating about their sexuality or making politically dominated by supporters of the
and scandals, attracting the interest of insinuations about corruption. ruling party.
German group WAZ. But low incomes and
Television remains an important source of Bulgarians are heavy users of social media
competition from the internet led to a four-
news in Bulgaria, with the online sites of and messaging applications. Viber enables
fold decline in circulation between 2003
leading broadcasters most heavily used. free calls to family members that have
and 2007. WAZ eventually sold their stake
The Nova Broadcasting Group runs a series emigrated and is popular due to the belief
and other foreign investors such as Bonnier
of channels and websites including Nova that encrypted conversations cannot be
and Handelsblatt also pulled out in the
TV (55% online reach) and abv.bg (48%), hacked.
wake of the global financial crisis. Four
a popular news portal built on the back
daily newspapers have had to shut down
of Bulgaria’s biggest email service. For
over the past three years and the publisher
many years, Nova was owned by Sweden’s
of the fifth one (Standart) recently walked Stefan Antonov
Modern Times Group, which invested
out, dramatically handing his shares Business journalist, (the Bulgarian)
heavily in both radio and online, including
over to journalists. Only one publisher, Economist, and former Reuters Journalist
acquiring vbox7.com, the Bulgarian
Economedia, has actively invested in Fellow.
equivalent of YouTube. The group is in
digital. Owning one of the most trusted
the process of being sold to the Czech
weekly magazines, Capital, it also provides
billionaire Petr Kellner.
(so far) the only platform for paid content
68 / 69

NovaTV News 77
8 NovaTV News online 55
10
BTV News 8
72 ABV News online 10
48
BNT News (Bulgarian National Television) 13

48 BTV News online 8
46
TOP BRANDS 24 Chasa 18
32 novini.bg 18
41
% Weekly usage BNR news (Bulgarian National Radio) 6

19 24 Chasa online 15
32
Telegraf 11
19 dir.bg 11
29
Regional or local newspaper 9

18 BNT (Bulgarian National Television) 6
25
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Trud 10
17 Blitz.bg 11
23
More than 3 days per week Darik (Radio) 7

16 Petel.bg 11
22
TV, radio & print BITelevision News 3
10 Dnevnik online 10
19
Weekly use Capital 6
10 Bivol.bg 10
17
online brands
CNN 3
7 Trud online 9
15
Sega 4
7 offnews.bg 7
13
online brands
Maritza 3
6 Pik.bg 7
13
BBC News 2 5 Regional/local newspaper website 9

13
Economist 2 4 Darik (Radio) 5

13
SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS
TV Radio Social media Smartphone Computer
84% 20% 72% 67% 78%

Print Online Blogs Tablet
23% (incl. social media)

20% 21%
88%

A third say they trust the news THIS BRAND
they find in search (33%) and News overall Bulgarian National Radio 7.29 8.01
News I use
social media (30%) – higher
38% 41%
Bulgarian National Television 7.25 7.67
than many other countries – Nova TV News 7.22 7.6
likely to be in part a reflection 27th/37 BTV News 7.03 7.42
of low trust in the mainstream Chasa 6.33 7.01
media outlets that people use Trud 6.13 7.06
themselves (41%). Dnevnik 6.1 6.89
News in search News in social Sega 5.75 6.88
33% 30%
Offnews.bg 5.55 6.49
Bivol.bg 5.52 7.11
Blitz.bg 5.18 5.71

PAY Pik.bg 4.5 5.33
8%
(30th/37) pay for
52%
ONLINE NEWS
1 Facebook 73% 84% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 32% 70%
3 Facebook Messenger 18% 59%
25% 4 Viber 14% 55% 40%

(24th/37) use an 5 Twitter 6% 14% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 5% 22%

CROATIA STATISTICS
Population
4.2m
74%
The Croatian media market

is characterised by strong
commercial television providers,
a declining print sector, and a
vibrant mix of traditional and
alternative online websites.
In recent years the editorial independence

of public service HRT has been negatively
influenced by the editorial changes
implemented by conservative Croatian
Democratic Union (HDZ) government.
Hopes that more moderate leadership
operates in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia Dnevno.hr is a radical website which
might alleviate some of the damage to
and Herzegovina. N1 Croatia has a growing reached a fifth (21%) of our sample despite
public service and non-profit media have
audience (12%) and was recognised with having the lowest trust of all the brands we
so far not been realised. A small group
the Miko Tripalo Democracy Prize for their surveyed. Direktno.hr, another right-wing
of independent journalists remain at
contribution to democracy in Croatia in portal, increased its reach to 14% (+3).
the public broadcaster HRT, but often
2017, by the Centre for Democracy and Law These websites illustrate the growth in
find themselves struggling to maintain
Miko Tripalo, a progressive thinktank. recent years of radical social and political
professional standards in the light of an
conservative voices organised by NGOs, and
increasingly conservative editorial policy. In the newspaper market, the most popular linked to the more conservative parts of the
News audiences for both the television title is the tabloid 24sata (36%) owned by ruling HDZ party and the Catholic Church.
news service (HTV) and the radio section the Austrian company Styria, followed by There are no comparable media on the left
(HR) are up a few points from last year, but the left of centre Jutarnji list (30%), which side of the spectrum, and the left-leaning
our data show that public trust in HTV news is owned by Hanza Media, Croatia’s largest online media in general have a much
is lower than for commercial competitors. print media company, along with the right- smaller following according to this study.
leaning Slobodna Dalmacija (10%).
Meanwhile there is continued concern
The issue of so-called ‘fake news’ has
about the non-profit media – mainly Advertising spending has continued to received increased attention in the past
online news portals and magazines, decline for print (-8% 2015–16) and radio year, with Croatian fact-checking portal
whose funding has been reduced by the (-2%), but the overall advertising market Faktograf.hr becoming a member of the
government in the previous period. Several increased in 2016 by 2% to reach 1.493 International Fact Checking Network
successful crowdfunding campaigns, billion Kuna (€199 million). Advertising on (IFCN). A brief flurry was caused in
including that of the portal Lupiga.com, the internet rose 27% in relation to the professional and academic circles by the
continue to show citizen support for previous year, and television and outdoors government announcement that they will
alternative progressive media. rose by 2%.57 be working on a new law to prevent ‘fake
Television remains a critical source of news’ and hate speech on the internet.
Most online media rely on digital
news in Croatia with our data showing Nothing further was heard about this idea
advertising with little evidence of digital
Nova TV (61%) as the top source of news, which was seen as a possible step towards
subscription. Digital-born Index.hr remains
followed by the television branch of the censorship given that Croatia already has
the leading news website followed by
Croatian RTL in second place (59%). The laws in place that cover hate speech against
the website of the daily tabloid extension
most significant ownership change in the different ethnic and social minority groups.
24sata.hr. In the third place is again the
media sector involved Nova, which was online portal of the most popular non-
sold to the Slovenia Broadband company, tabloid daily Jutarnji list. While the legacy
part of the American KKR investment media in Croatia continue to attract the Zrinjka Peruško
fund which also owns the N1 (cable) largest audience, a number of right-wing Centre for Media and Communication
television and multimedia platform that portals are also proving popular. Research, University of Zagreb
https://www.bizit.hr/medijsko-oglasavanje-u-hrvatskoj/ ; http://hura.hr/istrazivanja/medijska-potrosnja-u-hr
57
70 / 71

NovaTV 61
15 Index.hr 57
19
RTL 15
59 24sata online 16
55
HTV & HR News (public broadcaster) 14

58 Jutarnji onine 13
45
TOP BRANDS 24sata 16
36 Net.hr 15
42
% Weekly usage Jutarnji list 15

30 Tportal.hr 19
40
Otvoreni radio 10
24 Dnevnik.hr 18
38
Večernji list 10
21 Večernji online 14
35
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Local radio news 8
19 HRT News online (Public broadcaster) 13
23
More than 3 days per week Narodni radio 8

18 Dnevno.hr 11
21
TV, radio & print Antena radio 7
14 RTL news online 12
18
Weekly use Local television news 9
14 Telegram.hr 8
17
online brands
N1 5
12 Slobodna Dalmacija online 6
17
11 Direktno.hr 9
14
online brands
Slobodna Dalmacija 4
10 Local Radio news online 6
11
Al-Jazeera 5
10 Novilist.hr 4
10
Novi list 3
7 Other regional or local newspaper website 4
7
78% 27% 53% 73% 76%

(-1) (-) (-3) (+7) (+4)

8% 19%
(-) 88% (-1) (+2)
(-3)

Trust in news (39%) remains THIS BRAND
low, reflecting other survey News overall NovaTV 6.81 7.24

News I use
research, which shows that
39% (-) 40%
RTL 6.55 6.9
interpersonal trust in Croatia Otvoreni radio 6.27 7.03
is below the EU average. The 26th/37 Jutarnji list 6.02 6.46
most trusted news sources HR News (public broadcaster) 6.01 6.61
tend to be radio and television Večernji 6.01 6.5
outlets rather than digital HTV News (public broadcaster) 5.91 6.51
News in search News in social
sources. Tportal.hr 5.88 6.39
32% 29% Net.hr

index.hr
5.64
5.56
6.23
6.12
PAY 24sata 5.51 6.09
Dnevno.hr 5.26 6.16
7% (-1)
(35th/37) pay for
40%
ONLINE NEWS
1 Facebook 57% (-) 75% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 28% (+2) 74%
3 Viber 12% (-2) 54%
32% (+5) 4 WhatsApp 11% (+2) 46% 26%

(6th/37) use an 5 Facebook Messenger 11% (+2) 48% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Telegram 6% (+1) 11%

CZECH REPUBLIC STATISTICS

Population
11m
88%
The issue of online

disinformation and ‘fake news’
dominated the debates about
the Czech news media last year.
There has been also growing
concern over the independence
of public service media, which
have become a target of
increasing attacks from various
populist political actors.
The steady growth of GDP (+4.5%, the player on the market, TV Nova, might soon and radio continue to be among the most
second-highest in the EU) has been the follow a similar fate, after it emerged used and trusted news brands, and keep
main driver of increasing advertising that its majority owner, Time Warner, is expanding their news services, particularly
expenditures, which are up 10% on last seeking to sell its acquisitions in Central Czech Radio which in April 2017 launched a
year. Television again took the biggest share Eastern Europe. specialised online news portal iRozhlas.cz.
(46%), with online ad spending recording
the biggest annual growth.59 The leading web portal Seznam.cz, while Partisan and alternative sites have
continuing to lose market share to Google continued to maintain their active
The circulation of Czech daily newspapers in search traffic, has been expanding its presence in the Czech online news
continued to decline, on average by -5.5%.60 media business. Having launched the ecosystem – partly as a result of exposure
This trend, while slowing down in the last news site Seznam Zpravy in October 2016, via social media. Many of these sites have
several years, has been observed for over it obtained a terrestrial TV licence for its been labelled as disinformation websites
ten years now and in consequence most own news channel Televize Seznam at by various NGOs as well as by the Centre
national dailies are today selling 45–65% the end of 2017. Other online competitors against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats, set
fewer copies than in the mid-2000s.61 Last have attempted to increase their supply up by the Ministry of Interior in 2016. While
year, only one paper – the financial daily of original content as well, such as the Parlamentnilisty.cz (17%) attracts as many
Hospodářské noviny – managed to slightly internet TV Playtvak.cz which launched its weekly online users as some mainstream
increase its circulation. On the other hand, own comedy series Single Lady. news sites, the reach of the other web
some new print titles have been launched, projects (pursuing anti-EU, pro-Russian,
either as spin-offs from already existing The ranking of the top Czech news brands and a generally anti-liberal agenda),
online news projects (such as the monthly has not experienced much of a change in including Russian-funded Sputnik.cz (2%),
Revue Forum or quarterly Info Lab) or within recent years; among the exceptions has remains limited.
more upmarket segments (the financial been TV Barrandov, that has seen a notable
bi-monthly E15 Premium, or a quarterly rise in the amount of regular users (from The election campaigns in late 2017 saw
magazine Forbes Next). In light of the 12% in 2015 to 19% this year). This has been heightened activity of disinformation
ongoing economic struggles, publishers arguably facilitated by TV Barrandov’s and partisan websites, as well as hoaxes
have welcomed the change in the VAT rate ever more partisan style of broadcasting, circulating on social media. In a pioneering
for newspapers and magazines from 15% pandering to voters of populist and extreme attempt to target the financial incentives
to 10%, agreed by Parliament despite the right-wing parties and politicians. At the driving ‘fake news’, Seznam.cz announced
President’s opposition. same time, the public service media have in August 2017 that it was going to exclude
been subject to growing verbal attacks, known disinformation websites from
The television market saw the departure of including from President Miloš Zeman as its online ad service Sklik. Following a
the Swedish-based multinational company well as the media mogul Andrej Babiš, who backlash, the company withdrew the plan;
Modern Times Group (MTG) which has has been prime minister since November however it has now introduced new rules
sold its 50% stake in the second-biggest 2017. Following last year’s parliamentary that ads will no longer appear on dubious
commercial broadcaster TV Prima, in a elections, which strengthened the position sites on a blacklist maintained by an
move that signals the further withdrawal of populist parties, there have been independent database Konšpirátori.sk.
of foreign ownership from the Czech news increasing concerns over the attempts to
media market and its replacement by interfere with the political independence of
domestic proprietors with main interests public service broadcasting. Despite these
in other business sectors. There has been Václav Štětka
challenges, the public service television
intense speculation that the number one Loughborough University
http://www.spir.cz/internetova-reklama-hlasi-rekordni-investice-za-lonsky-rok-vice-nez-23-miliard-korun
59
https://www.mediaguru.cz/clanky/2018/02/ucet-deniku-za-rok-2017-prodeje-klesly-o-5-5
60
http://www.nfnz.cz/aktuality/vyvoj-padu-prodeju-ceskych-zahranicnich-deniku-za-poslednich-12-let
61
72 / 73

Czech Television news (incl. 1, CT24) 67
13 Seznam.cz/zpravy 52
10
TV Nova news 11
49 iDnes.cz 14
40
Prima news 13
41 Aktualne.cz 15
32
TOP BRANDS Seznam.cz TV 8
22 Novinky.cz 9
30
% Weekly usage Mlada Fronta DNES 10

19 Czech Television news online 8
24
TV Barrandov news 6
19 TN.cz 8
21
Blesk 10
17 iPrima.cz 8
18
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Czech Radio 1 - Radiozurnal news 6
15 Blesk.cz 6
14
At least 3 days per week A regional or local newspaper 9

14 Denik.cz 6
11
TV, radio & print Radio Impuls news 5
12 Super.cz 4
9
Weekly use Metro 6
12 iHned.cz 5
9
online brands ALSO
Denik 5
9 Lidovky.cz 4
8
At least 3 days per week Parlamentnilisty.cz 17%
Frekvence 1 news 4
9 Reflex.cz 4
7
online brands Prvnizpravy.cz 4%
Evropa 2 news 3
8 DVTV.cz 3
7
Ac24.cz 3%
Hospodarske noviny 5
7 Tyden.cz 4
6 Sputnik.cz 2%
Lidove noviny 4
7 iRozhlas.cz 3
6 Aeronet.cz 2%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
2015–18 Print (incl. social media)
Online 2015–18
Online media have 79%continued Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
to dominate as sources
74% of 100% Social media 100%
100% 91% 66% Social T
news, while social media
59%
79%
85% 74%
87% 83%
50% 74% 81% Online (inc. social) 79% S
have gained further
79% ground, 74%
66%
74%
59% 39%
widening the distance 36% Print C
50% 66% 56%
59%
from print.50% 20% 50% 39% 50% TV
44%
41% 36%
37% 39% 34%
0%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 36% 28%
20% 16% 13%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018 2015 2016 2017 2018

Low media trust is linked to THIS BRAND
increasing polarisation and the News overall Czech Television (CT24) 6.84 7.2
News I use
31% (-1) 37%

impact of online disinformation Czech Radio 1 - Radiozurnal news 6.51 7.68
Hospodarske noviny 6.27

related to partisan websites 7.04
with links to Russian-based 33rd/37 Seznam.cz/zpravy 6.12 6.43
Aktualne.cz 6.04 6.52

sources or funders. Ownership
Mlada Fronta DNES 5.93 6.41
of most mainstream news
Denik 5.82 6.56
outlets by politically connected
News in search News in social Prima 5.75 6.36
oligarchs is another factor.
29% 17%
Parlamentnilisty.cz 5.25 6.43
Nova news 4.89 5.46
Super.cz 4.27 5.16

PAY Blesk 3.39 4.78
8% (-)
(30th/37) pay for
42%
ONLINE NEWS
1 Facebook 57% (+10) 77% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 26% (+5) 65%
25% (+2) 4 WhatsApp 7% (+2) 24% 26%

(24th/37) use an 5 Twitter 5% (+1) 11% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 4% (+1) 16%

DENMARK STATISTICS
Population
5.7m
97%
The media environment in

Denmark is characterised by
two public broadcasters (DR and
TV2) and a national and local
press partly dependent on state
subsidies, but now a right-wing
government is trying to redefine
the balance between commercial
and public media.
After a heated and often ideological debate,

the right-wing coalition government
out a dramatic cost-cutting operation four news articles daily, focusing on long-
decided in March 2018 to reduce the
and digital turnaround, in which the page form stories and in-depth articles. It has
annual budget of the main public service
production of all the group’s newspapers increased its subscriptions to 10,000, partly
institution (DR) by 20%, a cut to be
was outsourced. The tabloid BT and free as a result of making all stories available in
gradually phased over the next five years.
daily MetroXpress were partly merged, and audio, read by the author.
This move was accompanied by a decision,
more widely approved across the political Metro’s online news site and the fledgling
online Kids News were closed. Responding to the difficulties of reaching
spectrum, to abolish the licence fee, young groups, a small handful of news sites
deemed to be unfair towards the young are seeking – with the help of innovation
Payment for online news has stagnated at
and other low-income groups, and instead subsidies – to appeal to children, teenagers,
15% since 2017, placing Denmark at 14th
finance DR directly out of state taxation. and young adults through specially
out of 37 countries. All major newspapers
TV2’s revenues are drawn from advertising targeted content: Format (20–30 year
use freemium models online and are
and subscription fees. olds, JP/Politiken); Koncentrat (teenagers,
struggling to increase payment levels
for online news. Major newspapers have aiming for school subscriptions); Ultra Nyt
These cuts come at a time of increasing
increased minimum online subscriptions to (7–12 year olds, DR channel 3, online and
concern about the challenges to the Danish
around €35 per month, and have simplified TV); TV2 (20–30 year olds, videos through
culture and language in an increasingly
a number of online subscription packages social media platforms).
globalised media landscape. One important
catalyst for this debate was the report to include the complete e-paper.
Newspaper readership continued to drop
The Impact of International Actors on by approximately 10% on weekdays and
Only two newspaper groups, JP/Politikens
the Danish Media Market, by the Danish approximately 15% on Sundays (industry
Hus and Børsen, could boast a profit
Agency for Culture and Palaces, published figures). Our reach figures are near-
without counting the state subsidy that
in September 2017, which analysed the stationary, with both offline and online
still supports commercial news media.
forces which are eroding the Danish media reach displaying the same rankings as 2017,
Berlingske, Information, and regional group
system. The report highlighted ways in with Radio 27syv continuing its upward
Sjællandske Medier, would have been in the
which global tech giants are affecting movement; most fluctuations are at plus/
red without the subsidy, and many others
advertising revenues of private media, but minus 1-3 points. Smartphones continue to
announced losses despite it.
by implication also cultural production, grow in importance as a news platform (+7).
distribution, and consumption, including The state subsidy is given to private news Television, printed newspapers, and online
news, demonstrating how these global media in proportion to the number of sources of news are plateauing or have
giants are using the collection of data to journalists they employ, other criteria dropped slightly since 2017, while social
drive massive and irreversible change. being a socially diverse readership and media continue to decline as a source of
The report recommended robust and the creation of democratically important news (-7 with Facebook declining 5 points),
collaborative strategies to ensure the political and cultural content. Typical presumably as a consequence of a changed
continued sustainability of cultural and annual subsidy levels are: niche nationals algorithm and increasing concerns about
journalistic production, and a complete like Kristeligt Dagblad and Information ‘fake news’.
rethink of media regulation and subsidy. €3.3m; broad and tabloid national dailies
€2.3m; regional daily €1.7m; local daily
After the takeover of Denmark’s oldest
€400,000; born-online €500,000.
newspaper group Berlingske by the Kim Christian Schrøder and Mark Ørsten
Belgian De Persgroep in 2016, and Zetland is one digital-born site that has Roskilde University
Berlingske’s acquisition of the free attracted international interest in the last
newspaper MetroXpress, the company’s year for both its innovative approach and
new CEO, Anders Krab-Johansen, carried commercial success. It publishes three to
74 / 75

DR News incl P1, P3, P4 (public broadcaster) 62
15 DR News online 37
10
TV2 News (including regional) 13

61 TV2 News online 8
34
Local free weekly newspaper 16

20 Ekstra-Bladet online 7
27
TOP BRANDS Metroxpres 8
15 BT online 8
23
% Weekly usage Local/regional newspaper) 5

12 Politiken online 7
16
Radio 24syv 5
11 Jyllandsposten online 5
14
Commercial radio news 5

10 Berlingske online (B.dk) 6
13
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Politiken 3
8 Website of free newspaper 6
10
At least 3 days per week Ekstra Bladet 4

8 Website of paid local/regional newspaper 4
10
TV, radio & print BT 3
7 Børsen online 4
8
Weekly use Berlingske 2
7 Altinget online 4
7
online brands
Jyllands Posten 3
7 Metroxpress 3
6
At least 3 days per week
Søndagsavisen 6
7 Avisen online 4
6
online brands
Børsen 2 5 Information online 4
6
BBC News 3 5 Radio 24syv news online 3

6 ALSO
Weekendavisen 2 4 Dagens online 4 5 Denkorteavis 5%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Print media DEVICES FOR NEWS
Online 2013–18
The number accessing
79% news via Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
smartphone has now
74% 100% Social media 100%
outstripped those59%using
79% 85%
74% 82%
50% 74% 81% Online (incl. social media) S
computers. Social79%
media news 74%
66% 67%
74%
59% 39% 68%
use has started to decline (-8 36% Printed newspapers C
50% 66% 57% 56%
59%
points) following
50%
years
20% of 50% 49%
39% 46% 50% TV
43%
36%
growth while0%
print newspapers 39%
27%
34%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 31% 2018 36%
sell fewer copies than in other 2017 25%
20%
Nordic countries.
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

It is striking that quality news THIS BRAND
brands across the public News overall DR News 7.48 7.76

News I use
service/private media divide
56% (+6) 62%
Børsen 7.32 7.85
(e.g. DR, TV2, Børsen, TV2 News 7.23 7.6
Berlingske, Politiken) have 6th/37 Berlingske 7.03 7.88
similarly high trust scores. Politiken 6.99 7.71
Tabloids tend to be less trusted Jyllands Posten 6.96 7.48
along with far right-wing news Information 6.91 7.77
outlet Denkorteavis. News in search News in social Radio 24syv News 6.32 7.19
22% 12%
Søndagsavisen 6.1 6.48
Avisen.dk 5.64 6.42
Metroxpres 5.41 6.14

PAY BT 5.15 5.98
Dagens.dk 5.13 6.27
Ekstra Bladet 4.6 5.43
15% (-)
Denkorteavis 4.22 6.77
(14th/37) pay for

20%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 Facebook Messenger 7% (-) 52%
3 LinkedIn 6% (+1) 28%
26% (+2) 4 YouTube 6% (-1) 51% 13%

6 Instagram 4% (+1) 32%

FINLAND STATISTICS
Population
5.5m
93%
The news environment is

characterised by a strong
regional press, strong public
broadcaster (YLE), one important
national daily (Helsingin
Sanomat), and two popular
evening tabloids, both reaching
over half of the adult population.
The established Finnish media companies

have sustained their strong and trusted
audience position over the last year with
almost no threat from foreign news media. 2017, Kaleva had already strengthened its since they need no ads or subscriptions.
The Finnish language and small market position in Northern Finland by buying Industry body Finnmedia has asked the
seem to shield national news brands three local papers near Oulu from Alma EU Commission to investigate if public
somewhat from international competition. Media. funding for YLE’s text-based content
One sign of a potential change was, though, counts as forbidden ‘state aid’. However, a
the rise of MSN News from 6% in 2017 Some positive signals also came from parliamentary committee has suggested
to 9% weekly reach this year. It offers its digital subscriptions, with the share of that index-linking of YLE’s funding
content in Finnish as well as English. The paying customers growing to 18% after should be restored from 2019. Following
most popular digital-born player, uusisuomi. staying around 15% in 2014–17. Future suggestions of a working group, the
fi, a national news and blog site, retained willingness to pay among non-subscribers Ministry of Transport and Communications
its 9% weekly reach.62 Other reasons for also rose 5 percentage points to 11%. granted a €3m allowance to private MTV for
the popularity of traditional Finnish media This may be due to the tightening of securing plurality in television news.
companies online are the amount of free paywalls and younger readers becoming
content still available (especially from the accustomed to paying for digital services. The most popular partisan site in Finland
evening tabloids and YLE) combined with Helsingin Sanomat said it increased its is MV-Lehti, which offers content with an
bundled subscriptions and a strong reading subscribers (including digital) for the first anti-immigration and anti-legacy-media
tradition. time in 25 years. slant, often using offensive irony64. Almost
half (48%) of our sample said they were
At the same time, newspapers’ print The percentage paying for online news is aware of the site but only 5% had used it
circulations have continued their decline – higher than in most countries, which may in the previous week. The site rebranded
a serious problem for their owners because be partly because Finnish newspapers as MV-media at the beginning of 2018,
most revenue still comes from print. This eased their print readers into digital by and changed its leadership, following a
has encouraged Finnish media companies bundling subscriptions at a similar price police investigation into alleged incitement
to find business in new areas, making use of – or just a little higher – than print-only against an ethnic group and other
their user data and marketing skills. Online subscriptions. allegations.
marketplaces (cars, homes, recruiting)
The media in Finland is waiting for the Despite such attempts to erode trust in
have increased their importance in Finnish
government to decide to cut the 24% VAT established players, the legacy media
media companies’ portfolios.
for digital media to the same level as print have sustained their reputation for being
Overall, 2017 was a relatively good year subscriptions (10%). This has been delayed trustworthy. This is probably due to the
for the major Finnish media companies because the government, for its part, is low level of polarisation in Finnish society
in terms of profitability. The operating waiting for the EU’s decision to let member and media. A relatively strong professional
income for Sanoma Media Finland was states determine their own VAT level. culture among journalists which values
12% (up 33%), Alma Media 14% (up 45%), objectivity and independence may have had
In 2017 YLE streamlined and refocused its
and Keskisuomalainen 8% (up 28%).63 In an impact too.
organisation, cutting 6% of its permanent
2018, Alma Media sold its newspaper and
staff. The discussion about its position and
distribution business in Lapland to Kaleva,
impact on private news media continued,
thus limiting its focus in local and regional
especially about its online services which Esa Reunanen
media in Tampere and Pori regions. In
competitors say lead to unfair competition University of Tampere, Finland
Although uusisuomi.fi has adopted its name from a former newspaper it is a new enterprise and is classified here as a pure player.
62
Source: Suomen Lehdistö, Mar. 2018.

