Digital news

The 2019 report on Digital News from the Reuters Institute is now available. It’s quite timely — for me, at least, because the next issue of Digital Education will feature some information about fake news. The report uses the term ‘misinformation’ rather than fake news; I suspect that it’s because not all misinformation is deliberate.

I haven’t had the chance to read the report (come on, I only received the email about it half an hour ago!), but it contains some interesting findings, such as:

Concern about misinformation and disinformation remains high despite efforts by platforms and publishers to build public confidence. In Brazil 85% agree with a statement that they are worried about what is real and fake on the internet. Concern is also high in the UK (70%) and US (67%), but much lower in Germany (38%) and the Netherlands (31%).

The smartphone continues to grow in importance for news, with two-thirds (66%) now using the device to access news weekly (+4pp). Mobile news aggregators like Apple News and Upday are becoming a more significant force. Apple News in the United States now reaches more iPhone users (27%) than the Washington Post (23%).

There are some interesting statistics as well about which media are best for breaking the news and which are best for explaining it. Also, subscription models: have they reached saturation point?

To download the report, go here: Digital News Report 2019 (pdf)