The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021

Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021 10TH EDITION

Nic Newman with Richard Fletcher, Anne Schulz, Simge Andı, Craig T. Robertson, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen

Supported by

Spanish translation supported by

Surveyed by

Contents

Foreword by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen 5 3.17 Poland 94 Methodology 6 3.18 Portugal 96 Authorship and Research Acknowledgements 7 3.19 Romania 98 3.20 Slovakia 100 SECTION 1 3.21 Spain 102 Executive Summary and Key Findings by Nic Newman 9 3.22 Sweden 104 3.23 Switzerland 106 SECTION 2 3.24 Turkey 108 Further Analysis and International Comparison 33 AMERICAS 2.1 Perceptions of Fair News Coverage among Different Groups 34 3.25 United States 112 2.2 Impartiality Unpacked: A Study of Four Countries 39 3.26 Argentina 114 2.3 Local News Unbundled: 3.27 Brazil 116 Where Audience Value Still Lies 43 3.28 Canada 118 2.4 How do People Think about the Financing 3.29 Chile 120 of the Commercial News Media? 48 3.30 Colombia 122 2.5 How and Why do Consumers Access News on Social Media? 52 3.31 Mexico 124 3.32 Peru 126 SECTION 3 ASIA PACIFIC Analysis by Country and Market 59 3.33 Australia 130 EUROPE 3.34 Hong Kong 132 3.01 United Kingdom 62 3.35 India 134 3.02 Austria 64 3.36 Indonesia 136 3.03 Belgium 66 3.37 Japan 138 3.04 Bulgaria 68 3.38 Malaysia 140 3.05 Croatia 70 3.39 Philippines 142 3.06 Czech Republic 72 3.40 Singapore 144 3.07 Denmark 74 3.41 South Korea 146 3.08 Finland 76 3.42 Taiwan 148 3.09 France 78 3.43 Thailand 150 3.10 Germany 80 AFRICA 3.11 Greece 82 3.44 Kenya 154 3.12 Hungary 84 3.45 Nigeria 156 3.13 Ireland 86 3.46 South Africa 158 3.14 Italy 88 3.15 Netherlands 90 SECTION 4 3.16 Norway 92 References and Selected Publications 161 4 / 5

Foreword Prof. Rasmus Nielsen, Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ)

This is the tenth edition of our Digital News Report and a milestone Our survey this year covered 46 markets, including 24 in Europe, for us in that the 46 markets covered this year account for more and six in Latin America where we have added Colombia and than half the world’s population. We are particularly proud to Peru. In Asia we have added India, Indonesia, and Thailand to our be able to include more countries in the Global South, primarily existing eight markets, and in Africa we are delighted to include because we hope the data and analysis we present are useful for Nigeria for the first time, following the inclusion of Kenya in 2020 journalists, editors, and media executives there, but also because and South Africa in 2019. we strongly believe their colleagues elsewhere can learn a lot Because we use online polling, we continue to focus on countries from the situation in countries where news media have long faced with high internet penetration and which are either broadly political attacks, financial precarity, and internet users heavily democratic or generally compare themselves to countries with oriented towards mobile and social media – some of the realities a democratic tradition. Even so, the increasing number and journalists in historically more privileged parts of the world diversity of markets covered have led us to compare fewer data increasingly have to deal with. points across the whole sample and to focus on meaningful Our findings this year show how, if anything, the Coronavirus comparisons across markets that are broadly similar. We’ve pandemic has exacerbated many of the long-term trends we have provided more detail about differences in polling samples in both documented over the past decade, especially the move to a more the methodology pages and the relevant country pages. digital, mobile, and platform-dominated media environment. This report continues to benefit from a strong network of partners Developments this year put further pressure on the business and sponsors around the world. We are proud to have the models of many traditional media, but have also reminded opportunity to work with a number of leading academics as well at least parts of the public of the importance and value of as media experts from the news industry. Our partners have helped trustworthy news from independent news organisations. in a variety of different ways, checking questionnaires, helping This year’s survey finds evidence that some brands have benefited with interpretation, and often publishing their own reports. from a desire for reliable information around the pandemic – Given the richness of the research, this report can only convey a both in terms of higher reach, higher trust, and more paying small part of the data and analysis. More detail is available on our subscribers. While the effects are uneven, do not apply to all website https://www.digitalnewsreport.org/2021 which contains brands or all countries, and may not last after the crisis is over, slidepacks and charts, along with a licence that encourages reuse, these are positive findings from publishers’ point of view. subject to attribution. Our analysis also shows how the role of different platforms Making all this possible, we are hugely grateful to our sponsors: is evolving. We document the roles played by mainstream the Google News Initiative, BBC News, Ofcom, the Broadcasting news organisations, individual journalists, and other voices on Authority of Ireland, the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM), the different social media, the continuing move to closed messaging Media Industry Research Foundation of Finland, the Fritt Ord apps and more visual social media, as well as the continued Foundation in Norway, the Korea Press Foundation, and Edelman widespread public concern over false or misleading information – UK, as well as our academic sponsors at the Leibniz Institute for especially Facebook and Facebook-owned messaging applications Media Research/Hans Bredow Institute, Hamburg, the University including WhatsApp. of Navarra, the University of Canberra, the Centre d’études sur les Amid deep divisions within many societies over politics and social médias, Quebec, Canada, and Roskilde University in Denmark. justice, we ask searching questions about what people expect The Open Society Foundations has played a key role in helping from their news and examine attitudes to traditional notions of us to expand the report to cover more countries in the Global journalistic impartiality and objectivity. We also explore how fairly South over the last few years, as has Google’s commitment to the media are seen as treating different groups including women, a three-year extension of their support for the report. This year young people, and ethnic minorities. Fundación Gabo has joined the project, and we are delighted they are supporting the translation of the report into Spanish. And our report continues to document the economic impact of digital disruption which has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic (even as platform companies including Google and Facebook reported significant growth last year). Given the financial challenges the business of news faces, we explore public attitudes to whether the government should step in to support commercial media – but find little appetite for this. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 6

Methodology

This study has been commissioned by the Reuters Institute • These differences mean we need to be cautious when for the Study of Journalism to understand how news is being comparing results between markets, especially on issues consumed in a range of countries. Research was conducted by where we know that the sample would potentially make a YouGov (and their partners) using an online questionnaire at significant difference (e.g. paying for news or podcasts). the end of January/beginning of February 2021. • It is also important to note that online surveys rely on recall, • Samples were assembled using nationally representative quotas which is often imperfect or subject to biases. We have tried to for age, gender, region in every market, and education in all markets mitigate these risks through careful questionnaire design and except Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, testing. Despite other limitations, surveys are able to capture Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Thailand, and media consumption across platforms, including social media, Turkey. In the US, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Italy we have messaging apps, and websites. They are also a good way of applied additional political quotas based on vote choice in the most tracking activities and changes over time in a consistent way.2 recent national election. The data in all markets were also weighted • It is important to note that some of our survey-based results to targets based on census/industry-accepted data. will not match industry data, which are often based on • Data from India, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are representative different methodologies, such as web-tracking. The accuracy of younger English-speakers and not the national population, of these approaches can be high, but they are also subject to because it is not possible to reach other groups in a representative limitations. way using an online survey. The survey was fielded in English in • In some cases, we have drawn on data from other surveys or these markets,1 and restricted to ages 18–50 in Kenya and Nigeria. from industry sources and have signalled this in the text or Findings should not be taken to be nationally representative in as a footnote. We have also used selected quotes from focus these countries. groups and interviews conducted in four countries (USA, UK, • More generally, online samples will tend to under-represent Germany, and Brazil) in February 2021. On occasion we have the news consumption habits of people who are older and less also used quotes from open questions from our main survey, affluent, meaning online use is typically over-represented and clearly indicating this in each case. traditional offline use under-represented. In this sense, it is better • A fuller description of the methodology, panel partners, and to think of results as representative of the online population. a discussion of non-probability sampling techniques can In markets in Northern and Western Europe, where internet be found on our website along with the full questionnaire penetration is typically around 95%, the differences between the https://digitalnewsreport.org/2021-methodology. REUTERSonline INSTITUTE population FOR and THE national STUDY OF population JOURNALISM will / EXECUTIVE be small, but SUMMARY in GRAPHS SlideSouth Africa 1 (58%) and India (54%), where internet penetration is lower, the differences between the online population and the national population will be large.

Market Sample Population Internet Market Sample Population Internet Market Sample Population Internet size penetration size penetration size penetration Europe Poland 2,009 38m 78% Asia Pacific UK 2,039 67m 95% Portugal 2,101 10.2m 78% Australia 2,034 26m 84% Austria 2,000 9.0m 88% Romania 2,010 19m 74% Hong Kong 1,501 7.6m 89% Belgium 2,008 11.6m 94% Slovakia 2,024 5.5m 85% India 2,049 1393m 54% Bulgaria 2,018 7.0m 67% Spain 2,019 46m 93% Indonesia 2,007 276m 71% Croatia 2,008 4.1m 92% Sweden 2,005 10.1m 96% Japan 2,004 126m 95% Czech Republic 2,007 10.6m 88% Switzerland 2,000 8.6m 94% Malaysia 2,019 33m 89% Denmark 2,005 5.8m 98% Turkey 2,022 83m 83% Philippines 2,029 111m 78% Finland 2,009 5.6m 94% Americas Singapore 2,034 5.9m 88% France 2,012 65m 92% USA 2,001 327m 96% South Korea 2,006 51m 96% Germany 2,011 82m 96% Argentina 2,007 45m 93% Taiwan 2,042 24m 92% Greece 2,017 11.1m 73% Brazil 2,009 211m 71% Thailand 2,015 70m 82% Hungary 2,032 9.7m 89% Canada 2,036 37m 90% Africa Ireland 2,031 4.8m 92% Chile 2,009 18m 78% Kenya 2,005 55m 85% Italy 2,010 59m 93% Colombia 2,046 49m 63% Nigeria 2,051 211m 73% Netherlands 2,006 17m 96% Mexico 2,036 131m 65% South Africa 2,009 60m 58% Norway 2,010 5.4m 98% Peru 2,010 33m 68%

Source: Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com). In the Netherlands we conducted a repoll of brand reach numbers in late March 2021 due to a scripting error in the original poll. All other numbers are taken from the January/February poll. 1 Respondents in India could choose to complete the survey in Hindi and respondents in Kenya could chose Swahili, but in both cases the vast majority selected an English survey. 2 From 2012 to 2020 we filtered out respondents who said that they had not consumed any news in the past month. From 2021 we included this group, which generally has lower interest in news. In previous years this group averaged around 2–3% of the starting sample in each market, meaning that the decision to include it has not affected comparative results in any significant way. Some figures have been affected by one or two points in the UK, USA, and Australia, and we have taken this into account when interpreting year-on-year change. 6 / 7

Authorship and Research Acknowledgements

Nic Newman is a Senior Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and is also a consultant on digital media, working actively with news companies on product, audience, and business strategies for digital transition. He writes an annual report for the Institute on future media and technology trends.

Dr Richard Fletcher is a Senior Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and leads the research team. He is primarily interested in global trends in digital news consumption, the use of social media by journalists and news organisations, and more broadly, the relationship between computer-based technologies and journalism.

Dr Anne Schulz is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. She is researching questions surrounding news audiences and digital news with a focus on local news, social media, news literacy, and trust. Her research is anchored in the fields of journalism studies, political communication, and media psychology.

Dr Simge Andı is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Her doctoral work explored online misinformation, mainly focusing on the sharing of false information via social media. She uses survey and experimental data to study the consumption and sharing of news.

Dr Craig T. Robertson is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism whose interests include news trust and credibility, fact-checking and verification, and how both partisan attitudes and epistemic beliefs factor into these domains.

Prof. Rasmus Kleis Nielsen is Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Professor of Political Communication at the University of Oxford, and served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Press/Politics from 2015 to 2018. His work focuses on changes in the news media, political communication, and the role of digital technologies in both.

Market-level commentary and additional insight around media developments have been provided by academic partners and by our network of Reuters Journalist Fellows around the world.3 RISJ Senior Research Associate Dr David Levy did invaluable work editing and developing many of the country profiles in this year’s report. Additional expert analysis and interpretation of the survey data were provided by the team at YouGov, in particular, Charlotte Clifford, Lucie Larboulette, David Eastbury, Mark Pellatt, and Kulvir Channa.

3 Reuters Fellowships offer an opportunity to mid-career journalists to spend time researching an aspect of journalism for one or more terms at the Institute in Oxford. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 8 8 / 9

SECTION 1 Executive Summary and Key Findings

Nic Newman Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 10

More than a year after it began, the Coronavirus A SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT pandemic continues to cast a dark cloud over the FINDINGS FROM OUR 2021 RESEARCH health of our communities – as well as that of • Trust in the news has grown, on average, by six percentage the news industry. The crisis – complete with points in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic with 44% of our lockdowns and other restrictions – has hastened total sample saying they trust most news most of the time. This reverses, to some extent, recent falls in average trust bringing the demise of printed newspapers, further levels back to those of 2018. Finland remains the country with impacting the bottom line for many once proud the highest levels of overall trust (65%), and the USA now has and independent media companies. Our country the lowest levels (29%) in our survey. pages this year are full of stories of journalistic • At the same time, trust in news from search and social has remained broadly stable. This means that the trust gap lay-offs as advertisers take fright in the face of a between the news in general and that found in aggregated global economic downturn. New business models environments has grown with audiences seemingly placing such as subscription and membership have been a greater premium on accurate and reliable news sources. accelerated by the crisis, as we document in this • In a number of countries, especially those with strong and year’s report. But in most cases, this has still independent public service media, we have seen greater consumption of trusted news brands. The pattern is less clear not come anywhere near making up for lost outside Western Europe, in countries where the Coronavirus income elsewhere. crisis has dominated the media agenda less, or where other political and social issues have played a bigger role. And yet this crisis has also shown the value of accurate and • Television news has continued to perform strongly in some reliable information at a time when lives are at stake. In many countries, but print newspapers have seen a further sharp countries we see audiences turning to trusted brands – in decline almost everywhere as lockdowns impacted physical addition to ascribing a greater confidence in the media in distribution, accelerating the shift towards a mostly general. The gap between the ‘best and the rest’ has grown, as digital future. has the trust gap between the news media and social media. Of course, these trends are not universal and this year’s report • While many remain very engaged, we find signs that others also exposes worrying inequalities in both consumption and are turning away from the news media and in some cases trust with the young, women, people from ethnic minorities, avoiding news altogether. Interest in news has fallen sharply and political partisans often feeling less fairly represented in the United States following the election of President Biden by the media. – especially with right-leaning groups.