63
YLE article on the track record of MV-Lehti https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2015/03/23/valheenpaljastaja-uutista-helppo-matkia

64
76 / 77

YLE News (incl radio) 72
15 Ilta-Sanomat online 56
11
MTV3 News 17
57 Iltalehti online 11
55
Free city papers 24

35 Yle news online (inc. Areena news) 12
36
TOP BRANDS Regional newspaper 7
26 Helsingin Sanomat online 10
30
% Weekly usage Local Newspaper 12

21 MTV News online (inc. Katsomo news) 10
24
Ilta-Sanomat 9
21 Regional newspaper online 6
18
Helsingin Sanomat 7
21 Kauppalehti online 6
14
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Iltalehti 9
19 Local newspaper online 5
12
At least 3 days per week Commercial radio news 7

15 Taloussanomat online 7
12
TV, radio & print HS TV News on Channel 4 5
7 Uusisuomi.fi online 5
9
Weekly use Suomen Kuvalehti 5
7 Talouselämä online 5
9
online brands
Kauppalehti 3
6 MSN News 5
9
At least 3 days per week ALSO
Talouselämä 4 5 Free city paper website online 5
7
online brands MV-Lehti 5%
Foreign TV news channels 3 5 Channel 4 news online 4
6
Magneettimedia 1%
BBC News 2 4 Foreign newspapers online 2 5 Kansalainen 1%
Maaseudun Tulevaisuus 3 BBC News online 3 5 Oikea Media 1%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2014–18
There have been no 79%major Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
shifts in consumption
74% over the 100% Social media 100%
100% 90% 66% Social T
last year, with the59%
exception of
79%
74% 85%
74% 75% 80% (inc. social)
Online S
continued50% decline79%
in the use of 74%
66% 70% 67%
74%
59% 39%
print newspapers and 36% Print 64% C
50% 66%
59% 53%
magazines. This has
50%
20%fallen by 9 50% 39% 44% 50% TV
40% 36% 42% 41%
percentage0% points in the last 39%
2018 36% 27%
three years. News20% 2013 2014 2015 2016
consumption 2017
23%
20%
on smartphones
0% continues to
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
rise sharply0%to 64%. 2013 2014 2015 0% 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015 2016

The high level of trust is probably THIS BRAND
due to the low level of political News overall YLE News 7.91 8.12
News I use
polarisation in Finnish society
62% (-) 72%
Kauppalehti 7.44 7.81
and media. For all the biggest Helsingin Sanomat 7.42 7.9
newspaper and television brands 1st/37 Suomen Kuvalehti 7.34 8.22
(apart from the evening tabloids), Taloussanomat.fi 7.33 7.68
the share of those that do not Talouselämä 7.33 7.75
trust their news (score less than Local Newspapers 7.31 7.65
5) is less than 10%. News in search News in social Regional newspapers 7.27 7.76
29% 18%
MTV News 7.19 7.56
Hufvudstadsbladet 7.02 8.31
Uusisuomi.fi 6.56 7.08

PAY Commercial radio news 6.54 7.18
Free newspapers 6.26 7.67
Ilta-Sanomat 6.12 6.57
18% (+4)
Iltalehti 6.07 6.48
(7th/37) pay for

30%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 15% (+4) 66%
3 WhatsApp 10% (+2) 59%
25% (+1) 4 Twitter 7% (+2) 16% 17%

(24th/37) use an 5 Suomi24 5% (-) 19% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 4% (+2) 31%

FRANCE STATISTICS
Population
65m
87%
A youthful wind blows in

France under the presidency of
40-year-old Emmanuel Macron.
He and his government have big
media targets: they intend to
introduce an anti-’fake news’ law
and also reform the state-owned
broadcaster.
During the 2017 presidential election,

online and TV were equally popular. But
in 2018, TV regained a slight lead as the
most important source of news. Even On top of all that, Mathieu Gallet, CEO published allegations of sexual crimes
TF1, the most watched channel in France, of Radio France, had to leave his role against a government minister, which led
is suffering from new competition and after being convicted of corruption, with to an investor backing out.
more on-demand viewing. It has been his successor, Sibyle Veil, an internal
demanding several million euros in candidate, appointed in April. Meanwhile Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron has
satellite distribution fees from telecoms there are suggestions that a reformed pledged to introduce a new law to fight
giant Orange (which provides connected TV public service structure might include an the spread of ‘fake news’, which he says
to 11m French households), Canal+ (6m), overall CEO sitting above the existing chief threatens liberal democracies. The law
and Free (5.5m). The three companies executives of each entity. could ban false stories from social media
said they were shocked since TF1 is free to platforms, particularly during French
watch. Canal+, part of Vivendi, responded CNews, a live TV channel owned by Canal+, elections and include more transparency
by cutting the signal for almost a week. saw its influence wane after a long-running about sponsored content. Macron himself
TF1’s audience figures fell immediately and strike led to the departure of the editorial had been the target of a number of ‘fake
the channel was overtaken for a while by team. Rival networks LCI, part of the TF1 news’ allegations distributed online during
its main competitor France 2, part of the group, and market leader BFM TV shared the presidential election campaign.
state-owned France Télévisions. the spoils.
Mediapart, a subscription-based
But France Télévisions is caught in another One of the most talked about media investigative and online web publication
storm. Together with Radio France and initiatives of the year was the launch of Le with 140,000 subscribers, marked its tenth
the international facing France Médias Media, a partisan digital operation. Set up anniversary in April 2018 on the day that
Monde (which in turn includes France 24 by people behind leftist politician Jean-Luc former President Nicolas Sarkozy was
TV and RFI radio), it forms the largest part Mélenchon, it made a significant impact, taken into custody over allegations that
of the fragmented French public service riding on a wave of distrust against legacy former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi
broadcasting landscape and has been media. But several key people left and had funded his 2007 election campaign.
strongly criticised by President Macron. aired their criticisms via the traditional Those allegations had first been published
He has made no secret of his desire to media they had previously denounced. by Mediapart six years earlier, in 2012.
see reforms to management, reductions
Newspapers continue to struggle with Many podcasts have been launched,
in costs, improved programmes, and
declining circulation and advertising most addressing a niche: La Poudre (for
increased multimedia integration. The
revenues but some attempts to charge for girls), Transferts (testimonies), Les Plants
BBC seems to be his model, with its
online content are beginning to pay off. Le (gardening), Entre (about a girl starting
international reach and multi-platform
Monde returned its first operating profit for high school), and many others – a new way
capabilities. In truth, France Télévisions,
many years with a 44% increase in digital of exploring audio journalism on mobile.
Radio France, and France Médias Monde
subscriptions, which have overtaken print
are not well integrated, with the exception Alice Antheaume
subscriptions for the first time.65
of franceinfo. Created in 1987 as a breaking Executive Dean, Sciences Po Journalism School,
news radio service, it expanded last year A number of printed magazines were Paris
to become an integrated news outlet launched in the last year: Vraiment (general
across radio, a new TV news channel, and news), Dr Good (health), Miaou (cat news),
incorporating the mobile news service Perma Gaia (environmentalism). One ad-
formerly called France TV Info, and is doing free current affairs weekly, Ebdo, closed
well online (now third in our rankings). just two months after launch. It had
https://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2018/04/12/2017-une-annee-de-croissance-pour-le-groupe-le-monde_5284379_3236.html
65
78 / 79

TF1 43
12 20 Minutes online 15
7
BFM TV 12
42 Le Monde online 6
14
France Télévisions (public broadcaster) 12

37 France Info online 5
13
TOP BRANDS M6 news 8
26 Regional/local newspaper website 5
13
% Weekly usage Regional or local newspaper 12

22 Le Figaro online 6
13
Public radio news (France Inter etc) 6

17 MSN News 5
12
Commercial radio news (RTL etc) 5

16 HuffPost 5
10
Weekly use
TV, radio & print 20 Minutes 7
14 BFM TV online 4
10
At least 3 days per week LCI 7

14 Yahoo! News 4
10
TV, radio & print CNews 4
8 L’Express online 4
8
Weekly use Le Monde 5
8 Le Point online 5
8
online brands
Le Parisien 4
8 Médiapart 4
7
Le Figaro 4
7 TF1 online 3
6
online brands
Ouest France 3
7 L'Obs (tempsreel.nouvelobs.com) 3
6
France 24 4
6 Aufeminin.com 3
6
L’Express 4 5 Libération online 4

6
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
The printed newspaper79% and Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
news magazine sector
74% remains 100% Social media 100%
in crisis with readership
59%
79% halving 84%
74%
in the last 50%
six years79%(46% to 68% 74%
66% 71%
74%
59% 39% 68%
20%), but many former 36% Printed newspapers C
50% 66% 56%
59%
newspapers 50%
(Le Monde,
20% Le 50% 46%
39% 50% TV
50% 51%
36%
Figaro) are leading
0%
the charge 39% 36%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 36%
online. TV news remains 2017
20%
24% 20%
20% 18%
important but0% viewership 11%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
continues to 0%fall year by year. 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015 2016

Trust in news in France is low THIS BRAND
(35%) compared with other News overall Le Monde 6.47 7.54

News I use
European countries. Last year
35% (+5) 41%
France Télévisions news 6.1 6.43
saw a major debate about the L'Express 6.04 6.89
role of the platforms, especially 29th/37 Le Point 5.99 6.89
Facebook, in disseminating Le Figaro 5.98 6.11
‘fake news’. This helps to L'Obs 5.96 6.91
explain why trust in social Le Parisien 5.95 7.1
media is lower still (19%). News in search News in social BFM TV 5.9 6.75
26% 19%
Mediapart 5.89 7.46
Libération 5.87 6.74
M6 News 5.86 6.49

PAY TF1 News 5.84 6.64
20 minutes 5.79 6.59
Le HuffPost 5.69 6.7
11% (+1)
Brut 5.28 7.18
(20th/37) pay for

31%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 22% (+3) 51%
34% (+3) 4 Twitter 9% (-) 16% 20%

(3rd/37) use an 5 Snapchat 6% (+3) 15% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 6% (+1) 19%

GERMANY STATISTICS
Population
81m
90%
Germany is one of the first

countries in the world to
implement controversial laws to
combat online misinformation
while public broadcasters have
been facing growing criticism
over their response to a resurgent
right-wing.
The Network Enforcement Act, commonly

known as NetzDG, took full effect at the
beginning of 2018 and requires online
platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Despite this, our data show that public most important business model, more
YouTube to remove illegal content – or face service providers like ARD and ZDF remain newspapers are shifting their strategies
fines of up to €50m. But the law has been the most trusted news brands in Germany to online subscriptions. In May 2018, Der
controversial in Germany with some saying along with regional newspapers. Tabloid Spiegel launched Spiegel+, with a monthly
it could lead to inadvertent censorship newspapers and digital-born portals tend subscription (€19.99) allowing access to
or curtail free speech. In an early test, a to have less trust. More generally half of exclusive online content and articles from
far-right member of parliament had her German internet users (50%) say they trust the print edition. At the beginning of 2017
Twitter account suspended and Facebook the news most of the time, with four in the Funke Group launched a freemium
content removed shortly after posting an ten (61%) trusting the media they use. By model for five of their regional online
anti-Muslim message. contrast, fewer than a fifth (18%) say they newspapers. According to PV Digest, paid
have confidence in the content they find in content revenues in the media sector rose
Facebook alone has hired over 1,000 social media. Anti-establishment websites 16% in 2017 to €320m. The largest share
German-language moderators to review like Junge Freiheit, Politically Incorrect of this belongs to Axel Springer’s Bild (9%)
content that has been flagged by users in (PI) news, and Breitbart Germany attract with the Zeit-Group increasing their sales
‘deletion centres’ in Berlin and Essen.66 attention in the media and especially by 3%, due to last year’s successful launch
But while there is general agreement that in social media but are used by a small of the paid content model Z+. Even so,
platforms should do more, concern focuses proportion of Germans. overall progress remains slow overall with
on whether legal content could also be fewer than one in ten of our sample (8%)
removed, if Facebook, Google, and Twitter Meanwhile public broadcasters are facing paying for online news.
act conservatively to avoid fines. Germany’s renewed attempts from commercial
biggest newspaper, Bild, has called for the publishers to restrict their activities online. The use of ad-blockers increased by 5
NetzDG to be scrapped. Newspaper groups say that free public percentage points in the last year to 33%,
service content makes it impossible to as the dispute over the legitimacy of the
The emergence of the far-right Alternative charge for online news despite limited software rumbles on. Media companies
für Deutschland (AfD), as the third evidence.67 A court ruling at the end of 2017 have been challenging the practice of
strongest party in parliament following supported publisher complaints that ARD’s filtering out certain advertisements
federal elections has led to intense popular Tagesschau app is too ‘press like’ (blacklisting) or redisplaying them after
debates on how the media should cover because it contains too much text. Public paying a fee (whitelisting) in the courts.
their often extreme political views. While broadcasters are now reshaping their apps Rulings on the issue have so far been
some argue that high media exposure to contain more video, even though Reuters contradictory, and the Supreme Court will
builds unwarranted attention, others say Institute research (see p.29) consistently now be asked to make a decision.
that growing public support for right-wing shows that most consumers prefer text
parties cannot be ignored. This issue has when consuming online news. Sascha Hölig and Uwe Hasebrink
been a particular dilemma for public Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research,
service broadcasters, which have been In the print market, mergers of newspapers Hamburg
criticised for suppressing debates over and pooling of editorial departments
immigration and distorting the views of continues, cutting costs but sometimes
right-wing parties. at the expense of consumer choice.68
Although digital advertising remains the
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/05/tough-new-german-law-puts-tech-firms-and-free-speech-in-spotlight
66
Richard Fletcher and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, ‘Paying for Online News’, Digital Journalism, 5(9) (2017): 1173–91.
67
Landesanstalt für Medien in NRW, ‘Medienkonzentrationsbericht 2016/2017’ (Düsseldorf: Landesanstalt für Medien in NRW, Formatt Institut, 2017),
68
http://www.lfm-nrw.de/service/berichte/medienkonzentrationsbericht.html
80 / 81

ARD News (Tagesschau, Tagesthemen etc) 55
15 Spiegel Online 17
7
ZDF News (heute, heute-journal etc) 17

48 t-online 4
15

39 ARD news online (Tagesschau.de etc) 5
14
TOP BRANDS RTL aktuell 10
31 Web.de 5
14
% Weekly usage n-tv 11

26 n-tv.de 5
14
N24 11
25 Focus Online 5
13
Public radio news 7

22 N24.de 6
13
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Sat.1 news 8
17 Gmx.de 3
11
At least 3 days per week Regional TV news 8

17 Bild.de (bzw. Byou) 4
10
TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 5
16 Regional or local newspaper websites 3
9
Weekly use Bild (& Sunday) 4
10 Welt Online 4
8
online brands
Focus 6
10 ZDF news online (heute.de etc) 4
7
Der Spiegel 6
9 Sueddeutsche.de 3
7
online brands Junge Freiheit 3%
Stern 5
8 HuffPost 4
7
Compact online 2%
ProSieben Newstime 4
8 ZEIT Online 4
7 Politically Incorrect 2%
Süddeutsche Zeitung 3
6 Stern.de 3
6 Breitbart 1%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
Television remains the most
79% Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
widely used source
74%of news, 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
though numbers watching
59%
79%
82% 74%
50% 74% Online (inc. social) S
continue to decline
79% (-3) while 66% 74%
66% 74% 71%
74%
59% 39% 65%
use of the internet for news has 63% 36% Print C
50% 66% 55%
59%
grown significantly
50%
20%in the last 50% 39% 50% TV 47%
36%
year (+5). About a third of our 39% 37%
0% 31%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 36%
sample (31%) uses social media 2017
22% 19%
20% 18%
for news, fewer
0% than in other 10%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
countries. 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015 2016

Germans have relatively high THIS BRAND
trust in the news (50%) but News overall ARD Tagesschau 7.01 7.73
News I use
2018 data show that the
50% (-) 61%
ZDF heute 6.85 7.49
proportion of those who do not Regional/Local newspaper 6.77 7.37
trust the news media has 11th/37 n-tv 6.68 7.07
increased slightly. Other studies Die ZEIT 6.54 7.37
have also found indications of Süddeutsche Zeitung 6.54 7.61
growing polarisation in terms of FAZ 6.45 7.46
media trust. News in search News in social Der Spiegel 6.35 7.16
30% 18%
Focus 6.27 6.87
Stern 6.1 7.19
Sat.1 Nachrichten 5.92 7.11

PAY RTL aktuell 5.85 7.0
t-online 5.64 6.98
bento* 4.69 n/a
8% (+1)
Bild 3.94 5.66
* Note: No figure for users of bento

(30th/37) pay for
ONLINE NEWS
21%
1 Facebook 24% (+1) 52%

SHARE NEWS
2 YouTube 15% (+1) 52%
via social or email
3 WhatsApp 14% (+2) 60%
33% (+5)
(4th/37) use an
4 Twitter 5% (+1) 13%
14%
AD-BLOCKER COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 3% (+1) 16% via social or website

GREECE STATISTICS
Population
11m
The media market in Greece is

characterised by a TV market in
turmoil, a weak print sector and
some of the highest use of social
media and digital born outlets
in our study. Trust in the news
is extremely low.
The saga of TV relicensing rumbles on,

creating uncertainty for operators and
viewers alike. Reducing the number of
national licences to four was the first
controversial media intervention by The Greek online news market is congested Greece is one of just three countries (out
the government in 2016, though after and highly disrupted. Most of the online of 37) where social media news use is
the Council of State ruled that the news brands in Greece are digital-born higher than TV use for news among the
independent regulator should oversee the including Newsbomb (34%), In.gr (26%), population with an internet connection.
process, seven licences opened up, with and News247 (26%). When making the While Facebook still dominates, we see
six media groups having applied so far. transition from offline to digital news, a slow shift towards private messaging
One broadcaster caught in the crossfire Greeks tend to prefer non-traditional apps for reading, posting, and commenting
is MEGA, the oldest and for many years brands, unlike users in most other European on news, as in many other countries. In
largest commercial channel in Greece. It countries, partly as a result of the low trust Greece, the most used messaging apps for
has been reduced to broadcasting reruns in the legacy news media and the increase news are Facebook Messenger (22%) and
of hit TV series in an attempt to pay off in political polarisation during the financial Viber (14%).
part of its debt. Ivan Savvidis, a Greek- crisis. Among the top digital-born news
Russian businessman, ex-Duma member websites in Greece, but also in the long-tail Very few people pay for online news in
with ties to Kremlin, bought Epsilon, a list of the most visited news websites, we Greece. The economic situation, the lack of
national broadcaster, that has applied for a see a number of websites that engage in trust in news, the lack of culture for online
nationwide licence. sensationalism. Many are preaching to the payments as well as the low number of
choir of left or right-wing partisans, reaching paywalls in Greece are some of the reasons
The deep crisis in the print market in for minimal levels of online subscription
sometimes extreme levels of conspiracy
Greece continues. The circulation of all (6%). At the same time, Greece is a world
and hoax reporting while others are focused
Sunday newspapers during a typical week leader in ad-blocking use (42%), with
on click-bait and social media distribution.
in 2018 is down by 75% compared to a even higher numbers for those aged
Unfortunately, these phenomena are not
typical week ten years ago.70 But despite below 35 (57%). Two ad-free experiments
limited to small websites.
this, there have been three national in the Greek landscape have been the
newspaper launches this year: Nea Selida, The government, in an attempt to regulate donation-based ThePressProject and the
the relaunch of the legacy newspaper this chaotic market, has launched a register subscription-based website insidestory.gr.
Ethnos, and Fileleutheros – a print version for online media for which approved outlets But overall, the prevalence of ad-blocking
of the digital-born liberal.gr. So far, the will be eligible for state advertising and software, combined with the very high use
success of these new entrants has been to access a service for tracking plagiarism of social media platforms for news, portray
limited. Greece also has eight national which is a problem in the Greek news media a challenging landscape for online news
daily sports newspapers and two news- landscape. The Minister of Digital Policy publishers in Greece.
related radio stations were launched in said that the government is discussing
the past year in the Athens market: a radio the possibility of a law against the spread
version of the newspaper Proto Thema, of false information, while accusing
and 24/7radio, from the 24MEDIA group. Antonis Kalogeropoulos
traditional outlets of publishing ‘fake news’
Meanwhile, the radio station To Vima Research Fellow, Reuters Institute for the
against the government.71
was shut down during the takeover of the Study of Journalism
DOL conglomerate by the company of
Evangelos Marinakis.
Data from http://www.argoscom.gr and www.eihea.com.gr

70
http://www.avgi.gr/article/10842/8739328/n-pappas-pleon-schediazoume-to-aurio-apo-semera
71
82 / 83

SKAI news (including radio) 57
16 Newsbomb.gr 34
11
ANT1 news 18
45 In.gr 8
26
ALPHA news 16
44 News247.gr 9
26
TOP BRANDS STAR news 14
31 Skai online 10
24
% Weekly usage ERT news (public broadcaster) 11

31 Newsit.gr 9
24
Real News (Print & Radio) 10
20 7
20
Zougla.gr
18 7
20
Weekly use mixanitouxronou.gr
Kathimerini 11
16
TV, radio & print Yahoo! News 5
19
Proto Thema 9
14
At least 3 days per week Newsbeast.gr 7
18
TV, radio & print Epsilon news 6
11
Iefimerida.gr 5
17
Weekly use To Vima 9
11
Kathimerini online 5
16
online brands BBC News 5
11 ALSO
Proto Thema online 6
16
At least 3 days per week Ta Nea 7
10 Tro-ma-ktiko 21%
Lifo.gr 5
16
online brands 5
9 Makeleio.gr 8%
CNN
Enikos.gr 5
16
5
9
Pronews.gr 5%
Efimerida ton Syntakton
ERT News online 6
15 Olympia.gr 4%
Local radio news 4
8
CNN Greece 6
15 Left.gr 4%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2016–18
Websites and social79%media Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
remain the most frequently
74% 100% 96% Social media 100%
100% 66% 94% Social T
accessed source of news in
59%
79%
74%
Greece, though television
79% 74%
74%
66%
71% 72%
70%
74%
59% 66% 39% 67% Print C
remains popular with older 36%
66% 60%
50% 59%
groups. Smartphones
50%
20% have 50% 39% 50% TV 47%
36%
become a more
0%
popular way to 31% 39%
2018 36% 28% 29%
access news over20%the2013 2014
last three 2015 2016 2017 26%
20%
years (up 8 0%
percentage points)
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
approaching 0%reach from
2013 2014 2015
0%
2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2016 2017 2018
computers and laptops.

Trust in news in Greece is THIS BRAND
consistently one of the lowest News overall Kathimerini 5.99 7.16

News I use
in our study at just 26%. Brand
26% (+3) 29%
Real news 5.87 6.76
trust scores show little Alpha news 5.86 6.63
difference between those with 36th/37 in.gr 5.85 6.63
the highest (Kathimerini) and Ant1 news 5.76 6.55
lowest scores - which include To Vima 5.73 6.92
the public broadcaster ERT. Efimerida ton Sintakton 5.7 6.85
News in search News in social news247.gr 5.56 6.2
32% 22%
SKAI news 5.49 6.47
newsit.gr 5.44 6.22
Star news 5.36 6.11

PAY Newsbomb.gr 5.26 5.99
Proto Thema 5.24 6.61
ERT news 5.19 6.37
6% (-)
tro-ma-ktiko 4.73 5.86
(37th/37) pay for

49%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 36% (+4) 79%
42% 4 Viber 14% (+4) 49% 32%

(1st/37) use an 5 Twitter 13% (-) 24% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 10% (+4) 33%

HUNGARY STATISTICS
Population
9.8m
81%
The Hungarian government

reached a new level of control
over the media last year
through a series of acquisitions
by supportive oligarchs, and
by using the power of state
advertising to starve critical
outlets of funding. With trust in
mainstream media low, many
rely on digital and social media as
a source of independent news.
spreading misinformation and excluding (29%) is low (35th out of 37 countries). In
In April 2018, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán critical voices from reporting. We observe public discourse, politicians and public
was re-elected to a third consecutive term a struggle for agenda setting, with the figures frequently accuse media outlets of
in power with a two-thirds majority in government and the media outlets under spreading ‘fake news’ and having a political
parliament. In the immediate aftermath, its control pushing migration as the main agenda, which arguably adds to the sense of
the owner of the legacy daily Magyar issue in the electoral campaign, and critical general lack of trust. Hungary also suffers
Nemzet, Lajos Simicska (Orbán’s former media outlets trying to put government from low trust in institutions in general
closest ally, turned enemy), announced the corruption on the public agenda. while there tends to be a strong reliance
closure of the newspaper due to financial on personal, informal networks. This helps
problems. This development means the With the majority of mainstream broadcast to explain the high usage of social media
further shrinking of pluralism in Hungarian and print media outlets influenced by in Hungary, though it is worth noting, if
media and the loss of yet another government agendas, digital media have slightly surprising, that only 27% trust the
newspaper with a long history.72 become important as a space where news accessed this way.
freedom of expression is practised and
Leading up to the elections, the media critical information can be found. On In government-dominated small media
became a political battleground in 2017 in the other hand, reliance on digital news, markets such as Hungary, funding
three ways. First, leading oligarchs acquired especially accessed through social media, independent journalism becomes a
numerous media outlets, to the extent intensifies the already high level of crucial and difficult issue. Some of the
that over 500 titles are now published by polarisation. most significant investigative journalism
companies owned by businessmen close is produced by small NGOs, journalism
to the government, with the entire rural In terms of weekly reach in TV and print, by centres, and digital-only outlets
population served by regional papers in far the most frequently accessed source of (Atlatszo, Direkt36). In addition to limited
the hands of government allies.73 Secondly, news is RTL Klub (60%), with TV2 (37%) in distribution, they struggle financially
Prime Minister Orbán launched a campaign second place. The most significant change which is not surprising when we see that
against the media, identifying critical from the previous year is the decline of a very small portion of Hungarian news
journalists as the main enemy along the public service broadcaster, MTV: it fell consumers pay for online news (8%) and a
with ‘Brussels’ and the ‘Soros mafia’.74 In from third to fifth place, with 23% of online third (32%) use an ad-blocker (6th highest
addition to cutting off state advertising, Hungarian news consumers saying they out of 37 countries).
this also involved smear campaigns against accessed news on MTV in the last week
critical media, and the boycott of these compared with 35% last year. In terms of
publications by government and Fidesz online news, Index.hu (40%) remains ahead
of Origo.hu (38%), followed by 24.hu (34%). Eva Bognar
officials. Thirdly, government-sponsored
Both Hirado.hu (-8) (the online portal of Center for Media, Data and Society,
campaigns, including aggressive anti-
the public service broadcaster) and ATV.hu Central European University
migration and anti-Soros campaigns, which
flooded the public sphere (streets were (-4) have experienced a significant drop in
covered with billboards), dominated the percentage of Hungarians using the sites
Hungarian media in 2017. Media outlets, for news.
including the leading broadcasters, sections
In polarised environments such as
of the press, and some popular online
Hungary, we see that trust in overall news
news outlets, have also been accused of
72
https://www.ft.com/content/8f78f132-3cc6-11e8-b9f9-de94fa33a81e
73
https://adatujsagiras.atlatszo.hu/2018/01/11/fedezze-fel-a-kormanykozeli-mediabirodalmat;
https://atlatszo.hu/2017/11/22/kilenc-grafikon-a-kormanymedia-tulsulyarol-igy-ervenyesul-a-sokszinu-tajekoztatas-elve-magyarorszagon;
http://nepszava.hu/cikk/1136338-a-fidesz-oligarchaihoz-kerult-a-teljes-videki-sajto
74
https://24.hu/kozelet/2017/07/25/a-fidesz-most-olyan-ellenfelet-valasztott-amelyik-valaszolni-is-tud
84 / 85

RTL Klub 60
17 index.hu 40
19
TV2 14
37 origo.hu 19
38
HírTV 14
34 24.hu 20
34
TOP BRANDS ATV 11
29 hvg.hu 17
30
% Weekly usage MTV (public television) 10

23 rtlklub.hu 12
27
Duna TV 12
22 444.hu 16
27
HVG 12
18 blikk.hu 12
19
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Blikk 12
18 hirtv.hu 8
18
At least 3 days per week Public Radio news (Magyar Radio) 6

14 tv2.hu 7
17
TV, radio & print Regional or local paper 8
13 atv.hu 7
17
Weekly use Rádió 1 5
10 hirado.hu (public broadcaster) 8
14
online brands
Bors 6
9 168ora.hu 8
11
ECHO TV 5
9 portfolio.hu 5
9
online brands
Regional or local TV/Radio 4
8 atlatszo.hu 7
9
Nemzeti Sport 5
9
168 óra 6
8 borsonline.hu 6
9
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2016–18
Online news is the79% most Social
Onlinemedia
74%
common 100%
source for74% 100% Social media 100%
Social T
100%
Hungarians (87%), though the
59%
79% 88% 66% 87%
74% 79%
online nature of the
79%poll will 72% 74%
66% 70%
74%
74% 39%
64% 36%
tend to underplay59% the 66%
65% Print C
50% 59%
importance of television
50%
20% (70%) 50% 39% 50% TV 43% 49%
36%
and print (20%),
0%
especially 39%
2017 27%
2018 36%
amongst those in20% 2013 2014
rural areas. 2015 2016
20%
20%
Social media 12%
0%use for news 10%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
(65%) is one0%of the highest in
2013 2014 2015
0%
2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2016 2017 2018
our survey.

