Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2015: Selected highlights

REUTERS INSTITUTEDIGITAL NEWS REPORT

KEY FINDINGS FROM 2015

Edited highlights

Curated by: Damian Radcliffe

RISJ Digital News Report 2015 2

Background and methodologyThis is one of the largest news surveys in the world. Explores the online news habits of more than 20,000 people in twelve countries. Research was conducted online in January/early February 2015.

Additional analysis of key themes, country level insights from network of partners

Please note that Brazil is representative of an urban population rather than a national population. Source: Internet World Stats www.internetworldstats.com internet population estimate 2014.


Key findingsfrom 2015

1. Move to mobile – smartphone ever more central

2. Growing power of social platforms (and messaging apps)

3. Video and new visual formats taking off

4. Increased disruption for traditional media by digital-born

companies and aggregators

5. Making money getting harder due to mobile and social

RISJ Digital News Report 2015 Presentation to TRF Board

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1. CENTRALITY OF SMARTPHONES

9 July 2015


Strong growth in news via smartphone

8b. Which, if any, of the following devices have you used to access news in the last week?Base: All (total sample in each country)

ALSO Australia 58%Ireland 52%Finland 50%Italy 44%


Mobile app or mobile browser?In most countries the mobile browser remains the main access point to news. In the five countries we looked at, only in the UK – and only on smartphones – do more people say they use apps than a mobile browser.

Q9a/b. Thinking specifically about when you look for news on a MOBILE/TABLET, which of the following statements most applies to you? Base: All who used a smartphone/tablet for news in the last week. UK = 899/675, US = 1005/521, Germany = 700/331, Finland = 775/391, Italy = 927/384, Australia = 1154/730


The app gap

70% have a news app installed on their phone, only a third actually use them in a given week

2. SOURCES OF NEWS


Top news sources compared 2012-15Online news broadly stayed at the same level. TV has declined a bit especially in the US. The main change has been the decline in printed newspaper and the rise of social media

Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? Base: various. NB: 2014 data for TV, Print, Online and Social has been estimated because of an issue with randomisation of responses in that year


Top news sources compared 2012-15But it is not the same story everywhere. TV viewing in Germany remains strong even with the young while social media growth is less pronounced. In Denmark online has overtaken TV and social media is growing fast

Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? Base: various. NB: 2014 data for TV, Print, Online and Social has been estimated because of an issue with randomisation of responses in that year


Main source of newsTV remains the most important source of news in many countries. France, Germany, and Japan have the strongest allegiance to traditional media and they have been slower to adopt new digital trends such as smartphones and social media

Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in the last week, which would you say is your MAIN source of news? Base: All who used a source of news in the last week in each

country.


Main source of news by age

Q4. You say you’ve used these sources of news in the last week, which would you say is your MAIN source of news? Base: All who have used news sources in the last week =23155

But averages hide stark splits between generations. Young Germans or Japanese are likely to have more in common with young Americans or Finns in preferring online news and social media to TV news, radio, or print.


Young turning away from TV NewsSome of the biggest falls have been in the United States, France, and Denmark. Only a quarter (24%) of under 35s watch TV news bulletins or programmes in the US compared with 37% two years ago. In Germany 58% of under 35s still watch bulletins or programmes weekly.


Overall trust in the news environment Overall we see the highest levels of trust in media systems with a good mix of strong public service broadcasters and robust commercial players - such as Finland, Germany, Denmark and the UK.

Q6a. Thinking about news in general, do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “I think you can trust most news most of the time”. Q6b. Thinking specifically about news sources that you use, do you agree or disagree with the following statement? “I think I can trust most of the news that I use most of the time”. Base: Total sample in each country


Partisan viewing of TV news channelsUS AND UK COMPARED

In the United Kingdom there is a tradition of impartiality backed up by strong regulation. The US TV news model is more partisan

3. SOCIAL MEDIAAND MESSAGING

APPS


Facebook becoming more important for news

Q12a/b. Which, if any, of the following have you used for any purpose/for reading, watching, sharing, or discussing news in the last week? Base: Combined sample =23557.

41% (+6)Access use Facebook weekly for finding sharing or discussing news. Facebook owns WhatsApp and Instagram


We seek news on Twitter but bump into it on FacebookTwitter is seen as a news destination. Facebook is not. This explains the different strategies employed to seed news in each network and the relative popularity of different news brands

Q12Cii/Dii. You say you use Twitter/Facebook for news. Which of the following statements applies best to you? Base: Combined sample of UK, US, Italy, Australia, = Facebook=3560, Twitter = 861.

TOP ENGLISH PUBLISHERS IN FACEBOOK AND TWITTER


Percentage using social media to find news (2013-15)

Facebook and other social outlets are driving more traffic to major news sites. Referrals from Facebook increased 42% in the last year to major English news sites.

Publishers are delighted at extra traffic but are concerned about over-reliance on Facebook and in particular about its algorithms, which are changing all the time and over which they have no control.

4. VIDEO GROWTH AND NEW FORMATS


Growth in online video usageWe see a significant jump in the use of online news video in all countries except Germany and also in the US, where the big move happened between 2013 and 2014. Almost a third of US audiences still consume video each week (30%), with Spain and Italy catching up with growth of +10 and +5 respectively.