The Capitol Hill riot in the United States and the global spread • Elsewhere, we find that the media are seen to be representing of false information and conspiracy theories about Coronavirus young people (especially young women), political partisans, have further focused minds on where people are getting their and – at least in the US – people from minority ethnic groups news, which is why we have undertaken detailed research this less fairly. These findings will give added urgency to those who year on understanding the role of different social networks for are arguing for more diverse and inclusive newsrooms. news and the complex ways in which they are being used to • Despite more options to read and watch partisan news, the spread misleading and false information around the world. majority of our respondents (74%) say they still prefer news that reflects a range of views and letsthem decide what to This tenth edition of our Digital News Report, based on data think. Most also think that news outlets should try to be from six continents and 46 markets, aims to cast light on the neutral on every issue (66%), though some younger groups key issues that face the industry at a time of deep uncertainty think that ‘impartiality’ may not be appropriate or desirable and rapid change. Our more global sample, which includes in some cases, for example, on social justice issues. India, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Colombia, and Peru for the first time, provides a deeper understanding of how differently • The use of social media for news remains strong, especially the news environment operates outside the United States with younger people and those with lower levels of education. and Europe and we have tried to find new ways to reflect this, Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have become whilst recognising that differences in internet penetration and especially popular in the Global South, creating most concern education will make some comparisons less meaningful. The when it comes to spreading misinformation about Coronavirus. overall story is captured in this Executive Summary, followed by • Global concerns about false and misleading information have Section 2 with chapters containing additional analysis and then edged slightly higher this year, ranging from 82% in Brazil to individual country and market pages in Section 3 with extra data just 37% in Germany. Those who use social media are more and industry context. likely to say they have been exposed to misinformation about Coronavirus than non-users. Facebook is seen as the main channel for spreading false information almost everywhere but messaging apps like WhatsApp are seen as a bigger problem in parts of the Global South such as Brazil and Indonesia. 10 / 11

• Our data suggest that mainstream news brands and CHANGING NEWS CONSUMPTION AND THE journalists attract most attention around news in both IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS Facebook and Twitter but are eclipsed by influencers and alternative sources in networks like TikTok, Snapchat, and The pandemic has affected markets at different times and to Instagram. TikTok now reaches a quarter (24%) of under- different degrees. Our polling was conducted when the UK and 35s, with 7% using the platform for news – and a higher Ireland were in full lockdown, the United States and Brazil were penetration in parts of Latin America and Asia. operating under state-by-state rules, while Australia, Taiwan, and Japan were mostly free of internal restrictions. Common patterns • We have seen significant increases in payment for online may be hard to discern, but it is instructive to look at parts of news in a small number of richer Western countries, but the the world that have been badly and collectively affected. In this overall percentage of people paying for online news remains respect, Western Europe provides a good case study. low. Across 20 countries where publishers have been pushing for more online payment, 17% have paid for any online news Across a number of European countries we find that consumption in the last year – up two percentage points. Norway continues of television news is significantly higher than a year ago when no to lead the way with 45% (+3) followed by Sweden (30%), 100%restrictions on movement were in place. This is not surprising, Denmark the United States (21%), Finland (20%), the Netherlands given that so many people have been stuck at home, but has (17%), and Switzerland (17%). There has been less progress in reaffirmed the importance of a medium that is accessible, easy to Norway France (11%), Germany (9%), and the United Kingdom (8%). consume, reaches a wide range of demographics, and is mostly Spain • In most countries a large proportion of digital subscriptions well trusted. Twenty-four-hour news channels such as Sky News 75% Ireland go to just a few big national brands, reinforcing the winner (+5 percentage points) in the UK and n-tv (+6pp) in Germany are takes most dynamics that we have reported in the past. But amongst the brands to have benefited. France in the United States and Norway we do find that up to half I was watching the press conferences on n-tv almost Germany of those paying are now taking out additional subscriptions, every lunchtime. And, okay the Corona thing has calmed often to local or regional newspaper brands. REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS UK 50%down a bit, but just being in my home-office means you 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 • More widely, though, we find that the value of traditional Slidehave more 2 opportunities to have a quick look. local and regional news media is increasingly confined to a F, 56, Germany focus group small number of subjects such as local politics and crime. Other internet sites and search engines are considered best for a range of other local information including weather, PROPORTION THAT USED TV NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK (2013-21) – SELECTED MARKETS housing, jobs, and ‘things to do’ that used to be part of what local news media bundled together. UK Germany France Ireland Spain Norway Denmark

100% • Access to news continues to become more distributed. Across Coronavirus Denmark all markets, just a quarter (25%) prefer to start their news 85% 84% 27% journeys with a website or app. Those aged 18–24 (so-called 82% 69% Norway 75% 79% 68% 68% 24% Generation Z) have an even weaker connection with websites 72% 67% 64% Spain and apps and are almost twice as likely to prefer to access 63% 60% news via social media, aggregators, or mobile alerts. 50% Ireland • While mobile aggregators play a relatively small part in the France 25% media eco-system of Western countries, they have a powerful Germany position in many Asian markets. In India, Indonesia, South UK Korea, and Thailand a range of human- and AI-powered 0% apps like Daily Hunt, Smart News, Naver, and Line Today are 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 playing an important new role in news discovery. Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? Base: • More widely, the use of smartphone for news (73%) has Total 2013–21 samples in each market (most n ≈ 2000). Note: No data for 2014 due to a scripting error in the survey. grown at its fastest rate for many years, with dependence also growing through Coronavirus lockdowns. Use of laptop and desktop computers and tablets for news is stable or In some of these countries, there has been an even bigger switch falling, while the penetration of smart speakers remains in underlying preference (main source) towards TV and away from limited in most countries – especially for news. online. In the UK, the proportion selecting TV news as main source • Growth in podcasts has slowed, in part due to the impact of was up to 36% (+7pp) and in Ireland 41% (+8pp). In both countries we restrictions on movement. This is despite some high-profile see increased TV reliance across age groups, though older people, of news launches and more investment via tech platforms. Our course, still have a much greater underlying preference for TV news. data show Spotify continuing to gain ground over Apple and It would be wrong to over-emphasise any temporary bump Google podcasts in a number of countries and YouTube also in TV consumption given the longer term shift towards digital benefiting from the popularity of video-based and hybrid sources but it is a reminder of the continuing draw of video-based podcasts. storytelling as well as the strength of traditional news brands. But perhaps the most striking finding around consumption has been the extent to which people have placed a premium on reliable news sources in general, not just on TV. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS 12 Slide 4

Trusted brands also do better online PROPORTION THAT USED SELECTED PSBs ONLINE IN THE LAST WEEK It is important to note that our last survey captured a moment in time pre-pandemic (January 2020), and a year later in January Online 2020-2021 2021 we captured another, when the impact of Coronavirus reach change varied across countries. In the intervening time we know that most news brands reported at various times vastly increased NRK News (Norway) 42% +8 usage – especially during the first months of the crisis. Our data, a year on, perhaps show which brands may have held onto those YLE (Finland) 44% +5 gains most effectively, giving a hint of more lasting changes.

In our analysis of fourteen European countries (listed underneath SVT (Sweden) 34% +3 the chart below), we note that some of the most trusted news organisations – including commercial and public media brands – RTÉ News (Ireland) 41% +8 have retained quite significant extra online audiences in terms of online reach. On average, brands with lower trust scores have done less well by comparison. This trend is strongest in Sweden, BBC News (UK) 46% +1 Austria, Ireland, and Norway, a little less so in Finland – perhaps because all big brands are relatively well trusted there. Average of 18 PSBs across 14 countries 28% +3

Looking across our data, although the overall link between trust Q5b. Which of the following brands have you used to access news online in the last week (via and increased reach is weak, the key beneficiaries in terms of websites, apps, social media, and other forms of internet access)? Base: Total samples 2020-21 samples in each market (n ≈ 2000). weekly use seem to be big commercial and public service news brands – especially those that already had a reputation for reliable online news. This means brands like VG in Norway (+9pp), TV2 These gains have not been generally reflected in countries in Denmark (+8pp), and MTV News (+7pp) in Finland. Others where public broadcasters are less well trusted. Outside Europe that have done better than average include The Irish Times (+7pp), we also find examples of PSBs that have enhanced their reach Der Standard in Austria (+5pp), and Le Soir in Belgium (+4pp). during this crisis, including ABC in Australia. This has given Many of these changes have come in markets where the overall a boost to a sector whose legitimacy and funding have been consumption of online news has not increased overall year-on-year. threatened by a combination of changing consumer behaviour and attacks by populist and right-wing politicians. Before the Public service media websites have performed particularly well, crisis, for example, Boris Johnson’s Conservative government perhaps because they have been able to use their reach via TV in the UK was considering turning the BBC into a subscription REUTERSand radio INSTITUTE to promote FOR THEmore STUDY detailed OF JOURNALISM information / EXECUTIVE online. SUMMARYPublic GRAPHSoperation, now MPs are recommending any change to funding Slidemedia websites 3 have provided extensive local breakdowns of arrangements should be shelved until at least 2038.4 Coronavirus data, alongside fact-checking and other explanations.

CHANGE IN ONLINE REACH FOR SELECTED OUTLETS BY AUDIENCE TRUST – SELECTED MARKETS

Change in online reach (2020-21)

Higher trust: oen public broadcasters or SRF (CHE) +10pp commercial brands VG (NOR) with long history of Irish Times (IRL) accurate news

Observador (PRT) Yle (FIN) +5pp

Lower trust: -5pp oen popular brands or those with partisan reputation % that trust 2021 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Q5b. Which of the following brands have you used to access news online in the last week (via websites, apps, social media, and other forms of internet access)?Q6_2018_trust. How trustworthy would you say news from the following brands is? Base: Total 2020–21 samples in selected markets (n ≈ 2000). Note: The association between 2021 trust and change in online reach (2021-20) was tested using a multilevel model to account for clustering within countries (b = .06, p = .01). Included markets are UK, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

4 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/mar/25/television-licence-fee-preferred-option-fund-bbc-2038-mps 12 / 13

INTEREST FLAGS IN ‘DEPRESSING’ CORONAVIRUS More than a year on, intense interest in the subject appears to be NEWS FOR SOME waning, with many in our focus groups saying they often find the news repetitive, confusing, and even depressing. Interest in news has risen in some countries that have been badly affected by the crisis. It is also higher in people whose lives have I must admit that first of all I started watching it, really REUTERSbeen directly INSTITUTE impacted, FOR THE but STUDY on average OF JOURNALISM across /countries EXECUTIVE we SUMMARY find GRAPHS engrossed in it, and then as time went on, I found it that levels of interest (59%) have not risen over the last year – quite depressing so I just cut it off. Slidewith young 5 people and those with lower education still paying F, 30, UK focus group less attention. I’ve consumed less TV and radio because if it’s consistently COVID, COVID, COVID, or consistently PROPORTION VERY OR EXTREMELY INTERESTED IN NEWS political fluff, then I just turn it off. BY COVID-19 IMPACT, AGE, AND EDUCATION – ALL MARKETS M, 58, US focus group 100% Impacted Under 35 Low Little impact 35 and over Medium United States a special case High Little impact 75% In some countries, lower interest may be as much to do with 67 Impacted 61 63 changed politics as the Coronavirus crisis itself. Interest in the 56 55 50% 52 51 news in the United States has declined by 11 percentage points in the last year to just 55%. To some extent this is not surprising as 25% our poll was conducted after the turbulent events on Capitol Hill REUTERSin January INSTITUTE and the FOR departure THE STUDY of OFDonald JOURNALISM Trump. / ButEXECUTIVE our data SUMMARY show GRAPHS signs that many former Trump supporters may be switching away 0% Slide 7 Impacted by By age By education from news altogether. Almost all of this fall in interest came from COVID-19 those on the political right.

Q1c. How interested, if at all, would you say you are in news? Coronaimpact. Thinking about all aspects of your life, how much, if at all, has the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation changed things for you personally? Education. What is your highest level of education? If you are PROPORTION VERY OR EXTREMELY INTERESTED IN NEWS currently in full-time education please put your highest qualification to date. Base: Impacted BY POLITICAL LEANING (2020-21) – USA by COVID-19/Little impacted; U35/35+; Low education/Medium/High: All markets = 67,342/20,444; 29,137/63,235; 13,056/39,945/39,371. 100% 2020 2021 2021

2020 If we take a longer term perspective, we actually see a decline in 75% 78 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS 77 74 -17 news interest in a number of countries – despite the turbulent Many on the right Slide 3 times in which we live. The proportion that says they are very or 50% 57 have lost interest in extremely interested has fallen by an average of five percentage news a er the end of Donald Trump’s REUTERSpoints since INSTITUTE 2016 FOR– with THE a STUDY17 percentage OF JOURNALISM point /drop EXECUTIVE in Spain SUMMARY and GRAPHS presidency the UK, 12 points in Italy and Australia, and eight in France and 25% CHANGE IN ONLINE REACH FOR SELECTED OUTLETS BY AUDIENCE TRUST – SELECTED MARKETS SlideJapan. There 6 has been little or no decline in countries such as

Change in online reach (2020-21) Germany and the Netherlands. 0% Le aligned Right aligned Higher trust: oen public broadcasters or SRF (CHE) PROPORTION VERY OR EXTREMELY INTERESTED IN NEWS Q1c. How interested, if at all, would you say you are in news? Base: Left/Right in the US: 2020 = 507/458; 2021 = 429/446. +10pp commercial brands VG (NOR) (2016-21) – SPAIN, GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, 24 MARKETS with long history of Irish Times (IRL) accurate news Germany Spain Australia 24 markets Observador (PRT) 100% Since January,All right-leaning TV networks in the US such as Fox Yle (FIN) +5pp 84% News haveAustralia lost a significant chunk of their audience but so too 75% 71% 67% have liberal outlets like CNN. Some commentators have long 63% 67% Spain 63% 58% predicted that ‘Journalism’s Trump bump might be giving way to a 5 50% 51% slump’, asGermany online ratings also fell dramatically in February 2021. 0 Decline in interest in mainstream news remains a huge challenge 25% at a time when societies are facing such a set of existential threats to health and prosperity. The challenge for media companies 0% is how to re-engage that interest without dumbing down or Lower trust: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 -5pp oen popular resorting to sensationalism, which in turn can damage trust. brands or those with partisan Q1c. How interested, if at all, would you say you are in news? Base: Total 2016-21 samples in reputation each market (most n ≈ 2000). Note: Includes 24 markets that were part of our survey in 2016, % that trust 2021 excluding Turkey and Brazil due to changes in panel composition in that time. 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

5 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/media-trump-bump-slump/2021/03/22/5f13549a-85d1-11eb-bfdf-4d36dab83a6d_story.html Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 14

CORONAVIRUS ANOTHER ‘NAIL IN THE COFFIN’ PAYING FOR NEWS AND THE SHIFT TO READER FOR PRINT REVENUE

Print publications have been badly affected by COVID-19, partly The last year has also seen more quality journalism go behind due to restrictions on movement and partly due to the associated paywalls, as print and digital-born publishers turn to subscription, hit to advertising revenue. Countries that have traditionally membership, and donations to reduce their reliance on REUTERShad high INSTITUTE levels of FORcirculation, THE STUDY such OF JOURNALISM as Germany, / EXECUTIVE Austria, and SUMMARY GRAPHSadvertising – which online continues to go primarily to Google Switzerland, have seen some of the biggest falls. Concerns about and Facebook. El País in Spain, El Tiempo in Colombia, and News Slidecontamination 8 from printed copies sold at newsstands affected 24 in South Africa are amongst those to have started their paywall daily sales in many countries. journeys in the midst of the pandemic.