Overall trust in the news (29%) is THIS BRAND
amongst the lowest in our survey News overall HVG 6.51 7.22
News I use
while greater trust in brands
29% 52%
RTL Klub 6.21 6.98
people use themselves (52%) Hir TV 6.14 7.23
suggests high levels of media 35th/37 (-2) Index.hu 5.98 6.67
polarisation. Media outlets ATV 5.81 7.03
deemed least trustworthy include Magyar Nemzet 5.57 6.7
pro-government outlets MTV and Népszava 5.5 7.1
TV2, as well as Origo.hu. News in search News in social Origo.hu 5.28 6.21
41% 27%
Heti válasz 5.25 6.73
Magyar Idők 4.77 6.49
MTV (public broadcaster) 4.73 6.37

PAY TV2 4.53 6.15
8%
(30th/37) pay for
43%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 29% (+4) 75%
32% 4 Google Plus 6% (+1) 13% 24%

6 Instagram 4% (+1) 20%

IRELAND STATISTICS
Population
4.7m
94%
Brexit and its fallout have

dominated news coverage with
the Irish media expressing strong
opposition to Brexit. Concern
about the influence of ‘fake news’
has continued, and moves to
clarify internet users’ rights over
their data are expected.
Irish media were largely in a state of

consolidation in 2017. In recent years, the
Irish broadcasting market has undergone
a number of changes, and some of these and local titles, to buy regional group Celtic 10,111 from July to December. The Irish Daily
issues are still being worked through. Media fell through in June 2017. It had been Mail suffered the largest decline among the
Losses continued at the public sector opposed by the journalist union (NUJ) on larger papers – over 11%.
broadcaster RTE, where director general the grounds that it would weaken media
Dee Forbes has said the broadcaster again diversity. Ireland fell from 9th to 14th More broadly, the central debates about
expects to make a loss in the current place in the annual Press Freedom Index digital media in Ireland concern the
year and described the organisation’s compiled by Reporters Without Borders; circulation of ‘fake news’, particularly in
successive deficits as ‘unsustainable’. As the non-profit cited concentration of relation to the UK’s Brexit referendum,
elsewhere, a lack of gender equality in media ownership as a major threat to press the US presidential election, and some
the media industry generated significant freedom in Ireland. concerns about the impact on the May 2018
comment and controversy, with calls for referendum on abortion.
more proactive measures to increase There were also substantial changes to the
boardroom at INM with the departure of The Irish Data Protection Commissioner
gender balance in broadcasting. RTE TV
both the chairman and chief executive. The is to issue guidance to users in terms of
news maintains its dominant position as
former Telegraph Media Group executive, how they can trace why they are receiving
the most consumed offline news brand in
Murdoch MacLennan, became chairman particular advertisements and stories on
Ireland, while digital-born site thejournal.ie
in March 2018. In addition, the Office for social media, how they can mute or turn off
continues to stay just ahead of RTE Online.
the Director of Corporate Enforcement receiving ads from those sources, and how
TV3, the second-biggest Irish TV network, is seeking to appoint a High Court they can amend their preferences to control
which was bought by Virgin Media for €80m inspector following whistleblowing at the the types of ads they are served. Meanwhile
in July 2015, had been in the final stages of company from the former chief executive. the High Court in Ireland has decided to
preparing a rebrand of its three channels The Data Protection Commissioner is make a reference for a preliminary ruling
to reflect the name of its parent company. also considering an investigation into to the Court of Justice of the European
This was put on hold in early 2018 with allegations that a data breach at the Union in proceedings between the Data
the company saying it had other priorities. company had allowed outside companies Protection Commissioner, Facebook
The channel is claiming a 23% increase in to have access to confidential information Ireland Limited, and data privacy activist
viewership,75 buoyed by sports rights and about some journalists. Maximillian Schrems, concerning the
entertainment formats. validity of allowing Facebook to transfer
All print titles suffered declines in personal data from the EU to the US.
There were no closures in the newspaper circulation. The Irish Times combined print
sector and indeed the UK-based The Times and digital sales were down 2% year-on-
(Ireland) launched a daily print edition. year, though the audited digital edition
Jane Suiter
The Irish Times agreed a deal to acquire was up 29%, as more people switched
Dublin City University
all the publishing and media interests of from print to digital. The Irish Independent
Landmark Media Group, the Cork-based had a combined print and digital edition
company that owns the Irish Examiner, circulation of 92,903, down 6% year-
the daily Evening Echo, and seven regional on-year. The Irish Examiner had a print
titles. circulation of 27,589 in the second half of
2017, down 8%. The Times, which launched
A deal for Independent News and Media an Ireland edition in print form in June,
(INM), which publishes several national recorded an average monthly circulation of
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/tv3-halts-move-to-rebrand-channels-1.3420305
75
86 / 87

RTE (TV & Radio news) 62
14 TheJournal.ie 34
13
Sky News 13
32 RTE News online 12
33
Irish Independent & Sunday Independent 17

31 Irish Independent online 11
30
TOP BRANDS BBC News 12
29 BreakingNews.ie 12
24
% Weekly usage TV3 News 11

27 Irish Times online 9
21
Any local radio news 9
22 BBC News online 8
17
(e.g. 98 FM, Radio Kerry, Mid West Radio, Highland Radio)
The Irish Times 11

20 Sky News online 6
14
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Today FM 9
20 Her.ie/ joe.ie 6
13
At least 3 days per week Newstalk 8

19 Any local radio news online 5
10
TV, radio & print Local or Regional Newspaper 11
14 Irish Examiner online 4
10
(e.g. The Kerryman, The Connacht Tribune, The Leinster Express)
Weekly use The Times & The Sunday Times 9
13 BuzzFeed News 4
8
online brands
ITV or Channel 4 News 7
11 Yahoo! News 4
8
Irish Examiner 4
10 Mail online 4
8
online brands
Irish Daily Mail 5
10 Guardian online 4
8
CNN 4
9 MSN News 3
8
Sunday World 6
8 TV3 news online 4
7
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2015–18
The smartphone has 79% overtaken Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
the computer/laptop 74% in terms 100% Social media 100%
of news access for59%the first
79% 83% 74% 84%
50% 74% 76% Online74%
(incl. social media) S
time. Reach for both
79%television 74%
66% 68%
74%
59% 39% 64%
news and print has fallen 36% Printed newspapers C
50% 66%
59% 50% 53% 52% 54%
steadily in50%
the last20%
few years, 50%
49% 39% 50% TV
36%
with the percentage
0%
reading 39% 37%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 36% 28%
newspapers and news 2017
22%
20%
magazines 0% in the past week
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
now at just0%37%. 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2015 2016 2017 2018
2013 2014 2015 2016

Trust in media in general has THIS BRAND
now returned to ‘normal’ News overall BBC News 7.39 7.72

News I use
levels following a dip last year
54% (+8) 59%
RTE News 7.39 7.77
possibly related to a ‘fake Irish Times 7.35 7.76
news’ debate that featured 7th/37 Irish Independent 7.03 7.44
heavily during and after the TV3 News 6.94 7.71
US presidential election. Trust Irish Examiner 6.94 7.76
in search and social media is Sky News 6.91 7.39
close to the European average. News in search News in social Today FM 6.84 7.35
34% 19%
Newstalk 6.84 7.44
Breakingnews.ie 6.4 7.05
Journal.ie 6.36 6.88

PAY Irish Daily Mail 5.58 6.46
HuffPost 5.57 6.51
her.ie/joe.ie 5.47 5.6
11% (+2)
Yahoo! News 5.45 6.6
(20th/37) pay for

35%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 18% (-) 60%
3 WhatsApp 13% (+2) 52%
27% (-2) 4 Twitter 11% (-) 25% 20%

6 Snapchat 6% (+2) 19%

ITALY STATISTICS
Population
60m
87%
This year has been marked by a

bitter national election campaign,
discussions about ‘fake news’,
and continuing disruption in the
media landscape.
Few expected the March 2018 Italian

elections to lead to a decisive political
outcome and the campaign was marked
by fears about the rise of populism and
potential political conflict. Immigration
became a major topic for discussion
moving up the agenda in February with the
shooting of six people of African origin in newspapers and radio stations; and RCS Impressive results have also been
the city of Macerata by a far-right extremist. Mediagroup, which publishes Il Corriere accomplished by newspapers focusing on
Other episodes of political violence della Sera, La Gazzetta dello Sport, and other local news, such as Il Messaggero (7%) and
contributed to the harsh climate in which local newspapers in Italy, in addition to Quotidiano.net (7%). The most relevant
the campaign took place. El Mundo and Marca in Spain. After years change in the Italian online ranking is the
of competition in the pay-TV market, in growth of the digital-born outlet Fanpage
Pre-existing anti-establishment and anti- March 2018 Berlusconi’s Mediaset and (11%). In addition to its effective use of
immigration sentiments have also been Murdoch’s Sky Italia reached an agreement social media for distributing both hard
fuelled by the spread of misinformation. that includes the joint distribution of and soft news content, Fanpage gained
False information was used, for example, entertainment content on their pay-per- attention in February for its investigative
to misrepresent immigrants’ involvement view platforms and free-to-air TV channels. reporting on the waste-dumping business,
in major and minor crimes and to which led Italian authorities to investigate
accuse Italian politicians of nepotism. A The online news market is still dominated several local politicians and businessmen.79
journalistic investigation by BuzzFeed on by legacy players, but this year some
a network of Italian websites and social digital-born outlets have started to make This year, the trend towards pay models for
media pages that spread nationalistic more impact. The top news brands in online news from Italian newspapers has
rhetoric, anti-migrant content, and terms of online reach are those of the main advanced further. In early 2016, Il Corriere
misinformation resulted in Facebook newspapers (La Repubblica, Il Corriere della della Sera was the first, among the main
shutting down several of these pages.76 Sera, and Il Fatto Quotidiano) and the main Italian general-interest newspapers, to
In 2017, the President of the Italian TV broadcasters (the Mediaset’s TgCom24. launch a metered paywall. In late 2017, La
Parliament organised official initiatives it, SkyTg24, and the public broadcaster’s Repubblica adopted a freemium model.
to fight misinformation, while the RaiNews.it). The website of the main Italian Now many relevant Italian newspapers,
Government launched an online service to news agency, ANSA, has grown and reached including Il Fatto Quotidiano, La Stampa, and
allow citizens to report ‘fake news’ to the the third position in the Italian ranking. Il Messaggero, are adopting some form of
Italian postal police. The latter initiative This is an unusual example of news agency pay models for their online news. Despite
has triggered discussions on who should developing a direct consumer offer and the moves by publishers, our data show the
decide what information is true or false.77 attracting substantial online reach. proportion of people paying for online news
remains static at 12%.
While revenues in the broadcasting sector RAI’s online news service has also
started to rise again after some years of improved its position, but is still far
decline, in September 2017 newspaper from matching the high levels of reach
it achieves on television. Internal Alessio Cornia
sales showed a 11% reduction year-on-
disagreements on the plan to reform the Research Fellow, Reuters Institute
year.78 After a series of further consolidation
public broadcaster’s news services have led for the Study of Journalism
moves, two publishing groups share the
leadership of the newspaper market: to the resignations of RAI’s top managers
GEDI, which publishes La Repubblica and and are still slowing down the expected
La Stampa, in addition to several local launch of a new news website.
76
https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/one-of-the-biggest-alternative-media-networks-in-italy-is?utm_term=.vak4X6JGg0#.suwwBzy9Zk;
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/24/world/europe/italy-election-fake-news.html
77
http://www.primaonline.it/2017/06/27/258736/al-via-lindagine-conoscitiva-della-commissione-internet-sulle-fake-news;
http://www.lastampa.it/2017/04/20/tecnologia/news/venerd-alla-camera-il-tavolo-di-lavoro-sulle-fake-news-voluto-dalla-boldrini-7bntcWmsDGguB8LLVl1vTK/pagina.html;
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/19/italians-asked-report-fake-news-police-run-up-election
78
https://www.agcom.it/osservatorio-sulle-comunicazioni
79
https://www.fanpage.it/bloody-money-how-fanpage-infiltrated-a-former-mafia-boss-into-waste-traffic-with-a-camera;
http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2018/02/16/campania-governor-de-lucas-son-probed-4_e7998b64-1a69-4534-9234-d9f7d8c4603e.html
88 / 89

RAI News (Tg1, Tg2, Tg3, Tg4) 59
17 La Repubblica online 25
8
Mediaset News (Tg4, Tg5, Studio Aperto) 11

42 TgCom24 online 9
24
SkyTg24 14
35 ANSA online 8
23
TOP BRANDS RaiNews24 16
33 SkyTg24 online 8
21
% Weekly usage TgCom24 16

33 Il Corriere della Serra online 9
20
Tg La7 12
31 RAI News online 10
18
La Repubblica 12
23 Il Fatto Quotidiano online 7
16
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Il Corriere della Sera 12
22 Yahoo! News 7
15
At least 3 days per week TGR 11

22 Notizie Libero online 8
15
TV, radio & print Porta a Porta 14
21 HuffPost 9
14
Weekly use Regional or local newspaper 11
18 Il Sole 24 ore online 6
13
online brands
Piazza pulita 14
18 MSN News 6
13
Quinta colonna 12
17 TgLa7 online 5
11
online brands
Dimartedi 10
14 Fanpage 6
11
Commercial radio news 6

14 La Stampa online 5
10
Il Sole 24 Ore 6
13 Commerical radio news online 5
10
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
Newspaper readership79% Social
Onlinemedia
74%
continues100%
to fall steadily
74% while 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
television news viewership
59%
79% has 80% 74% 82%
74% Online (inc. social) S
been more50%stable79%than in many 74%
74%
66%
78%
66%
74%
59% 39%
other countries. Smartphones 59% 36% Print C
50% 66% 58% 56%
59%
continue to be more
50%
20%important 50% 39% 48% 50% TV
36%
with over half
0%
of our sample 39% 39%
(56%) using them20% for2013

news2014 2015 2016 27% 2018 36%
2017 25%
20%
20%
each week.0% 14%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Concerns over ‘fake news’ may THIS BRAND
help explain relatively low News overall ANSA 7.36 8.06

News I use
trust – a long-standing trend
42% (+3) 48%
Il Sole 24 ore 6.89 7.74
partly attributable to the SkyTG24 6.81 7.36
partisan nature of many Italian 20th/37 Tg La7 6.73 7.38
news outlets. Brands that are RAI News 6.59 7.08
most trusted are generally Il Corriere della Sera 6.55 7.36
those that are known for lower La Repubblica 6.3 7.33
levels of politicisation. News in search News in social La Stampa 6.21 7.19
37% 22%
Il Fatto Quotidiano 6.12 7.35
HuffPost 5.87 6.69
Mediaset 5.78 6.46

PAY Yahoo! News 5.68 6.87
Il Giornale 5.65 7.16
Porta a Porta 5.51 6.99
12% (-)
'
(17th/37) pay for

41%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 25% (+1) 73%
3 YouTube 25% (+3) 69%
25% (+5) 4 Twitter 10% (-) 24% 27%

6 Instagram 7% (+1) 32%

NETHERLANDS STATISTICS
Population
17m
95%
The Netherlands are

characterised by relatively high
levels of trust in news and little
concern about ‘fake news’. High
trust figures might be due to a
media landscape in which strong
public service media set the
quality standard for commercial
news brands.
In terms of news industry developments,

Flemish newspaper publishing and
standard, commercial news organisations about online ‘fake news’: 30% compared
broadcast media company Mediahuis won
have to follow if they want their news to to an average of 54%. Discussions
a takeover battle with John de Mol (Talpa)
be consumed. Quality newspapers, TV about ‘fake news’ seem to centre less
over TMG (Telegraaf Media Groep), one
news, and radio news in the Netherlands around news produced by professional
of the country’s largest media companies
score high on trust, in particular among news organisations, instead focusing on
that includes the most popular Dutch
their users. After NOS Nieuws, newspapers social media, foreign actors (e.g. Russia),
newspaper De Telegraaf. De Mol in turn
NRC and Het Financieele Dagblad are and politicians. For instance, new US
bought the Netherlands’ largest news
most trusted by their own users. Another Ambassador to the Netherlands, Pete
agency ANP. Former weekly, now monthly
interesting difference between Nu.nl and Hoekstra, caused controversy over his
magazine Vrij Nederland launched a new
the other commercial news organisations claims (caught on tape) regarding the
online subscription model under the motto
mentioned is that actual use (rather than existence of ‘no-go zones’ and politicians
‘Read less, read better’, delivering one
awareness or brand reputation) of the latter being burned in the Netherlands. Before
story (in article, video, or podcast form)
results in a larger increase in trust. eventually apologising, he initially
per day via WhatsApp or email (€6.99 per
dismissed reports of his claims as ‘fake
month). In terms of paying for news, print
Membership-based online news news’. Although Dutch news organisations
circulation (-5%) continued to decline in
platform De Correspondent, which now themselves face little concern about ‘fake
2017, but digital circulation increased by
has 60,000 paying members, hopes to news’, they do take the phenomenon
almost 20%.80
launch an international counterpart seriously. On 5 March 2018, public news
The most remarkable change in our data (The Correspondent) in 2018. The organisation NOS broadcast the 86-minute
this year is the large increase in trust platform is also building a ‘rolodex’ to be live event ‘News or Nonsense‘.85
in news media of 8 percentage points, able to tap into its members’ expertise
more systematically. The position of In an effort to tackle ‘fake news’, Facebook
compared to an average of +1% across all
Conversation Editor was created to started a collaboration with Nu.nl and
countries. The Netherlands (59%) now rank
help mediate between members and Nieuwscheckers, a fact-checking initiative
third in terms of trust in media, behind only
correspondents, and to make their from Leiden University. In November 2017,
Finland (62%) and Portugal (62%). Public
comment section more diverse by inviting they were recognised as fact-checking
news organisation NOS Nieuws, whose
under-represented groups (e.g. refugees) organisations by the International Fact
8pm bulletin continues to attract around
to share their experiences. Pay-per- Checking Network (IFCN). In February
2m viewers every night, is the most trusted
article platform Blendle saw several news 2018, several Dutch news organisations
news brand. Perhaps surprisingly, its
organisations pull out (NRC) or limit their and an individual journalist filed summary
commercial counterpart RTL Nieuws ranks
services (De Telegraaf, De Persgroep). De proceedings against the European
second for trust. This aligns with our (2017)
Persgroep launched a similar initiative, Commission regarding accusations of ‘fake
observation that television is a key driver of
Topics, reaching 475,000 people in its first news’ by EU ‘fake news’ watchdog EU vs.
trust, due in part to news consumers’ idea
month.83 Blendle continues to be loss- Disinfo. The lawsuit was dropped after the
that ‘seeing is believing’.81 Following closely
making and dependent on capital injections latter withdrew its accusations.
are commercial digital-born player Nu.nl
and the major Dutch quality newspapers. to stay afloat, but its founder and CEO
The relatively high trust in commercial expects little difficulty securing additional
news organisations might be explained investors.84
Irene Costera Meijer and Tim Groot
by Stephen Cushion’s (2012)82 argument Kormelink
In line with the high trust figures, the
that if public news media set the quality Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Netherlands score lowest in concern
80
https://www.svdj.nl/de-stand-van-de-nieuwsmedia/papier/oplage-telegraaf-ad-klappen/; https://www.svdj.nl/de-stand-van-de-nieuwsmedia/digitale-oplage-kranten-stijgen
81
Nic Newman and Richard Fletcher, Bias, Bullshit and Lies: Audience Perspectives on Low Trust in the Media. Oxford: RISJ, 2017.
82
Stephen Cushion, The Democratic Value of News: Why Public Service Media Matter. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
83
http://www.gfk.com/nl/insights/press-release/gfk-dam-mei-2017-stormachtige-start-topics
84
http://www.quotenet.nl/Nieuws/Verlies-Blendle-toegenomen-voortbestaan-onzeker-zonder-nieuwe-investering-in-2018-208712
85
https://www.npo.nl/nieuws-of-nonsens/05-03-2018/POW_03787753?
90 / 91

NOS News (public broadcaster) 69
15 Nu.nl 46
13
RTL News (including RTL Z and EditieNL) 13

37 NOS News online 11
30
SBS news 9
25 Algemeen Dagblad online 9
25
TOP BRANDS Free door-to-door newspapers 18
24 De Telegraaf online 7
23
% Weekly usage Other NPO TV news programmes 7

18 RTL Nieuws online 7
15
De Telegraaf 6
18 Other regional or local newspaper website 5
12
Algemeen Dagblad 6
17 Regional/Local TV news online 5
12
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Regional TV news stations 6
14 MSN News 5
11
At least 3 days per week Commercial radio news 6

14 de Volkskrant online 4
9
TV, radio & print Regional radio news stations 6
12 SBS news online 4
8
Weekly use Metro 8
12 NRC online 2 5
online brands
de Volkskrant 4
8 Geen Stijl 3 5
BBC News 4
7 Metro online 3 5
online brands
CNN 5
7 BBC News online 2 4
BNR radio news 3
6 Trouw online 2 4
Belgian TV News 3 5 CNN.com 2 4
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2015–18
Online and television
79% remain Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
the two most important
74% news 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
sources in the Netherlands,
59%
79%
80% 74%
though TV50%news has
79% fallen 7 76%
74%
66% 73%
74% 39%
59%
percentage points in four years. 36% Print 64% 64% C
50% 66%
59% 50%
Social media
50%
news use has
20% 50% 43% 39% 50% TV
52%
42% 36%
43%
been in gentle
0%
decline since 39% 37%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 36%
2016. 2017
25%
20% 19%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018 2015 2016 2017 2018

Trust in news shows a THIS BRAND
remarkable increase of 8 News overall NOS Nieuws 7.36 7.59

News I use
percentage points. Although
59% (+8) 67%
RTL Nieuws 6.72 7.23
‘fake news’ is a hot topic, NU (Nu.nl) 6.69 7.07
discussions centre more around 3rd/37 De Volkskrant 6.67 7.2
social media, foreign actors, and NRC (Handelsblad en/of next) 6.66 7.26
politicians than around news fd. Het Financieele Dagblad 6.63 7.09
produced by professional news AD (Algemeen Dagblad) 6.62 7.09
organisations. News in search News in social Trouw 6.55 7.33
33% 22%
BNR Nieuwsradio 6.29 7.19
Hart van Nederland (SBS nieuws) 6.02 7.01
Metro 6.02 6.52

PAY De Correspondent 5.97 6.9
De Telegraaf 5.88 6.56
GeenStijl 4.44 5.72
13% (-1)
(16th/37) pay for
22%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 17% (+2) 69%
3 YouTube 14% (-) 54%
26% (+4) 4 Twitter 7% (-1) 17% 12%

(20th/37) use an 5 Instagram 5% (+1) 24% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 LinkedIn 5% (+2) 22%

NORWAY STATISTICS
Population
5.5m
99%
The Norwegian media landscape

mixes strong national publishers
and public service media, with
a reputation for innovation in
content and business models.
Norwegians’ main news sources
include public broadcaster NRK,
commercial channel TV2, leading
quality newspaper Aftenposten,
and tabloids VG and Dagbladet.
However, local and regional
newspapers remain important remit. Simultaneously, the government is thus a big proportion of the political
preparing discussions to consolidate all campaign budget was spent on social
for many Norwegians – in print media support schemes (including press media advertising. Politics and social media
and online. support and licence fee money) in one have become increasingly interlinked in
shared pool for redistribution across media Norway. In March 2018, a controversial
Traditional news sources like print and and platforms. This coincides with scrutiny status update from the Minister of Justice
television are in decline, while online of NRK’s online presence, and might signal on Facebook caused her resignation and
news use remains unchanged from last changes in the regulation of the public almost a change of government. By spring
year. Almost nine in ten (87%) Norwegians broadcaster. 2018, Facebook was also heavily debated
use online news weekly, one of the in Norway for its facilitation of polarised
highest figures in our survey, with user Social media are used as a source of news debate and for privacy issues similar to
patterns shifting rapidly from computers by many. While the use of most of the those in the US.
to smartphones. Smartphone is now the platforms remains almost unchanged
number one device for news in Norway. This this year, Snapchat sees a significant Like many other countries, Norway has also
gradual shift away from the computer has increase (4 points). This can be seen in seen the rise of ‘partisan’ news sites in the
happened over the last two years, and while the context of Snapchat’s 2017 launch last few years. Resett.no, document.no, and
the use of computer now seems to have of one of the first non-English-speaking rights.no, are among the most used, all with
peaked, smartphone is still on the rise. Discover news channels in Norway (VG). a tough stance on the issue of immigration
Meanwhile, Buzzit, the viral news site and Islam, and all causing public debates
Norway remains the country with the launched by local newspaper company that extend beyond their audiences and
highest number of consumers willing Nordlys in 2014, closed in autumn 2017, into the general headlines. While these
to pay for online news, up 4 percentage leaving no major viral sites left in Norway. sites reach a significant number of people,
points since last year. The strong tradition By 2018, some media companies, including they are less trusted than mainstream
for print newspaper reading, coupled with local newspaper owner Amedia (owned media, with the public broadcaster NRK
the absence of freesheets, has facilitated a by a foundation since 2016) reported topping the list in our survey.
transition to digital subscriptions through considerable profits due to increased ad
hybrid solutions (typically bundles offering sales and more digital subscribers, coupled
access to both paper and digital content). with cost-cutting.
Hallvard Moe and Hilde Sakariassen
Despite broadcast TV’s decline, it remains Faktisk.no, a non-commercial initiative University of Bergen
a source for the majority in Norway. This checking the accuracy of news online, was
year, commercial channel TV2 overtook launched as a tool to combat so-called
licence fee-funded NRK as the most ‘fake news’. The launch happened in the
used. TV2 was established in 1992 with period leading up to Norway´s general
a public service remit, but is an ad- election in the fall of 2017, amidst worries
funded, private alternative to the NRK. over ‘fake news’ similar to that seen in the
2018 will see negotiations for a renewed US election. The election was expected
contract to prolong its public service to be greatly influenced by social media,
92 / 93

NRK News (public broadcaster) 56
16 VG Nett online 56
11
TV2 News 15
51 TV2 News online 13
40
Local or regional newspaper 11

25 Dagbladet online 10
34
TOP BRANDS VG 10
24 NRK News online 8
31
% Weekly usage P4 9
19 Aftenposten online 10
28
Aftenposten 6
16 Nettavisen 12
27
Local Radio News 7

15 Local/Regional paper websites 7
23
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Dagbladet 8
13 Dagens Næringsliv online 5
13
At least 3 days per week Radio Norge 7

12 ABCnyheter 6
12
TV, radio & print Local TV 6
11 Bergens Tidende online 4
10
Weekly use BBC News 4
9 Adresseavisen online 3
7
online brands
Dagens Næringsliv 4
8 BBC News online 3
6
CNN 4
8 MSN News 4
6
online brands
Bergens Tidende 3
6 Dagsavisen online 4
6
Other foreign newspapers/TV 2 4 CNN.com 3

6
SVT (Swedish TV) 2 4 BuzzFeed News 4

6
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2016–18
Traditional media79%such as print Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
and television news
74%have 100% Social media 100%
Social T
100%
shown significant59%decline over
79% 86% 66% 87%
74%
the last few years79%
as digital 72% 74%
66% 66% 70%
74%
59% 39% 66%
habits become more 36% Print 64% 61% C
50% 59% 54% 66% 51%
entrenched. 50%
Smartphones
20% 50%
41% 39% 50% TV
36% 36%
have overtaken
0%
computers in 39%
31% 32%
20%2013 2014 2018 36%
terms of news usage reaching 2015 2016 2017
20%
almost three-quarters
0% (70%) of
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
our sample0% each week.
2013 2014 2015
0%
2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2016 2017 2018
2013 2014

Trust in news is relatively low THIS BRAND
despite little social and News overall NRK News 7.42 7.72
News I use
political polarisation in media
47% (-2) 59%
Local or regional newspaper 7.05 7.31
use patterns, and financial Aftenposten 7.02 7.56
support. Research shows that 15th/37 Dagens Næringsliv 6.95 7.51
trust is linked to politics, with TV2 Nyheter 6.86 7.27
far-right voters and those with P4 6.34 7.05
strong views on immigration Dagsavisen 6.26 6.77
expressing most mistrust. News in search News in social VG 6.23 6.7
28% 17%
Morgenbladet 6.18 7.08
Dagbladet 6.15 6.65
Vårt Land 5.88 6.27

PAY Klassekampen 5.85 7.28
Human Rights Service/ 4.93 7.27
HRS (rights.no)
Document.no 4.59 6.87
30% (+4)
(1st/37) pay for
27%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 12% (+2) 59%
24% (+1) 4 Snapchat 9% (+4) 47% 17%

6 Instagram 6% (+2) 42%

POLAND STATISTICS
Population
38m
73%
Poland’s media environment

is characterised by highly
competitive and often partisan
broadcasters, large web portals,
and a divided press. Meanwhile
the ruling Law and Justice party
has strengthened its control of
public broadcasting and is now
targeting private media.
When the media regulator slapped a

$415,000 fine on private broadcaster TVN
consumption habits. According to the second in our list of online news sources,
in December 2017 for coverage of anti-
industry standard Nielsen ratings, the state revealed that it made half of its revenue
government rallies, or ‘propagating illegal
broadcaster’s main channel, TVP1, lost on e-commerce, selling clothes, holidays,
behaviour’ in the official language, many
15% in a year while the average viewership home decorations, and loans.
thought this heralded the end of media
freedom in Poland. of its flagship news show Wiadomosci,
widely criticised for spreading government Legacy media have been losing their
propaganda, decreased 20%.86 In response, monopoly on quality journalism, as
But then the nationalist-populist
the state broadcaster developed an internet-only portals such as top-ranked
government paused – partly as a result of
alternative measurement system that Onet beefed up newsrooms in order to
US government intervention on behalf of
placed TVP1 and Wiadomosci at the top. differentiate and claim premium ad prices.
TVN’s new owners, Scripps Networks, and
Meanwhile, lower ratings translated Onet published major scoops, one of which
later Discovery. For the sake of relations
into lower ad revenues for TVP. The destroyed the reputation of a leader of the
with the US, and an ongoing multi-billion
government injected an extra $233m into biggest opposition movement, and another
dollar weapon deal, the Polish government
the broadcaster, allowing a shopping spree revealed a spat between Poland and the US
quietly cancelled the fine and froze work
on sports rights and new shows, including a over a bill penalising claims of the Poles’
on a proposed media bill that threatened
soap opera on 14th-century Polish kings. assistance in the German Nazi-led killings
TVN’s investors with limits on the share of
of Jews during the Second World War.
foreign capital.
Alternative and partisan news outlets
have grown in significance, as noted by Journalism start-ups popped up online
The government was frequently at
our survey for the first time. Mariusz ‘Max’ and offline: Pismo and Przekroj are new
loggerheads with journalists and
Kolonko is a Polish journalist living in the ambitious literary magazines, Outriders
publications critical of their record.
US who has built an opinion-based online and VSquare are focused on foreign
When a reporter for the left-leaning
video channel that has similar levels of and investigative news, respectively.
Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper heard a new
reach to more mainstream outlets such as Other notable launches included digital
conspiracy theory about a 2010 president’s
such as Niezalezna.pl or Natemat.pl. The NewsMavens, a feminist take on European
plane crash, he exploded at a press briefing.
Karnowski brothers-owned wPolityce.pl politics and society, and Vogue magazine, a
Instead of asking questions, he shouted
became a launchpad for a conglomerate new Polish fashionista bible in print.
at a ruling party’s leader: ‘You are a liar
and a criminal! And you‘ll stand up one of pro-government outlets such a news
Vogue’s first cover, featuring two skinny
day in the courts of free Poland!’ Pro- weekly Sieci Prawdy and an online and cable
models and a Stalinist sky-scraper in
government commentators argued that the TV channel wPolsce, attracting millions of
Warsaw, went viral, sparking a debate
journalist had crossed the line, mistaking dollars of advertising from state-controlled
about everything from aesthetics to diets.
a press conference for an opposition rally. companies.
In parallel to the #MeToo movement, some
The journalist himself explained that female journalists accused prominent
he couldn’t bear any more lies. But the Digital and political disruption of
advertising led private media owners names of the liberal media of bullying and
incident reveals the extent of partisanship sexual harassment, and a political editor of
in the Polish media along with the often- to search for new sources of revenue.
Agora, which publishes Gazeta Wyborcza, a national newspaper lost his job.
bitter and emotional tone of public debate.
None of this is helping overall trust in the admitted that its fastest growing business
news among Polish consumers, which fell 5 was tickets and snacks at its cinemas, and
percentage points to 48%. heralded a shift to restaurants. Gazeta Grzegorz Piechota
Wyborcza reported 133,000 paid digital-only Google Digital News Visiting Senior Research
All the three biggest TV networks have subscriptions at the end of 2017; more than Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of
lost viewers, partly due to changing the 119,000 copies it sold in print. Wirtualna Journalism
Polska (WP), an internet portal that is
Average among viewers aged 4 and older. Data of National Broadcasting Council based on Nielsen Audience Measurement. Source: ‘Information on the basic problems of radio
86
and TV broadcasting in 2017’.

