According to the 2022 Reuters Institute Digital News Report, trust in news is declining in nearly half of the countries polled, with significant proportions of the public, particularly younger age groups, turning away from news.
Furthermore, rather than traditional media, social media platforms such as TikTok are increasingly being used to consume news.
Highlights of the report –
- The people (especially the younger age groups) are trusting news content less and less. Two of the main reasons for low trust are apathy toward news and its value, as well as widespread perceptions of political and other biases in the media.
- The consumption of traditional news media declined in nearly all the countries surveyed.
- The proportion of news consumers who say they “avoid news” has risen sharply across countries and the phenomenon is referred to as “selective avoidance.”
- A growing number of people are choosing to ration or limit their exposure to certain types of news, a practice known as “selective avoidance.”
- Many people were turned off by the repetitiveness of the news agenda, particularly around politics and COVID-19. This is one of the reasons why news consumption has not increased as anticipated.
- Despite small increases in the proportion of people willing to pay for online news (primarily in richer countries), growth in digital subscriptions for news content appears to be slowing.
- The smartphone has become the dominant way for most people to get their morning news.
- Direct access to apps and websites has become less important over time, giving way to social media, which, due to its omnipresence and convenience, is becoming more important as a gateway to news.
- While Facebook remains the most popular social network for news, TikTok (banned in India) has become the fastest-growing network, reaching 40% of 18-24-year-olds, with 15% using the platform for news.
What did the report say about India?
- In India, the data is more representative of younger English speakers rather than the general population.
- India saw a slight increase in trust, with 41% trusting news in general.
- The top social media platforms for sourcing news were YouTube (53%) and WhatsApp (51%).
- India is a heavily mobile-focused market, with 72% of survey respondents accessing news via smartphones and 35% via computers.
- In addition, 84% of Indian respondents got their news from the internet, 63% from social media, 59% from television and 49% from print.
About the Digital News Report –
- It is an annual report commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which tracks how news is consumed in different countries.
- The 2022 report (11th edition) is based on a survey (online questionnaires), covering 46 markets in six continents.
- Because it is based on online questionnaires, the results may not be nationally representative, particularly in countries with low internet penetration.
- The 2022 report flags six major trends which could have wider socio-political implications.
.png)