Overall progress remains slow. Across 20 countries where PROPORTION THAT USED PRINTED NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK publishers have been actively pushing digital subscriptions, and (2016-21) – SELECTED MARKETS that we have been tracking since 2016, we find 17% saying that

Switzerland Poland Portugal Brazil Germany they have paid for some kind of online news in the last year (via 75% subscription, donation, or one-off payment). That’s up by two Coronavirus percentageGermany points in the last year and up five since 2016 (12%). 63% 27% DespiteBrazil this, it is important to note that the vast majority of consumers in these countries continue to resist paying for any 24% 50% 47% onlinePortugal news. 40% 38% 37% Poland 32% We find most success in a small number of wealthy countries 27% 25% 26% with aSwitzerland long history of high levels of print newspaper subscriptions, 17% such as Norway 45% (+3), Sweden 30% (+3), Switzerland 17% 12% REUTERS(+4), and INSTITUTE the Netherlands FOR THE STUDY 17% (+3). OF JOURNALISM Around a fifth / EXECUTIVE (21%) SUMMARY now pay GRAPHS for at least one online news outlet in the United States, 20% in 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 SlideFinland, and 9 13% in Australia. By contrast, just 9% say they pay in Germany and 8% in the UK. SELECTED OTHER CHANGES (2020-21):

Market US 16% (-4) Sweden 26% South Korea 18% PROPORTION THAT PAID FOR ANY ONLINE NEWS IN THE LAST YEAR – SELECTED MARKETS UK 15% (-7) Finland 31% (-6) Taiwan 19% France 14% Austria 45% (-6) Philippines 16% (-6) Italy 18% (-4) Argentina 20% (-3) Kenya 36% (-11) Spain 26% (-8) Mexico 21% (-5) South Africa 32% (-5) Ireland 28% (-4) Australia 20% (-5) 28% (+2) Norway 21% (-4) Japan 27% Netherlands Average in Nordic Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? Base: Total 17% countries pay 2013–21 samples in each market (most n ≈ 2000). Note: If no year-on-year change is shown there is no (+3) statistically significant difference between 2020 and 2021.

USA Norway 45% (+3) The crisis has had a devastating impact on freesheets that are 21% Sweden 30% (+3) mainly distributed to commuters on public transport. In the Finland 20% UK, for example, distribution of both Metro and the Standard Denmark 16% fell by around 40% year-on-year according to industry data. More widely, the impact of Coronavirus is driving more industry consolidation but also accelerating plans for digital and workflow SELECTED OTHER MARKETS: transformation.6 As one example, News Corp Australia suspended Poland 18% Canada 13% France 11% the print editions of 112 suburban and regional mastheads, axing Switzerland 17% (+4) Italy 13% (+3) Japan 10% almost 1,000 jobs. Our country pages document how both local and national publications have been affected by furloughs, layoffs, Belgium 16% (+4) Spain 12% Germany 9% and closures, reducing the ability to inform citizens at a time of Ireland 16% (+4) Austria 12% UK 8% greatest need. Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service in the last year? (This could be a digital subscription, combined digital/print subscription or one-off payment for an article or app or e-edition). Base: Total 2021 sample in each market (n ≈ 2000). For further information on the impact on jobs and mastheads Note: If no year-on-year change is shown there is no statistically significant difference between 2020 see section 3: Country and Market Data and 2021.

6 https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/journalism-media-and-technology-trends-and-predictions-2021 14 / 15

The following chart provides more background on the development In Germany, which has long had a more competitive market with of paid content in some of these 20 markets. It shows, for example, strong regional titles reaching a significant national audience, how divisive elections can produce a bump in subscriptions; the pie is more evenly split between a range of national titles, after the election of Donald Trump in 2016, we saw a surge of including the tabloid Bild as well as the up-market Der Spiegel, new subscriptions to publications like the New York Times and Die Zeit, FAZ, and Süddeutsche Zeitung, while in Spain we find a Washington Post. Progress has been faster in Norway and Sweden, mix of national titles and smaller digital-born outlets pursuing partly because they are small markets protected by language, but membership models. also because a limited number of digitally committed publishers have almost all sought to charge for online news. More recently, One striking finding from our survey this year is the difference in contribution made by local and regional publications across across countries, publishers have added or tightened paywalls, REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS using data to target new customers and linking messaging to countries. In Norway, 57% of subscribers pay for one or more local the importance of trusted content. These approaches may have Slideoutlets in digital11 form. This compares with 23% in the United helped drive recent increases in countries such as Switzerland States, but just 3% in the United Kingdom. and the Netherlands. COVID-19 may also have contributed to the REUTERSperceived INSTITUTE value of FOR some THE quality STUDY OF journalism. JOURNALISM But / EXECUTIVE in countries SUMMARY such GRAPHS as France and the UK the headline rate has been hard to shift, PROPORTION OF ONGOING DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERS THAT PAY Slideeven if a handful 10 of publishers are attracting new subscribers FOR SELECTED BRANDS – USA, UK, NORWAY running into tens of thousands. USA

PROPORTION THAT PAID FOR ANY ONLINE NEWS IN THE LAST New York Times 31 YEAR (2016-21) – SELECTED MARKETS Washington Post 24 USA UK France Japan Netherlands Wall Street Journal 7 Norway Sweden 20 Market Average Local, regional and city papers/websites 23 Coronavirus bumps 0% 25% 50% 75% in some countries Median number of subscriptions = 2 50% More/tighter Average age of subscribers = 50-55 paywalls 45% Sweden 27% Norway Swedish 24% Trump elections UK bump 30% 20 Market Average 27% 25% NetherlandsThe Telegraph 20 21% 20% The Times 19 17% Japan 12% 12% 12% 17% 11% 11% The Guardian 16 9% 10% France 7% 8% Local, regional and 3 city papers/websitesUK 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 0% 25% 50% 75% USA Median number of subscriptions = 1 Q7a. Have you paid for ONLINE news content, or accessed a paid for ONLINE news service Average age of digital subscribers = 50-55 in the last year? (This could be a digital subscription, combined digital/print subscription, or one-off payment for an article or app or e-edition.) Base: Total 2016-21 samples in each market (most n ≈ 2000). Note: 20 market average includes USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Norway Australia, Japan, Poland.

VG (Verdens Gang) 19 Aftenposten 16 Subscription winners around the world Dagbladet 13 This year we asked respondents in a number of countries to tell Local, regional and 57 us how many subscriptions they have taken out and which news city papers/websites brands they pay for. 0% 25% 50% 75% Median number of subscriptions = 1 We have previously highlighted a winner takes most dynamic and Average age of digital subscribers = 50-55 it is a similar story this year. Getting on for half of all subscribers Q7_subs_name. You said you have paid a subscription/membership to one or more digital news in the United States (45%) pay for one of the New York Times, services in the last year … Please enter the name of the news subscription you value most, Washington Post, or Wall Street Journal, according to our data. In followed by your supplementary subscriptions. Base: All that paid for a subscription/membership to a digital news service in the last year: Norway = 656; USA = 336; UK = 125. the UK, The Times, Telegraph and Guardian account for over half (52%) of those who currently pay, while in Finland, we find that almost half of subscribers (48%) pay for just one publication, the leading broadsheet Helsingin Sanomat. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 16

Sweden (37%) and Finland (31%) also have a high take-up for Multiple subscriptions are becoming more common in mature local publications amongst subscribers. These data give us much markets better insights into why subscription levels in Nordic countries, and to some extent in the United States, are so much higher than Across our sample, the majority of those paying take out just one elsewhere – namely the contribution of local and regional news. subscription, but in the United States the median is now two. In English-speaking countries such as Australia and Ireland we This means just over half of those paying take out subscriptions find a significant proportion of subscribers paying for foreign to more than one title. This may be because in the US there is titles such as the New York Times and The Times of London, often now an increasingly wide range of subscription and membership REUTERSat a discounted INSTITUTE rate. FOR In THE terms STUDY of OF demographics, JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVEthose taking SUMMARY out GRAPHSoptions from large publishers and local papers – as well as for online news subscriptions tend to be richer, more educated, and individual journalists (e.g. Substack newsletters or ‘channel Slideolder, with 12an average age ranging from 40-45 in Spain to over 55 memberships’ to YouTube creators). A growing minority of in Denmark. Americans, we find, now combine a national publication with a local provider or with a specialist publisher of some kind. Aggregators like Apple News+ are also playing a part. PROFILE OF ONGOING DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERS – Elsewhere, we find respondents combining a national title SELECTED MARKETS with an international one such as the New York Times, often at a discounted price. Country Median Average age Subscribe Subscribe Example number of subscriber to local to foreign If I want to live in a free and democratic society, national titles subscriptions (ongoing titles titles payment) I believe it is my duty as a citizen to support a free, independent, and fact-based press and media. Australia Sydney Morning Herald, 1 50-55 30% 15% M, 58, US Herald Sun Subscribes to nine publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Indianapolis Star, The Economist, Austria ProPublica, and the Guardian Kronen Zeitung, 1 45-50 13% 11% Der Standard Each provides a different perspective about different Canada topics and fills different needs. They tend to provide Globe & Mail, 1 50-55 9% 27% accurate or alternative viewpoints. Toronto Star M, 58, US Denmark Subscribes to Wall Street Journal, The Athletic (Sport) Berlingske, 1 55-60 25% 5% Centre Daily Times (Pennsylvania), and the National Review Politiken (conservative opinion magazine/website) France Le Monde, 1 45-50 15% 7% Different [publications have different] strengths – Mediapart Daily Telegraph for sports, New York Times for US news.

Finland M, 62, UK Helsingin Sanomat, 1 45-50 31% 4% Aamulehti The pattern of multiple subscriptions seems similar to the way in which video-on-demand streaming services have developed, Germany with a minority of the most interested taking out multiple Bild, 1 45-50 31% 8% subscriptions, or combining a dedicated premium subscription Der Spiegel product (e.g. Netflix, Disney+) with a subscription to an aggregator Ireland or bigger bundle (e.g. Amazon Prime or YouTube Premium). Irish Times, 1 40-45 1% 20% Irish Independent Future prospects Italy Corriere della Sera, 1 50-55 14% 3% Subscriptions are beginning to work for some publishers but it is La Repubblica not clear that they will work for all consumers. Most people are Netherlands not interested enough in news, or do not have sufficient disposable De Telegraaf, 1 45-50 16% 5% income to prioritise news over other parts of their life. Others may AD, Volkskrant resist because they enjoy being able to pick from multiple sources Sweden and do not wish to be confined to one or two publications. Aftonbladet, 1 50-55 37% 2% Dagens Nyheter It’s online now. You’ve got Apps. It’s literally everywhere so the need to pay for it, I don’t really see it. Spain El Pais, El Mundo, 1 40-45 15% 11% F, 25, UK focus group elDiario.es

Q7_subs_name. You said you have paid a subscription/membership to one or more digital news services in the last year … Please enter the name of the news subscription you value most, followed by your supplementary subscriptions. Base: All that paid for a subscription/membership to a digital news service in the last year; range: Germany = 143 to Sweden = 431. REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE16 SUMMARY/ 17 GRAPHS Slide 14

I can get all the information that I need with the PROPORTION OF LOCAL NEWS USERS THAT THINK EACH aggregator App that I use. My life revolves around IS BEST FOR THAT TOPIC – UK my phone and whenever I have a free moment, I quickly check the news and don’t see the need for any Local TV Local Newspaper Social media subscriptions. Local Radio Search/other website Local govt./politician M, 54, Germany focus group

Local 16 There are a few places lately where I’ve wanted to look crime [news] up, but it’s locked [behind a paywall]. But I’m 6 Local government/politician not tempted to pay for it. I’ll just not read it. 35 M, 26, US focus group 10 22 Amongst those who are not paying, just a small minority say 0 they are likely to do so in the future for online publications that they like. Rates are higher in countries that are already some way down the line (16% in Norway) when compared with those 16 Local Social media politics that aren’t (8% in the UK) which suggests that (a) there is still 5 some room for growth even in mature markets, and (b) abundant 30 supply of free news, whether from commercial or public service 14 providers, is a key factor for some of those not currently paying. 14 12 THE FUTURE OF LOCAL MEDIA Internet site/search engine 22 The finding that some people in some countries are prepared Covid-19 to pay for local news in digital form will be encouraging to 8 those who worry about the sustainability of local news media. 17 A Poynter analysis found that, since Coronavirus began, more 26 than 60 local news organisations in the United States have 12 shuttered or temporarily closed.7 But our survey also shows 4 the extent of the disruption suffered by local media driven Local newspaper in large part by internet platforms – and the scale of the challenge they now face. Things 6 to do 3 While people still think of newspapers as the best destination 18 for local politics, in other areas search engines, internet 29 marketplaces, or social media are now considered better or 26 more convenient. Looking at the UK as one example (see chart 1 right), audiences are more likely to use search engines and Local radio other internet sites as the best place to access weather or local jobs information, along with social media for recommendations Weather 23 about ‘things to do’. Newspapers are not even the primary location for information about COVID-19, which has become 7 easily accessed via a data visualisation in Google search results, 8 from a social media feed, or from an official government 47 website. By contrast, in Norway, local newspapers are seen as 6 the ‘go-to’ source for politics (71%), crime (73%), Coronavirus 1 Local TV news (53%), and things to do (46%). Only for weather and local jobs do Norwegians find greater convenience with internet sites or search engines (see chart overleaf). By this measure, Local 7 Norwegians value their local newspapers more than twice as jobs 3 much as the British in every category. 14 57 11 1

0% 25% 50% 75%

7 https://www.poynter.org/locally/2021/the-coronavirus-has-closed-more-than-60-local-newsrooms-across-america-and-counting/ REUTERSReuters Institute INSTITUTE for the FOR Study THE of Journalism STUDY OF JOURNALISM/ Digital News / EXECUTIVE Report 2021 SUMMARY GRAPHS 18 Slide 13