94 / 95

TVN News (incl. TVN 24) 56
8 Onet.pl 52
14
Polsat News 13
41 WP.pl 15
48
RMF FM 13
40 TVN24.pl 10
37
TOP BRANDS TVP News (public broadcaster) 7
33 Interia.pl 10
31
% Weekly usage Radio Zet 11

27 (Gazeta) Wyborcza.pl 10
19
Gazeta Wyborcza 12
22 RMF24.pl 8
17

19 TVP.info 7
17
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Fakt 9
17 Gazeta.pl 8
16
At least 3 days per week Eska 6

13 Fakt online 8
15
TV, radio & print Regional or local radio 6
12 O2.pl 6
14
Weekly use Super Express 8
12 Polsat News online 6
13
online brands
TTV 5
11 Money.pl 7
11
Polskie Radio (News on Radio 1, 2 or 3) 3
10 Radiozet.pl 6
11
online brands Niezalezna.pl 9%
Newsweek Polska 6
10 Newsweek online 7
11
Mariusz Max Kolonko 9%
Angora 5
10 Regional/Local newspaper website 6
10 Natemat.pl 8%
Przegląd Sportowy 4
8 Sport.pl 6
10 wPolityce.pl 6%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2015–18
Online news has opened
79% up a Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
gap of almost 10%74%over 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
television news since
79% 2015
59% 84%
74%
86%
50% 74% 81% 77% Online81%
(inc. social) 79% S
amongst those who
79% are 74%
66%
74%
59% 39% 68%
connected to the internet with 36% 59% Print C
50% 66%
59% 52%
the smartphone,
50%
an
20% 50% 39% 50% TV 52%
36%
increasingly0%important access 39%
20%2013 2014 201728%
2018 36% 27%
point. Weekly print readership 2015 2016
20% 18% 16%
has declined0%less than in many
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
other European
0% countries.
2013 2014 2015
0%
2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2015 2016 2017 2018
2013 2014

Increasing polarisation may THIS BRAND
help explain falling overall News overall RMF FM 6.85 7.55

News I use
trust. At a brand level, the
48% (-5) 55%
Polsat 6.65 7.36
State TV broadcaster (TVP) TVN News 6.47 7.26
rates lower than tabloid 14th/37 Onet.pl 6.36 7.05
newspaper Fakt. By contrast, WP.pl 6.33 6.95
RMF FM and Polsat, whose Gazeta Wyborcza 5.81 7.36
owners try to stay away from Wpolityce.pl 5.32 7.27
political conflict, have higher News in search News in social Polskie Radio 5.18 6.74
trust scores.
46% 38%
Fakt 5.12 6.66
Gazeta Polska Codziennie 4.71 4.98
TVP News 4.7 6.32

PAY Radio Maryja 2.89 7.64
16% (-)
(11th/37) pay for
38%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 37% (+5) 71%
36% (+4) 4 Twitter 8% (-1) 17% 27%

(2nd/37) use an 5 Google+ 6% (-1) 13% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 WhatsApp 6%(+3) 19%

PORTUGAL STATISTICS
Population
10m
72%
Portugal is ranked (jointly) highest

for trust in the news across
our 37-country survey, but low
confidence in social media and
suspicions about the legitimacy of
online news content raise concerns
about how long this will last.
Online news in Portugal is almost as

popular as television in terms of weekly
reach, even if monetising that traffic
remains a struggle. In that regard, one of
the most significant digital initiatives of the Meanwhile, telecom multinational Altice Looking at the most used sources for news,
past year has been the emergence of a new (the successor to Portugal Telecom) is TV brands comprise the top five offline
platform called Nónio, supported by six in a complicated process, that raises brands used for news – SIC Notícias, SIC,
of the biggest media brands in Portugal.87 competition issues, to buy Media Capital TVI24, TVI, and public service broadcaster
The platform allows users to access Group, the owner of the most watched TV RTP. In terms of online media outlets, the
hundreds of news websites, TV streams channel TVI and Media Capital Radios. The two brands listed at the top are digital-born
and radio on-demand services, with a single Media Capital group is currently owned by SAPO, a portal which aggregates news from
login. For publishers, this opens up the the Spanish media Group PRISA. multiple outlets, and Notícias ao Minuto,
possibility of sharing data across multiple followed by legacy newspapers that are
websites while offering consumers more Trust in news in Portugal has been also on the internet, Jornal de Notícias,
convenience in terms of access. Publishers consistently high. But this year’s report puts Público, and Correio da Manhã.
would like to win a greater share of the the country in equal first place with 62%
Portuguese digital advertising market, of the sample claiming they trust news Regarding payment for news, the survey
which is currently dominated by Facebook in general. While this is consistent with casts a grim shadow over the print sector.
and YouTube (display) and Google (search). previous studies, this year’s data point to a The percentage of users who paid for a
The Nónio platform was funded by a more nuanced situation – 48% claim they print newspaper in the previous week is
€900,000 grant from the Google Digital trust news found through search engines 31% (down 6 points). Less than one in ten
News Initiative, as part of its efforts to help but only 29% say they trust news on social (9%) have paid for any kind of digital news
publisher monetisation. media. Portuguese news consumers show in the past year, one of the lowest figures in
high levels of concern about issues such our survey. Combined with increasing ad-
This year the Portuguese media landscape as manipulation, ‘fake news’, and poor blocker usage (up 3 percentage points from
has been changed by the emergence of a journalism. Almost half say they have seen last year) the current trends are putting a
new media group, called Trust in News, examples of bad journalism in the previous huge strain on legacy print brands’ revenue.
which now runs a portfolio of 12 magazines week, and 38% say they have seen content
previously managed by the Impresa media which has been manipulated to suit a
group, that owns the SIC TV channels and specific agenda.
respected weekly newspaper Expresso. One Ana Pinto Martinho, Gustavo Cardoso
of the two main distribution companies, Analysis of the data combining opinions and Miguel Paisana
Distrinews, filed for bankruptcy, leaving the on manipulation of news, ‘fake news’, poor ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon
majority of the newspapers and magazines coverage, bad journalism, and trust in media
in the hand of a single distributor, VASP. brands seems to show that the Portuguese
This also contributed to the closing of distrust the news environment but tend to
Motorpress, a media group that owned trust specific media brands. What could be
specialist titles such as car magazine Auto thought as a rather ambiguous relationship
Hoje and parenting publication Pais & Filhos. between journalism and consumers can
There were 65 job losses as a result, 22 of be explained by the traditional mismatch
them journalists. between opinion and practice of citizens:
they express concern about the quality of
journalism but stay faithful to their preferred
journalist and brands in terms of trust.
https://jpn.up.pt/2017/03/10/nonio-media-portugueses-vao-passar-pedir-login
87
96 / 97

SIC News 70
19 Sapo 30
12
TVI News 19
60 SIC News online 14
29
RTP/RDP News (public broadcaster) 17

55 Notícias ao Minuto 12
28
TOP BRANDS Rádio Comercial 11
26 Jornal de Notícias online 11
25
% Weekly usage Jornal de Notícias 15

26 Público online 11
23
Correio da Manhã 14
26 TVI News online 10
23
RFM 11
24 Correio da Manhã online 10
22
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Correio da Manhã TV 10
23 Observador 10
21
At least 3 days per week TSF 8

17 MSN News 8
19
TV, radio & print Público 11
17 Diário de Notícias online 11
19
Weekly use A regional or local newspaper 11
16 Expresso online 11
18
online brands
Expresso 10
15 Jornal Económico 10
15
Diário de Notícias 8
14 RTP News online 8
14
online brands
A Bola 6
11 A Bola online 5
14
Euronews 5
10 Dinheiro Vivo 9
14
Record 6
10 Correio da Manhã TV online 6
12
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2015–18
There have been few79% Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
underlying changes74%in the 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
media landscape 59%in Portugal,
79% 86%
74%
84%
50% 74% 85% 83% 78%
Online (inc. social) 74% S
with TV and online news the
79%
74%
66%
74% 39% 59%
most popular way59% of accessing 61% 36%
66%
63% Print C
50% 59%
news. Printed
50%
media
20% continued 50% 47% 39% 50% TV
36% 41%
to decline in
0%
terms of weekly 39% 34%
20%2013 2014 2018 36%
reach. 2015 2016 2017
20% 21% 20%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018 2015 2016 2017 2018

High trust figures (62%) have THIS BRAND
been a subject of some surprise News overall RTP 7.48 7.78

News I use
given the pressures on the
62% (+4) 62%
Expresso 7.32 7.84
publishers and concern about Público 7.2 7.73
undue political and economic 1st/37 SIC 7.16 7.42
influence. Lower trust in search Jornal de Notícias 7.16 7.7
(48%) and social (29%) indicate Rádio Renascença 7.11 7.95
concern over the reliability of Jornal de Negócios 7.1 7.41
news in third-party environments. News in search News in social RDP Antena 1 7.08 7.88
48% 29%
Diário de Notícias 7.07 7.6
Sapo 6.62 7.19
TVI 6.61 7.2

PAY Correio da Manhã 4.96 6.01
9% (-)
(27th/37) pay for
49%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 22% (+2) 69%
31% (+3) 4 WhatsApp 11% (+5) 40% 30%

(9th/37) use an 5 LinkedIn 7% (+2) 25% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 6% (+2) 34%

ROMANIA STATISTICS
Population
19m
63%
A troubled political environment

has generated high levels of
debate online and sustained
public interest in the news. But
strong polarisation in newsrooms
has led to continued scepticism,
frustration, and low trust in the
media from audiences.
While 2016 had been characterised by little

or no coverage of an almost non-existent
electoral debate,88 2017 saw a radical
shift in politics and a 180-degree turn in The leader in the news market, on TV Most mainstream online news brands’
media coverage. The first PSD-ALDE89 and online, is still ProTV, part of Central figures rose slightly and so did news
coalition government, which proposed European Media Enterprises, a public portals like Yahoo! News (28%) and Ziare.
some decriminalisation of corruption in company which is listed on the NASDAQ com (28%) a local aggregator that also
public offices, an apparent attempt to save and the Prague Stock Exchange. Another produces its own content. This shows
political leaders from criminal charges, public company, Digi Communications, is the appetite among the Romanian public
caught the attention of the media.90 The consolidating its position, with its TV news for multiple sources of news, as well as
public response was huge, with national channel, Digi 24, its news radio, Digi FM (a the lack of loyalty to specific brands. The
street demonstrations in support of new entry on the offline brands list), as well average consumer in our survey says
democracy and the rule of law. as its online presence. Antena 1 and Antena they use almost six of the top ten sources
3, part of a family media business, Intact each week, including TV, radio, local
After this, newsrooms managed to Group, are following closely behind, while newspapers, and news sites.
stimulate and sustain widespread public targeting a different sector of the audience.
discussion about the proposed laws, and Online and social media distribution has
also about the judiciary, the economy, Most TV channels have seen a decline in opened up new opportunities for small
poverty, and public investment. The usage (between 2 and 5%), and CNN is no independent news organisations doing
coalition government changed prime longer a brand in the top 20, indicating investigative or narrative journalism, but
minister three times between January a change in consumption habits for TV the same applies to partisan sites and even
2017 and January 2018, which further news and talk shows. This is not however hate speech.
encouraged the appetite for public debate. the case for entertainment or sports
Polarisation of newsrooms increased (this was the year that Simona Halep Independent journalistic initiatives like
further, as did the public’s demands, via became the world’s number one women’s the Rise Project, investigative journalists
social media, for accountability. The focus tennis player). Kanal D, the third largest working as part of the Panama and
was not only on what journalists covered, Romanian TV station, in rating and market Paradise Papers, Recorder.ro, Decât o
but also how they did it. share,92 only ranks 11th in offline news. revistă, Teleleu, and reference mainstream
newsrooms like ProTV, Digi24, and
Affordable mobile internet is increasingly Public television (TVR) is maintaining a Hotnews.ro covered themes such as
used in Romanian households, and two- historical low in terms of market share hidden corruption money, poverty, and
thirds (66%) are now consuming news though it retains some historic trust. Its administrative incompetence.
on smartphones, a 10 percentage point improved financial situation, which came
increase on last year. According to Media thanks to an infusion of public money, after Social consumption of news is still
Initiative,91 mobile telecommunications discussions of possible insolvency, did not dominated by Facebook and YouTube,
services are now the biggest spending help it improve its weekly reach (33%), though there is an increasing trend,
advertisers, next to medical brands. Internet which remains amongst the lowest for as elsewhere, to use WhatsApp and
access reached the status of a quasi-public European public broadcasters. Messenger for finding and sharing news.
utility, and is now more accessible than
Raluca Radu
running water and sewerage.
University of Bucharest
88
https://ro.ejo-online.eu/economia-mass-media/campania-electorala-fost-caracterizata-de-neputinta-si-strategie
89
PSD = the Social Democrat Party; ALDE = the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats Party.
90
https://en.ejo.ch/media-politics/another-question-journalisms-role-in-romanian-protests
91
Initiative, Media Factbook, 2017: www.mediafactbook.ro (accessed Mar. 2018).
92
The Romanian Association for Audience Measurement, Feb. 2018: http://arma.org.ro/en/audiences (accessed Mar. 2018).
98 / 99

Pro TV 66
13 Știrile ProTV online 29
9
Digi24 12
43 Yahoo! News 11
28
Antena 1 14
41 Ziare.com 15
28
TOP BRANDS Realitatea TV 11
38 Digi24 online 8
28
% Weekly usage Antena 3 10

37 Hotnews 12
23
TVR (public broadcaster) 14

33 Adevărul online 12
22
Romania TV 10
29 Realitatea TV online 6
20
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Radio Europa FM 9
22 Stiripesurse.ro 10
20
More than 3 days per week B1TV 9

22 Libertatea online 11
20
TV, radio & print A regional or local newspaper 12
20 Mediafax 11
19
Weekly use Kanal D 8
19 Evenimentul zilei online 10
18
online brands
Radio Romania Actualități 7
17 Antena 3 online 5
18
Prima TV 9
16 Ziarul Financiar online 9
17
online brands
Adevarul 11
16 Click online 7
13
Libertatea 11
13
Evenimentul zilei 10
14 România TV online 4
12
82% 42% 67% 66% 71%

(-2) (-) (+2) (+10) (-1)

16% 18%
(-4) 88% (-6) (-1)
(-)

Intense discussions about politics, THIS BRAND
combined with polarisation of News overall Pro TV 7.23 7.62

News I use
newsrooms has led to increased
42% (+3) 48%
Ziarul Financiar 7.11 8.02
levels of scepticism. A financial TVR 6.97 7.71
daily, which has one of the only 20th/37 Digi 24 6.94 7.85
corrections and retractions page Mediafax 6.94 7.63
in Romania, enjoys one of the Yahoo! Știri 6.66 7.46
highest level of trust. Adevărul 6.37 7.4
News in search News in social Hotnews 6.32 7.34
45% 32%
Ziare.com 6.2 7.07
Realitatea TV 6.09 7.11

PAY stiripesurse.ro 6.02 6.92
Antena 1 5.89 7.22
B1 TV 5.72 6.95
11% (-2)
România TV 5.39 6.88
Antena 3 5.36 7.29
(20th/37) pay for

40%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 31% (+1) 75%
3 WhatsApp 18% (+4) 52%
30% (+6) 4 Facebook Messenger 18% (+3) 52% 38%

(12th/37) use an 5 Google Plus 9% (-) 17% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Twitter 7% (-2) 17%

SLOVAKIA STATISTICS
Population
5.4m
85%
Slovak journalism – already

tested by questions about
institutional independence
and the growing popularity of
websites publishing ‘fake news’
– was drawn into a political
crisis following the murder
of an investigative journalist.
Meanwhile a Facebook
experiment fuelled debates
about the power of dominant
social media platforms to sale of Slovakia’s market-leading daily, 60 TV and radio staff expressed their
Nový Čas, together with several magazine discontent with the new leadership in an
influence news consumption in titles, in a reorientation towards digital open letter of protest in April 2018. Despite
unpredictable ways. publishing. Ringier owns aktuality.sk and this, our data on brand trust show that
recently bought its smaller rival aktualne. the public service broadcaster is the most
In March 2018 Slovakia was shaken by sk. The buyer of Nový Čas is businessman trusted brand by those who use it and the
the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and Anton Siekel, head of the Slovak Olympic second most trusted among those who
his fiancée, an event that triggered a Committee, with no track record in the have heard of it. Figures from Median show
series of mass demonstrations and forced news industry. In March 2018 Slovakia’s RTVS is still perceived as the most objective
the resignation of the Prime Minister number three national daily, Pravda, also TV news source, just ahead of the leading
and Interior Minister – symbols of the changed hands, acquired by the Czech commercial station Markíza.95
institutionalised corruption that Kuciak group Our Media, which runs several
was investigating. Kuciak worked for the regional TV stations and the news portals Propaganda, distortion, and conspiracy
news portal aktuality.sk, which had only parlamentnilisty.cz and parlamentnelisty.sk, theories are seen by many commentators
recently taken the risky decision to support which have a dubious reputation on as major threats to Slovak democracy. In
investigative journalism. The climate of transparency and objectivity. the recent political crisis, the then Prime
hostility between sections of the media and Minister Róbert Fico had been accused of
the government, mentioned in last year’s Facebook tested its Explore feed in Slovakia resorting to conspiracy theories to discredit
report, worsened during 2017, and is seen as (and five other countries) from October opponents, prompting some media
a factor contributing to a situation in which 2017 to March 2018, removing posts from to warn they would no longer publish
journalists, especially investigative ones, pages (including news organisations) from government statements automatically.
feel vulnerable.93 It remains to be seen if people’s newsfeeds. Interaction on the Recent efforts to counter these threats
the recent wave of support for journalists posts of top news sites halved overnight. include SME’s weekly review of ‘fake news’
after Kuciak’s death will have a lasting However, even in a country where Facebook stories and konspiratori.sk, an initiative
effect on public trust in the profession. is significantly more important as a news set up by the advertising industry which
access channel than in most other markets, maintains a blacklist of websites publishing
Media advertising spend grew overall by the change had surprisingly little effect untrustworthy material. It is striking that
4.6% in 2017 according to Unimedia, but on traffic to news portals themselves, one self-styled conservative, and much
fell by 6% in print, which now accounts suggesting that organic sharing among criticised, online news site, Hlavné správy96
for less than 10% of the total advertising friends may be the key mechanism driving (with an audience reach of about 6%) is
market, dominated by TV and online. With traffic to news sites from social media.94 more trusted by those who have heard of it
stagnating print sales, Slovakia’s established than any other of the country’s newspaper
daily and weekly news titles need to boost 2017 was marked by the contentious or digital-born news websites.
their online sales income, so even the slight election in Parliament of a new DG of
decline in consumer willingness to pay Slovak public TV and radio (RTVS), followed
for online content indicated by this year’s by resignations at the head of the news and
current affairs department amid fears over Simon Smith
survey is a worrying sign.
threats to journalistic autonomy. Jaroslav Charles University, Czech Republic
The last year saw two significant Rezník, former head of the state-owned
ownership changes. In November 2017 news agency TASR, is perceived to have
Ringier Axel Springer announced the close ties to the Slovak National Party:
93
Nonetheless Slovakia was still rated by Reporters Sans Frontières as having the strongest press freedom in the East Central Europe: https://rsf.org/en/slovakia
94
https://medium.com/@filip_struharik/what-facebook-taught-us-when-it-destroyed-our-organic-reach-cadac9c3216
95
http://www.median.sk/pdf/MML2017/MMLOmnibus_2017_IV_Najobjektivnejsie_TV_spravodajstvo.pdf
96
http://www.mediawatch.dog/hlavnespravy-sk-opat-siria-fake-news-opat-ucelovo-klamu-svojich-citatelov; https://dennikn.sk/521950/kto-riadi-prorusky-web-hlavne-spravy-
muz-ktory-neodmieta-ani-eurofondy-2
100 / 101

TV JOJ 60
18 topky.sk 46
17
TV Markíza 16
59 aktuality.sk 17
38
RTVS (public broadcaster) 15

53 sme.sk 14
31
TOP BRANDS TA3 17
45 cas.sk 11
26
% Weekly usage Rádio Expres 14

33 tvnoviny.sk 13
24
Nový Čas 17
26 aktualne.sk 14
23
SME 12
17 pravda.sk 8
19
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 11
14 pluska.sk 10
18
More than 3 days per week Pravda 9

14 noviny.sk 13
18
TV, radio & print Plus 7 dní 10
13 ta3.com 8
16
Weekly use Fun rádio 6
13 hnonline.sk 5
11
online brands
Rádio Vlna 5
11 dennikn.sk 5
10
Rádio Europa 2 5
9 zive.sk 4
8
online brands
Plus Jeden Deň 6
9 korzar.sme.sk 3
8
Rádio Jemné 5
9 dnes24.sk 5
7
Hospodárske noviny 5
8 webnoviny.sk 5
7
80% 40% 51% 47% 66%

(+1) (-2) (-7) (+6) (+2)

13% 18%
(-2) 80% (-2) (+2)
(-6)

Though still below average, THIS BRAND
trust in the news increased in News overall TA3 7.13 7.4

News I use
2017. Given concerns about
34% (+7) 45%
RTVS 7.01 7.49
partisan news sites, we might Rádio Expres 6.39 7.19
have expected a rise in the 30th/37 TV JOJ 6.27 6.81
discrepancy between overall hlavnespravy.sk 6.26 6.73
trust and trust in ‘news I use’, tvnoviny.sk 6.21 6.68
but the difference held steady. Pravda 6.21 6.85
News in search News in social Aktuality.sk 6.2 6.69
32% 18%
Sme 6.04 6.52
TV Markíza 5.99 6.51

PAY webnoviny.sk 5.78 6.44
Plus 7 dní 5.38 6.0
cas.sk 5.14 5.67
11% (-1)
topky.sk 5.1 5.67
Nový Čas 4.85 5.5
(20th/37) pay for

37%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 23% (+1) 64%
23% (+1) 4 Google Plus 7% (+1) 14% 22%

(31st/37) use an 5 Pokec.sk 6% (-1) 14% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 5% (+2) 18%

SPAIN STATISTICS
Population
46m
87%
The media landscape in Spain

is characterised by popular
broadcasters, a newspaper sector
which declines in print but leads
online, with El País and El Mundo in
first and second place, and some of
the most diverse and competitive
digital-born news brands in Europe.
Meanwhile the sovereignty crisis
in Catalonia has put journalism to
the test.
In the last ten years, the audience for print voluntary paid members in April 2018,
Extensive coverage of the referendum newspapers in Spain has almost halved, whereas the former specialises in premium
in Catalonia and the response from the with magazines losing a third of their reach, ad format innovation. Alternative and
State – including police deployment, direct according to the Estudio General de Medios sometimes partisan sites such as OKDiario
instructions to the Catalan government, (EGM) survey. There was a slight decline in (12%), established in September 2015 by a
judicial action, and a snap regional election – TV, but 85% of over 14s still watch it daily, and high-profile investigative journalist and aimed
went on for months. Around this very divisive six in ten users listened to radio of any kind. A at ‘non-conformists’ seeking exclusives, eye-
issue, the four Madrid-based newspapers and record 75% went online every day in 2017, up catching headlines, and hard-line editorials,
the two main titles in Catalonia joined the from 26% a decade before.98 The circulation are more successful than elsewhere.
main Spanish political parties in defending crisis affecting print dailies in Spain has led
the legal status quo. The leading and most to the closure of 26 newspaper presses in Encarna Samitier became the only current
moderate paper in Catalonia, La Vanguardia twelve years. El País has now outsourced its female editor-in-chief of a national general-
(50% total offline/online reach in this territory) own printing with editor-in-chief Antonio interest newspaper, as new owners Henneo
called for dialogue in face of a ‘devastating’ Caño saying: ‘It is necessary to allocate efforts appointed her to lead 20 minutos, a print
situation. A broader spectrum of views was and resources to where readers and the freesheet in some cities and a digital-only
reflected by commercial TV and radio, where future really are – in the new technological brand elsewhere; it is the second-largest
political talk shows dominated airtime, and by platforms.’99 source of online news for adults under 45,
digital-native sites in Madrid and Barcelona. reaching 23% weekly, with El País at 28% in
The increase in digital advertising has not this age band. Henneo also bought digital-
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE is regularly compensated for the decline in traditional ads born Lainformacion.com and refocused it on
criticised for pro-governmental bias in its for the main media houses in Spain, according business news, and Axel Springer launched
news coverage and a lack of balance in its to InfoAdex.100 Broadcast television groups Business Insider Spain. BuzzFeed Spain (8%
use of sources and commentators; a law Atresmedia and Mediaset account for 85% of weekly reach among under 35s) continues not
in September established open and public the advertising expenditure, even if they only to cover general news; it focuses on popular
competition and the need for a two-thirds attract half the audience. The main telecom culture, evergreen viral posts, and content
(rather than simple) majority in Parliament for operators promote bundled offers with a with a feminist perspective on its vertical
appointing its governing board and presidency, landline, mobile, broadband, and interactive BuzzFeed LOLA.
but the subsequent process has been severely television with VOD such as Netflix and HBO.
delayed. The Catalan Broadcasting Corporation In response, legacy broadcasters, including The two main remaining newsweeklies
CCMA is also questioned for focusing so much the three largest free-to-air channel groups in Spain, Interviú and Tiempo, known for
on the pro-independence process, despite the –Mediaset, Atresmedia, and RTVE– and the their investigative journalism among other
high audience ratings of TV3 and Catalunya regional PSBs, are working on a common features, closed down in January 2018.
Ràdio, fully in Catalan language. on-demand video distribution platform over They belonged to Grupo Zeta, publisher of
digital terrestrial television.101 Barcelona-based El Periódico, which itself is
The Spanish government has recently set up restructuring severely.
a working group of the national parliament to Spain has one of the most diverse home-
deal with the issue of ‘fake news’. Politicians, grown, digital-born sectors in Europe, with
publishers, and representatives from online the two most successful El Confidencial
Samuel Negredo, Avelino Amoedo,
search and social media platforms have been (19%) and Eldiario.es (18%) now third and
and Alfonso Vara
invited to contribute, but as elsewhere there fourth respectively in weekly reach. Both are
Center for Internet Studies and Digital Life,
are concerns that government action could independent and journalistically motivated
University of Navarra
threaten press freedom.97 organisations; the latter reached 30,000
97
http://www.abc.es/espana/abci-congreso-crea-grupo-trabajo-para-luchar-contra-fake-news-201803182108_noticia.html
98
http://www.aimc.es/a1mc-c0nt3nt/uploads/2017/05/resumegm317.pdf
99
https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/12/16/actualidad/1513457282_998706.html
100
https://www.estrelladigital.es/articulo/economia/publicidad-television-generalista-retrocede/20180311175528343196.html
101
http://www.elmundo.es/television/2018/03/21/5ab27c77e2704e12448b47e5.html
102 / 103

Antena 3 news 54
16 El País online 27
11
LaSexta news 13
44 El Mundo online 9
22
TVE news (public broadcaster) 13

41 El Confidencial 9
19
TOP BRANDS Telecinco news 11
32 Eldiario.es 10
18
% Weekly usage Cuatro news 14

32 20 Minutos online 7
17
El País 14
15
El Mundo 11
21 Marca online 5
15
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Regional or local TV news 6
19 Yahoo! News 6
13
At least 3 days per week Regional or local newspaper 9

17 LaSexta online 6
13
TV, radio & print Cadena SER news 6
17 MSN News 5
13
Weekly use 20 Minutos 9
16 RTVE online (public broadcaster) 7
13
online brands
COPE news 6
15 La Vanguardia online 5
12
Marca 7
13 Público 6
12
online brands
Onda Cero news 6
13 ABC online 5
12
ABC 6
11 OKDiario 7
12
La Vanguardia 6
11 HuffPost 6
11
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
Social media use for news has
79% Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
levelled off after several
74% years of 100% Social media 100%
continuous growth. Meanwhile
59%
79%
74% 85%
74% 79% Online (incl. social media) S
two thirds 50%
now access
79% the news 72% 74%
66%
76% 69%
74%
59% 39%
on smartphone (64%) up 5 61% 36% 60% Print 64% C
50% 66%
59% 51% 56%
percentage50% points20%
on 2017, with 50% 39% 50% TV
36%
Android the0% majority platform. 39% 35%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016
Almost a quarter (23%) now 28% 2018 36%
2017
22%
20%
also use smart/connected TVs 13%
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
to access news
0% – level with the 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
declining tablet.