Attitudes to video vs textCompared with last year, fewer people ‘mostly read in text’ and more people occasionally or regularly watch online news video


Types of video consumed

Q11aii. Which TYPES of news video have you watched online in the last month? Base: All who watched online news video in the last month UK = 460, US = 707, France = 382, Germany = 353, Finland = 334, Italy = 511, Ireland = 408.

Short news clips (66%) are accessed most regularly; providing eyewitness testimony – particularly on a breaking story – or additional context. Live streams tend to be watched by those who are most interested in news


Barriers to video usage

Q11ai. You said that you don’t usually watch news videos online. Why not?Base: All who did not watch online video news in the last week UK = 1689, US = 1588, France = 1609, Germany = 1622, Finland = 1175, Italy = 1495, Ireland = 1093.

Of those who don’t use video, four in ten (40%) said they found reading quicker and more convenient, with 19% agreeing that videos rarely add anything useful to the text. Older groups are two- thirds as likely to express a preference for a bigger screen. Younger groups are more impatient about load times and preroll advertisements

5. DISRUPTION TO TRADITIONAL

BRANDS


Japan, Australia suffering most disruption – Finland, Denmark and UK the least

Q5b. Which, if any, of the following have you used to access news in the last week ? Via online platforms (web, mobile, tablet, e-reader). Base: All markets 2015.


Battle for global eyeballsThe Huffington Post and Buzzfeed now operate in a number of countries and languages They are growing fast. The Guardian and Mail are focusing in UK, US and Australia. Yahoo, MSN and HuffPo are leading through joint enterprises and approaches

1 Weighted percentage calculated using population data from Internet World Stats and the World Bank: weighted = (country population * percentage adults * percentage accessed)/total population of all countries surveyed. Brazil is not included due to the absence of reliable data about its urban population. * Joint ventures , ** previously joint ventures now mainly locally owned y

HUFF POST BUZZFEED VICE D MAIL GUARDIAN NY TIMES BBC CNN MSN YAHOO

US 22% 10% 3% 3% 4% 12% 10% 14% 11% 23%

UK 12% 5% 1% 14% 12% 1% 48% 1% 5% 8%

France 8%* 1% 1% - - 1% 3% 2% 7% 8%

Germany 6% 1% 1% - - 1% 3% 3% 4% 5%

Spain 8% 1% 1% - - 3% 5% 4% 9% 8%

Italy 7%* 1% 1% - - 2% 3% 4% 8% 11%

Ireland 8% 6% 1% 7% 4% 4% 17% 5% 5% 9%

Brazil 1% 2% 1% - - 6% 8% 9% 20% 18%

Australia 12% 7% 1% 3% 7% 4% 14% 7% 25%** 21%**

Japan 2%* 1% - - - 2% 3% 5% 10% 52%**

Weighted1 10% 4% 1% 2% 2% 5% 8% 6% 8% 18%

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New routes to news accelerate disruptionCompetition from born-digital content producers is far less of a problem for legacy media than disruption by other players, most importantly search and social. Search is often the key gateway in Italy, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Japan or France while social media are very important in Australia and Brazil

6. TOP BRANDS BY COUNTRY


United States


United Kingdom


Germany

7. THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM


Newspaper purchase by country

Q7. Have you bought (paid for) a printed newspaper in the last week? (This could be an ongoing subscription or one-off payment for a physical copy.) Base: Total sample in each country

A number of countries have shown a significant decline in newspaper purchase over the last two years including Germany (-9), Japan (-7), US (-7), and the UK (-8). In Japan much of that loss has come from under 35s


Paying for online news contentCompared to overall reach, the numbers paying for online news in any form remains relatively low

US, UK, Denmark, Australia, Finland Japan have majority ongoing subscription – paid for websites or apps. Other countries like Ireland are only just starting with paywalls so payments tend to be for single apps, day passes or other add-ons.

Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in the last year ? (This could be digital subscription, combined digital/print subscription or one off payment for an article or app). Base: All markets 2015 – UK: 2149; Germany: 1969; Spain: 2026; Italy: 2006; France: 1991; Denmark: 2019; Finland: 1509; USA: 2295; Urban Brazil: 2033; Japan: 2017: Ireland: 1501; Australia: 2042.


How much might you be prepared to pay for a news brand you like?

Q7civ. What is the maximum price you would pay for a subscription to a digital-only news service – including full access to its website, apps, and any digital replicas of the newspaper? Base: All who had not paid for news in the last year UK = 1992, US = 1942, Spain = 1773, Australia = 1805.


Advertising revenues

Sources: IAB, News Digital Ad Spend from Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report


Sponsored and branded content

33% feel disappointed or deceived after reading an article that turned out to be paid for by an advertiser

13% feel content valuable to them

28% feel more negatively towards the news organisation

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1. Smartphones are changing the news experience. How can news brands get share of attention?

2. More offsite consumption (social networks, aggregators) feeds traffic but at cost of control

3. Can legacy media innovate enough to hold their own against disrupters?

4. Business prospects for advertising and pay models remain challenging

Key implications for industry

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Do we know enough about growing digital brands? (HuffPo, Buzzfeed, Vice etc.)

What relationships do we have with them? (internships) Are they looking for different skills?

How do we teach writing for mobile, social, or pieces which blend video and text?

What’s the best way to pool our learning – journalism, PR and advertising – to understand interlinked changes across our industry?

Potential implications for SOJC

Thanks for listening.

More information:www.digitalnewsreport.org


http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/

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Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2015: Selected highlights