PROPORTION OF LOCAL NEWS USERS THAT THINK EACH Our research this year also shows a link between how attached IS BEST FOR THAT TOPIC – NORWAY people are to their local community and levels of local news consumption. Respondents in both Austria and Switzerland Local TV Local Newspaper Social media are amongst those countries that feel most strongly attached Local Radio Search/other website Local govt./politician and – like Norway – these are also countries where local news consumption tends to be higher and the value of local newspapers is more keenly felt. There may be many reasons for Local 8 crime this, including geography, language, demographic make-up, or the 3 REUTERSextentLocal of INSTITUTEgovernment/politician political FORcontrol THE STUDYthat is OF exercised JOURNALISM at a / local EXECUTIVE level. SUMMARY It is a GRAPHS 73 Slidedifferent story15 in the UK (48% attached) and Japan (37%), which 6 both have more centralised political systems and where more 6 people live in big cities. 1 PROPORTION THAT FEELS VERY OR SOMEWHAT ATTACHED TO THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITY – SELECTED MARKETS 7 Local Social media politics 4 More attached Less attached 71 Austria 76% UK 48% 5 Switzerland 70% Japan 37% 4 Norway 69% Colombia 33% 5 Germany 64% Peru 32%

L5_attached_2021. In general, how attached do you feel to your local community, that is, the peopleInternet who live site/searchin your city district, engine town, or village?Base: Total sample in each market (n ≈ 2000). Covid-19 8 Note: Showing ‘Very attached’ and ‘Somewhat attached’. 3 53 16 None of this is to suggest that publishers in countries with more 8 attachment are not also suffering from the impact of digital 4 disruption. We see blind spots and decline in most markets, but the fact that local newspapers in Norway are still valued for a Local newspaper bundle of different information services gives them a stronger Things 5 chance of persuading people to pay for online news. In the UK, by to do 2 contrast, where internet and social media sites play a bigger role 46 in media diets, there is more competition from local TV, and 14 getting people to pay has proved much harder. 24 For further analysis see section 2.3: Local News Unbundled: 3 WhereLocal Audience radio Value Still Lies

Weather 10 SHOULD GOVERNMENTS STEP IN? 5 28 Though many publishers, policy makers, and academics worry 46 about the future of local (and national) media, our report this year 5 suggests that most ordinary people don’t share these concerns. Across countries, only around a third (31%) were aware that many 1 Local TV commercial news outlets were less profitable than they were a decade ago and the majority (53%) are not worried about this.

Local 3 Just a quarter (27%) would support any government intervention jobs 4 to help commercial media, with another three in ten (29%) not having a view on the issue. 33 40 Only in a very small number of countries, such as Portugal, where 10 the media have been especially hard hit by structural change, do 2 we find more support than opposition (41%/35%) to the use of public money to help commercial media. Support is particularly low in Denmark (16%) and Sweden (22%), two countries with 0% 25% 50% 75% longstanding government subsidy schemes for commercial L7_sources_2021. You said you have accessed local news and information about the following media. It is lowest in the UK (11%) – which may help explain why a topic in the last week … Which sources offers the best information for you on this topic?Base: All in each market that follows each topic; Norway range: Local jobs = 320 to COVID-19 = 1,173. review proposing more funding for public-interest journalism has effectively been shelved.8

8 The Cairncross Review (Feb. 2019) made nine recommendations about the sustainability of the UK news industry. https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/government-response-cairncross- review-institute-news-save-uk-journalism/ REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS 18 / 19 Slide 16

PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMMERCIAL MEDIA We can speculate that this higher trust in the news – and in the FINANCING – 33 MARKETS sources people use themselves – could be related to extensive coverage of Coronavirus. This may have made the news seem more straightforward and fact-based at the same time as squeezing out more partisan political news in some countries. TheREUTERS United INSTITUTE States FORis clearly THE STUDY an exception OF JOURNALISM following / EXECUTIVE deep divisions SUMMARY GRAPHS Slideover a ‘stolen 18 election’ and the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. The US is one of the few countries not to have seen an 31% 53% 27% increase in trust this year. are aware that news are not concerned would support is less profitable about financial state government these days of commercial stepping in to help PROPORTION THAT TRUSTS MOST NEWS MOST OF THE TIME news media – ALL MARKETS

Q. Financing1_2021. How concerned are you, if at all, about the financial state of commercial news organisations in your country? Financing2_2021. To the best of your knowledge, which of Northern Finland 65 the following best describes the financial state of commercial news organisations in your country? Europe Denmark 59 Q. Financing3_2021. Should the government step in to help commercial news organisations that can’t make enough money on their own? Base: Total sample in 33 markets: 66,120. Note: We did not Norway 57 ask questions on commercial news media financing in Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, South Ireland 53 Africa, Kenya, Philippines, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Peru and Thailand. Sweden 50 UK 36 Some governments have offered temporary support for publishers Western Netherlands 59 during the Coronavirus crisis in the form of furloughs, handouts, and Europe Belgium 54 tax relief, but it is not clear that there is currently public support for Germany 53 larger and more permanent interventions. There will be pressure Switzerland 51 to support many different parts of the economy over the next few Austria 46 years, especially health systems and education. Given the low France 30 levels of public awareness of the challenges facing the business of Southern Portugal 61 news, and low levels of support for government intervention – and Europe Croatia 45 more broadly low levels of trust in news in many countries – it is not Turkey 41 clear that it will be politically attractive to prioritise supporting Italy 40 journalism at the expense of other priorities that enjoy greater Spain 36 public awareness and support. Greece 32 Eastern Poland 48 For further analysis see section 2.4: How do People Think about Europe Romania 42 the Financing of the Commercial News Media? Czech Republic 36 Bulgaria 32 Slovakia 30 TRUST IS UP AND SO ARE TRUST GAPS Hungary 30 Kenya 61 Overall trust in the news (44%) has rebounded strongly (+6) Africa Nigeria 54 over the last year in almost all countries – as has trust in the South Africa 52 sources people use most often themselves, which is up four points to 50%. Finland remains the country with the highest Asia-Pacific Thailand 50 levels of trust (65%), having increased by nine points, while Singapore 45 Australia 43 REUTERSthe US now INSTITUTE has the FOR lowest THE STUDY levels OF (29%).JOURNALISM We also / EXECUTIVE find a growingSUMMARY GRAPHS Japan 42 trust gap between the news sources people generally rely on Slide 17 Malaysia 41 and the news they find in social media and search, which remain Hong Kong 40 9 unchanged on a like-for-like basis. Indonesia 39 India 38 South Korea 32 PROPORTION THAT TRUSTS MOST NEWS MOST OF THE TIME Philippines 32 – ALL MARKETS Taiwan 31

Latin Brazil 54 America Colombia 40 Peru 40 Mexico 37 Chile 36 Trust news Trust news in Argentina 36 overall social media Trust North Canada 45 44% (+6) gap has 24% America USA 29 Trust news grown Trust news I use = 50% in search = 34% 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Q6_1/2/3/4. Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: I think you Q6_2016_1. Thinking about news in general, do you agree or disagree with the following can trust the news/news I use/news in social media/news in search most of the time. Base: Total statements? – I think you can trust most news most of the time. Base: Total sample in each sample in all markets: 92,372. market (most n ≈ 2000).

9 Taking the same 40 markets polled in 2020 we find trust in news at 43% (up five) and trust in social media unchanged at 22% and in search at 32%. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS 20 Slide 20

Some countries have a trust deficit PROPORTION THAT THINKS THE NEWS MEDIA COVER PEOPLE THEIR AGE AND WITH THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS FAIRLY Your political view Fairly Don’t know We can recut these figures to include the proportion thatdis trusts Unfairly the news. This gives us a good indication of how polarising the USA Fair Don’t know Unfair news media’s reputation might be in particular countries. In Left 51 15 34 18-24 26% 37% REUTERSthe United INSTITUTE States FORthere THE are STUDY more OF people JOURNALISM who distrust / EXECUTIVE the SUMMARY news GRAPHS 37% 35% Centre 35 26 39 than trust it, leaving a deficit of 15 points. But in Scandinavian 25-34 People Slide 19 35-44 45% 24% countries, like Denmark, a very small proportion say they distrust your age Right 16 9 75 the news, leaving a large net positive score of 48 points. 45-54 46% 22% 55+ 44% 29%

NET NEWS TRUST AND DISTRUST – DENMARK AND USA Left 51% 34% Your Denmark Net positive score = +48 Points political Centre 35% 39% view Right 16% 75% 59% 30% 11%

2% strongly disagree UK Fair Don’t know Unfair USA Trust deficit =-15 Points 18-24 20% 55% 29% 27% 44% 25-34 38% 33% People 35-44 42% 17% 23% strongly disagree your age Tend to agree/Strongly agree Neither agree nor disagree Strongly disagree/Tend to disagree 45-54 47% 19% 55+ 49% 22% Q6_2016_1. Thinking about news in general, do you agree or disagree with the following statements? – I think you can trust most news most of the time. Base: Total sample in each Left 36% 44% market: Denmark = 2005, USA = 2001. Your political Centre 42% 26% view Right 39% 40% Political divides fuel much of this mistrust in the United States, with those who self-identify on the right being more than twice Germany Fair Don’t know Unfair as likely to distrust the news compared with those on the left. Resentment and anger are stoked by polarised TV networks 18-24 41% 37% such as right-leaning Fox News, One America News, and 25-34 46% 23% People Newsmax and left-leaning CNN and MSNBC. 35-44 54% 13% your age 45-54 56% 15% Other countries with a net positive trust score include Finland and the Netherlands. Those with a deficit include Bulgaria (-12), 55+ 56% 18%

France (-8), Hungary (-6), Chile (-4), and Argentina (-3). Left 49% 25% Your political Centre 51% 20% For further information about the background to these divisions view see section 3: Analysis by Country and Market Right 20% 57%

Q. Div2_2021 Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Q1F. Some people talk PERCEPTIONS OF MEDIA FAIRNESS about ‘left’, ‘right’ and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Base: 18-24/25-34/35-44/45-54/55+ and Left/Centre/Right in each country: UK = 205/312/322/361/839 and 358/1010/254; USA = 215/358/309/312/807 and Further evidence of what is driving mistrust comes this 429/809/446; Germany = 194/314/308/379/816 and 265/1443/125. Note: a relatively small number year in a series of questions we are asking about fairness of of people self-identify as fairly right-wing or very right-wing in Germany. mainstream media coverage. We can compare these answers with information we hold about age, gender, ethnicity, Across much of Western Europe we find it is the 18–24 age group education, and political views. In the United States we can use that feels least fairly represented by the media and also that this data to see how attitudes towards the media are affected there is too little coverage of the issues they care about. This by politics. Three-quarters (75%) of those who self-identify on may explain why this group tends to embrace alternative and the right feel that media coverage of their views is unfair and diverse views it finds in social media, with four in ten (40%) this compares with just a third of those on the left. Younger across markets saying this is now their main source of news. people (U35s) are also more likely to feel that the media is These findings may provide a starting point for news media unfair when compared with older groups. genuinely interested in connecting with a younger generation – who are unlikely to pay attention to, let alone pay for, news that By contrast, in the UK both the left and the right feel that their they often feel is both unfair and uninteresting. political views are unfairly covered by the media. Differences over age are even more stark, with the youngest group (U25s) feeling For further analysis see section 2.1: Perceptions of Fair News least fairly represented by the media. Gender differences are Coverage among Different Groups perhaps smaller than one might expect but more pronounced among younger people. In Germany, we find a similar problem with 18–24s and also with those on the right, who have weaponised terms like Lügenpresse (lying press) to express their unhappiness. 20 / 21

IN AN ERA OF GREATER POLARISATION, SILENT It’s OK to lean to another side on [a subject] like MAJORITY STRONGLY SUPPORTS IMPARTIAL domestic abuse and [for a journalist] to express an AND OBJECTIVE JOURNALISM opinion on that, but with subjects like politics or COVID-19 it is really important to remain neutral, The growth of online and social media has encouraged news to allow the reader or listener or watcher to take organisations and individuals that take more overtly partisan decisions on their own. positions than in the past. Online distribution has enabled an F, 21, UK Focus Group explosion of unregulated opinion in video, audio, and text. GB News is a new venture in the UK which aims to provide an alternative to what it claims is the ‘liberal and metropolitan bias’ of established Equal time for all sides? news outlets, perhaps inspired by the commercial success of Fox Another key debate is the extent to which impartiality should News in the United States. All of this is putting new pressure on involve trying to balance different views on social and political notions of impartiality and objectivity, which describe journalists’ issues by allocating similar amounts of time to each side. Critics attempts to represent all sides fairly and without biases.10 argue that this approach, when applied to an issue like climate REUTERSOur survey, INSTITUTE backed FOR up THE by qualitativeSTUDY OF JOURNALISM interviews / EXECUTIVE in four countries, SUMMARY GRAPHSchange, can lead to a ‘false equivalence’, where one set of views Slideshows that 21 the public still strongly supports the ideals of impartial underpinned by strong scientific evidence is ‘balanced’ by views and objective news, while recognising that they themselves are that lack significant support – and thus create a false impression sometimes drawn to more opinionated and less balanced content. in the minds of the audience. Despite this, almost three quarters of our sample (72%) felt it was better to give the same amount of time to different views. Fewer than one in five (17%) felt less PUBLIC ATTITUDES TO IMPARTIALITY – ALL MARKETS time should be given to those with weaker arguments. Percent Percent News outlets should reflect When pressed, in focus groups, around specific examples (e.g. 74 a range of different views and 74 whether anti-vaxxers, racists, or climate change deniers should leave it up to people to decide be given equal time), a more nuanced position emerges. In both News outlets should argue U35 35+ the survey and focus groups younger groups were more likely to 15 for the views that they 15 REUTERSsee the dangers INSTITUTE in FOR giving THE equal STUDY time OF JOURNALISM to weaker / arguments. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The GRAPHS think are the best 18% 13% greater diversity in these generations and greater exposure to Slidesocial media 42 may make them more sensitive to the harm that can 12 Don’t know 12 be done by extreme and hateful views.

0% 25% 50% 75% 0% 25% 50% 75% PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARDS GIVING EQUAL TIME TO ALL Percent News outlets should SIDESPercent – ALL MARKETS try to be neutral 66 on every issue 66 Percent News outlets should give 72 There are some issues where U35 35+ equal time to all sides it makes no sense for news 24 outlets to try to be neutral 24 31% 22% News outlets should give U35 35+ less time to sides they think 17 have a weaker argument 21% 15% Don’t know 10

0% 25% 50% 75% Don’t know 11 0% 25% 50% 75%

Q_IMPARTIAL1_2021/2_2021. Thinking about the news in general in your country, when news 0% 25% 50% 75% outlets report on social and political issues, which of the following comes closest to your view? Base: Total sample in all markets: 92,372. Q_IMPARTIAL1_2021/3_2021. Thinking about the news in general in your country, when news outlets report on social and political issues, which of the following comes closest to your view? Base: Total sample in all markets: 92,372.