Commercial broadcast brands THIS BRAND
that prioritise news are the News overall Antena 3 6.08 6.93
News I use
most trusted in Spain. The two
44% (-7) 48%
LaSexta 6.06 6.98
most successful digital-native El País 5.94 6.97
sites (Eldiario.es and El 18th/37 Cadena SER 5.92 7.35
Confidencial) also do well. Eldiario.es 5.89 6.99
Public service broadcaster TVE El Confidencial 5.85 6.76
is among the lowest-scoring. Cuatro 5.84 6.66
News in search News in social El Mundo 5.84 7.28
38% 27%
20 Minutos 5.78 6.68
El Periódico 5.76 6.65
La Vanguardia 5.61
PAY
6.64
TVE 5.54 6.67
ABC 5.41 7.18
COPE 5.32 7.38
11% (+2)
Telecinco 5.25 6.69
(20th/37) pay for

53%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 36% (+4) 82%
3 YouTube 26% (+2) 74%
31% (+3) 4 Twitter 22% (+4) 39% 32%

6 Google Plus 5% (-) 13%

SWEDEN STATISTICS
Population
10m
93%
Swedish audiences are served

by a vibrant mix of strong
commercial and public service
media. Local and national
newspapers are amongst the
most successful in the world at
driving digital subscriptions.
Traditional news business models are

under pressure in Sweden, as elsewhere.
Most news publishers continue to
generate significant revenues, but only
after cutting staff and implementing four (26%) paying for some form of digital but also that many Swedes use different
efficiency programmes. The total news access in the last year. By the end news media in a complementary way.
number of newspaper titles remains of 2017 the largest news publisher in
relatively consistent, but the cost of Sweden, Aftonbladet, had a quarter of a The survey data also provide unique
distributing each single copy continually million paying online news subscribers. findings into the extent in which Swedes
increases, compounded by declining print Their profit for the full year was 255 turn to ‘partisan’ and anti-establishment
subscribers. These problems are especially million SEK (US $30m), an increase on the news sites, with four different sites each
critical in less-populated areas, and several previous year. Svenska Dagbladet and the reaching around one tenth of the Swedish
news publishers (such as MittMedia) are on many newspapers run by GOTA Media and online population on a weekly basis. By
the verge of shifting to postal distribution. MittMedia, have also increased their online comparison, the online news sites of
Prompted by the report of the Media subscription base. national quality newspapers and public
Inquiry in late 2016, the government came service broadcasters range from 15% to
up with plans for an increase in subsidies Most Swedish news media run their 46%. Kristoffer Holt’s research shows
for print newspaper distribution, support own websites and apps in addition to these partisan sites to be mostly positioned
for local journalism in ‘news deserts’, selecting news for third-party platforms on the right wing, presenting themselves
as well as support for innovation and like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. This as alternatives to the legacy media, who
development.102 The EU Commission, enables commercial and public service are perceived to censor critical information
however, must accept the plans before media to reach broader audiences, but at on issues such as immigration.104
they can be implemented. the risk of helping digital intermediaries to
build their own businesses by capitalising Oscar Westlund
Industry data from IRM Media show on the resulting data. Some news University of Gothenburg
that the overall advertising revenues publishers get a significant proportion of
in Sweden increased to 37.7 billion SEK their digital traffic via intermediaries (e.g.
(US $4.5bn), further fuelled by growth in Expressen), whereas other news publishers
online advertising, especially from social have deliberately sought to restrict traffic
media and online video. Print advertising and reduce dependence on third-party
is in decline. A Nordic-focused report on platforms (e.g. MittMedia).
ad wars shows how digital intermediaries
such as Google and Facebook have Our 2018 survey findings show that mobile
developed into extremely successful news consumption has continued to rise,
competitors, taking most of the advertising and is now used by three out of four Swedes.
pie from news publishers.103 Importantly, Mobile news remained slightly higher than
with the declines in print advertising news access via computers, and much
and the rise in use of ad-blockers (32%), higher than tablets. TV remains the second
many Swedish news publishers nowadays most used news source, whereas print
make most of their revenue from direct scores significantly lower. In comparing the
payments from users. Sweden scores reach of these sources and devices for news
second highest in our survey when it one should take into account that the time
comes to paying for news, with one in spent accessing the news varies significantly,
102
Prop. 2017/18:154 – Journalistik i hela landet.
103
J. Ohlsson and U. Facht, Ad Wars. Gothenburg: Nordicom, 2017.
104
See e.g. K. Holt, ‘Journalistik bortom redaktionerna?’ in SOU 2016:30 Människorna, medierna, marknaden (pp. 403–28). Stockholm: Wolter Kluwers, 2016.
104 / 105

Sveriges Television (SVT) news 56
17 Aftonbladet online 46
11
TV4 news 19
52 Expressen online 11
32
Sveriges Radio (SR) news 13

41 Tv4.se 9
20
TOP BRANDS Regional or local newspaper 10
22 Dagens Nyheter online 8
18
% Weekly usage Metro 10

17 Regional or local newspaper website 7
17
Aftonbladet 8
16 Nyheter 24 10
16
Dagens Nyheter 5
11 Sr.se 7
16
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Expressen 6
11 SVT News online 6
15
At least 3 days per week Svenska Dagbladet 3

8 Svenska Dagbladet online 7
15
TV, radio & print CNN 4
7 Göteborgs-Posten online 5
12
Weekly use Göteborgs-Posten 3
6 Dagens Industri online 4
9 ALSO
online brands Fria Tider 11%
BBC News 3
6 Sydsvenska Dagbladet online 3
7
At least 3 days per week Nyheter Idag 10%
Dagens Industri 3 5 BBC News online 3
7
online brands Ledarsidorna 8%
Media from outside country 3 4 CNN.com 3
6
Samhällsnytt 8%
Sydsvenska Dagbladet 2 4 MSN News 3 5 Nya tider 6%
Uppsala Nya Tidning 1 3 Metro online 3 5 Samtiden 6%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2016–18
Online and mobile media are
79% Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
the main routes to74%
news in this 100% Social media 100%
Social T
100%
highly connected59% country. TV
79% 89% 66% 87%
74%
50% 74% Online (inc. social) 74% S
news shows signs79%
of decline, 72% 74%
66%
69%
74%
59% 39%
65% Print 64% C
falling 5 percentage points in 56% 66%
36% 59%
50% 59%
the last three years
20% while fewer 50% 53% 50% TV
50% 43% 39%
36%
than four in0%ten (37%) now read 39% 37%
34% 30%
2018 36%
a print newspaper20% at 2013 2014 2015 2016
least once 2017
20%
a week. 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018

Four out of ten Swedes (41%) THIS BRAND
express trust in the news in News overall Sveriges Radio (SR) News 6.73 7.38
News I use
general, with higher scores for
41% (-1) 51%
Sveriges Television (SVT) News 6.68 7.19
the sources they use Local or regional newspaper 6.56 7.06
themselves. The gap is largest 23rd/37 Svenska Dagbladet 6.47 7.0
for partisan sites like Fria Tider Dagens Nyheter 6.28 7.13
and Nya Tider where users are TV4 News 5.99 6.5
almost twice as likely to trust Ledarsidorna 5.51 7.47
the brand compared to those News in search News in social Metro 5.31 5.92
who have just heard of it.

29% 14%
Nyheter 24 5.01 5.63
Nyheter Idag 5.01 6.94
Expressen 4.99 5.58

PAY Aftonbladet 4.89 5.61
Samhällsnytt 4.82 6.92
Fria Tider 3.83 6.77
26% (+6)
Nya tider 3.77 6.76
(2nd/37) pay for

30%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 13% (+1) 64%
32% (+6) 4 Twitter 8% (-) 17% 20%

6 WhatsApp 3% (-1) 22%

SWITZERLAND STATISTICS
Population
8.5m
89%
In turbulent times for Swiss

media, a referendum to abolish
licence fees was rejected at the
polls, but intense pressure on the
public service media remains.
Meanwhile, and much less
publicly noticed, concentration
in the private media sector has
intensified.
In March 2018 voters in Switzerland

decisively rejected (72%) a proposal to
which might direct revenue from the Against this overall trend of media
abolish the broadcasting licence fee, which
public broadcaster to private online media concentration and downsizing of
funds multi-lingual public service operator
companies. journalism, new online pure players have
SRG SSR (SRF/RTS programmes) and partly
entered the scene. Watson.ch, active since
finances 34 regional private radio and
Various players in the Swiss media 2014, has established itself among the top
TV stations (‘No Billag’ initiative). Public
landscape have diverging interests, online brands (14%). More recent arrivals
debate and earlier polls had made many
different economic difficulties, and their include Republik, focused on quality
expect a closer outcome, and the discussion
relationships range from competition reporting, that launched after a widely
before the vote was highly emotional and
to cooperation. This can be seen in the covered crowdfunding drive in April 2017
polarised. According to our regular ‘Vote
turbulent changes in Switzerland’s only had generated more than 3m Swiss francs
Monitor’ analyses, no campaign in recent
remaining news agency SDA, which is in subscriptions and donations. Similarly,
years started as early and triggered as
owned by both private media and the in French-speaking Switzerland, Bon pour
much media attention as the ‘No Billag’
SRG SSR and receives a small part of its la tête was launched, intended to partially
initiative.105 Most media coverage was
budget from the national administration. fill the gap after the highly respected news
critical of the initiative, reflecting the stance
In early 2018, the owners partially sold magazine L’Hebdo had been shut down
of the vast majority of political parties and
SDA to the Austrian news agency APA, and by Ringier in 2017 for cost reasons. With
organisations. However, news coverage
announcements to cut almost a quarter of a different concept, nau.ch started in late
was also highly critical of the current
all journalism jobs led to a widely covered 2017, focusing on (domestic) breaking news,
performance of SRG SSR.
strike by SDA’s staff. mainly spread on social media channels
Legal actions are still outstanding against and on screens in regional public buses and
As in previous years, media organisations
SRG SSR over its participation in Admeira, at petrol stations. However, none of these
have intensified both cost-cutting and
an advertising platform it founded with the players is reaching more than 3% of online
cooperation,106 developments that
state-owned telecom and cable company users, thus not yet making it to the list of
markedly increase media concentration.
Swisscom and the private media company top brands, which remains relatively stable.
First, starting in 2018, Tamedia,
Ringier, which specialises in tabloid
Switzerland’s largest private media
journalism, event marketing, and ticketing.
company, is further homogenising its
Under pressure from political parties Linards Udris and Mark Eisenegger
news outlets, affecting the main (regional)
from the right and from private media, the Research Institute for the Public Sphere and
newspaper in each of Switzerland’s five
public broadcaster promised reforms and Society, University of Zurich
largest cities. Except for its tabloid Le Matin
announced hours after the referendum
and for its top free-sheet brand 20 Minuten
that it will start cutting costs also since
(20 minutes), all national and international
it expects to generate 100m Swiss francs
core news and sports are to be produced
less in future. While cutting costs in
centrally. Only local content and comment
administration etc., the SRG SSR claims it
sections will continue to be unique.
will use more resources for the production
Secondly, Tamedia has bought Goldbach
of news.
Media, Switzerland’s largest advertising
The public broadcaster is braced for further sales company, becoming the main
challenges with Switzerland’s largest party, competitor of Admeira in the ad market.
the right-wing populist SVP, considering Thirdly, NZZ Mediengruppe and AZ Medien
a new vote to halve the licence fee. The announced in late 2017 that they will create
Swiss government will present a new law a joint venture including their regional
on media policy in the summer of 2018, press and online news outlets.
http://www.foeg.uzh.ch/de/analyse/dossier.html
105
See the latest edition of the ‘Yearbook 2017: The Quality of the Media’ at http://www.foeg.uzh.ch/en/jahrbuch.html
106
106 / 107
TV, RADIO AND PRINT (GERMAN) ONLINE (GERMAN)

SRF News (public broadcaster) 67
16 20 Minuten online 48
10
20 Minuten 16
49 Blick and Blick am Abend online 10
32
Blick (incl. evening and Sunday) 13

33 SRF News online 10
23
TOP BRANDS German public TV news 10
26 Bluewin news 7
21
% Weekly usage German commercial TV news 10

23 Watson 7
14
Regional or local newspapers 9

19 Tages Anzeiger online 6
13
Other commercial TV 8
19 Teletext online 5
12
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Private radio news 8
18 gmx 4
11
More than 3 days per week Tages Anzeiger 5

13 NZZ online 5
11
9 Regional/local newspaper websites 4
9
Weekly use SonntagsZeitung 6
7 MSN News 4
8
online brands
Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) 3
7 Spiegel online 2 5
online brands
RTS News (public broadcaster) 75 20 Minutes online 50
10
PAY 20 Minutes 53 RTS News online 15

28
Le Matin (incl Sunday Edition) 37 Bluewin news 10

25
French commercial TV news 37 Le Matin Online (incl Sunday) 9

22
French public TV news 31 24 heures online 8

19
12% (+1)
24 heures 21 Teletext online 9
18
Commercial radio news 19 MSN News 7

13
Regional or local newspaper 17 Yahoo! News 5

10
(17th/37) pay for News of private broadcasters 10 Tribune de Genève online 3
9
ONLINE NEWS Tribune de Genève 10 Le Monde online 5

9
German 11% Le Nouvelliste 9 Le Temps online 4

8
French 15% BBC News 9 Regional/local newspaper website 5

8
TV
Print
SOURCES OF NEWS TV
Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS*
2016–18 Social
TV
100%
Online
79% 100% Social
Onlinemedia
74% Social media
29% (+10)
100% 82% 66% 80%
59%
69% 74%
50% 74% 61% 67%
79% 63% 64% Print C
74%
66% 60% 62%
74%
59% 39% 55%
50% 36%
47% 66% 50% 50% TV
50% use
(14th/37) an
59%
20% 39%
AD-BLOCKER
50%
36%
39%
29%
24%
0%
German 28% 20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 36%
20%
French 31%
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 * 2018 computer data may be overstated – see methodology for more information
33%
News overall News I use News in search News in social
52% (+6) 59% 33% 22% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
10th/37
18%
German 54% German 60% German 33% German 23%
French 49% French 55% French 31% French 16%
BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) COMMENT ON NEWS
(GERMAN) (FRENCH) via social or website
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT ALL THOSE THAT HAVE ALL THOSE THAT
HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND HEARD OF BRAND USE THIS BRAND
SRF News 7.16 7.63 RTS News 7.28 7.56
NZZ 6.92 7.73 Le Temps 7.01 8.04
Tages Anzeiger 6.67 7.45 24 heures 6.74 7.15

SonntagsZeitung 6.34 7.15 Tribune de Genève 6.68 7.42
Luzerner Zeitung 6.33 7.73 France Télévisions 6.53 6.97
Basler Zeitung 6.0 6.35 La Liberté 6.5 7.43

1 Facebook 33% (-2) 62%
Weltwoche 5.89 7.18 Le Matin 6.39 6.71
Bluewin 5.84 6.76 Le Nouvelliste 6.37 7.15 2 YouTube 24% (+1) 61%
20 Minuten 5.78 6.15 20 minutes 6.06 6.46
Watson 5.39 6.45 Bluewin 6.05 7.15 3 WhatsApp 22% (+1) 67%
gmx 5.16 5.93 Private TV news 6.03 6.48
Blick 4.86 5.71 Bon pour la téte* 5.64 n/a

4 Instagram 7% (+2) 26%
5 LinkedIn 7% (+2) 21%
MSN 4.92 6.17
* Note: No figure for users of Bon pour la téte 6 Facebook Messenger 7% (+1) 31%

TURKEY STATISTICS
Population
80m*
70%
Media Freedom in Turkey has

deteriorated over the last year
with further intimidation of
journalists, new laws to restrict
internet broadcasts, and the sale
of a leading media group to a pro-
government businessman.
Turkey has been under a state of emergency

since a failed coup attempt of July 2016,
which has enabled the ruling AK party to
gradually strengthen its control over the
media. Independent watchdog Freedom journalists. Some independent journalists them, whereas media that take a more
House has classified Turkey as ‘not free’ for such as Ünsal Ünlü stream regular live critical line such as FOX, Cumhuriyet, and
the first time this year. news shows as well. Perhaps as a result, Sözcü are at the top.
news usage of YouTube (+9) and Twitter
First, at the suggestion of the ruling Traditional media brands using content
(+10) has risen significantly in the past year.
party, a law on internet broadcasting repackaged from print, television, or from
was introduced, requiring online video Another related development is the sale by news agencies, and digital-born web portals
streaming services to apply for a licence Turkish media mogul Aydin Dogan of all his which aggregate stories from the same
from the regulator, RTUK. Access can be media outlets to Demirören Holding, a pro- sources continue to represent the biggest
blocked if the permits are not secured. government conglomerate with interests online media. Apart from them, there is
RTUK checks the content, and has the primarily in energy and construction. only one digital-born brand (Onedio) in the
power to issue fines. Opponents say the Dogan Media owned the top-selling top online media list.
government is tightening controls ahead of Hürriyet daily, CNN Turk, a nationwide news
planned elections, with powers to block and agency, TV channels, radio stations, and the Beyond mainstream media, there are a
remove content from news sites and social Yay-Sat distribution network. In a phone number of smaller digital-born brands
media already being used. As five of the conversation with then Prime Minister that continue to operate freely, providing
nine members on RTUK’s governing council Tayyip Erdoğan in 2014, a recording of alternative perspectives. These include
are appointed by the ruling party, critics which was leaked, the owner of Demirören OdaTV, T24, Diken, Duvar, Bianet,
argue that the licensing mechanism itself is Group was apparently reduced to tears Medyascope TV, Ahval News, which is
likely to be abused by the government. and apologised for a critical article in his funded by Al Arab Publishing, Journo,
newspaper.110 and ArtıTV. However, they have not yet
While the content of the law is open established sustainable models, and cannot
to discussion, a leading expert, Yaman Opposition figures have said the sale afford to employ full-time experienced
Akdeniz, says: ‘Every Turkish media service creates a ‘big monopoly’ in Turkish media, reporters for investigative journalism.
provider with internet media services and it is widely seen as being likely to They are mostly accessed by the educated
operating from outside Turkey will be further limit the free press. Veteran people in the big cities, and they try to
subject to licensing.’108 In theory any journalist Kadri Gürsel tweeted: ‘By this reach other audiences through social
journalist or individual who posts a video on huge takeover including Hürriyet, Turkish media, particularly Facebook which is the
the internet will also need a licence. mass media industry comes under the most popular platform in the country.
direct political control of President
This is likely to affect alternative news
Erdoğan.’ It is significant to note that the
providers, since most of the news outlets
Dogan Group was larger than Demirören
which can criticise the government Servet Yanatma
when the ruling party came into power in
are online, and the internet is the main Visiting Research Fellow, Reuters Institute
2002.
news source for people who oppose the for the Study of Journalism
government.109 Live streaming through For the first time this year, our data now
Periscope and YouTube have increasingly show trust scores for individual news
become popular for free media like brands. It is striking that pro-government
Medyascope TV and Özgürüz. DW Turkish outlets like Sabah and Ahaber, and public
also increased its content on YouTube broadcaster TRT have the lowest trust
by hiring several experienced Turkish among people who are simply aware of
108
https://www.osce.org/representative-on-freedom-of-media/373846?download=true
109
Servet Yanatma, Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017: Turkey Supplementary Report (2017):
http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2017-11/Turkey%20Digital%20News%20Report.pdf
110
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/world/europe/turkey-media-erdogan-dogan.html
108 / 109

Fox TV news 58
15 CNN Türk online 37
18
CNN Türk 16
47 Hürriyet online 15
36
NTV 16
43 Mynet 11
32
TOP BRANDS Hürriyet 21
40 NTV online 16
32
% Weekly usage TRT news 14

37 Sözcü online 11
30
Sözcü 15
36 Sondakika.com 14
28
Kanal D news 15
35 Milliyet online 11
25
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Habertürk TV news 15
32 Haberler.com 12
22
At least 3 days per week ATV news 12

29 Habertürk online 11
21
TV, radio & print Milliyet 15
26 İnternethaber 10
18
Weekly use Show TV 13
26 Cumhuriyet online 7
17
online brands 13
26
Star TV Ensonhaber 10
17
At least 3 days per week 12
22
Cumhuriyet AA (Anadolu Ajansi) 9
17
online brands
Sabah 13
21 Onedio 6
16
Ahaber news 8
21 TRT news online 8
15
Posta 13
20 Sabah online 9
15
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2015–18
Two-thirds of our 79%
urban sample Social
Onlinemedia
74%
(66%) use100%
social media
74% for 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
news, though this59% has declined
79% 88%
74%
87%
50% 74% 77% Online (inc. social) 72% S
from a peak of 73% in 2016. In
79% 75%
74%
66% 65%
74%
59% 67% 39% 66% 67%
Turkey many people are 36% Print C
50% 66%
59% 57%
switching to
50%
closed messaging
20% 50% 47%
39% 46% 50% TV
36%
apps like WhatsApp
0%
(30%) to 39%
2018 36%
discuss the news.20% 2013 2014 2015 2016
Meanwhile 2017 24% 25%
20%
the smartphone
0% (72%) remains
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
the most frequently
0% used 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2015
2018 2016 2017 2018
0%
2015 2016 2017 2018
device to access news.

Trust in news overall has THIS BRAND
declined (-7 over the last three News overall FOX TV news 6.59 7.56
News I use
years) as government control
38% (-2) 43%
NTV news 6.37 7.16
over the media has increased. CNN Türk 6.32 6.92
Distrust (40%) in news is 27th/37 Cumhuriyet 6.05 7.42
higher than trust (38%) for the Sözcü 6.0 7.49
first time with very few sitting Habertürk 5.89 6.85
on the fence, showing the Hürriyet 5.76 6.66
extent of media polarisation. News in search News in social Mynet 5.73 6.54
38% 33%
Kanal D news 5.71 6.72
AA (Anadolu Ajansi) 5.67 7.64
Milliyet 5.65 6.79

PAY TRT news 5.53 7.44
Show TV news 5.38 6.7
Sabah 4.74 6.99
26%
Ahaber 4.6 7.09
(2nd/37) pay for

56%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 41% (+9) 75%
3 Twitter 35% (+10) 51%
33% (+6) 4 WhatsApp 30% (+5) 74% 44%

6 Facebook Messenger 9% (-) 35%

110 / 111
Section 3 Americas
3.25 United States 112
Analysis by Country
3.26 Argentina 114
3.27 Brazil 116
3.28 Canada 118
3.29 Chile 120
Americas
3.30 Mexico 122

USA STATISTICS
Population
327m
90%
Some leading US news outlets

have benefited from a year in
which the relevance of the press
has never been more apparent.
Across the industry, however,
traditional and digital-born media
alike continue to struggle for
audience attention and advertiser
dollars.
The 2016 election of Donald Trump

continues to send shockwaves through the
share of Americans who report using various collaborative reporting tools. US outlets
US media. For journalists, the theme of
news outlets on a weekly basis. Notably, such as the New York Times, the Center for
the Trump era has been the relentless and
the same pattern appears online and off: Investigative Reporting, Univision, and the
frenetic pace of the news cycle, from neo-
local newspapers, local TV news, and the Columbia Journalism School contributed to
Nazi rallies, nuclear brinksmanship, and the
major broadcast networks are all down the Paradise Papers report, and ProPublica
#MeToo revelations, to multiple lawsuits
several percentage points from last year, launched the ‘Documenting Hate’ project
alleging affairs and sexual harassment by
as are major online news aggregators like with hyperlocal, regional, and national print
Trump and the ongoing Special Counsel
Yahoo! News and HuffPost. Other digital- and broadcast partners, among many others.
investigation. Meanwhile, the president’s
sharp attacks on the news media continue. born media were also not immune, with
BuzzFeed and Vice seeing revenue losses. The magazine industry also saw a major
shift, with Iowa-based media company
Against that backdrop, the so-called
The future of local news remains a crucial Meredith Corp. completing its purchase of
‘Trump Bump’ for news publishers has not
question, with consolidation and downsizing storied publisher Time Inc. for $1.8 billion in
faded as quickly as predicted. The share of
affecting outlets across the country. January 2018. Meredith, known for lifestyle
Americans willing to pay for online news
Alternative newsweeklies took a particularly magazines, announced in March that it
held steady this year at its new high of 16%,
hard hit last year – the Village Voice and L.A. planned to sell several of Time’s flagship
after almost doubling in last year’s survey.
Weekly saw large newsroom cuts, while titles, including Time, Fortune, Money, and
Quality national newspapers especially
The Baltimore City Paper closed outright. Sports Illustrated.
appear to benefit from the combination
of high-profile investigative reports and a Additionally, local TV news – a source of high
media usage and trust – became the subject Finally, platforms have continued to stoke
‘digital first’ strategy. The New York Times controversy. In March 2017, hundreds of
saw digital subscription revenues rise by of a controversy in April when CNN revealed
that Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns companies pulled ads from YouTube after
a fifth over 2016, itself a record year, while they were placed next to extremist content;
the Washington Post broke 1 million digital nearly 200 stations nationwide, told its
anchors to read a script about ‘the troubling the site came under fire again months later
subscribers for the first time in 2017. for videos depicting children in disturbing
trend of irresponsible, one-sided news
stories plaguing our country’. situations. Reports also surfaced that the
National magazines and websites focused
UK firm Cambridge Analytica harvested
on political coverage, such as Slate, Vox,
Some new initiatives are responding to the personal data of up to 87m Facebook
and Mother Jones, have likewise benefited
the local-news deficit. ProPublica’s Local users and may have used it on behalf of the
from elevated interest even as the dramatic
Reporting Network supports a full-time Trump and Brexit campaigns, compounding
post-election surge in support tapered
investigative reporter in seven newsrooms the social network’s troubles in the ‘fake
off. Investigative non-profit ProPublica is
in cities with populations below 1 million, news’ era.
boosting its 2018 budget 50% over last
year’s on the strength of contributions from while Report for America is a Teach for
small donors. In contrast, this year’s survey America-style programme connecting
shows that partisan sites such as Breitbart, emerging journalists with local newsrooms.
Lucas Graves and Joy Jenkins
the Daily Caller, and Occupy Democrats, Facebook announced that, despite
despite high profiles during the election, an overall decrease in news on users’
have a fairly limited weekly reach. feeds, it planned to prioritise news from
local publishers, starting in the US and
But audience fatigue may be setting in. expanding in 2018.
Mirroring reports of declining US news traffic
from audience-trackers such as comScore, Collaboration remains an important trend
our survey shows a sizeable drop in the in US newsrooms, supported by a growing
variety of conferences, funding sources, and
112 / 113

Local televison news 30
9 HuffPost 18
9
Fox News 8
29 Yahoo! News 6
18
CNN 9
23 New York Times online 8
17
TOP BRANDS Regional or local newspaper 12
23 CNN.com 6
16
% Weekly usage NBC/ MSNBC News 8

23 Fox News online 5
16
ABC News 9
22 Washington Post online 7
15
CBS News 10
22 BuzzFeed News 7
14
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Local radio news 6
15 Local TV news websites 6
14
At least 3 days per week NPR News 5

12 NBC/MSNBC News online 5
12
TV, radio & print BBC News 6
12
Weekly use New York Times 4
9 MSN News 6
12
online brands ALSO
PBS News 4
9 BBC News online 5
10
At least 3 days per week Breitbart 7%
City paper (e.g. Boston Globe) 4
8 USA Today online 6
10
online brands Daily Caller 5%
USA Today 5
8 City paper website (e.g. Boston Globe) 6
10
Occupy Democrats 5%
Washington Post 2
6 NPR News online 5
9 The Blaze 4%
Wall Street Journal 2 5 CBS News online 5
9 InfoWars 3%
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
Consumption of news 79% has Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
fallen significantly across TV,
online, print, and 59%
social
79% media 74%
50% 74% 75% Online (incl. social media) S
from a high point 79%
last year, 72% 74%
66% 73% 71%
74%
59% 39%
which coincided with the 36% Print C
66% 56%
50% 59% 57% 54%
Trump inauguration.
50%
20% TV news 50% 47% 39% 45% 50% TV
36%
has been worst
0%
affected but 39%
20%2013 2014 27% 2018 36% 28%
social media are also down 9 2015 2016 2017
21% 22%
20%
points. More 16%
0%people access
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
news via smartphone
0% than by a
2013 2014 2015
0%
2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
computer or laptop for the first
time.

