Key Highlights Of Reuters Digital News Report 2022

The Reuters digital report for 2022 is here and it has some major takeaways for journalists across the globe. Here are some of the key takeaways we think you could benefit from. While we move on from the significant impacts of the pandemic and move into a world with severe political distress (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), there are global trends forming around interactions with news. While there are changes in these patterns depending on the region, we’ve tried to list a few factors that are likely to impact everyone in the industry.

The report finds that there are changes to be observed from 2020-2021. The post-pandemic time holds many unprecedented trends and consumer behaviours. Journalists may have some perks and some let downs. Have a quick look at the blog to get the essence of the report.

You can access the complete report below:

Subscriptions:

Subscriptions have been getting tricky to gauge and will likely only continue to be this way. While many people are choosing to subscribe to more content, they do seem to be filtering their and managing their subscriptions more methodically than previous years as more platforms shift to the subscriber centric model. Families too are looking for models that work better as a whole rather than individual packages. People are rethinking how many subscriptions they can afford. The subscription fatigue is real - the report states that 61% of the sample has canceled at least one of their many subscriptions.

Trust has reduced significantly:

Trust in news has reduced in more than half the countries surveyed. Finland, like last year, continues to observe the highest numbers in press trust. The US has seen a drastic fall in press trust and is the lowest on the list. From Brexit tension, US election, protests in France, the optimism post pandemic certainly seems to have shifted. Fake news has no significant improvement although it hasn’t seen any drastic patterns this year as well.

Global concerns around the false and misleading news remain stable this year, ranging from 72% in Kenya and Nigeria to just 32% in Germany and 31% in Austria. People say that they’ve seen more false information on Coronavirus than politics in most countries but this situation is reversed in other countries like - Turkey, Kenya and Philippines.

Selective avoidance:

A number of people are increasingly avoiding news markedly (especially around politics and other range of subjects). Selective avoidance around news is becoming increasingly popular.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also added to global tension. For countries witnessing the global security threat through Russia, the report observes that the use of traditional media like TV and print was high which had seen a decline in consumption pre-invasion of Ukraine. The avoidance of news around this matter is likely due to the distressing nature of the story. While the majority remain engaged, others are turning away from news media and often disconnecting altogether.

Interest in News:

Consumption of news generally has fallen down the scale. Many people are going as far as to avoid news altogether. From 63% in 2017, the interest in news has dropped to 51% in 2022. While a large chunk engages with news, there is a growing audience who deter away from news content. Selective avoidance has increased in Brazil and UK starkly. After the slowdown last year due to the pandemic, growth in podcasts seems to have resumed, with 34% consuming one or more podcasts in the last month. The report highlights the need for simplification and easy accessibility of news to better aid the youth and the digital learners.

Interacting with news:

Younger audiences tend to reach out to news content through mediums like social networking platforms, search and other mobile aggregators. Very little traffic is gained from websites or apps. Social media definitely seems to be on the rise for consumption. Facebook continues to remain the most used platform but users are more likely to say that they see too much news in their feed when compared to other platforms. TikTok and Telegram are rising to keep up.

While older groups are seen to remain loyal to the platform, the younger generation has switched much of its attention to more visual networks over the last three years. TikTok has become the fastest growing network in this year’s survey, reaching 40% of 18–24s, with 15% using the platform for news. Usage is much higher in parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa than it is in the United States or Northern Europe. Telegram is another platform that has risen significantly in some markets, providing a flexible alternative to Meta-owned WhatsApp.

Users also seem to be interacting more with popular news personalities like journalists and presenters who have made a vibrant digital presence.

Privacy:

As more people participate digitally, it is observed that fewer people register online and only 32% seem to trust the news website (in the survey) to not exploit their user data.

This is lower for online retailers and other websites online. The rise in privacy protection can be anticipated as more browsers come with conditions for content creators on the web to aid a better user experience.

Audiences have become more reluctant to give up their data for news sites. Beyond concerns about subscriptions, media companies face another challenge in maintaining advertising revenues in the face of the imminent phasing out of third-party cookies. Without these cross-platform trackers, publishers are looking into building their own first-party data that can give them more leverage with advertising companies.

News companies routinely ask for an email address before people can see content or access additional features on their website. In some countries (Portugal, Finland, and Switzerland), publishers have collaborated to provide a single login system that works across multiple online websites and apps. Across countries, the report finds that only around a quarter (28%) have registered for one or more news websites in the last year. Those in Portugal (44%) are most likely to have given their details, but people in Germany (19%), the UK (16%), and Japan (14%) are least likely to have parted with their information for access.

These differences may relate to the extent to which registration walls are being pushed by publishers in each of these countries, but the relatively low reluctant amongst consumers give up email addresses or other personal details – especially if content is not available elsewhere.

Most news websites simply do not have a clear enough value proposition to persuade people to do so and must look into it.

Journalists:

Many samples also are seen to be more interested in journalists who are from impartially regulated media brands. The interest was gained by journalists who were more opinionated. There’s also an interesting shift in people’s perception of who a journalist is. From someone who works for the mainstream media, this has shifted to youtube content creators, authors, critics, podcasters, influencers etc. This seems to predict the future of a more diverse news space where the social commentary comes from different walks of life.

Climate change in the media:

One of the most growing subjects of interest across the globe is that of climate change and environment. Reuter’s survey takes a deep dive into how the audience is reacting with the same. It observes that although there is a growing demand for stories around climate change, newsrooms haven’t had any success in delivering this demand of content due to the nature of the topic. In India alone, over 47% people are interested in getting news on the environment. Climate change continues to be a struggle that newsrooms need to tackle, audiences are urging more content creators to take a stand w.r.t the issue. For countries that are seeing the effects of climate change first hand, the demand is higher. Perhaps newsrooms can look into documentaries and learn more about holding massive appeal.

At quintype, we are excited to explore new strategies for journalists. We hope this dive into the digital news report of 2022 helped you reflect on the industry and where it's headed.