Across countries, around three-quarters (74%) of our sample think that news outlets should reflect a range of views rather Many traditional media companies have been actively thinking than take a position about a news story. Most also think that about the implications of these complex questions. The new news outlets should try to be neutral on every issue (66%) but a BBC Director General, Tim Davie, has declared that impartiality substantial minority (24%) feel that there are some issues where is more important than ever, but he says this does not mean that it makes no sense to try to be neutral. While their overall views journalists cannot call out the truth or take a strong position if are similar to the population at large, younger groups are slightly supported by the facts.11 Guidelines may need to be updated to less attached to impartial or neutral news, especially in the case take account of changing consumer expectations as well as how of some burning issues of social justice. journalists should conduct themselves in more informal settings such as social media and podcasts.

For further analysis see section 2.2: Impartiality Unpacked: A Study of Four Countries

10 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/05/does-journalism-still-require-impartiality 11 Tim Davie, introductory speech as Director General, September 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/speeches/2020/tim-davie-intro-speech Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 22

MISINFORMATION AND THE ROLE OF Where does misinformation about Coronavirus come from? CORONAVIRUS In general, we find the highest level of concern about the Our survey this year shows that concern about misinformation behaviours of national politicians (29%) when it comes to is a little higher this year at 58% (+2). There is most concern in spreading misleading information about COVID-19. This is highest Africa (74%), followed by Latin America (65%), North America in countries like Brazil (41%) where fact-checkers identified (63%), Asia (59%), and the lowest in Europe (54%). almost 900 false or inaccurate statements on the subject by President Jair Bolsonaro during 2020.13 Concern was also high in To understand broad areas of concern we can break this down further Poland (41%) where the ruling Law and Justice party has been into topics. This year people claim, on average, to have seen more REUTERSaccused INSTITUTEof politicising FOR THEthe STUDYpandemic, OF JOURNALISM and in the / United EXECUTIVE States SUMMARY GRAPHS false and misleading information about Coronavirus (54%) than Slide(33%) where 23 Donald Trump first suggested the virus would ‘go they have about politics (43%). Other topics of false information away’, downplayed the value of mask-wearing, and then suggested REUTERSrelate to INSTITUTEcelebrities FOR such THE as STUDY actors, OF musicians JOURNALISM and / EXECUTIVE sports stars SUMMARY (29%), GRAPHSinjecting disinfectant as a miracle cure. Slideproducts and 22 services (22%), and climate change (20%). Only in Kenya does perceived exposure to political misinformation outstrip PROPORTION THAT FINDS EACH MOST CONCERNING FOR that about COVID-19. COVID-19 MISINFORMATION – ALL MARKETS

29% PROPORTION THAT THINKS THEY HAVE SEEN FALSE most concerned about behaviour of politicians AND MISLEADING INFORMATION ABOUT EACH OF THE More in ... Brazil, Spain, Poland, Nigeria FOLLOWING IN THE LAST WEEK – ALL MARKETS 16% most concerned about behaviour of ordinary people More in ... South Africa, Thailand

15% most concerned about behaviour of activists 54% 43% More in ... Netherlands, Australia say they have seen say they have seen 11% misinformation about misinformation about most concerned about behaviour of journalists COVID-19 politics More in ... Greece, Peru • • More in ... South Africa, More in ... United States, 9% Nigeria, Brazil, Romania Kenya most concerned about behaviour of foreign governments More in ... Mexico

Q_FAKE_NEWS_2021b. Thinking specifically about Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its effects, which of the following, if any, are you most concerned about online? False or misleading information from … Base: Total sample in all markets = 92,372.

When it comes to the channels through which COVID misinformation is spread, we find that there is most concern 29% 20% REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS say they have seen say they have seen about Facebook (28%), followed by news websites and apps (17%), misinformation about misinformation about SlideWhatsApp 24and other messaging apps (15%), search engines (7%), celebrities climate change Twitter (6%), and YouTube (6%). But we also find major country • • and regional differences. More in ... South Korea, More in ... United States, Philippines Australia PROPORTION THAT FINDS EACH PLATFORM MOST CONCERNING FOR COVID-19 MISINFORMATION – ALL MARKETS Q_FAKE_NEWS_2021a. Have you seen false or misleading information about any of the following topics, in the last week? Base: Total sample in all markets: 92,372.

Misinformation about COVID-19 has been a particular problem in African countries such as Nigeria and South Africa, where 28% 15% 7% 6% 6% false rumours and conspiracies have spread quickly through Facebook Messenger Search YouTube Twitter social media.12 Spread of false information about COVID is also apps e.g. Google widespread in Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, • • • • • Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria) as well as in much of More in ... More in ... More in ... More in ... More in ... Latin America and parts of Asia. Philippines, Brazil, Taiwan, South Korea, USA, UK Slovakia South Africa, Kenya India Colombia

Q_FAKE_NEWS_2021c. Thinking specifically about coronavirus (COVID-19) and its effects, which of the following, if any, are you most concerned about online? False or misleading information via … Base: Total sample in all markets = 92,372.

12 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52819674 13 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118867/bolsonaro-fake-statements-coronavirus/ 50% 50

35 35 33 28 28 25% 25 26

18 18 16 14 11 12 11 9 9 8 9 6 6 7 2 6 6 7 2 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 0% Brazil Indonesia India Nigeria USA UK Philippines

REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS 22 / 23 Slide 25

PROPORTION THAT FINDS EACH PLATFORM MOST CONCERNING FOR COVID-19 MISINFORMATION – SELECTED MARKETS

More concern about WhatsApp More concern about Facebook

50% Facebook WhatsApp etc. Twitter YouTube Search (e.g. Google) 50

35 35 33 28 28 25% 25 26 18 18 16 14 11 12 11 4 4 4 9 4 9 9 4 4 7 2 8 7 2 6 6 6 6 6 5 0% Brazil Indonesia India Nigeria USA UK Philippines

75% TikTok In much of the Global South, including Brazil, Indonesia, India, Across these 12 countries, around two-thirds (66%) now use Nigeria, and South Africa, messaging apps such as WhatsApp draw one or more social networks or messaging apps for consuming, Telegram the most concern. The closed and encrypted nature of this network 50%sharing, or discussing news. But the mix of networks has YouTube can make it harder for fact-checkers and others to spot and counter REUTERSchanged INSTITUTE significantly FOR THE over STUDY time. OF FacebookJOURNALISM has / EXECUTIVE become SUMMARY GRAPHS WhatsApp damaging information. By contrast, in the UK and US, Facebook Slidesignificantly 27 less relevant in the last year, while WhatsApp, is seen as the main concern, with Twitter perceived to be the next 25%Instagram, TikTok, and Telegram have continued to attract more Snapchat most significant network. Facebook is also the main concern in the news use. Philippines and Thailand where it is the key platform for news. Instagram Facebook Messenger PROPORTION0% THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS IN THE2014 LAST WEEK2015 (2014-21)2016 2017 – AVERAGE2018 OF2019 12 MARKETS2020 2021 MESSAGING APPS CONTINUE TO GROW; TIKTOK Twitter AND TELEGRAM MAKE THEIR MARK Facebook Facebook Messenger Twitter Instagram Facebook Snapchat WhatsApp YouTube Telegram TikTok

For the last seven years, we have been tracking the changing mix of 50% social networks (a) for any purpose and (b) for news. The following TikTok charts show the aggregate picture across 12 countries we have Telegram been tracking since 2014. YouTube now matches Facebook in 36% 32% terms of use for any purpose, having added 9pp over the last eight YouTube REUTERSyears. WhatsApp INSTITUTE use FOR (52%) THE STUDY has tripled OF JOURNALISM over the / sameEXECUTIVE period SUMMARY and GRAPHS 25% 20% WhatsApp SlideInstagram has26 grown five-fold, though it seems to be levelling off. TikTok and the messaging app Telegram are growing rapidly – the 16% 17% Snapchat 11% 11% latter part of a continuing shift to more private networks. 9% 8% Instagram 7% 6% 2% 3% 3% 2% 1% 1% 2% Facebook Messenger PROPORTION THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR ANY 0% 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 PURPOSE IN THE LAST WEEK (2014-21) – AVERAGE OF Twitter 12 MARKETS Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for news in the last week? Base: Total 2014-21 sample in selected markets (most n ≈ 2000). Note: From 2015–21 the 12 countries included are UK, Facebook Facebook Facebook Messenger Twitter Instagram USA, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. In 2014, Snapchat WhatsApp YouTube Telegram TikTok we did not poll in Australia or Ireland.

75% TikTok 62% As previously noted, we find different patterns of usage in the 27% 60% 61% Telegram Global South, with higher reliance on YouTube in Asia and more 24% 53% 52% 50% focusYouTube on WhatsApp and Instagram in Latin America and Africa. Telegram usage has doubled in some countries over the last year 39% 36% and isWhatsApp used for news by 23% in Nigeria, 20% in Malaysia, and 18% 31% in Indonesia. 25% Snapchat 19% 22% 17% 13% Instagram 12% 8% 7% 5% 5% 10% Twitter 0% 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Facebook Messenger Q12a. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week for any purpose? Base: Total 2014-21 sample in selected markets (most n ≈ 2000). Note: From 2015–21 the 12 countries included are Facebook UK, USA, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Australia and Brazil. In 2014, we did not poll in Australia or Ireland. REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS Slide 30 REUTERSReuters Institute INSTITUTE for the FOR Study THE of Journalism STUDY OF JOURNALISM/ Digital News / EXECUTIVE Report 2021 SUMMARY GRAPHS 24 Slide 28

PROPORTION THAT USED EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED REGIONS

Europe North America Asia Latin America Africa

Facebook 41% 35% 43% 59% 60%

YouTube 22% 25% 41% 32% 40%

WhatsApp 16% 7% 25% 40% 61%

Instagram 12% 11% 15% 24% 24% FB Messenger 11% 13% 91.700112% mm 12% 17% Twitter 9% 12% 14% 15% 35%

Telegram 3% 2% 9% 5% 18%

Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for news in the last week? Base: Total sample in each market. Europe = 48,413, North America = 4037, Asia = 19,706, Latin America = 12,117, Africa = 6065. Note: Africa average is Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria only (English speakers in South Africa and Nigeria). We did not ask about Telegram in Colombia and Instagram in Thailand.

Next generation protest focused on newer networks News organisations have also been experimenting with a platform that is skewed towards the ‘hard to reach’ under-25 Newer mobile-based social networks like Instagram and TikTok have demographic. The Washington Post was an early pioneer using the become central to a new wave of protests by younger people across platform, amongst other things, to encourage young people to the world this year. In Peru, anti-corruption protests were focused vote. The BBC’s Sophia Smith Galer has pioneered experimental 100% around the+7 hashtag #semetieronconlageneracionequivocada storytelling on TikTok, such as creating a viral sea shanty (they messed with the wrong generation). TikTok, a vertical video about the blocking of the Suez Canal by a container ship, and 90 +7 platform that builds on Instagram and Snapchat stories, played+12 a the German public broadcaster ARD has built a quirky TikTok 80% +1 part in protests across-1 Southeast Asia including Indonesia, Thailand,81 presence for its daily news show Tagesschau. and Myanmar.75 In many cases, the authorities seem to have been76 +9 blindsided by a platform68 that they don’t understand – with+25 its quirky 60% 61 sense of humour and its distinct language of musical memes,57 emojis, and hashtags. +8 40% +6 -7 Elsewhere it has been used42 to articulate solidarity around the 35 -5 Black Lives Matter movement or with the victims30 of Coronavirus. 20% I came across celebrities trying +1to pass21 a REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS message of solidarity to the people12 of Manaus Slide0%[regarding 29 Coronavirus]. Online Social media Print TV F, 24,(inc. Brazil social media)

PROFILE OF TIKTOK NEWS USERS – ALL MARKETS

Any purpose For news

50% Usage by age For news

Any purpose

31 25% 20 16 12 9 3 2 6 5 7 0% 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ Top countries

Thailand Indonesia South Africa Peru Mexico 30% / 14% 24% / 11% 25% / 8% 26% / 7% 25% / 5%

Q12A/B. Which, if any, of the following have you used/used for news in the last week? Base: 18-24/25-34/35-44/45-54/55+ in all markets: 8,572/13,539/13,795/13,087/27,738. Note: n ≈ 2000 for selected markets. 24 / 25

HOW MUCH ATTENTION DO NEWS What are the motivations for using different social networks ORGANISATIONS GET IN SOCIAL MEDIA? for news?

This little-researched question has been a key focus for our report When asking people to choose their main motivation for using this year as we dig more deeply into how people are using different a network, we find clear differences between Twitter, which networks for news. We know that many journalists put a lot of users see as a good place to get and debate the latest news, effort into cultivating their presence on Twitter and Facebook and and other networks like Facebook, where people are ‘mainly to some extent this seems to be paying off. Across countries, our there for other reasons’. respondents say that they pay most attention to mainstream media Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are very clearly seen as a outlets when consuming news in both Twitter (31%) and Facebook fun and entertaining way to pass the time, in keeping with the (28%) – considerably more than for politicians, alternative news younger and more playful nature of these networks in general. sources, or other influencers. But the democratising impact of YouTube news users have a range of motivations, including a social media is also laid bare in the following chart, with significant strong focus on looking for alternative perspectives on the news. attention going to the views of ordinary people across all networks, also for news. In networks such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHSREUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS the focus is also firmly on personalities – such as celebrities or Slideother influencers 31 – leaving journalists playing second fiddle, even Slide 32 when it comes to news.