Attacks on the ‘fake news’ THIS BRAND
media by Donald Trump may News overall Local television news 6.5 7.09
News I use
have contributed to a slight
34% (-4) 50%
Wall Street Journal 6.06 7.24
decrease in overall trust (-4). ABC News 5.84 7.17
Revelations about the use of 30th/37 CBS News 5.84 7.27
Facebook data in the 2016 NPR News 5.82 7.98
elections help explain low Washington Post 5.78 7.39
trust in social media (13%). New York Times 5.75 7.42
News in search News in social NBC/MSNBC News 5.56 7.21
26% 13%
CNN 5.38 7.2
HuffPost 5.11 6.74

PAY Vice News 5.07 6.56
BuzzFeed News 4.85 6.12
Fox News 4.84 7.0
16% (-)
Breitbart 3.69 6.96
(11th/37) pay for

35%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 20% (-) 62%
3 Twitter 14% (-1) 26%
27% (+4) 4 Facebook Messenger 7% (-2) 39% 24%

6 Snapchat 5% (+3) 17%

ARGENTINA STATISTICS
Population
44m
79%
Argentina is characterised by a
strong and concentrated private
media system, comparatively
weaker public media
organisations, and high online
connectivity compared to other
Latin American countries.
In spite of relatively high levels of news

consumption, citizens tend to distrust
both the media and politicians in
Argentina. Media and their regulation are
often politicised, and the law to regulate The crisis in the news industry was also including the first two, and four out of ten
convergence between broadcasting and evident in the closure of newspapers, some in the online ranking, including the second
internet services has yet to be considered of which had been in operation for more and third. However, for the first time, the
by Congress. than a hundred years, such as 141-year- top online outlet was Infobae, which is
old Buenos Aires Herald, the country’s not a Grupo Clarín subsidiary. While there
Online and smartphone access to news
only English–language newspaper, and is one state-owned broadcast television
has achieved a dominant position among
112-year-old La Razón. A news agency, station, several public cable and radio
the population surveyed for this study.
Diarios y Noticias, also folded after 35 years stations, and one state news agency, they
Almost nine out of ten online users get
of operation. In contrast, Tiempo Argentino, have significantly lower audience levels
their information from the internet each
a newspaper that had been heavily than commercial outlets, and only one (TV
week – more than any other source,
associated with the administrations of Pública) appears among the top brands on
including television (76%) and print media
former presidents Nestor Kirchner and the online list, and none of them are named
(42%). Social media are a popular source
Cristina Fernandez continued weekly on the radio, TV, and print ranking.
of news, used by 72%, including 60% who
publication as a worker-controlled co-
get information on Facebook, 37% on The politicisation of broadcasting,
operative.
WhatsApp, and 27% on YouTube. Seven out telecommunications, and communication
of ten mention the smartphone as a device Grupo Clarín, the most important media regulation may be related to trust in
to access information, compared to 63% organisation in Argentina – which already the news media, which has been at
that access news on their computers, and controlled its namesake newspaper Diario comparatively low levels for some time.
17% that use a tablet. Clarín, one broadcast television station, There have been instances of false
the largest cable company in Argentina, information disseminated through
Argentina’s main newspapers have
several cable stations, including a 24- the media, as documented by the
responded to declining print circulations
hour news channel, an AM radio station, country’s most prominent fact-checking
and advertising revenues by launching
several FM radio stations, and an internet organisation, Chequeado, which launched
paywalls. Clarín, the country’s top-selling
service provider – further consolidated a new section called ‘Falso en las redes’
daily, began charging users in April 2017.
its dominant position by merging with (Fake on social media) to debunk
La Nación, the second largest newspaper,
Telecom, a telecommunications company. misinformation. However, Argentines have
followed with a similar announcement in
The merger amounts to more than half traditionally been quite sceptical about
August, and Infobae, a highly popular digital-
of the market for broadband internet news stories and outlets.
born portal, and the most-accessed news
connections, and created the first company
site according to this survey, announced
allowed to offer ‘quadruple play’ (landline
in November that it would also start
telephony, mobile telephony, cable,
charging for content. Clarín reached 50,000 Eugenia Mitchelstein and Pablo
and online services). Other companies
subscribers in November.111 However, it still Boczkowski
will have to wait until January 2019 to
gets three-quarters of its revenue from the Co-Directors, Center for the Study of Media
offer quadruple play, according to the
print edition. Only 12% of respondents have and Society, Argentina
administration’s proposed regulation,
paid for online news in the previous year,
which has yet to be discussed by Congress.
and Facebook, Google, and Netflix captured
80% of all internet traffic during the second Grupo Clarín’s dominant stance is also
half of 2017.112 Therefore, the feasibility of evident in the positions its news outlets
online revenues replacing print revenues as occupy in the top brands ranking. It owns
the main source of income for newspapers four out of the top ten in our offline ranking,
remains to be seen.
Knight Center, 2017, ‘Paywall en América Latina: Reporte especial del Centro Knight sobre suscripción digital en diarios de la región’:
111
https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/es/blog/00-19005-paywall-en-america-latina-reporte-especial-del-centro-knight-sobre-suscripcion-digital
CABASE (Cámara Argentina de Internet), 2017 Estado de Internet en Argentina y la Región:
112
http://www.cabase.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CABASE-Internet-Index-II-Semestre-2017.pdf
114 / 115

TN (Todo Noticias) 48
12 Infobae 45
16
Canal 13 news 13
36 Clarín online 14
38
Telefe news 11
34 TN online 12
37
TOP BRANDS C5N 11
32 La Nación online 13
32
% Weekly usage A regional or local newspaper 14

27 Minuto Uno 11
19
Clarín 15
27 Página/12 7
16
América TV news 12
14
Weekly use
TV, radio & print A24 9
22 Yahoo! News 7
14
More than 3 days per week La Nación 11

20 Olé 5
13
TV, radio & print TV pública news (Public Broadcaster) 10
19 MSN News 5
12
Weekly use Radio Mitre 6
19 CNN.com 6
11
online brands 8
17
Crónica TV La Voz 5
11
More than 3 days per week 6
16
Regional or local TV news Public television and radio news online 5
11
online brands
Canal 9 news 7
15 Primicias Ya 6
10
CNN 8
13 Perfil online 5
10
Canal 26 news 6
13 Diario Uno online 5
9
76% 26% 72% 71% 63%

(-5) (-4) (-2) (+9) (+1)

10% 17%
(-3) 89% (-3) (-)
(-3)

Four out of ten respondents THIS BRAND
trust the news media, a lower News overall Telefé noticias 6.18 7.17
News I use
proportion than in 22 of the
41% (+2) 52%
La Nación 5.91 6.87
other countries included in the Infobae 5.89 6.54
report. However, just over half 23rd/37 TN 5.86 6.97
trust the news they use, and Radio Mitre 5.73 7.66
trust in news in search and A24 5.57 6.76
social media are lower. Clarín 5.46 6.45
News in search News in social TV pública 5.43 6.46
37% 29%
Perfil 5.09 6.39
Radio Diez 5.03 6.68

PAY Página/12 4.98 6.66
C5N 4.86 6.41
12% (+2)
(17th/37) pay for
58%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 37% (-4) 80%
3 YouTube 27% (-1) 74%
28% (-3) 4 Twitter 18% (-1) 29% 35%

6 Facebook Messenger 9% (-1) 36%

BRAZIL STATISTICS
Population
211m*
66%
The Brazilian media market

is characterised by strong
commercial broadcasters, popular
online portals, and a legacy
newspaper sector struggling to
find new business models. At the
same time, Brazilians are some
of the most enthusiastic users of
social networks and messaging
apps in the world.
Though the numbers are slowly changing, publishing its content on the social media The country’s economic recovery in 2017,
TV continues to be the most powerful platform in February 2018. At that time, after two years of recession, contributed to
media outlet in the country. In 2017, the paper had 5.9m followers on Facebook. a 15% growth in computer sales – after half
Brazilians watched an average of six hours According to data compiled by Folha de S. a decade of declining results (IDC Brasil).
and 23 minutes of TV each day– six minutes Paulo, the number of interactions (shares, This surge in the market for PCs seems
more than the previous year, according to comments, and likes) generated by Brazil’s to have influenced the choice of devices
Kantar Ibope Media. Moreover, free-to-air ten largest newspapers on Facebook fell used by Brazilians to consume journalistic
TV stations attracted 53.6% of the gross 32% in January, when compared to the content. Smartphone use also continues
advertising investment in the country, a same month last year. An article published to grow.
marginal decrease over 2016. on the paper’s website said that algorithm
changes would facilitate ‘the spread of The four biggest TV broadcasters in the
Newspapers’ advertising share was almost country were, once again, ranked as the
‘fake news’.
stable in annual terms. However, the total top offline brands in terms of weekly
circulation of the top 11 paid-for dailies Amidst the growing debate about ‘fake usage. The overall percentage of Brazilians
continued to shrink. In the past three years, news’ in the country, Brazil’s top electoral that pay for online news stood at 22%,
the number of print copies sold fell by court started to discuss with the press and the fourth highest among a sample of 37
41.4% whilst digital circulation rose 5.8% the leading social media companies ways to countries – in line with the rather modest
(IVC Brasil). The declining tendency might combat the problem in preparation for the growth of digital newspaper subscriptions
explain why the major Brazilian dailies 2018’s presidential elections. The Brazilian during the last three years. The use of
tightened their online paywalls in 2017. federal police has said it will identify and ad-blockers increased by almost a third
punish authors of ‘fake news’ in the absence over the last year as Brazilians seem to be
At least three regional newspapers reduced
of new legislation. Brazil has 145m voters more concerned about security and privacy
the frequency with which they publish in
and 130m Facebook users (Statista). issues.
the last year. Founded in 1919, Gazeta do
Povo – one of the most influential dailies Brazilians’ passion for social networks
in the southern state of Paraná – became shows no sign of waning but there’s clearly
a weekly publication, focusing resources a change in preferences going on. Two- Rodrigo Carro
on its digital version. In the north-east thirds (66%) of respondents to our survey Financial journalist and former Reuters
region, two papers published in the state use social media as a source of news. That’s Institute Journalist Fellow
of Piauí (Meio Norte and O Dia) shifted from almost the same figure as the previous year.
seven to six days-a-week delivery, putting Nonetheless, the use of Facebook for news
out weekend editions. Furthermore, the continued to decline, falling from 69% to
fashion magazine Estilo, a Brazilian version 52% in two years.
of the US title InStyle, was closed at the end
of 2017. At the same time, WhatsApp and Instagram
use grew, not only for news consumption
Facebook’s decision to modify the but for other purposes too. Brazil has the
algorithm that runs the news feed, second largest user base on Instagram, with
prioritising ‘meaningful interactions’ over 50m monthly active users.113 And WhatsApp
‘relevant content’, caused the best-selling had 120m users in the country by May
Brazilian daily, Folha de S. Paulo, to stop 2017.114
http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/2017/10/1931057-com-50-milhoes-de-usuarios-brasil-e-segundo-no-ranking-do-instagram.shtml
113
http://link.estadao.com.br/noticias/empresas,whatsapp-chega-a-120-milhoes-de-usuarios-no-brasil,70001817647
114
116 / 117

Globo news 68
15 Globo News online (inc. G1) 48
16
Band news 14
36 UOL online 17
44
Record news 12
31 O Globo online 15
33
TOP BRANDS Jornal do SBT 10
28 MSN News 11
27
% Weekly usage O Globo 10

27 Folha de S. Paulo online 13
26

24 Yahoo! News 11
26
Folha de S. Paulo 8
18 Terra online 11
20
Weekly use
17 Band News online 9
18
More than 3 days per week O Estado de S. Paulo 8

16 O Estado de S. Paulo online 9
17
16 Record News Online (inc. R7.com) 8
15
Weekly use BBC News 8
14
online brands
Rede TV News 8
12 Jornal do SBT online 6
13
TV Brasil 5
9 CNN.com 7
13
online brands
Metro 6
9 Um jornal local online 7
12
Jornal O Dia 5
8 New York Times online 5
10
Jornal Extra 5
7 BuzzFeed News 5
9
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
Brazilians are some79%of the most Social
Onlinemedia
100% 100% 74%
enthusiastic users74%
of social 90% Social media
90%
100% Social media
100% 66% T
media in the world, but use for
59%
79%
74% 83%
50% 74% 75% 75% 72% S
news has declined markedly
79%
74%
66%
72%
74%
59% 39% 66% Print
since 2016. Most of this relates 36% C
50% 66%
59% 50% TV
to lower interest
50%
in Facebook
20% 50%
47% 39% 50%
36%
as newer networks
0%
such as 39% 34%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 36%
Instagram and WhatsApp have 2017
23% 13%
20% 14%
been embraced.
0% This goes
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
hand-in-hand0% with strong 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
growth in smartphones use for
news over the last five years.

Trust in news overall stood at a THIS BRAND
high level of 59%, well above News overall Band NotÌcias 7.18 7.83
News I use
that of the news found in
59% (-1) 58%
O Estado de S. Paulo 7.04 7.84
social media (32%). The Folha de S. Paulo 6.96 7.49
influence of social media on 3rd/37 Jornal do SBT 6.93 7.85
this year’s presidential UOL 6.82 7.47
elections remains a key factor Record NotÌcias 6.79 7.8
influencing opinion. Globo NotÌcias 6.78 7.33
News in search News in social O Globo 6.74 7.46
50% 32%
Terra online 6.57 7.49
Rede TV NotÌcias 6.43 7.59

PAY iG. Online 6.31 7.21
HuffPost 5.87 7.41
22% (-)
(4th/37) pay for
61%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 48% (+2) 83%
3 YouTube 34% (-2) 78%
23% (+6) 4 Instagram 16% (+4) 48% 38%

(31st/37) use an 5 Twitter 14% (+2) 26% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Facebook Messenger 10% (-1) 39%

CANADA STATISTICS
Population
37m
90%
In this highly concentrated

bilingual media environment,
publishers are under increasing
financial pressure with the
closure of dozens of newspapers
and associated job cuts.
Government initiatives to
support local journalism and
digital innovation may offer some
relief but the media’s struggle to
reinvent itself goes on.
academic and research community, the foreign brands, although French-language
In 2015, the Toronto Star, Canada’s biggest West End Phoenix, a subscription-only respondents are less likely to use the latter.
selling newspaper, launched a tablet-only print-only local publication in Toronto, and
app that was hailed as a revolution in the Athletic/Athlétique Canada, offering Canada’s new cultural policy for the digital
news. This year the app, known as Star in-depth sports coverage. age was outlined in September, including
Touch, was axed with the loss of 30 jobs a review of the mandate of both the public
after a reported outlay of as much as US In French-speaking Quebec, home to 20% broadcaster and broadcast and telecom
$30m. Neither readers nor advertisers had of the population, only two newspapers, regulator. The Liberal government named a
apparently shared the vision and it was Journal de Montréal and Journal de Québec, new chair of the Canadian Radio-Television
replaced with a much simpler mobile and continue to issue print editions seven days and Telecommunications Commission, Ian
tablet app. a week. These are tabloids owned by the Scott, a telecom executive and lobbyist;
family-run company Quebecor. La Presse and a new president and CEO for the CBC,
The Star’s parent company, Torstar, and the stopped its last remaining print (Saturday) Catherine Tait, a television, film, and digital
Postmedia chain, which owns the National edition and became 100% digital. Le content executive.
Post – both groups own many regional and Soleil ended its Sunday print edition in
local papers – arranged to swap 41 titles. March. Community newspaper publisher The 2018 federal budget provided modest
Soon after, 36 of them closed with the Transcontinental sold dozens of its local support (US $39m over five years) for
loss of almost 300 jobs. In March 2018, weeklies, and is also looking to sell the local news in underserved communities,
the Competition Bureau searched the Montreal edition of Métro International. and an additional US $7.8m for minority-
Toronto offices of both companies, because language community media. Publishers
of suspicion of possible anti-competitive The daily Moose Jaw Times-Herald closed had requested US $275m a year. After years
conduct. The Chair of Torstar’s Board of after more than 125 years. Another of resistance to a ‘Netflix tax’, the Canadian
Directors, John Honderich, said quality Saskatchewan newspaper, the Prince Albert government’s position seemed to waver.
journalism was in crisis and that the Daily Herald, was acquired by its staff. Quebec has promised to apply sales tax to
company was ‘very, very close to the end’. digital products and services. It has also
The Rebel Media, a hard-hitting far-right- earmarked US $52m over five years to
Private TV networks are also affected. Global wing website, fired one of its contributors support innovation in print media through
TV, the second-most watched private TV for her coverage of a ‘Unite the Right’ an employment tax credit.
station, cut 80 jobs, but is creating 50 new rally in Charlottesville. Several other
roles, mostly for local journalists in Ontario. contributors left the site in the wake of the As Canada prepares to go to the polls in 2019,
controversy. the Facebook Election Integrity Initiative was
The Globe and Mail, the second biggest announced. The social media company will
paper, launched a print redesign and an The public broadcaster CBC hired four contribute to develop digital news literacy,
online metrics strategy to guide news anchors for its flagship news show, offer online emergency support, and training
selection for its print edition, but stopped The National, to replace veteran Peter sessions for political parties.
delivery in four provinces on the Atlantic Mansbridge; Radio-Canada, the French-
coast. Vice Canada and Rogers Media language public broadcaster, sold its Colette Brin
ended their local TV co-production; landmark tower and will move to a new Centre d’études sur les medias, Université
Viceland Canada went off the air. building in 2020. Laval
Several new media initiatives were Traditional broadcasters, especially

launched. These included the Conversation privately owned networks, are the most
Canada, a branch of an Australian-based used media brands among Canadians.
non-profit that sources content from the MSN News and CNN are the most popular
118 / 119
TV, RADIO AND PRINT (ENGLISH) ONLINE (ENGLISH)

CTV news 40
13 CBC News online 27
10
Global news 14
35 CTV News online 10
23
CBC news (public broadcaster) 12

32 MSN News 7
18
TOP BRANDS A community or local newspaper 16
29 CNN.com 7
18
% Weekly usage CNN 10

27 Yahoo! News 7
18
Local radio news 8

26 HuffPost 10
17
CityTV News 8
20 Global News online 8
15
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Toronto Star 9
17 Globe and Mail online 7
14
More than 3 days per week BBC News 6

14 Toronto Star online 6
14
TV, radio & print Globe and Mail 7
13 BuzzFeed News 7
14
Weekly use Metro 6
12
online brands
Fox News 5
9 Local radio news online 4
10
online brands
TVA/LCN News 67
11 TVA News online 10
31
Radio-Canada/RDI News (public broadcaster) 15

56 Radio-Canada/RDI News online 9
27
Journal de Montréal/de Québec 15

32 MSN News 7
25
Local or regional weekly newspaper 11

17 La Presse online 7
24
PAY Local radio news 5
15 Journal de Montréal/Québec online 6
20
TV5 news 5
11 Canoe.ca 6
10
Métro 5
9 HuffPost 5
9
9% (+1)
24 hours 5
9 Local radio news online 3
7
CNN 4
9 Le Devoir online 4
7
A regional newspaper 4
8 Sympatico.ca 3
6
(27th/37) pay for L’Actualité 5

7 Local or regional weekly online 3
6
ONLINE NEWS Le Devoir 4

7 L’Actualité online 4
6
TV
Print
SOURCES OF NEWS TV
Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS*
2016–18 Social
TV
100%
Online
79% 100% Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74% Social Media T
74% Social media
100% 66% Online (incl. social media) 73% S
29% (+3)
59%
79% 75% 76%
74%
50% 74%
79% 71% 67% Print 64% C
74%
66%
39%
74%
59% 48%
50% 36%
66% 48% 50% TV
50% 59% 44%
20% 36% 39%
(14th/37)
50%use an 39%
36% 31%
AD-BLOCKER
0%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
39%
2018 36%
24% 22%
20%
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2016
2018 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018
0% * 2018 computer data may be overstated – see methodology for more information
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
News overall
News I use News in search News in social 34%
58% (+9) 63% 36% 21%
SHARE NEWS
via social or email
5th/37
BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10) BRAND TRUST SCORES (0-10)

20%
(ENGLISH) (FRENCH) COMMENT ON NEWS
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE
HEARD OF BRAND
ALL THOSE THAT
USE THIS BRAND
ALL THOSE THAT HAVE
HEARD OF BRAND
ALL THOSE THAT
USE THIS BRAND
via social or website
CTV/ CTVNewsnet 7.21 7.8

ICI Radio-Canada Info/
7.87 8.2
ICI RDI
CBC/ Newsworld 7.17 7.79 La Presse 7.59 8.3
Global News 7.1 7.6
La Presse Canadienne 7.48 8.04
Globe and Mail 7.0 7.51 TVA Nouvelles/LCN 7.42 7.88
CityTV News 6.92 7.59 Le Devoir 7.42 7.88
National Post 6.85 7.57 L’Actualité 7.22 7.86
1 Facebook 38% (-2) 67%
Maclean’s 6.76 7.89 TV5 Nouvelles 7.13 8.01
Toronto Star 6.65 7.28 CBC/Newsworld* 7.07 n/a 2 YouTube 22% (+4) 63%
Vancouver Sun 6.54 7.34 CTV News* 7.04 n/a
Metro 6.27 7.19 Journal de Montréal 6.97 7.53 3 Twitter 12% (+1) 25%
ou Québec
24 Hours 6.26 7.47 24 Heures 6.77 7.43
HuffPost 6.21 6.96 Canoe.ca 6.64 7.8
* Note: No figure for users of CBC/Newsworld & CTV News in the French sample 5 Instagram 6% (+1) 27%
6 WhatsApp 5% (+2) 16%

CHILE STATISTICS
Population
18m
77%
News access on social media is

growing in Chile, but the most
important source of news is still
free-to-air television. Responding
to shrinking audiences and
declining advertising revenues,
television brands have started
to expand to other platforms for
content delivery.
It has been a hectic year in the Chilean

media industry. Universidad Católica
trust by those who had heard of the brand. from these platforms.
de Chile sold its share of Canal 13 to
Andrónico Luksic, one of the richest This radio station, originally founded as
a local media in Concepción, became Presidential elections were held in
businessmen in the country, who had November 2017, in which the right-wing
already acquired a big part of the television a national media player in 1991 before
expanding online. Its trust comes from candidate Sebastián Piñera was elected in
station in 2010. This marks the end of the second round. The campaign featured
‘university television’, a model that was a journalistic track record characterised
by its slogan, ‘Independientes de verdad’ a relatively small number of false news
established almost 60 years ago when stories that were promoted through
the government gave television activity (Truly independent).
social media. A study made by El Mercurio
to four universities. This development detected only around 80 ‘fake news’
Although many TV brands continue to
further increases the commercialisation of stories generated by less than 20 websites
perform well, advertising revenues across
TV news, bringing Chile closer in line with read or shared by 3.5m people on social
the industry have declined, leading several
other Latin American countries. media (Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp)
publishers to pursue greater media
diversification. Examples of this include between January and November.115 ‘Fake
For its part, the public station, Televisión
Mega’s acquisition of three radio stations, the news’ is a relatively recent phenomenon in
Nacional (TVN), got a capital injection of
consolidation of T13 Radio (the news station Chile and, unlike in other countries, there
US $47m for the digitalisation of its signal
of Canal 13), and creation of an FM radio has not been significant public discussion
throughout the country, and another
station in Santiago by newspaper El Mercurio. about the issue.
US $18m for the creation of a cultural
channel on terrestrial digital television. Francisco Javier Fernández Medina
The switchover to digital terrestrial television
This injection of public money to support Pontifical Catholic University of Chile,
continues according to the schedule set by
digitisation has reopened the debate about Santiago
the government to reach the entire nation
the role and funding of public media in
by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, pay
Chile. TVN is the only public television
television (cable and satellite) added just
service in Latin America that is financed
over 3m subscribers with a growth of 4.6%
solely through advertising (and other TV
in the last year. More than half of this figure
services offered to private companies),
corresponds to satellite television. In parallel,
which means that it needs to compete with
subscriptions to video-on-demand service
commercial channels for revenue and for
Netflix grew 32.5% in the Chilean market
an increasingly elusive audience.
between 2016 and 2017.
Mega, the first private station in the
There is a clear growing trend towards
country, remains the leader in terms
majority consumption of online news
of weekly reach (51%), and is home to
on portable devices, among which the
many of the most popular programmes
smartphone is the preferred choice, used
and the most watched news broadcast,
by 82% of the online population according
AhoraNoticias. However, according to our
to our survey. Search and social media are
survey, it is not the most trusted news
also popular with Chileans, reflected in
brand, finding itself in sixth place. Bío Bío
both the very high usage figures and the
Chile emerged with the highest level of
relatively high trust people have in news
El Mercurio (2017), ‘Noticias falsas sobre Chile fueron vistas o compartidas 3,5 millones de veces en redes sociales este año’:
115
http://www.economiaynegocios.cl/noticias/noticias.asp?id=420624
120 / 121

MEGA news 51
11 Emol.com 35
17
Canal 13 news 14
46 Lun.com 12
32
24 Horas 15
38 Biobiochile online 9
29
TOP BRANDS Chilevisión 13
38 24horas online 8
23
% Weekly usage TVN (public broadcaster) 12

