LONDON • The coronavirus pandemic has stoked hunger for trusted news in a time of global crisis and a clear majority of people want media groups to be impartial and objective, The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said yesterday.
Trust in news grew during the pandemic, especially in Western Europe, helping brands with a reputation for reliable reporting, though mistrust was particularly apparent in the polarised media of the United States.
A clear majority of people across countries and territories believed that news outlets should reflect a range of views and try to be neutral, the institute said in its annual digital news report.
The 10th edition of the report reveals new insights about digital news consumption based on a YouGov poll of more than 92,000 online news consumers in 46 markets including Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. The 46 economies represent more than half the world's population.
Reuters Institute director Rasmus Kleis Nielsen said: "We've been through a very dark time and much of the public recognise that news organisations have often been the ones shining light in that darkness.
"There has been a greater appreciation of trustworthy news overall," he said. "It's very clear in our research, in country after country, in age group after age group, that large majorities want journalism to try to be neutral."
Among the key findings, trust in the news has grown, on average, by six percentage points during the pandemic - with 44 per cent of the total sample saying they trust most news most of the time. This reverses, to some extent, recent falls in average trust - bringing levels back to those of 2018.
Finland remains the country with the highest levels of overall trust (65 per cent), and the US now has the lowest levels (29 per cent) in the survey. A total of 45 per cent of Singaporeans polled say they trust the news, versus 41 per cent in Malaysia, 39 per cent in Indonesia and 40 per cent in Hong Kong.
The accelerating technological revolution means 73 per cent of people now access news via a smartphone, up from 69 per cent last year, while many use social media networks or messaging apps to consume or discuss news.
TikTok now reaches 24 per cent of those aged under 35, with higher penetration rates in Asia and Latin America. Technology giants, including Facebook, also served as an avenue for dissent, the report said, citing protests in Myanmar and the US.
But trust in news shared on social media remained very low at 24 per cent. Facebook is seen as the main artery for spreading false information, though messaging apps such as WhatsApp also play a role.
-
Key findings
-
• Overall trust in the news has grown, on average, by six percentage points amid the coronavirus pandemic, with 44 per cent of respondents saying they trust most news most of the time.
• In several countries, especially those with strong and independent public service media, there is greater consumption of trusted news brands.
• Global concerns about false and misleading information have grown slightly this year. Those who use social media are more likely to say they have been exposed to misinformation about the pandemic than non-users.
• Despite more options to consume partisan news, most respondents still prefer news that reflects a range of views and lets them decide what to think.
• There is significant growth in payment for online news in a small number of richer Western nations, but the overall percentage of people paying for online news remains low.
• Mobile aggregators play a big part in news discovery in many Asian markets, such as India, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand. The apps include Daily Hunt, Smart News, Naver, and Line Today.
Meanwhile, many will pay for print news, despite deepening problems for the business model.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is a research centre at the University of Oxford that tracks media trends.
The institute found increased consumption of mainstream news especially in markets with "strong and independent public service media". But printed media remained in steep decline, worsened by the pandemic's impact on sales and advertising revenue.
This has accelerated the shift towards digital subscriptions. But in the roughly 20 economies where newspapers were actively developing their digital sales, only 17 per cent of respondents said they paid for news online, up two points from last year's report.
The number of people paying for news online was highest in wealthier economies with traditions of subscribing to physical newspapers, such as Norway (45 per cent) and Sweden (30 per cent). The numbers were lower for the US (21 per cent), Germany (9 per cent) and Britain (8 per cent).
In Singapore, it was 14 per cent.
"Given abundant access to free news, publishers will need to develop compelling options to bundle publications or more ways of paying a smaller amount for limited access," said Mr Nielsen.
The institute also asked people if their government should step in to help commercial news groups that cannot make enough money on their own. "Just one-quarter (27 per cent) think the government should step in to help, compared to a 44 per cent that think they should not," said the report.
In the US, 18 per cent of respondents agreed that governments should step in and help news groups when they cannot make enough money. In Singapore, the number was 32 per cent.
REUTERS