WHO PEOPLE PAY MOST ATTENTION TO WHEN USING EACH MAIN MOTIVATION FOR USING EACH SOCIAL NETWORK SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS – ALL MARKETS FOR NEWS – ALL MARKETS

31 Mainstream news 25 Latest news 11 17 18 20 Twitter 18 Twitter 10 16 11 6 14 28 16 14 Mix of 16 10 Mainstream news 11 Facebook YouTube 14 and Ordinary people 21 Entertainment 25 13 9 17 25 13 16 Mix of 11 12 Mainstream news 12 and Personalities YouTube 24 Instagram 23 Mix of 15 12 Entertainment and See news 9 23 incidentally 21 11 14 10 8 12 Snapchat Instagram 34 Personalities 30 Entertainment 17 11 7 18 17 11 13 13 7 12 TikTok Snapchat 35 Personalities 35 Entertainment 20 11 8 15 14 13 14 9 8 16 Facebook TikTok 36 Personalities 16 See news 23 9 incidentally 5 32 0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50%

Mainstream news outlets/mainstream journalists Good place to get the very latest news Smaller or alternative news sources Gives me perspectives not available in mainstream media Politicians/political activists Enjoy the debate and comments alongside the news Personalities (incl. celebrities and influencers) Fun and entertaining way to pass the time Ordinary people Gives me news that is personally important to me Other/None I mostly see news while I’m there for other reasons

Q12_Social_sources. You said that you use for news … When it comes to news Q12_Social_motivations. You said that you use for news … What is the MAIN on which of these do you generally pay most attention to? Base: All that use reason that you use for news? Base: All that use Twitter/Facebook/YouTube/ Twitter/Facebook/YouTube/Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok for news in all markets: 6338/28,762/15,663/ Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok for news in all markets: 6338/28,762/15,663/6570/924/1500. 6570/924/1500. Note: See section 2.5 for more details on how we collected this data. Note: See section 2.5 for more details on how we collected this data. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 26

There are exceptions, however, to this general pattern. In These trends towards aggregation and social gateways are Malaysia and the Philippines Facebook has become much relentless, seem to have been unaffected by COVID-19, and more of a destination for news than Twitter, while in South explain why negotiations with publishers over money (e.g. Africa YouTube is also popular for latest news. In Brazil people Australia, France, UK) are so critical. Younger groups are not routinely access news across four or five different networks, going to abandon the platforms and aggregators, which provide using them for subtly different purposes. a quick and convenient way to check the news, but many publishers are unhappy with the current arrangement, which Newer youth-orientated networks represent a significant in most cases involves providing content in return for access challenge for mainstream media. News is largely incidental and to audiences. They argue that this approach is unsustainable, the expectations of snappy, visual, and entertaining content especially for expensively produced original reporting, and are do not always come naturally to newsrooms staffed by older demanding better terms, if necessary brokered by governments. journalists with a focus on traditional formats. As we have seen, experiments are ongoing but tapping into these networks with timely, relevant, and engaging content remains a work in progress. SMARTPHONE DEPENDENCE GROWS DURING For further analysis see section 2.5: How and Why do Consumers LOCKDOWNS Access News on Social Media? Across countries, almost three-quarters (73%) now access news via a smartphone – up from 69% in 2020. Part of this is a GATEWAYS AND INTERMEDIARIES continuation of trends which have seen the mobile phone overtake the computer as the primary access point in almost all countries, In terms of access points, habits continue to become more but Coronavirus may also have played a part. Governments around distributed as ‘younger’ preferences for social media and search the world have focused on these personal devices to communicate become more mainstream. Across all countries, just a quarter on restrictions, to get citizens to report symptoms, and to book (25%) prefer to start their news journeys with a website or appointments for vaccines. Smartphones have become critical app – down three percentage points compared with last year for keeping in touch with friends or booking takeaway food and REUTERSand down INSTITUTE seven points FOR THE compared STUDY OF JOURNALISMwith 2018. Under-35s/ EXECUTIVE haveSUMMARY GRAPHSdrink – but also for discovering and consuming news. Computer Slidea weaker connection 33 with websites/apps (18%) and are much news access by contrast has fallen from 49% to 46% (-3pp). We see more likely to prefer to access news via social media (34%). smaller effects in some countries which have had fewer restrictions on movement such as Sweden and South Korea.

The next chart illustrates change over time in the UK, with the PROPORTION THAT SAYS EACH IS THEIR MAIN WAY OF gap between smartphone and computer growing to 25 points. COMING ACROSS NEWS ONLINE BY AGE – ALL MARKETS We also see an accompanying growth in the proportion of Britons accessing news more frequently. ALL AGES 50% I tend to glance at my phone in-between things REUTERSduring INSTITUTE the day FOR so THE I think STUDY it’s OF JOURNALISMall again around / EXECUTIVE timing, SUMMARY GRAPHS 73% how quickly I can access it. I think my habits have (+2) Slidedefinitely 34 changed. side door 25% access F, 48, UK focus group 25 26 25

PROPORTION THAT ACCESSED NEWS VIA A SMARTPHONE 9 IN THE LAST WEEK – UK 8 5 0% Direct Social Search Mobile Aggregators Email Computer Smartphone Tablet Smart Speaker media alerts Coronavirus lockdowns 75% UNDER 35s 67% 68%

50% Gap grows further 81% 50% (+2) 43% 34 side door 25% access 26 29% 25% 24% 18 16% 3 8 9 6% 0% 3% Direct Social Search Mobile Aggregators Email 0% media alerts 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Q10a. Which of these was the **MAIN** way in which you came across news in the last week? Q8b. Which, if any, of the following devices have you used to access news in the last week? Base: All/U35s that came across news online last week in all markets: 85,831/26,985. Base: Total 2013-21 samples in the UK (n ≈ 2000). REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE26 SUMMARY/ 27 GRAPHS Slide 37

It is worth noting, however, that Western Europeans tend to lag PROPORTION THAT USED APPLE NEWS IN THE LAST WEEK – behind those in the Global South, where so many have grown up UK AND USA REUTERSwith the INSTITUTE device as FOR the THE primary STUDY gateway OF JOURNALISM to the internet./ EXECUTIVE Looking SUMMARY GRAPHS at three countries that are new to our survey (Indonesia, Nigeria, USA USA – Apple iPhone users Slideand Peru) we35 find much higher levels of smartphone use for news UK UK – Apple iPhone users than in EU countries. 50%

PROPORTION THAT SAYS EACH IS THEIR MAIN NEWS DEVICE 33% – SELECTED MARKETS 25% U35 35+ 21% 20% 11% 14% 14% 11% 10% 7% Smartphone Computer Tablet 8% 4% 3% Indonesia 80% 11% 3% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Nigeria 80% 9% 3% Q10c. When using the internet for news, have you used any of the following sites or mobile apps Peru 78% 7% 2% that aggregate different news links in the last week? Base: All/Apple smartphone users 2016-21: USA ≈ 2000/500; UK ≈ 2000/500. EU Average 54% 30% 7% Mobile aggregators play a significant role in many Asian markets, Q8b6_5. You’ve said you use the following devices to access news in the last week, which is your MAIN way of accessing online news? Base: All who used a news device in the last week in including some of those that are new to our survey. Naver and each market. Indonesia = 1904, Nigeria = 1978, Peru = 1823, EU = 36,756. Daum (Kakao) dominate in South Korea while Yahoo/Line is the 100% major playerAll in Japan. Line Today has gained impressive reach REUTERSacross Taiwan INSTITUTE (44%), FOR ThailandTHE STUDY (36%), OF JOURNALISM and Indonesia / EXECUTIVE (20%), SUMMARY GRAPHS Spain Mobile aggregators and mobile alerts Slidewhile India 38 has a wide range of personalised mobile aggregators focusingGermany on news and entertainment, including Daily Hunt, News As smartphones have grown in importance, so too have news Republic, and NewsPoint. alerts.75% In terms of weekly reach, they have tripled in most countries since 2014 and quadrupled in the United States, where REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE SUMMARY GRAPHS they now reach around a quarter (24%) of the adult population. PROPORTION THAT USED SELECTED NEWS AGGREGATORS SlideNews alerts 36 are used fairly evenly across age groups. Email is IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS mainly50% used by older groups. 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

PROPORTION THAT RECEIVED A MOBILE NEWS ALERT South Korea Japan IN THE LAST WEEK – SELECTED MARKETS Naver News 66% Line News 23% UK USA Japan Finland Daum News 30% Smart News 19% 25% 24% Kakao Talk News 15% Gunosy 11% 20% 17% 15% 13%

10% 9% Indonesia India 6% 6% 5% 5% Line Today 20% Daily Hunt 23% 3% Baca Berita 18% News Republic 19% 0% 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 LintasBerita 8% NewsPoint 15% Q10. Thinking about how you got news online (via computer, mobile, or any device) in the last week, which were the ways in which you came across news stories? Base: Total 2014-21 samples Q10c. When using the internet for news, have you used any of the following sites or mobile apps in each market (most n ≈ 2000). that aggregate different news links in the last week? Base: Total sample in each market (n ≈ 2000).

Some of these alerts come from the apps of traditional media These mobile aggregators have taken off in Asia, partly due to companies but mobile aggregators also seem to be benefiting. bundling with local phone operators, partly due to the stronger Apple News has grown significantly this year in the US, reaching penetration of Android devices, and partly because of a history a third of iPhone users, 14% of our overall sample, and 20% of of early mover advantage. But this does not fully explain regional under-35s. differences. Upday comes bundled with many Samsung phones in Europe and Latin America but only reaches 8% in Brazil, 6% in Germany, and 4% in the UK. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 28

PODCASTS AND THE RISE OF AUDIO Platform mix is changing

News podcasts, including those about Coronavirus, performed Spotify, Amazon, and Google have been investing in podcasts over strongly in the early stages of the pandemic – in some cases reaching the last few years as they seek to capitalise on surging demand the top of the podcast charts (Newman and Gallo 2020). Podcasts and break Apple’s dominance. Spotify reportedly paid more than have become a key part of many lockdown routines with more $1m for exclusive rights to the Joe Rogan podcast and signed consumption at home – though there has also been disruption to the Barack Obama and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to produce daily commute, traditionally a key time for listening. The net impact regular programming – as well as introducing video functionality on consumption seems to have been neutral, with 31% accessing a into its app. The growth of video podcasting, accentuated by podcast in the last month (the same as last year) across 20 countries the use of tools like Zoom during the pandemic, is opening an where we feel confident the term is sufficiently well understood even wider range of options for distribution and leading to more and where samples are not skewed by high levels of education. problems of podcast definition for researchers. All this activity REUTERSis also changing INSTITUTE the FOR platforms THE STUDY through OF JOURNALISM which consumers / EXECUTIVE accessSUMMARY GRAPHS Podcasts are particularly popular in Ireland (41%), Spain (38%), Slidepodcasts. Spotify40 has overtaken Apple in some markets, YouTube Sweden (37%), Norway (37%), and the United States (37%). Fewer is ahead in others, while public broadcasters play an important people access podcasts in the Netherlands (28%), Germany role in a few. REUTERS(25%), and INSTITUTE the UK FOR (22%), THE STUDYthough, OF as JOURNALISM we’ve suggested / EXECUTIVE before, SUMMARY this GRAPHS may be because many people are consuming from public service Slide 39 PROPORTION THAT USES EACH PODCAST PLATFORM – radio apps where they may be perceived as radio ‘on demand’ SELECTED MARKETS rather than podcasts. National broadcaster website/app PROPORTION THAT LISTENED TO A PODCAST IN THE LAST MONTH – SELECTED MARKETS UK

BBC Sounds 29 2021 IRL 41 Spotify 24 Apple Podcasts 21 ESP 38 YouTube podcasts 14 SWE 37 Google Podcasts 7 Other news publisher 6 /broadcaster NOR 37 0% 25% 50%

USA 37 USA CHE 35 YouTube podcasts 26 2021 Apple Podcasts 22 CAN 33 Spotify 17 AUT 32 Google Podcasts 14 Pandora 10 AUS 31 NPR app or website 9 0% 25% 50% ITA 31

ARG 29 Germany

Spotify 29 2021 FIN 29 YouTube podcasts 22 DNK 28 ARD Audiothek 15 Audible 10 FRA 28 Google Podcasts 9 Apple Podcasts 8 SGP 28 0% 25% 50% NLD 28 31% Australia BEL 26 accessed a podcast in the last month, YouTube podcasts 26 2021 stable compared DEU 25 Spotify 25 with 2020 Apple Podcasts 23 JPN 25 ABC app or website 22 Google Podcasts 14 GBR 22 Podcast Addict 8 0% 25% 50% 0% 25% 50%

Q11F_2018. Which of the following types of podcast have you listened to in the last month? Q. POD2. Which of the following apps or websites do you mainly use to find and play podcasts? Base: Base: Total sample in selected markets (n ≈ 2000). All that listened to a podcast in the last month: UK = 443; USA = 739; Germany = 527; Australia = 632. REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / EXECUTIVE28 SUMMARY/ 29 GRAPHS Slide 41

In the last few years there has been an explosion in the supply of MAIN REASONS WHY PEOPLE DO NOT USE PODCASTS – podcasts with two million different shows now available in the EUROPE AND USA Apple index. Demand for podcasts is not growing at the same rate, so discovery and awareness remain the biggest problems. Our data 20 Europe I don't have enough time show that more people discover shows through recommendations 20 from friends, family, or colleagues rather than promotion such as in-app recommendation or advertisements. Awareness gap I don't really know 9 between USA what a podcast is US REUTERSSearch is INSTITUTE also important, FOR THE particularlySTUDY OF JOURNALISM in Europe, / EXECUTIVE but the initial SUMMARY GRAPHS 17 and Europe spark will often have come from a personal recommendation. Slide 43 Podcasts don't provide 18 Promotion via apps (e.g. Apple Podcasts, BBC Sounds) or via TV me anything I can't and radio trails or newspaper articles are also important for some. already nd elsewhere 19

I don’t want to have to 12 WAYS IN WHICH PEOPLE DISCOVER NEW PODCASTS – listen via a mobile phone EUROPE AND USA /headphones 14

I don't know how or 10 Recommendations from friends 37 where to nd podcasts 10 /family/work colleagues 32 There are so many 9 27 podcasts I don't know Searching the internet 39 where to start 8

25 12 Recommendations or Podcasts are too long advertisements via social media 27 8

Recommendations via my usual 24 There aren't any podcasts 8 podcast app (e.g. Apple Podcasts, that cover topics Spotify, BBC Sounds etc) 20 I'm interested in 6

Recommendations or 21 0% 25% advertisements on other podcasts 17 USA Europe

17 Promotions for podcasts Q11F_NOTLISTEN. You say you have not listened to any podcasts in the last month. What are the via radio or TV 15 main reasons for this? Base: All that have not listened to a podcast in the last month: USA = 1248; Europe = 30,234.

Recommendations in 12 Overall, podcasts remain a fast moving and dynamic part of newspapers/magazines 14 digital consumption. They are of particular interest to publishers 0% 25% 50% because they attract younger and more affluent users that USA Europe are highly sought by advertisers – and are potentially the next generation of subscribers. Q11F_podcast_discovery. How do you typically discover (new) podcasts to listen to? Base: Those who listened to podcasts in the last month: USA = 753; Europe = 18,180. Smart speakers could drive further audio growth

The commissioning of more high-quality original content by The shift to audio is being driven by new devices such as smart platforms is bringing audio programming to a wider and more speakers and by platform services such as short podcasts or other mainstream audience, but it is also raising new questions for public audio items that can be called up using voice interfaces. Amazon broadcasters. Many worry that platforms will take much of the and Google are the key market makers here and both have a credit/attribution for public content and exert increasing control renewed focus in promoting innovative audio formats including over access and discovery. podcasts. Smart speakers now reach more than a fifth of the UK adult population (22%) and 15% in the United States and Europe and Asia lag behind the United States in awareness Germany. But only a minority use the devices for any kind of news of podcasts (6% in the UK and 5% in the United States).