34 El Mercurio online 12
21
CNN 11
28 Latercera.com 9
20
Bío Bío Chile 9

24 Elciudadano.cl 11
20
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Las Últimas Noticias 12
21 Elmostrador.cl 11
20
More than 3 days per week El Mercurio 11

20 ahoranoticias.cl 7
18
TV, radio & print Free city newspaper 13
19 t13.cl 8
18
Weekly use A regional or local newspaper 8
16 Cooperativa.cl 6
16
online brands
La Tercera 9
15 Theclinic.cl 7
14
City newspaper (paid) 6
13 Chilevisión.cl 5
12
online brands
Cooperativa 7
13 CNN.com 5
12
ADN 5
12 Terra.cl 9
12
La Red 4
9 City newspaper (paid) online 6
11
75% 36% 71% 81% 47%

(-5) (-3) (-5) (+7) (-4)

6% 14%
(-6) 89% (-3) (-4)
(-4)

Trust in the news in general THIS BRAND
(53%) has risen over the last News overall Bío Bío Chile 7.55 8.07
News I use
year by 6 percentage points,
53% (+6) 54%
CNN 7.54 7.85
while trust in social media Cooperativa 7.25 7.94
(40%) and search (49%) is also 8th/37 24 Horas 6.77 7.49
relatively high by international Canal 13 6.68 7.35
standards. Mega 6.64 7.5
TVN 6.39 7.15
News in search News in social La Tercera 6.35 7.04
49% 40%
Chilevisión 6.31 7.13
Emol.com 6.29 7.07

PAY El Mercurio 6.23 7.1
Lun.com 5.81 6.71
9% (-)
(27th/37) pay for
60%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 36% (-3) 78%
3 YouTube 27% (+2) 74%
24% (-) 4 Twitter 18% (-5) 27% 38%

6 Instagram 12% (+4) 40%

MEXICO STATISTICS
Population
130m*
65%
Commercial television brands

continue to be the most popular
and influential sources of news
in Mexico. However, domestic
digital-born sources are gaining
prominence, with international
social networks and other
platforms helping them reach
more and more people.
Traditional media companies continue to

be the top choices for news and information
digital platforms. International brands like struck Mexico in September 2017. Media
among the Mexican population. TV Azteca
CNN and Yahoo! also have a relatively strong companies have also faced brand identity
and Televisa are generally considered to
position in Mexico. theft, leading to confusion amongst the
be the brands with the highest level of
public.117 For these and other reasons,
political, economic, and social influence
Internet penetration is relatively low in nearly two-thirds (63%) of the online
in the country. Companies such as Grupo
Mexico, which can distort some of our population say they are either ‘very’ or
Imagen, Grupo Milenio, and Radio Fórmula
figures. However, it is clear that smartphones ‘extremely’ concerned about what is real
have built brands with a loyal audience and
are an important device for many Mexicans, and what is fake on the internet when it
remain popular with advertisers. Though
with nearly three-quarters saying they comes to news.
public broadcasting did not develop in the
used one to access news in the last week.
same way as in much of Europe, Channel These facts, combined with the upcoming
In common with other countries from this
22, a university television station operated election, have motivated organisations,
region, social media – particularly Facebook
by the National Polytechnic Institute institutions, and the media to jointly create
and WhatsApp – are widely used for news.
(Instituto Politécnico Nacional) is also one a verification platform, Verificado2018.118
of the most used offline news brands. The Mexico continues to be one of the most This project aims to identify ‘fake news’
Mexican press, represented by El Universal, dangerous countries in the world to and to counter it with verified information,
Grupo Reforma, Excelsior, and El Financiero, be a journalist. At the end of 2017, the and will be in operation throughout the
also continues to be consumed in print. Committee to Protect Journalists reported electoral process. It has received financial
However, Proceso is the only news magazine that Mexico was the deadliest country for support from Facebook, Google News Lab,
to retain a paper product. All of these journalists outside of conflict zones, with Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity,
brands are followed by the public through killings reaching a historic high against the Open Society Foundation, Oxfam, and
their digital platforms. backdrop of a global decrease.116 Twitter.
Mexican audiences have embraced the In 2018 the media will play a special role in
arrival of digital-born news sources, with a the political life of the country as elections
handful of them among the most popular for President of the Republic, 128 senators, María Elena Gutiérrez Rentería
sources of online news according to our and 500 deputies will be held on 1 July. The Universidad Panamericana
survey. Aristegui Noticias, named after main political parties in the contest are
former CNN journalist Carmen Aristegui, is MORENA, PAN, PRI, Todos por México, and
among the top online brands in our survey for Juntos Haremos Historia.
the second year in a row. However, the list of
the most popular online brands also includes Mexico has also been affected by the
legacy players like El Universal, which has so-called ‘fake news’ phenomenon. False
been contributing to Mexican journalism claims have circulated concerning Donald
for over one hundred years. UnoTV, another Trump and his position on the North
popular source of online news, belongs to American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
the telecommunications company América and the construction of a border wall
Móvil, the domestic market leader in mobile between Mexico and the United States.
telephony. The firm is increasingly immersed There has also been a proliferation of false
in journalism and entertainment through its claims linked to the earthquake which
https://cpj.org/reports/2017/12/journalists-killed-iraq-crossfire-murder-mexico.php
116
https://aristeguinoticias.com/1202/mexico/por-denunciar-cuenta-de-fakenews-mensajes-amenazantes-contra-aristegui-noticias-video/
117
https://verificado.mx
118
122 / 123

TV Azteca News 45
14 Aristegui Noticias 37
13
Televisa News 11
40 El Universal online 17
37
El Universal 18
34 CNN.com 11
25
TOP BRANDS CNN 13
32 Yahoo! News 12
25
% Weekly usage Milenio News 11

24 Animal Político 10
22
A regional or local newspaper 15

24 Website of a city newspaper 11
22
Imagen News 9
22 Reforma por Internet 13
21
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Reforma 13
20 TV Azteca news online 8
20
More than 3 days per week Excelsior 12

19 UnoTV online 10
18
TV, radio & print Radio Fórmula News 9
18 Televisa news online 6
17
Weekly use El Financiero 7
13 El Financiero online 10
17
online brands
Canal 22 News 7
13 Proceso online 9
16
BBC News 6
12 Imagen news online 8
14
online brands
Other local radio news 5
11 Radio Fórmula news online 6
14
Other local television news 6

14
El Sol de México 6
10 El Economista online 8
13
62% 34% 71% 74% 43%

(-3) (+1) (-1) (+4) (-2)

13% 20%
(-6) 90% (+4) (-4)
(-1)

Our survey shows that trust in THIS BRAND
the news is relatively high in News overall Aristegui Noticias 7.65 8.67
News I use
Mexico. Television is the most
49% (-) 53%
El Universal 7.1 7.57
popular medium with both El Financiero 7.07 7.7
advertisers and the public. 13th/37 El Economista 7.01 7.96
However, the print brands tend Reforma 6.94 7.63
to score better on trust, along Canal 22 6.91 7.82
with the digital-born Aristegui Radio Fórmula Noticias 6.83 7.5
Noticies. News in search News in social Imagen Noticias 6.73 7.49
50% 40%
UnoTV 6.47 7.24
SinEmbargo 6.17 7.58

PAY TV Azteca Noticias 5.9 7.02
Televisa Noticias 5.11 6.5
17% (-1)
(10th/37) pay for
59%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 37% (-2) 80%
3 WhatsApp 35% (+1) 77%
26% (-1) 4 Twitter 23% (-) 40% 41%

6 Instagram 8% (-) 34%

124 / 125
Section 3 Asia Pacific

3.31 Australia 126
Analysis by Country
3.32 Hong Kong 128
3.33 Japan 130
3.34 Malaysia 132
3.35 Singapore 134
Asia Pacific
3.36 South Korea 136
3.37 Taiwan 138

AUSTRALIA STATISTICS
Population
25m
88%
Australia’s media landscape has

undergone a period of significant
transformation over the past
year. Outdated media regulations
have been scrapped, US media
giant CBS has entered the
local TV market, and inquiries
are being held into the impact
of digital platforms on media
competition and the future of
public interest journalism.
The ABC has also been under Online, an increase in the number of
After more than a decade of debate, organisational and political pressure. publications has led to mixed results.
outdated media ownership laws have been A major restructure has removed the After three years, HuffPost ended its joint
overhauled to reflect the digital environment. traditional demarcation between television venture with Fairfax media, resulting
The changes involved scrapping the ‘75% and radio, with content creation now in the redundancy of 30 staff, who have
reach rule’ which prevented one organisation organised around general themes of news, moved to other news organisations and
from broadcasting to more than three- entertainment, and regional/rural. The start-ups. In contrast, Guardian Australia
quarters of the Australian population, changes have led to additional regional has experienced a period of strong growth.
and removing the ‘2 out of 3 rule’ which reporters and a boost to podcasting, but In response to a membership drive, the
prohibited ownership of television, radio, have also meant cuts to late-night news organisation expanded its paying supporter
and newspapers by a single proprietor in programming. The national broadcaster base to 33,000. This success might partly
one region. The reforms were welcomed has also been in the spotlight for explain an increase in the number of
by the media industry, but critics warn perceived anti-government and liberal Australians paying for online news from
concentration of ownership could increase bias which has led to concerns about the 13% in 2017 to 20% this year.
further. government exerting political pressure and
undermining editorial independence. Advertising continues to shift away from
Concern about the health of the news media print to online, which now makes up 50% of
in Australia has been the subject of two Contrary to concerns about increased ad spend, the majority of which is going to
separate inquiries. The Australian Consumer concentration of media ownership, the major platforms Google and Facebook.
and Competition Commission is looking into US media giant CBS bought the failed Deloitte’s media survey tells us there
the impact of Google and Facebook (plus commercial Ten Network, which had gone has also been a large increase in mobile
other search engines and platforms) on the into administration. The arrival of CBS is advertising with ads on social media now
supply of news and journalistic content and expected to boost Ten’s subscription video- rivalling TV in impact on buyer decisions.
the implications for media content creators, on-demand (SVOD) presence, and there
advertisers, and consumers. are hopes the company will also invest in The majority (82%) are now using online
news and current affairs which have been sources for news, and 52% accessing social
A Senate Committee Inquiry into the savagely cut at the network. media sources. Even so, just 24% of news
Future of Public Interest Journalism also consumers trust social media. In contrast
considered ways the government could Print publications have had another trust in news overall has risen to 50%.
maintain a strong media sector. The inquiry difficult year. Newspaper print circulations
recommended the government examine continue to fall, with a 10% drop across
tax deductibility of news subscriptions, and the board in the 12 months to November
Caroline Fisher
extending deductible gift recipient status 2017. However, combined readership
News and Media Research Centre, University
to not-for-profit news media organisations. figures across online and print present a
of Canberra
The inquiry also called for an audit of more stable picture, suggesting readers
national security and defamation laws are shifting from print to online editions.
which limit free reporting, improving After a failed crowdfunding campaign,
media literacy in schools, and maintaining the independent children’s newspaper
adequate funding for the two public Crinkling News shut down. Bauer Media
broadcasters – Australian Broadcasting ceased production of three of its smaller
Corporation (ABC) and the Special magazine titles, and Rolling Stone Australia
Broadcasting Service (SBS). also closed.
126 / 127

Channel 7 news 14
41 ABC News online 26
10
ABC News (public broadcaster) 14

40 News.com.au 10
26
Channel 9 news 13
36 nine.com.au 9
23
TOP BRANDS Channel TEN news 10
24 Yahoo!7 6
17
% Weekly usage A regional or local newspaper 15

23 Sydney Morning Herald 7
16
SBS news 9
14
BBC News 6
14 Daily Telegraph online 6
12
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Herald Sun 7
14 BuzzFeed News 6
11
At least 3 days per week Sydney Morning Herald 5

12 Herald Sun online 5
11
TV, radio & print Daily Telegraph 6
11
Weekly use CNN 5
11 The Australian 5
10
online brands 6
The Australian 11 CNN.com 4
10
At least 3 days per week 4
11
WIN Television The Age online 5
10
online brands
Sky News 5
11 Sky News online 5
9
Prime7 5
10 HuffPost 6
9
The Age 5
10 Channel TEN news online 4
8
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2016–18
The shift to online79%
and mobile Social
Onlinemedia
100% 74%
is being mirrored in news
100% 66% Social T
consumption. 58% 59%
79%of news 82%
74% 78% 74% Online (inc. social) S
consumers50% are using
79% their 74%
74%
59% 65% 66%
39%
66% Print 60% 58% C
smartphones to access news, 36%
66% 55%
50% 59% 52% 52%
overtaking50%
computer20% and 50% 50% TV 51%
39%
38% 36%
tablets for the
0%
first time. Two 39% 36% 30%
20%2013 2014 2018 36% 27%
thirds (66%) continue to watch 2015 2016 2017
20%
TV news. 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018

There has been a significant THIS BRAND
increase in general trust in News overall ABC News 7.23 7.7

News I use
news from 42% in 2017 to
50% (+8) 55%
SBS News 7.1 7.77
50%, but trust in social media Australian Financial Review 6.86 8.22
for news is low at 24%. This 11th/37 The Australian 6.66 7.64
possibly reflects a growing Channel 9 News 6.62 7.2
awareness of a distinction The Age 6.56 7.59
between quality journalism Channel 7 News 6.56 7.17
and ‘fake news’. News in search News in social Sydney Morning Herald 6.51 7.45
39% 24%
Sky News 6.31 7.64
Guardian online 6.31 7.61
Herald Sun 6.23 7.42

PAY Daily Telegraph 6.09 7.19
HuffPost 5.9 7.01
BuzzFeed News 5.43 6.26
20% (+7)
Junkee 5.27 6.92
(5th/37) pay for

39%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 20% (+5) 57%
30% (+6) 4 Twitter 10% (+2) 18% 25%

(12th/37) use an 5 WhatsApp 10% (+3) 22% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 9% (+5) 28%

HONG KONG STATISTICS

Population
7.4m
87%
Chinese money continues

to exert influence in Hong
Kong’s news landscape as
two prominent television
broadcasters are the latest to
come under the ownership of
individuals and businesses that
have substantive connections
with Mainland China.
Shifts in advertising revenue continue

to have large repercussions on the Hong
paper to gather public views on its proposal of staff due to cash flow problems, while
Kong media landscape. Between 2013 and
to liberalise broadcasting laws and loosen the English-language Hong Kong Free Press
2016, advertising revenue for TV and paid
restrictions on cross-media ownership, conducts a funding drive every year through
newspapers fell 13% and 32% respectively
which were put in place originally in 1964 to crowdsourcing. Sources of funding for other
while online media increased 49%.119 Some
prevent a single entity controlling different brands are less transparent, however, and
brands have adjusted to the trend better
sectors of the media industry. If enacted, there is some speculation that Chinese
than others. TVB continues to maintain its
newspapers, advertising agencies, and money is also making its way into some of
virtual monopoly on free TV news and has
other media companies could acquire TV the online-only brands.
effectively expanded its presence online.
Similarly, Apple Daily has an innovative licences and have their own stations, which
the government hopes would lead to more Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) ceased
multimedia motion news format that its digital radio transmissions in September
makes it the only established brand where innovation and investment in the sector.
2017, which marked the end of the short-
usage of the online edition (39%) is higher lived and unprofitable digital radio era
With the exception of Yahoo! News (39%),
than the print edition (26%). in Hong Kong that at one point had four
almost all the popular online brands are
digital versions of established media stations offering 18 digital channels.
However, even TVB and Apple Daily are
outlets. Online alternative news brands Whilst the decision was expected, most
suffering from declining revenues and
including Bastille Post and Stand News news and commentary focused on the
profits. It is no surprise then that other
maintain their popularity by targeting niche public broadcaster’s decision to end its
legacy media institutions are facing even
audience tastes, such as soft news and 24-hour relay of the BBC World Service
bigger challenges. For example, paid TV
politics, respectively. that had been broadcast since 1978 on
provider i-CABLE barely managed to
its analogue channel, to make room for
stave off bankruptcy in 2017 as a group of
Established in 2016, HK01.com operates the state-run Mandarin China National
investors injected new funds to maintain
an online news site and a weekly print Radio that was previously relayed through
its operations, which helped save 2,000
newspaper. It is currently by far the largest the digital channel. Earlier in the year,
jobs in the process. The presence of two
online news brand in terms of number of RTHK also replaced the broadcast of the
minority investors from Mainland China
journalists hired, reportedly in the 400–700 Chinese government’s English-language
in the group also raised some concerns on
range, and has quickly established its channel (CCTV-9) in favour of its flagship
the increasing amount of Chinese money
reputation, appearing in the latest DNR for Chinese-language channel (CCTV-1). This
in Hong Kong’s media industries and its
the first time (17%) and surpassing other means that none of the three RTHK TV
potential impact on editorial independence
more established brands. channels currently have dedicated English
and the broadcasting of news and opinion
programming despite the government’s
that is negative or critical towards China. Online alternative news brands finally gained
‘biliterate and trilingual’ language policy
The same concerns were raised again when some formal recognition as the government
that emphasises proficiency in English,
it was later reported that TVB was owned decided to allow journalists from online-only
Cantonese, and Mandarin.
by a Mainland Chinese tycoon through news outlets to obtain press credentials
a complex web of cross holdings among to attend government press conferences
different companies. and media events. Nevertheless, financial
viability is a perennial challenge due to the Michael Chan, Hsuan-Ting Chen,
Recognising the challenges faced by the and Francis Lee
lack of revenue. In April 2017, Initium Media
broadcasting sector, the government in Chinese University of Hong Kong
reportedly had to lay off a large number
February 2018 released a consultation
Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, HKSAR Government, ‘Review of Television and Sound Broadcasting Regulatory Regimes’ – Consultation Paper.
119
128 / 129

TVB 72
12 TVB News online 41
8
Headline Daily 11
43 Apple Daily online 8
39
RTHK(Public Broadcaster) 12
30 Yahoo! News 11
39
TOP BRANDS AM730 9
29 Headline Daily online 9
29
% Weekly usage Apple Daily 7

26 Oriental Daily News online 6
20
NowTV 10
26 RTHK news online 6
19
Sky Post 8
25 AM730 online 7
19
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Oriental Daily News 8
21 Now TV news online 7
18
More than 3 days per week Metro Daily 8

19 Hk01.com 8
17
TV, radio & print Commercial Radio 6
17 Sky Post online 5
15
Weekly use i-CABLE 5
14 Bastillepost 9
15
online brands
Ming Pao 4
11 Metro Daily online 6
12
BBC News 5
11 Ming Pao online 4
11
online brands
CNN 4
10 Commercial Radio 4
11
Sing Tao Daily 5

10 Stand News online 6
10
Hong Kong Economic Times 4

9
76% 30% 59% 72% 47%

(+2) (+1) (-1) (+5) (+10)

6% 25%
(-2) 83% (-) (-1)
(-1)

Trust in individual media THIS BRAND
outlets is neither surprisingly News overall RTHK 6.78 7.47

News I use
high nor low. The most popular
45% (+3) 49%
Now TV 6.7 7.27
online-only outlets such as Cable TV 6.63 7.33
HK01.com and Bastille Post 17th/37 Commercial Radio 6.51 7.2
enjoy low levels of trust when Ming Pao 6.47 6.93
compared to other long- AM730 6.33 6.81
established media brands. Yahoo! News 6.27 6.74
News in search News in social Headline Daily 6.19 6.71
34% 26%
TVB 6.15 6.42
Sing Tao Daily 6.14 6.96

PAY Oriental Daily News 5.86 6.64
Stand News 5.63 6.56
Bastillepost 5.63 6.01
20% (-1)
Apple Daily 5.6 6.33
HK01 5.6 6.18
(5th/37) pay for

48%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 38% (-2) 83%
3 WeChat 15% (+1) 52%
20% (+3) 4 Instagram 9% (+2) 37% 25%

6 Line 6% (+2) 23%

JAPAN STATISTICS
Population
127m
93%
The Japanese media market is

characterised by strong, high-
circulation newspapers and by
five national television networks,
including licence fee-funded
public broadcaster NHK. Online
news is dominated by Yahoo!,
which mainly aggregates other
news sources but has started to
produce more original content.
Japanese newspapers still sell over 40m It is striking that while NHK and Nikkei Japan’s top online news source, Yahoo!
copies each day, among the highest rates are the two news brands with the highest Japan, is increasing its original news
in the world, with around 0.75 copies per trust levels in our survey, Asahi was the content, alongside its news aggregation
household. The largest print circulation lowest of five major dailies including the platform. Masayuki Takada, an
remains the conservative Yomiuri very conservative Sankei Shimbun. In investigative reporter-turned-academic,
Shimbun’s 8.56m, followed by 6.26m for the recent years, the liberal broadsheet has joined as advisory editor. It has been
liberal Asahi Shimbun, but total circulation been criticised by politicians from both publishing stories about autism, has
continues to fall by around 1m a year.120 the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic covered schools for ethnic minorities, and
Party and right-leaning media. Prime reported on bullying against a government
Japanese newspapers’ digital shift is led
Minister Shinzo Abe wrote on Facebook employee with a developmental disorder.
by the economic daily Nikkei (Nihon Keizai
about Asahi’s reaction to an alleged Meanwhile, online financial news service
Shimbun, or Japan Economic Daily), which
error: ‘It’s pitiful. A miserable excuse NewsPicks announced that it has 60,000
purchased the Financial Times in 2015. For
just like Asahi. It’s all expected.’ On a paying subscribers. A free aggregation
its growing 558,900 digital subscribers, the
different occasion, another conservative app, SmartNews, has been downloaded
Nikkei recently changed its policy to publish
Diet member, Yasushi Adachi, tweeted: 25m times, while the messaging service
exclusive stories online first. ‘Evening Scoops’
‘Asahi, you shall die’, while right-leaning Line, which is dominant in Japan with 73m
are now regularly sent to digital devices
magazines publish headlines like ‘We monthly active users, provides news stories
at 6pm every day, instead of in the small
have to shut down Asahi’. Further analysis through mobile phones.
hours. This is a clear shift in strategy towards
shows that Asahi’s weaker trust is partly a
prioritising the interests of online readers. Uniquely across all the countries in this
result of high levels of distrust from these
vocal and partisan critics on the right. report, Facebook (22%) in Japan is only
Asahi Shimbun operates a metered paywall
After this year’s survey was conducted, the fourth most popular social network,
and has also been investing in new brands:
Asahi published a series of exposés which behind YouTube (51%), Twitter (27%), and
Withnews is a youth-orientated website
rocked the government and slashed Prime Line (27%). In terms of news, Japanese
that aims to provide a different range of
Minister Abe’s approval rating. The impact also prefer Twitter (12%) to Facebook
stories, a more visual style, and greater
is not reflected in this year’s survey. (9%), partly because they often feel
interaction with reporters. WebRonza
uncomfortable with using real names
provides expert articles by academics,
Fact-checking arrived in Japan in 2017. A online. Local video-sharing site Niconico is
analysts, business executives, and Asahi’s
coalition of digital start-ups and media also gaining popularity (+3) partly because
veteran journalists. Huffpost Japan is also
analysts, FactCheck Initiative Japan (FCJ), it allows user comments to be overlaid
affiliated with Asahi.
launched a project to verify assertions in directly on videos, creating a sense of a
Another big national daily, Mainichi the general election campaign in October. shared experience.
Shimbun, has launched an ‘integrated It is unusual in that it uses experts and
digital reporting centre’ focusing on digital- citizens to check both politicians’ remarks
first publishing. Yomiuri keeps its print and media stories. The coalition has both
Yasuomi Sawa
edition bundled with online subscription liberal and conservative outlets on board.
Journalist, Kyodo News and former Reuters
packages, one factor that may have helped FCJ, funded by public donation, is run by
Institute Journalist Fellow
the paper keep its headline 8m circulation. journalists and academics.
120
http://www.pressnet.or.jp/english/data/circulation/circulation01.php
130 / 131

NHK news (public broadcaster) 57
13 Yahoo! News 51
6
Nippon TV news 15
39 NHK news online 6
19
TV Asahi news 14
39 Nippon TV news online 5
11
TOP BRANDS TBS news 15
37 TV Asahi news online 5
11
% Weekly usage Fuji TV news 15

34 TBS news online 5
11

21 Fuji TV news online 5
10
TV Tokyo news 9
18 Nikkei online (Japan Economic Daily) 3
10
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Asahi Shimbun 3
15 Asahi Shimbun online 4
9
At least 3 days per week Yomiuri Shimbun 4

14 MSN News 3
8
13 Commercial radio news online 2
6
Weekly use Nikkei ( Japan Economic Daily) 3
11 Nikkei Business online 3
6
online brands
Mainichi Shimbun 2
6 TV Tokyo news online 3
6
CNN 2 5 Sankei Shimbun online 3
6
online brands
Sankei Shimbun 1 5 Yomiuri Shimbun online 3
6
Weekly Bunshun 4 5 Mainichi Shimbun onine 2 5
BBC News 2 4 Toyo Keizai online 3 5
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2013–18
News consumption 79%is down Social
Onlinemedia
74%
across the100%
board this
74% year, with 100% Social media 100%
100% 66% Social T
TV worst affected.59%
Weekly
79% 85%
74%
50% 74% TV 71% S
reach for TV news79%
has fallen by 69% 74%
66% 68%
74%
59% 39%
4 points since 2013 while 63% 36% 65% Print C
50% 66% 59%
59%
readers of50%
print newspapers
20% 50% 39% 50% Online (incl. Social)
36%
have dropped0%
26 points to 37%. 39% 37% 37%
20%2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 36%
20% 17% 21% 19%
0% 6% 9%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2013
2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Japanese have traditionally had THIS BRAND
high trust in authority, but a News overall NHK news 6.23 6.73
News I use
series of high-profile mistakes
43% (-) 43%
Nikkei (Japan Economic Daily) 6.08 6.83
by news media have affected A Local Newspaper 5.87 6.45
general trust (43%). Television 19th/37 Nippon TV (NTV) news 5.86 6.37
brands and local newspapers TBS news 5.78 6.31
tend to be most trusted while Yomiuri Shimbun 5.76 6.45
tabloid-style weekly magazines TV Asahi news 5.7 6.26
are least trusted. News in search News in social Sankei Shimbun 5.68 6.51
25% 20%
Fuji TV news 5.64 6.24
Mainichi Shimbun 5.63 6.26
Asahi Shimbun 5.35 6.27

PAY HuffPost Japan Edition 5.26 5.95
BuzzFeed Japan 5.15 5.76
Weekly Shincho 4.88 5.85
10% (-1)
Weekly Bunshun 4.63 5.92
(26th/37) pay for

13%
ONLINE NEWS
1 YouTube 19% (+2) 51% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
2 Twitter 12% (-) 27%
3 Line 9% (-4) 27%
17% (+4) 4 Facebook 9% (-) 22% 8%

(36th/37) use an 5 Niconico 4% (+3) 15% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 2% (-) 12%

MALAYSIA STATISTICS
Population
32m
78%
After decades of authoritarian

rule by one coalition, the
unexpected General Election
outcome of 9 May has thrown
up numerous possibilities –
many positive – for the media
environment in Malaysia.
Even before the latest political

upheavals, the past year has seen major
media organisations, mainly print and
broadcasting, suffering substantial losses.
Media Prima, Malaysia’s biggest media There still appears a reluctance on the maximum jail term of six years and a fine of
conglomerate, reported a loss in 2017 part of consumers to pay for online news, a MYR500,000 (approximately US $128,000).
– MYR669 million (approximately US problem facing organisations like the news
$172m).121 portal Malaysiakini and The Malaysian No one was under any illusions – not even
Insight, a site which suddenly suspended the then government – that the reason for
Media Prima owns all four of the free- the law wasn’t essentially political. As media
operations but plans to start a subscription
to-air commercial television stations in academic Gayathry Venkiteswaran has put it:
service.
Malaysia and two national dailies, the
English-language New Straits Times and the Trust remains an important issue. The ‘ For most observers, the obvious reason
Malay language Berita Harian. Circulations recently defeated Barisan Nasional behind this rushed law is to keep the
of these once-popular newspapers have government was affected by the scandals scandalous 1Malaysia Development Berhad
continued to fall, for two main reasons. and alleged cover-ups and the media’s (1MDB) wealth fund and other financial
ability to report these issues fairly is also in misappropriations out of the electorate’s
The first is politics. They were openly focus. This is a punitive law that fails to
question. Less than a third (30%) of those
aligned and strongly supportive of the provide any clarity on the meaning or
polled have trust in news overall.
former Prime Minister, Najib Razak, at a parameters of ‘fake news’, but criminalises a
time when he was embroiled in one major There appears to be greater trust in what are wide array of speech online and offline’.122
financial scandal after another. This made perceived as international media as opposed
Media Prima’s media properties increasingly to local, with Yahoo! News being the most But all this seems to have changed since
unpopular among Malaysians. Just a little trusted brand. This has much to do with the 9 May. The new Pakatan Harapan (PH)
over a week after the BN regime lost the structures and patterns of media ownership government has promised to review, if not
elections, Media Prima’s group chairman and control. There are some brands that remove, the AFNL, together with other
resigned, following in the footsteps of buck this trend. Malaysiakini (44% reach) coercive laws. It has already established
directors from other media companies. has maintained its reputation for providing high-level committees headed by respected
independent news and continues to retain individuals to spearhead much-needed
The second cause of newspaper woe is reforms. It may be early days yet, but the
the trust of many Malaysians, especially
digital. The rising popularity and increasing actions of the new administration do point
those tired of propaganda.
availability of digital online news portals towards a more open environment and a
and social media have seen the migration ‘Fake news’ as an issue for the media shifted more vocal media.
of traditional audiences to the web. The very quickly, over just a couple of months,
number of people using online news from being the subject of a comment by Zaharom Nain
sources increased by 3 points, and those Najib to becoming an Act of Parliament. Centre for the Study of Communications
using social media for news increased by 5. On 2 April the anti-’fake news’ Law (AFNL) and Culture, University of Nottingham
In contrast those relying on print fell by 4. was passed just in time for the general Malaysia Campus
election. The law was hastily drawn up with
Smartphones are now the most popular way
no feedback from opposition parties, media
for people to access digital news. Indeed,
professionals, academics, or civil society.
while it has not been clearly established yet,
It was rushed through parliament with
it appears that social media played a key
only five opposition MPs being allowed to
role in putting across the messages of the
voice their opinions. It consists of a vague,
then PH opposition during the short election
general definition of what constitutes ‘fake
campaign period.
news’ and yet allows for tough penalties – a
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/02/23/media-prima-posts-quarterly-net-loss-of-rm3782mil
121
Gayathry Venkiteswaran, ‘All the news that’s fit to fake’, New Mandala, 2018: http://www.newmandala.org/news-thats-fit-fake
122
132 / 133

TV3 49
15 Malaysiakini 44
19
The Star 13
31 The Star online 9
32
Astro Awani 14
29 Berita Harian online 10
24
TOP BRANDS TV9 11
27 Harian Metro online 8
23
% Weekly usage Harian Metro 13

26 Bernama.com 17
23
NTV7 11
25 Yahoo! News 10
23
Berita Harian 13
24 CNN.com 12
21
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Radio Televisyen Malaysia 9
21 Sinar Harian 7
20
More than 3 days per week Sinar Harian 11

20 Malaysia Today 12
19
TV, radio & print Utusan Malaysia 10
18 Siakap Keli News 8
19
Weekly use CNN 9
18 Free Malaysia Today 10
18
online brands
8TV 9
17
Kosmo 10
16 Utusan online 7
17
online brands
New Straits Times 9
16 The Malaysian Insight 8
12
BBC News 7
15 NST online 5
11
Al-Hijrah 8
14 The Sun Daily 5
10
57% 26% 72% 77% 56%

(+3) (+5) (+12) (+11)

18% 18%
(-4) 89% (-)
(+3)

Less than a third of our THIS BRAND
Malaysian sample agree that News overall Yahoo! News 6.12 6.61
News I use
they trust the news (30%) most
30% (+1) 34%
Astro Awani 6.05 7.03
of the time. This relates to The Star 6.03 6.29
perceptions that independence 34th/37 Malaysiakini 6.02 6.57
is often compromised by NTV7 5.79 6.56
powerful business or political Malaysia Today 5.77 6.34
interests. Borneo Post 5.75 6.59
News in search News in social Radio Televisyen Malaysia 5.48 6.5
30% 21%
Harian Metro 5.4 6.37
Siakap Keli News 5.17 6.14

PAY TV3 News 4.93 5.71
Utusan Malaysia 4.84 6.09
18% (-2)
(7th/37) pay for
57%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 54% (+3) 82%
3 YouTube 33% (+7) 72%
28% (+1) 4 Instagram 17% (+4) 45% 30%


SINGAPORE STATISTICS
Population
5.8m
84%
Digital news sites and social

media serve as Singapore’s
primary sources of news,
with three-quarters of the
population accessing news
through smartphones. Trust in
the news slightly increased
compared with last year, as media
and government initiatives to
combat ‘fake news’ dominated
the headlines.
commentaries, actively participating in Aside from Today ceasing its print
Almost half of our online sample (47%) conferences, and publishing opinion pieces publication, the local news media scene
say they trust the news in Singapore – up on the issue. The Straits Times, the country’s also saw the closure of The Middle Ground
5 percentage points on last year. Higher paper of record, experienced ‘fake news’ (TMG) in November 2017. Founded in 2015,
trust may partly be related to the recent first-hand, after a photoshopped version this alternative news site provided news
announcement by the Singapore government of its Facebook post about the King of reports and political commentary. It heavily
that it was going to tackle the problem of Thailand went viral in December 2016.124 relied on donations and closed due to
‘fake news’. In January 2018, the government financial difficulties.
formed a select committee to address The Straits Times is published by the
‘deliberate falsehoods online’, citing the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), one of Online, CNA’s website is the most
rise in ‘fake news’ across many countries the two main legacy media organisations frequently used (46%) followed by
and Singapore’s vulnerability given its high in Singapore. SPH also publishes most of The Straits Times’ website (45%). News
internet penetration rates and its population’s Singapore’s local newspapers, including aggregator Yahoo! News comes third (36%).
cultural and racial diversity. The committee Chinese-language Lianhe Zaobao, Malay- Today is ranked fourth (26%) followed by
invited the public to submit written language Berita Harian, and Tamil-language the alternative site Mothership (23%). BBC
representations and also spoke with experts Tamil Murasu. The Straits Times’ average News online is ranked sixth (20%) followed
during televised hearings in March 2018. daily combined print and digital circulation by STOMP (19%), a user-generated content
decreased from 393,300 in 2016 to 383,600 site run by The Straits Times.
The government already has an extensive in 2017 mainly due to the decrease in
system of media regulation. The Newspaper print circulation.125 Digital circulation Among social media platforms, WhatsApp
and Printing Presses Act governs the actually increased from 116,200 in 2016 to gained more ground, with 42% saying they
licensing of newspaper companies while 120,400 in 2017. However, SPH laid off 130 use it for news, up from 38% last year.
the Broadcasting Act regulates the employees in October 2017. Our data show Facebook is still a dominant player, but it
licensing of broadcasting services as well weekly print readership decreasing from decreased from 55% last year to 52% this
as internet content providers, including 53% in 2017 to 43% in 2018 as readership year. The use of WhatsApp, a closed social
online news sites. Starting in 2013, the shifts further online. media and messaging app, is particularly
government introduced a new framework noteworthy amid the discussions on
that required individual licensing for online While Singaporeans also get their news ‘fake news’, as ‘fake news’ being exchanged
news sites that publish regular articles on from international news organisations, SPH among friends is harder to track than
Singapore news and current affairs, and and the news brands owned by MediaCorp that being posted on more public apps
have large numbers of monthly visitors. remain the two key local players. Among such as Facebook.
Licensed sites are required to remove traditional brands, The Straits Times is the
content that is in breach of content most frequently used (51%), followed
standards, such as pornographic, extremist, by Channel News Asia (CNA, 41%),
Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
or racially insensitive content, within 24 MediaCorp’s round-the-clock news TV
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication
hours and post a performance bond of SGD channel. The company also publishes
and Information, Nanyang Technological
50,000 (US $38,000), similar to the bond Today, which started as a free paper in
University, Singapore
requirement for television broadcasters.123 November 2000 but became fully digital
in October 2017. During its peak, Today
News media organisations in Singapore reached a readership of 730,000 in 2012.
have also started their own initiatives to
address ‘fake news’, inviting experts to write
123
https://www.gov.sg/factually/content/what-is-the-licensing-framework-for-online-news-sites-all-about
124
http://www.theindependent.sg/st-investigating-facebook-post-of-president-tan-inviting-new-thai-king-to-eat-kfc
125
http://sph.listedcompany.com/misc/SPH-AR2017.pdf
134 / 135

The Straits Times 16
51 Channel News Asia online 46
15
MediaCorp Channel News Asia 16

41 Straits Times online 13
45
MediaCorp Channel 8 news 12

32 Yahoo! News 13
36
TOP BRANDS MediaCorp Channel 5 news 14
32 Today online 12
26
% Weekly usage The New Paper 10

23 Mothership.sg 14
23
CNN 8
20
BBC News 5
15 STOMP 10
19
Weekly use
TV, radio & print MediaCorp Radio News 5
13 CNN.com 8
17
More than 3 days per week Lianhe Zaobao 4

9 All Singapore Stuff 10
17
TV, radio & print Lianhe Wanbao 5
8 AsiaOne.com 7
15
Weekly use Shin Min Daily 4
7 The Online Citizen 9
14
online brands
MediaCorp Suria Berita 2 5 BuzzFeed News 8
13
More than 3 days per week Other newspapers or broadcast news channels 3 5 HuffPost 7
11
online brands from outside Singapore
A regional or local newspaper 3 4 The Independent 7

10
Berita Harian 1 3 TNP online 3

8
MediaCorp Tamil Seithi 2 New York Times online 4

8
55% 27% 63% 80% 60%

(-2) (-) (+2) (+8) (+8)

9% 22%
(-10) 87% (-1) (+1)
(+2)

Almost half of our online THIS BRAND
sample (47%) say they trust News overall BBC News 7.18 7.61
News I use
the news in Singapore. By
47% (+5) 51%
MediaCorp Channel News Asia 7.18 7.59
contrast, only a fifth (20%) say MediaCorp Channel 5 news 7.03 7.49
they trust the news in social 15th/37 The Straits times 7.01 7.27
media, even as its use as a CNN 6.97 7.41
news source has grown by 2 MediaCorp Channel 8 news 6.95 7.43
percentage points (63%). MediaCorp Radio News 6.82 7.55
News in search News in social Lianhe Zaobao 6.49 7.26
32% 20%
The New Paper 6.22 6.9

PAY Shin Min Daily 5.97 6.76
HuffPost 5.93 6.54
Mothership.sg 5.24 5.76
16% (-)
The Online Citizen 5.16 5.96
All Singapore Stuff 5.1 5.66
(11th/37) pay for

47%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 WhatsApp 42% (+4) 86%
3 YouTube 25% (+1) 74%
26% (+2) 4 Instagram 11% (+2) 48% 17%

6 LinkedIn 6% (+2) 24%

SOUTH KOREA STATISTICS

Population
51m
93%
Digital technology has

significantly disrupted the
media landscape in South Korea,
as home-grown portals have
become the leading destination
for news, eroding the business
models of traditional media
companies.
South Korea is one of the countries where

online news consumption (84%) surpasses
TV news (74%) with online news access
largely controlled by giant domestic The way in which these platforms The Korea Communications Commission
platforms such as Naver (65%) and Daum recommend news on their portals (using (KCC) announced its willingness to take
(38%), which function both as onsite news human editors) has been questioned over regulatory action against ‘fake news’, but
aggregators and search engines as well as possible bias and occasional manipulation. has done little so far because of concerns
providing email and shopping services. Daum In an international conference hosted that this could curtail freedom of speech
also operates the leading social network by Korea Press Foundation, Naver said and expression. Enhanced transparency of
and chat apps in South Korea (Kakao Story their recommendation systems would information sources, fact-check journalism,
and Kakao Talk) while Naver owns Band and soon completely rely on computerised and digital information literacy are
created the popular messaging app Line. algorithms. Naver also went on to considered more realistic and desirable
promise to open up their news algorithms approaches.
But these powerful platforms are coming to public scrutiny. Meanwhile, the
under increasing pressure to do more to help Korea Press Foundation continues to When it comes to individual brands, top
the news industry. Both Naver and Daum develop an ‘independent’ public news broadcast channels tend to be more
operate differently to Facebook in that they recommendation algorithm. trusted than top newspaper brands. Among
pay publishers tens of millions of dollars each broadcast channels, cable channels such as
year for access to content126 while restricting Among the social platforms, YouTube JTBC and YTN tend to be more trusted than
platform access to ‘approved’ publishers. (+7 percentage points) is becoming more public broadcasting services (KBS and MBC).
Eligibility is decided by the Committee for popular, while the growth of Facebook is
the Evaluation of News Partnership, which stagnant. Three-quarters (78%) reported The policies and measures to strengthen
is made up of representatives from industry that they watched online news videos in the independence and impartiality of
and media associations. last week, while more than half (58%) said public broadcasting services have been
that they listened to podcasts at least once actively discussed since 2017. Public
In 2017, Naver announced that, in addition a month. Blurring the boundaries between broadcasting services are encountering
to these content fees, they would start professional and amateur journalism, digital challenges, because fewer younger
paying a share of advertising revenues podcasts are gaining an increasing audience people watch TV news. Newspapers
that appear around news content. in South Korea. Kakao Talk, the most are still struggling to adapt to the
They also said that they would create a popular messaging app, also serves as a digital environment. Amid plummeting
readers’ fund called PLUS (Press Linked channel through which news and political newspaper subscriptions and ad revenues,
User Support) so that Naver users could information are shared and spread among they have yet to find a way toward a
help fund individual journalists or news its users (39%). sustainable future. Digital subscription
organisations of their choice. Naver has also strategy is difficult to implement in South
set up a series of joint ventures with news The rise of social platforms has prompted Korea due to widely available free news
organisations such as mobile websites and concerns about disinformation and ‘fake on portal sites and social platforms,
apps around services such as job search, news’. Trust in news overall (25%) was which also take the majority of digital ad
travel, movie, finance, education, and lowest among 37 countries, and trust revenues. Only around one in ten (11%) say
marriage. Meanwhile, Kakao (linked to in news on social media (19%) was even they have paid for any online news in the
Daum) launched a ‘Storyfunding’ service lower. South Korean audiences are equally last year. Although it may be impossible
by which users can donate money to concerned about poor journalism (60%) without institutional endorsement and
citizen journalists, civic organisations, and and fabricated stories (61%). They also feel readers’ participation, interest in not-for-
investigative reporters. that media companies (79%), platforms profit journalism as an alternative model is
(77%), and government (73%) should do on the rise.
more to separate what is real and what is
fake on the internet.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/12/naver-news-ad-revenue/547412
126
136 / 137

JTBC news 60
14 Naver 65
9
KBS news (public broadcaster) 15

46 Daum 10
38
YTN news 17
46 JTBC news online 7
31
TOP BRANDS SBS news 17
42 YTN news online 9
23
% Weekly usage MBC news 14

34 KBS news online 7
19
Yonhap TV news 12
28 SBS news online 6
16
MBN news 9
20 Chosun Ilbo online 7
15
Weekly use
TV, radio & print TV Chosun news 10
20 MBC news online 6
14
More than 3 days per week Chosun Ilbo 8

19 Joongang Ilbo online 7
12
TV, radio & print Channel A news 9
19 Hankyoreh Shinmun online 7
11
Weekly use Joongang Ilbo 11
18 TV Chosun news online 5
11
online brands
Dong-a Ilbo 8
13 Nate news 4
11
Hankyoreh Shinmun 8
12 OhMyNews 6
10
online brands
Maeil Business Newspaper 4
10 Yonhap News online 5
10
Kyunghyang Shinmun 6
9 Dong-a Ilbo online 5
9

8 MBN news online 4
9
TV
Print
TV
CHANGING
TV
Online 2016–18
Koreans have been 79%some of the Social
Onlinemedia
74%
fastest to100%
adopt new
74%mobile 100% Social media 100%
Social T
100%
technologies in our
59%
79%survey, with 86% 66% 84%
74%
70% saying they use
79%
71% 66%
74% 74% 66%
70%
74%
59% 39% 67%
smartphones for news. This is 36% Print 60% C
50% 66%
59%
not surprising
50%
given
20%that 50% 39% 50% TV
36%
Samsung is0% one of the country’s 32% 39% 29%
2017 28%
2018 36%
biggest and most20% 2013 2014 2015 2016
successful 25%
20% 14%
companies.0% 12%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
0% 0% 0%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018 2016 2017 2018

Trust in news is amongst the THIS BRAND
lowest in our survey at 25%, News overall JTBC 6.79 7.51

News I use
but almost half (46%) said that
25% (+2) 29%
YTN 5.97 6.63
they neither trust nor distrust SBS 5.77 6.42
news. These results imply that 37th/37 Yonhap News 5.56 6.4
a majority of Korean audiences KBS (Public Broadcaster) 5.45 6.29
are uncertain about the quality Hankyoreh Shinmun 5.41 6.74
of news overall. Kyunghyang Shinmun 5.36 6.61
News in search News in social MBC 5.34 6.06
23% 19%
MBN 5.19 6.36
Ohmynews 5.07 6.5
Joongang Ilbo 5.02 6.05

PAY Channel A 4.92 6.45
Donga Ilbo 4.87 6.29
Chosun Ilbo 4.55 6.23
11% (-1)
TV Chosun 4.55 6.34
(20th/37) pay for

29%
ONLINE NEWS
1 Kakao Talk* 39% (-) 80% SHARE NEWS

via social or email
2 YouTube 31% (+3) 64%
3 Facebook 25% (-3) 50%
13% (+1) 4 Kakao Story* 12% (-5) 36% 19%

(37th/37) use an 5 Twitter 8% (-1) 21% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Band 7% (-2) 27%
* These figures were based on a resurvey of 1006 people in April 2018

TAIWAN STATISTICS
Population
23m
88%
Disinformation (or ‘fake news’)

has spread across the Taiwan
Strait from China over the
last year. And Taiwan’s own
competitive news media, heavily
influenced by social media, have
helped it spread.
In the past year, Taiwanese media have

extensively covered stories about the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China
sending aircraft and ships to patrol Taiwan.
These stories were sparked by social media Taiwan and China confronted each other. projects, and an independent third-party
accounts run by the Chinese military, This approach helped Apple Daily online verification mechanism was set up in April
which released pictures and videos about attract a large number of page views but, 2018.
the PLA operation that were widely shared despite this, its parent group has been
within Taiwan. Before long, seven 24-hour struggling to drive revenue and had to cut The second action is to strengthen public
news channels were delivering breaking staff in July 2017. As elsewhere, most digital media, something campaigners have
news about the Chinese operations every advertising revenue in Taiwan goes to long called for. The culture minister has
hour, using the photos and videos made Facebook and Google and few sites charge promised greater support for public
by the PLA – but without having verified readers for news. media, and for its part, PTS is running an
whether or not they were true. According ‘omnipresence’ project to distribute its
to a later strategic analysis, the PLA has The public broadcaster, PTS, is the most content in more places. It has even been
been trying to manipulate Taiwan public trusted news brand according to our suggested that as a tactic to counter
opinion by using official and unofficial survey, though is used by relatively few the negative effects of social media
channels to spread ‘fake news’, even people (15% via TV and 10% online). Since on journalism – loss of ad revenues,
though it is unlikely to wage a real war it is subsidised by the state, it is under imposition of censorship, selling of
against Taiwan.127 less commercial pressure and largely users’ data to advertisers and political
abides by professional values, including parties – PTS should develop into a ‘public
As shown in our survey, about three- verifying photographs published by the information platform’ of its own, as an
quarters of Taiwanese use social media for PLA. Commercial operators, by contrast, alternative to existing unaccountable
any purpose (primarily Facebook and Line) like TVBS (50% offline, 26% online) and social media.
and more than half (56%) use them for Apple Daily (38%/31%) are more popular
news. However, here as elsewhere, social but less trusted. Some commercial print Independent media are an important
media platforms shoulder few, if any, social media are polarised, with the China part of the media scene in Taiwan with
responsibilities. Times, for example, adopting a pro-China digital-born sites like Storm Media (19%)
editorial policy as the influence of powerful and New Talk (10%), founded by well
Since deregulation in the 1990s, Taiwanese regarded journalists, attracting dedicated
Taiwanese tycoons with business interests
media has been very competitive, with the audiences online. The Reporter (3%) is a
in China grows.
aforementioned seven 24-hour news cable non-profit news organisation, dedicated to
channels, plus five terrestrial television To tackle Taiwan’s media problems, low trust investigative journalism.
stations, four newspaper groups, as well in commercial news companies, and the
as emerging digital-born news operations. weakness of public media, several actions Lihyun Lin
To survive in the digital market, many have have been taken. The first has been to National Taiwan University
relied increasingly on sensationalist content, establish fact-checking mechanisms. Some
and have adopted stories from social media politicians considered ‘fake news’ to be a
with little regard for facts or trust. danger to national security and proposed
legislation, though this was abandoned
Popular news websites dramatised the
because of widespread concern over curbing
PLA’s military operations. For example,
press freedom. Instead, the government set
Apple Daily presented the operations as a
up a ‘rumour rebuttal’ service which runs on
hyper-real film, creating animations and
its agencies’ websites. Non-governmental
composite photos in which the leaders of
organisations have also set up fact-checking
For the discussions of PLA’s warfare against Taiwan, see Ying Yu Lin, ‘China’s Hybrid Warfare and Taiwan’, The Diplomat: Know the Asia-Pacific, 13 Jan. 2018:
127
https://thediplomat.com/2018/01/chinas-hybrid-warfare-and-taiwan; J. J. Kung, ‘Invisible Black Hands: Pan Blue Groups are Attacked by Contents from China’, Business Today, 27 Mar. 2018.
138 / 139

TVBS News 50
15 Yahoo! News 54
14
Eastern Broadcasting News 15

42 Ettoday.net 13
38
Sanlih E-Television News 14

39 Apple Daily news online 12
31
TOP BRANDS Apple Daily 18
38 United Daily online 12
27
% Weekly usage Formosa TV News 14

37 TVBS News online 10
26
Chung Tien News 16

35 Sanlih E-Television News online 9
23
Liberty Times 13
27 Liberty Times online 9
20
Weekly use
TV, radio & print Next TV 10
24 Storm Media 12
19
More than 3 days per week ERA News 9

23 cnYes.com 9
19
TV, radio & print United Daily News 10
22 China Times online 9
18
Weekly use Unique Satellite TV News 10
22 Business Weekly online 9
15
online brands
China TV News 10
22 China TV online 5
14
Taiwan Television News 10
22 Common Wealth Magazine online 8
13
online brands
Chinese Television System News 8
16 Nownews 7
13
Business Weekly 8
16 Chung Tien News Channel online 7
12
Public Television Service, PTS 7

15 Next Magazine online 6
11
74% 21% 58% 75% 57%

(-3) (-2) (+1) (+10) (+2)

9% 22%
(-4) 86% (-1) (+2)
(-2)

Flooded with misinformation THIS BRAND
in social media and via News overall Public Television Service 6.73 7.62
News I use
mainstream media, Taiwanese
32% (+1) 36%
Common Wealth Magazine 6.52 7.21
people have low trust in the Business Weekly 6.31 7.21
news they use. Yet more and 32nd/37 TVBS news 5.85 6.24
more Taiwanese are willing to Ettoday 5.82 6.25
pay for the news they read. Central News Agency 5.79 7.07
United Daily 5.78 6.46
News in search News in social China Times 5.59 6.29
31% 23%
The Reporter* 5.55 n/a
Apple Daily 5.54 6.03

PAY Formosa TV News 5.54 6.3
Chung Tien News 5.52 6.17
Storm Media 5.47 6.15
18% (+3)
Liberty Times 5.46 6.24
*N
ote: No figure for users of The Reporter
(did not meet minimum 50 threshold)
(7th/37) pay for
46%
ONLINE NEWS

via social or email
2 Line 53% (+8) 73%
3 YouTube 38% (+2) 73%
23% (+3) 4 PTT (bulletin board) 17% (+6) 29% 25%

(31st/37) use an 5 Facebook Messenger 8% (+2) 35% COMMENT ON NEWS
6 Instagram 7% (+4) 27%

140 / 141
Section 4
Postscript and
further reading
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.

OTHER RELEVANT SURVEYS, ESSAYS AND REPORTS
Marty Baron, Executive Editor, Washington Post ‘When a President Wages War on a Press at Work’,
Reuters Memorial lecture, Feb. 2018
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-02/Marty%20Baron%20Reuters%20
Memorial%20Lecture%2016th%20Feb%202018.pdf
Ofcom, The Communications Market Report (Aug. 2017):

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/cmr/cmr-2017
Ofcom, International Communications Market Report (Dec. 2017):

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0032/108896/icmr-2017.pdf
Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, The State of the News Media (2018):
http://stateofthemedia.org
OTHER RELEVANT DIGITAL NEWS PROJECT PUBLICATIONS
Joy Jenkins, and Rasmus Nielsen, The Digital Transition of Local News (April 2018)
Annika Sehl, Alessio Cornia, Public Service News and Social Media (Mar. 2018)
Lucy Küng, Going Digital: A Roadmap for Organisational Disruption (Nov. 2017)
Kevin Anderson, Beyond the Article: Frontiers of Editorial and Commercial Innovation (Feb. 2017)
Lucas Graves, The Rise of Fact-Checking Sites in Europe (Nov. 2016)
Antonis Kalogeropoulos, Federica Cherubini, and Nic Newman, The Future of Online Video (June 2016)
Nic Newman, Media Journalism and Technology Predictions (Jan. 2018)
Tom Nicholls, Digital-Born News Media in Europe (Dec. 2017)
Annika Sehl, Developing Digital News in Public Service Media (Mar. 2017)
Jason Vir, Andrew Dodds (Kantar Media), Brand and Trust in a Fragmented News Environment (Oct. 2016)
Zillah Watson, VR for News: The New Reality? (Apr. 2017)

142 / 143
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© Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Foreword by David A. L. Levy 5 3.12 Hungary 84

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Norway 2027 5.3m >99%

The full questionnaire can be accessed at www.digitalnewsreport.org

Authorship and research

Nic Newman is Research Associate at the Reuters Institute and is also

Dr Richard Fletcher is a Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for

Dr Antonis Kalogeropoulos is a Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute

Prof. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is Director of Research at the Reuters Institute

Country-level commentary and additional insight around media

Additional expert analysis and interpretation of the survey data were

Finland 33% (-2)

SOCIAL MEDIA REVERSE Denmark 34% (-5)

100% Hong Kong 56% (+2)

36% Facebook 11% Twitter 65%

25% 3% Snapchat 12%

PROPORTION OF REFERRALS TO NEWS WEBSITES FROM FACEBOOK (FEB 2017–MAR 2018)

Facebook algorithm change

Source: Parsely. Based on

OTHER NETWORKS ARE TAKING UP THE SLACK

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“What I’ve noticed was Facebook was everything to me

Best friend, fun, brings people

One common theory is that people’s Facebook networks have

“I use Facebook less, because I don’t want to have a close

“It’s a message to you [on WhatsApp] not a message

Focus group respondents still talk about finding stories on

correlation between use of networks like WhatsApp and

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PROPORTION THAT SAY THEY TRUST NEWS FROM EACH

Trust news Trust news Trust news Trust news

44% 51% 34% 23%

the number received

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Declining trust often seems to be linked to political tension.

AVERAGE LEVEL OF TRUST IN SELECTED NEWS BRANDS – US

from mainstream media has become ever more entrenched. 5.82

100% 34 5.84 4.84

bridges political divides and reflects different perspectives and 5.56

More than half of our global sample (54%) expresses concern or

100% Low level

French President Emmanuel Macron is proposing

“I see ‘fake news’ every day. I mean for example, some of

PROPORTION WHO ARE AWARE OF/USED SELECTED ALTERNATIVE AND PARTISAN

0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50%

Weekly use Heard of

of the Canary’s audience identifies as left-wing, though with a small base.

Czech Republic Sweden Spain

0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50%

Weekly use Heard of

A round up of alternative sites in the Czech Republic by Forum24: http://forum24.cz/kdo-nas-dezinformuje-aktualni-prehled-hlavnich-zdroju-a-siritelu-fake-news-v-cesku/

PARTISAN AND ALTERNATIVE SITES IN EUROPE PAYING FOR ONLINE NEWS

PROPORTION THAT HAVE PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS IN THE

Nordic countries lead the world in paying for online news.

NORWAY The main beneficiaries of the US surge in subscriptions since

30% Sweden free but to ask for voluntary contributions.

LIKELIHOOD TO PAY FOR THE NEWS IN THE FUTURE

36% Likely to pay

In qualitative responses, donations seem to strike a chord with

WEEKLY ONLINE REACH OF GLOBAL NEWS BRANDS – SELECTED MARKETS

Foreword by David A. L. Levy 5 3.12 Hungary 84