Awareness of podcasts is low in Japan, where 40% of those that don’t use them say it’s because they don’t know what they are. The European average of 17% that are still not aware is almost twice as high as in the US, suggesting there could be an opportunity to grow with extra marketing and promotion. Others that are not yet using them say that podcasts are too long, or that they don’t know how to find good ones. Others still say they don’t have enough interest or enough time. These may be harder dials to shift. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 30

CONCLUSION

This year’s data contain some good news for publishers and This tenth edition of the Digital News Report comes at a time of for those worried about the future of the news industry. More immense challenge for the news industry. Year after year we’ve people have sought out accurate and reliable information during witnessed the shift towards more digital, social, and mobile this crisis with trusted, high-quality brands benefiting most in a consumption – slowly chipping away at the business models number of countries. The overall trust gap between mainstream as well as the confidence of many media companies. Now the media and social media has also grown significantly. Some shock of COVID-19 combined with accelerating technological European public broadcasters can also take new confidence change is bringing things to a head, forcing a more fundamental from data which show that audiences have valued their careful rethink about how journalism should operate in the next decade, and impartial approach to the facts at a time when they have as a business, in terms of technology, but also as a profession. often struggled to keep up with rapidly changing behaviours. Commercial publishers that still rely on income from print or digital advertising have had a torrid time, but acceleration of digital plans as a consequence may put some on the long-term path to survival.

Consumers have rapidly adopted new digital behaviours during lockdowns and this is opening up new digital opportunities at the same time as highlighting the next set of challenges. Our report shows that subscription and membership is becoming a sustainable model for a growing number of high-quality and niche publications, and in a few countries for local media groups and individuals. But it is also clear that paid content is not a silver bullet for all publishers. Nor will it work for all consumers. The vast majority are still not prepared to pay for online news and with more high-quality content disappearing behind paywalls there are pressing concerns about what happens to those who have limited interest or who can’t afford it.

Worryingly, our data also show a historic decline in interest in the news overall. In this respect, our findings that both political partisans and young people feel unfairly represented will be especially troubling for media companies looking to build engagement both across political divides and with the next generation. Indeed, one of the most striking findings in this year’s data is the radically different habits of under-25s (so- called GenZ), even when compared with the millennials that came before them. These digital natives are less likely to visit a news website, or be committed to impartial news, and more likely to say they use social media as their main source of news. Deeply networked, they have embraced new mobile networks like Instagram and TikTok for entertainment and distraction, to express their political rage – but also to tell their own stories in their own way. Engaging these audiences is proving challenging for newsrooms that are mostly staffed by journalists who consume news in completely different ways.

In an era where news consumption has become more abundant, more fragmented, and more fractious, media companies face a choice. They can try to build a deeper relationship with a specific audience or demographic – representing and reflecting their views and aspirations. This journalism may need to take a clearer ‘point of view’ but could also build deep trust with that specific group. On the other hand, media companies could choose to try to bridge these divides with services that work for the largest number of people possible – something much of the public say they want. In this case, the challenge will be whether journalism that balances different points of view can engage audiences sufficiently but also avoid getting caught up in the partisan and cultural battles that have been such a feature of the last few years. 30 / 31 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 32 32 / 33

SECTION 2 Further Analysis and International Comparison

Richard Fletcher Senior Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Craig T. Robertson Postdoctoral Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Anne Schulz Postdoctoral Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Director Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Simge Andı Postdoctoral Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 34

2.1 Perceptions of Fair News Coverage among Different Groups Richard Fletcher Senior Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Diversity is now a key priority for many It is also important to highlight two further points. First, newsrooms across the world. Although although many journalists and media industry observers have strong views on some of these issues, a substantial minority improving diversity has been a decades-long of respondents will always select ‘Don’t know’ when asked process for some news organisations, political about their views on specific aspects of media coverage – either shocks like the election of Donald Trump in because they don’t pay enough attention to news to have a view, or because they think it depends. (‘Don’t know’ responses the US and Brexit in the UK prompted some are more common among those with low news interest to ask whether newsrooms primarily staffed levels, suggesting they are mainly a result of disengagement.) by relatively wealthy, urban, liberal-minded Second, it should be kept in mind that people’s perceptions of fairness in news coverage may not accurately reflect the true journalists could ever really understand people nature of that coverage. Research has shown that people can who think, vote, and live differently to them. evaluate the same news content very differently, with some More recently, the #MeToo movement has raised perceiving coverage as fair when it demonstrably is not, and others perceiving unfairness where there is none. But people’s questions about journalism’s ability to report on perceptions of fairness or lack thereof are real and important in women fairly, and although deeply concerning themselves, regardless of whether we think they are empirically to many for some time, the Black Lives Matter grounded, rational or irrational, justified or unjustified – as are the consequences they might have for, for example, trust. We protests – in the UK in addition to claims made believe they are critically important for journalists and news by Meghan Markle in a high-profile interview organisations to understand, even if knowing how to respond with Oprah Winfrey, and how the Society of may also require a clear-eyed assessment of news content Editors initially responded – have reignited and newsroom practices, as well as newsrooms’ staffing and organisational structures. critical examination of how the news media handles race and ethnicity. PARTISANS MORE LIKELY TO THINK COVERAGE To better understand how audiences think about how the IS UNFAIR news media cover people like them, we asked our respondents whether they think the news media cover people their age In the Executive Summary we saw that political partisans in fairly or unfairly, and repeated this with respect to their gender, Germany, the UK, and the USA think that the media cover their ethnicity, social and economic class, and where they live. We political views unfairly. Because a slightly different interpretation then analysed the responses for different groups (e.g. men and is possible if one focuses on the proportion that thinks they are women, younger and older, etc.) to see which groups, on average, covered fairly instead of unfairly, the data in this chapter will think they are being covered fairly by the news media. Of course, combine these two alternative figures into one: the net perceived some people will have views on how the media cover groups to fairness rating. This is simply the percentage that said they are which they do not belong – but we cannot say anything about covered fairly minus the percentage that said they are covered those views here because it is difficult to capture these views unfairly (‘Don’t know’ responses are excluded). in a survey without asking about each category within a group separately, and this can quickly become impractical. 34 / 35

The next chart shows the net fairness rating for the coverage WOMEN LESS LIKELY TO THINK THEY ARE of different political views. In the US, 75% of those on the right COVERED FAIRLY, PARTICULARLY GenZ think they are covered unfairly, versus 16% that think they are covered fairly. Thus, for those on the right in the US there is a -59 Turning to audience perceptions among men and women, in percentage point (pp) net fairness rating. However, because more the six countries that are our focus here, we can see that both 2.1 Perceptions of Fair people on the left think that their political views are covered women and men are more likely to say that the media covers fairly rather than unfairly (51% versus 34%), for this group the net them fairly rather than unfairly – a pattern that is repeated fairness rating is +17pp. across most of the markets in our sample. In Germany, and in News Coverage among many of the other countries, very few men and very few women If we look at a small sample of six countries covering a range think that they are covered unfairly, leading to high net positive of different geographic regions and media systems – Brazil, REUTERSfairness INSTITUTEratings. Although FOR THE STUDY the difference OF JOURNALISM between / FURTHER men ANALYSIS and GRAPHS Different Groups Germany, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the US – we see that most women is small in the six countries we focus on here, across all politically partisan groups think that their political views are Slidemarkets women 2 (+23) are less likely to think they are covered covered unfairly on the whole. The data from Japan, Brazil, and fairly than men (+31). Spain fit particularly well with research on the ‘hostile media’ phenomenon, a long tradition of research showing that opposing political partisans both have a tendency to see media coverage DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION THAT SAYS THE NEWS as biased against them (Vallone et al. 1985). But at the same MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY – SELECTED COUNTRIES time, in most countries those on the right are more likely to think they are covered unfairly – perhaps influenced by a long-running Male Female narrative from right-wing politicians about media bias (the UK Net: unfair Net: fair is relatively unusual in that this perception is more common among those on the left). That being said, although partisans do -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 seem more sensitive about coverage of their views, we should 42 Germany be careful not to dismiss these perceptions entirely, as they may 38 also be highlighting genuine concerns. Journalists and editors 32 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHSUK themselves often recognise a lack of political diversity within 28 Slidetheir organisations 1 (Cherubini et al. 2020) – something that is also 20 evident in surveys of working journalists (Thurman et al. 2016). Brazil 15

16 Spain DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION THAT SAYS THE NEWS 14 MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY BY POLITICAL 15 LEANING – SELECTED COUNTRIES USA 17 Left Centre Right 9 Japan Net: unfair Net: fair 6 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60

24 Div2_2021_3. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news Germany 31 organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Base: Male/Female: Germany = 1023/988, USA = 939/1062, Japan = 990/1014, Brazil = 995/1014, UK = 945/1094, Spain = -37 954/1065.

17 -4 USA However, this pattern breaks down when we focus on younger -59 age groups. Looking at 18–24s only, we see that younger women -8 are more likely to say that the news media covers them unfairly Japan -5 rather than fairly in Brazil, Spain, and the US. However, for men -22 the generational differences are much smaller, with men of all

-8 age groups saying they are covered fairly on average. Clearly, Brazil 2 there are large generational differences in how women think -25 they are covered by the news media, with younger women offering a much less favourable assessment. This shows -8 how different sociodemographic factors can intersect, with UK 16 consequences for people’s attitudes. -1

-12 Spain -2 -25

Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Div2_2021_1. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Base: Left/Centre/Right: Germany = 265/1443/125, USA = 429/809/446, Japan = 93/1251/152, Brazil = 397/705/477, UK = 358/1010/254, Spain = 530/916/214. REUTERSReuters Institute INSTITUTE for the FOR Study THE of Journalism STUDY OF JOURNALISM/ Digital News / FURTHER Report 2021 ANALYSIS GRAPHS 36 Slide 3

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION OF 18-24s THAT SAYS REGIONS THAT PERCEIVE COVERAGE AS LESS FAIR THE NEWS MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY – SELECTED COUNTRIES Some criticisms of the news media are rooted in how they cover life in particular parts of the country. In the UK, some see the Male Female media as too London-centric or perceive a North/South divide Net: unfair Net: fair in how different regions are represented – criticisms that have -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 prompted both the BBC and Channel 4 to move some of their 35 Germany operations out of London in recent years. Although most parts 6 of the UK think where they live is covered fairly on average, 29 this is clearly felt less strongly in the Midlands, the North of USA -18 England, Wales, and Scotland than in London and the South. And most strikingly, more people in the North East say that where 29 Brazil they live is covered unfairly as opposed to fairly – an area of -6 the country that has seen little in the way of investment from 22 media companies, and where life is portrayed in a way that many UK 8 residents clearly don’t recognise.

16 Japan Although the specific underlying causes are likely to be very different, 9 we can see a broadly similar pattern in Germany. Here, people who 9 reside in states that were formerly part of East Germany, like Saxony Spain -20 and Thuringia, think that the news media cover where they live less fairly than those in much of the rest of the country – though only a relatively small minority say the coverage is unfair. In the Div2_2021_3. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly?Base: Male/Female: US, those on the East and West Coasts think that where they live is Germany = 101/93, USA = 114/101, Japan = 88/80, Brazil = 156/158, UK = 88/117, Spain = 65/87. covered fairly on average, though attitudes cool somewhat as we look further inland. In Southern states like Mississippi and Alabama, NET FAIRNESS LOWER AMONG BLACK AND while 42% say where they live is covered fairly, 33% say the opposite. HISPANIC AMERICANS Although the question specifically asked people about the coverage REUTERSof where INSTITUTE they live, inFOR all THE three STUDY countries OF JOURNALISM it is possible / FURTHER that people’s ANALYSIS GRAPHS As already mentioned, many news media have a problematic Slideassessments 5 are influenced by more general views about journalists record in terms of how they have covered certain racial and ethnic and the news media as elitist, out of touch with people like them, or groups, and are facing growing critical scrutiny over this issue. as opposed to their political views (Kreiss 2019). This is reflected in our survey data from the US. Here, although White Americans are more likely to think the news media cover REUTERSthem fairly, INSTITUTE Black FORand THE Hispanic STUDY AmericansOF JOURNALISM are / more FURTHER likely ANALYSIS to say GRAPHSDIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION THAT SAYS THE NEWS MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY BY REGION – UK Slidepeople like 4 them are covered unfairly. For both groups there is a -13pp gap between those that think people like them are covered fairly and those that think they are covered unfairly. Net: unfair Net: fair

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION THAT SAYS THE NEWS Div2_2021_6. Thinking about the news MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY BY RACE/ in general in your country, do you think ETHNICITY – USA that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or White Black Hispanic unfairly? Base: UK range: North East = 96 to South East = 296. Note: Not enough respondents from Northern Ireland in the Net: unfair Net: fair sample to produce a reliable estimate. -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60

8 USA -13 12 -13 -12 North East

Div2_2021_5. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Base: White = 1303, Black = 284, Hispanic = 193. 9 10

Similar important patterns may exist in many of the other 24 markets included in our survey. However, these are often challenging to identify because – depending on the demographic 4 25 make-up of the population – many minority ethnic groups 38 are too small to analyse even with relatively large nationally representative survey samples. Although researchers sometimes 39 34 group together different minority racial and ethnic populations so that they can be analysed, this can produce misleading findings if those populations have very different views. REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS 36 / 37 Slide 6

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION THAT SAYS THE NEWS UNFAIRNESS PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO LACK MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY BY REGION – OF COVERAGE GERMANY People will likely have very different reasons for thinking that Net: unfair Net: fair people their age, gender, political views, and so on, are covered fairly or not. One possible factor influencing perceptions of fairness is the amount of coverage devoted to particular topics. This is also a perception – and likely a perception of prominence rather than volume, since no one can consume all available news coverage.

Nonetheless, there is evidence that a lack of coverage of an 61 40 issue is strongly related to perceptions of unfairness. Taking people’s social and economic class as an example, three- 39 quarters in the UK (78%) of those that think their social and economic class does not receive enough coverage will also perceive that coverage as unfair. But among those that think 52 there is enough coverage of their social and economic class, just 15% think that the coverage is unfair. There are also large gaps in the other five countries. Interestingly, the data also suggest Saxony and Thuringia that if people think their social and economic class receives too 28 much coverage – possibly because they think the focus should 48 REUTERSbe on less INSTITUTE privileged FOR parts THE STUDY of society, OF JOURNALISM or because / FURTHER the way ANALYSIS they GRAPHS are being covered is inaccurate – this can also be associated with Slideperceptions 8 of unfairness. The hard part for news organisations is finding the right balance.

54 56 PROPORTION THAT THINKS THEIR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CLASS IS COVERED UNFAIRLY BY PERCEIVED VOLUME OF COVERAGE – SELECTED COUNTRIES

100% Not enough About right About right REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS Not enough SlideDiv2_2021_6. Thinking7 about the news in general in your country, do you think that news 75% 78 organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Base: Germany range: 70 70 Berlin = 93 to Nordrhein-Westfalen = 433. Note: some states are grouped to achieve usable base size. 66 59 50% 48 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROPORTION THAT SAYS THE NEWS MEDIA COVER THEM FAIRLY AND UNFAIRLY BY REGION – USA 25% 29 29 23 24 15 13 Net: unfair Net: fair 0% UK USA Germany Spain Japan Brazil

Div1_2021_4. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that there is too much, about the right amount, or not enough news coverage of each of the following? Div2_2021_4. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news 37 organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Base: Not enough/ About right: Germany = 488/1031, Japan = 336/890, USA = 469/887, Spain = 440/985, Brazil = 670/883, UK = 317/1061. 28 31 11 23 27

9 26 12

US Census Division East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)

Div2_2021_6. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Base: USA range: New England = 71 to South Atlantic = 403. Note: USA split into census divisions. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 38

LINK BETWEEN FAIRNESS AND TRUST The question of what practical steps to take is much tougher. Some news organisations have focused on representation. Lastly, we see a clear link between perceptions of fairness and BBC journalist Ros Atkins’s 50:50 project has shown how trust in the news. Returning to where we began the chapter – self-monitoring who is included in programming output can with people’s political views – we see that people who think improve the representation of women, setting a template their politics are covered fairly will tend to have particularly that has since been applied more widely across the BBC and high levels of trust in the news. If we look instead at coverage in other news organisations. Some outlets have prioritised of some of the other topics touched upon in this chapter, we doing more to represent the views of those that live outside REUTERStend to see INSTITUTE similar FOR patterns. THE STUDY Of OF course, JOURNALISM this could / FURTHER be because ANALYSIS GRAPHSof big cities, and here the trend towards more remote working Slidepeople who 9 already have high levels of trust in the news are that has been accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic may predisposed to see coverage as fair – but either way it is clear provide an opportunity to employ journalists with a genuine that trust and perceptions of fairness go hand in hand. connection to under-represented areas. Then, finally, there is newsroom diversity. For some news organisations this has been PROPORTION THAT TRUSTS MOST NEWS MOST OF THE TIME a priority for many years, and as a recent survey of newsroom BY WHETHER THEY THINK THEIR POLITICAL VIEWS ARE leaders showed, many believe that while they are making some COVERED FAIRLY OR UNFAIRLY – SELECTED COUNTRIES progress on gender diversity, there is much more to be done when it comes to ethnic and socioeconomic diversity (Cherubini 100% Fairly Unfairly et al. 2020).Unfairly The data we present here suggest that much of the audience is in agreement. Fairly 75% 74 67 61 50% 53 52 52 52

31 25% 26 27 27 17

0% UK US Germany Spain Japan Brazil

Div2_2021_1. Thinking about the news in general in your country, do you think that news organisations in your country cover each of the following fairly or unfairly? Q6_2016_1. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? – I think you can trust most news most of the time. Base Fairly/Unfairly: UK = 739/563, USA = 636/871, Germany = 917/456, Spain = 627/801, Japan = 449/559, Brazil = 660/810.

For those news organisations looking to increase their audience trust, it therefore may make sense to reflect on how they cover certain groups. The data here can reveal the fault lines in public attitudes, but the challenge for journalists and news organisations is deciding where to focus their efforts, what to do in practice, and how to speed up processes that often feel painfully slow.

When it comes to the question of where to focus, the sharpest divides in views on fairness are around the coverage of politics. But for many news organisations – particularly those already trying to uphold a commitment to impartiality and/or maintain a broad subscriber base – this will be the hardest area to make real progress in, especially if partisans are inclined to see unfairness in coverage no matter what. It therefore may make more sense to focus on areas – such as race, gender, and socioeconomic class – where researchers in some countries have sometimes found clear evidence that coverage often falls short of ideals or exacerbates problems. Even here, it remains the case that news media cannot necessarily please everybody. In the United States, some steps that might help build trust among those on the political right (primarily older and white) are unlikely to achieve the same with other groups unhappy with how they are covered (Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and younger women). 38 / 39

2.2 Impartiality Unpacked: A Study of Four Countries Craig T. Robertson Postdoctoral Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

As the BBC observes, ‘defining impartiality is PEOPLE WANT NEWS OUTLETS TO PRESENT A easy … it means reflecting all sides of arguments RANGE OF VIEWS AND LET THEM DECIDE 14 and not favouring any side’. But what this looks One of the most basic questions when it comes to impartial like in practice can become complicated as reporting is: should journalists present a range of views in their journalists grapple with different topics, public reports leaving it up to the public to decide between them? This aligns with the idea that impartiality means treating different debates, and ways of presenting engaging news. views fairly and without favour. In contrast, should certain views Moreover, many newspapers across the world be promoted or argued in favour of? This point has been made, have long had a clear editorial stance and, in the for example, with respect to the 2020 US Presidential elections: if claims of a ‘stolen’ election lacked evidence, it was appropriate US, Fox News has demonstrated how money can to argue against this notion. be made from catering to partisan audiences In our data, we find that a clear majority of people in all markets in broadcast. Meanwhile, the BBC has renewed want news outlets, when reporting on social and political issues, its commitment to impartial journalism, as to reflect a range of different views and leave it to them to decide. have some commercial news media, such as Few are in favour of news outlets ‘arguing for the views that they think are the best’. There is slightly more support for this minority Reuters. But partisan viewpoints are now more position among younger people (under-35s) and those on the accessible than ever, especially online, and they political left, but it remains a smaller percentage. We note, of course, that views often depend on the subject matter. We asked can be attractive to audiences. This all raises REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS the question: how important is impartial and generally about ‘social and political issues’, but views may have beenSlide different 10 if we asked, for instance, about reporting on vaccines. objective journalism to audiences? Indeed, topical nuances are reflected in our focus group data.

In this chapter, we explore what audiences want from news; whether that is impartial coverage or news which takes MOST PEOPLE THINK NEWS OUTLETS SHOULD REFLECT more of a point of view. We focus here on four countries – A RANGE OF VIEWS – SELECTED MARKETS Brazil, Germany, the UK, and the US – with different news 100% markets, traditions of public broadcasting, and systems of All markets USA UK Brazil Germany Germany media regulation. To delve deeper into audience views, we Brazil supplement survey data with insights from focus groups and 75% 74 76 74 77 in-depth interviews in these markets, conducted from February 69 UK to March 2021 with politically and racially/ethnically diverse 50% US groups of older and younger people interested in and engaged with news (52 people in total). All markets 25% 21 19 15 5 16 14 10 9 12 9 0% News outlets should News outlets should Don’t know reflect a range of different argue for the views views and leave it up to that they think people to decide are the best

Q_IMPARTIAL1_2021.Thinking about the news in general in your country, when news outlets report on social and political issues, which of the following comes closest to your view?Base: Total sample in each market: All markets = 92,372, USA =2001, UK = 2039, Brazil = 2009, Germany = 2011.

14 https://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance/impartiality Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS 40 Slide 11

In general, among our focus group participants, the strong MOST PEOPLE THINK NEWS OUTLETS SHOULD GIVE EQUAL sentiment across the board is that people have the right to form TIME TO ALL SIDES – SELECTED MARKETS their own opinions about issues, uninfluenced by the views of 100% journalists. This is particularly so for more interpretive political All markets USA UK Brazil Germany Germany issues, where people are uncomfortable with the idea of journalists Brazil making value judgements for them. 75% 78 72 68 68 UK With subjects on politics and, I think, with COVID-19 65 – with really more hard news – I think it is really 50% US important to remain neutral and allow the reader or All markets listener or the watcher to make their decisions on 25% their own about how they feel about something. 20 20 17 15 14 16 17 F, 21, UK, left-leaning 12 11 8 0% News outlets should News outlets should Don’t know However, participants do note that there are some less give equal time give less time to sides interpretive topics (e.g. science stories, natural events) where to all sides they think have a weaker argument journalists can present just one perspective or established point

of view. Q_IMPARTIAL3_2021. Thinking about the news in general in your country, when news outlets report on social and political issues, which of the following comes closest to your view? Base: Total If a dam breaks and floods a valley, there is only one sample in each market: All markets = 92,372, USA =2001, UK = 2039, Brazil = 2009, Germany = 2011. view of that really: the dam broke and it flooded, so that is it. [But] I think it’s very important for all But, again, there is somewhat more support for this position journalistic delivery to be impartial when there are among younger age groups (under-35s). Moreover, sizeable multiple viewpoints available. minorities of people on the political left think weaker arguments M, 58, US, centre should be given less time: in Germany it is 24% (compared to 10% on the right), in the UK it is 22% (compared to 7%), and in Importantly, people delineate here between news reporting the US it is 35% (compared to 5%). Among our interviewees from (where impartiality is expected) and opinion/commentary (where this group, when it comes to Donald Trump’s false claims of a it may be expected that views are argued for) – though they say it ‘stolen’ election, the scientific evidence for climate change, and can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between them as news Coronavirus vaccinations, there is less appetite for giving time outlets and formats are often seen to blend the two. Interviewees to another ‘side’ that is seen to lack validity. like news and they like opinion, but want them very clearly separated. Analysis falls between these and, though it brings a risk Yet people generally express discomfort with the idea of of perceived bias, is seen as more acceptable if provided by experts. journalists excluding points of view entirely – especially on politicised issues – and say different voices should be heard. Due Focus group participants also acknowledge that impartiality is to this concern, the issue of ‘false equivalence’ in many ways does difficult the more informal a news format becomes but that this not resonate with interviewees. If it does, they tend to express can be okay if, because of the format (e.g. podcasts, social media), concern about others being misled, less so themselves. points of view are expected. When sought out, the draw of more informal and opinionated styles – especially divisive broadcast Often a more pressing concern is with the consequence of presenters – is that they can be insightful and entertaining. While excluding (political) perspectives. They feel false equivalence can impartial reporting is the ideal standard, some interviewees do be avoided by properly framing different perspectives. In the US admit that it can be less engaging. and UK, there is the view, particularly among older interviewees, that different perspectives should be subject to the marketplace of ideas: bad arguments will be shown to be weaker when PEOPLE THINK EQUAL TIME SHOULD BE GIVEN TO presented against stronger ones. Some feel that a good approach DIFFERENT SIDES OF DEBATES is to bring in different sides, contextualise them, and let the evidence play out. And for interviewees in Germany, there is often Next, when reporting on social and political issues, should news seen to be value in shedding light on alternative views, even if outlets give equal time to all sides or give less time to sides they they might be fringe perspectives. think have a weaker argument? This question taps into debates about balance in news reporting and whether adherence to this These [anti-vaccination] opinions exist, so we have to norm can be detrimental, creating a ‘false equivalence’ such see them … Do not just sweep it under the table and then suddenly be surprised that something exists. as when one perspective with scientific evidence behind it is You have to acknowledge its presence. ‘balanced’ against another lacking scientific support. This is an issue which has, in the past, been pointed out when it comes to F, 47, Germany, left-leaning coverage of climate change (Boykoff and Boykoff 2004; Hiles and But it is acknowledged by some that balance may not need to be Hinnant 2014). 50/50 in all cases: views shift with the topic. Particularly among So, what do our survey respondents think? Again, it is the same younger people and those on the left, the view is that giving less story: the majority of people in all markets think news outlets time to a perspective can be acceptable if the weight of evidence should give equal time to all sides. Only a minority think news is on one side (and especially if the alternative view is potentially outlets should give less time to sides with weaker arguments. harmful or not in the public interest). 40 / 41

Voices that are against vaccination, I think it is not Among those aged 18–24, 40% in Brazil, 34% in Germany, 38% in the appropriate to give them the same space as the space UK, and 30% in the US think it makes no sense to be neutral on some that is given for these pro-vaccination campaigns. issues. The percentage of those aged over 55 who think the same Because it is a question that has already been proven rangesREUTERS from INSTITUTE 19% in FOR Germany THE STUDY to 30% OF JOURNALISM in Brazil, with / FURTHER the US (22%) ANALYSIS and GRAPHS and concerns the public interest. UKSlide (26%) in 13 between. As for those on the political left, the percentage F, 30, Brazil, left-leaning of people who think neutrality sometimes does not make sense ranges from 36% in Germany to over half in the US (54%). But, in general, across countries, interviewees say that different views should be acknowledged and brought into public discussion VIEWS ON REMAINING NEUTRAL BY POLITICAL LEANING – so they can be dealt with (even if they might not be afforded the SELECTED MARKETS same weight). Left Centre Right

75% 82 USA MOST PEOPLE WANT NEWS OUTLETS TO REMAIN Right NEUTRAL, BUT A LARGE MINORITY SAYS THIS 63 Centre SOMETIMES MAKES NO SENSE 50% 54 Le Finally, are there are some issues where it makes no sense 40 25% for news outlets to be neutral? This question taps into 25 conversations around the lines that journalism should draw 6 7 11 12 when it comes to certain social justice issues: does it make 0% sense for journalists to be neutral about issues that do not News outlets should There are some issues where Don’t know try to be neutral on it makes no sense for news have an ‘opposing argument’? However, the alternative every issue outlets to try to be neutral perspective here may be that journalists themselves should

not give a view, instead remaining impartial and letting people 75% with relevant knowledge and experience speak. UK Right 69 REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS Centre 59 The story here is consistent with what we have found so far: the 50% 53 Le Slidemajority of 12 people across markets think that news outlets should 39 try to remain neutral. 25% 30 20 8 11 11 MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT NEWS OUTLETS SHOULD TRY 0% TO BE NEUTRAL ON EVERY ISSUE – SELECTED MARKETS News outlets should There are some issues where Don’t know try to be neutral on it makes no sense for news 100% every issue outlets to try to be neutral All markets USA UK Brazil Germany Germany

75% Brazil 75% Brazil Right 68 UK 64 Centre 66 60 57 56 50% Le 50% 53 US49 47 37 37 25% All markets 31 25% 26 28 24 22 4 4 17 18 3 10 7 11 0% 0% News outlets should There are some issues where Don’t know News outlets should There are some issues where Don’t know try to be neutral on it makes no sense for news try to be neutral on it makes no sense for news every issue outlets to try to be neutral every issue outlets to try to be neutral

Q_IMPARTIAL2_2021a. Thinking about the news in general in your country, when news outlets 75% 82 Germany report on social and political issues, which of the following comes closest to your view?Base: Total Right sample in each market: All markets = 92,372, USA =2001, UK = 2039, Brazil = 2009, Germany = 2011. 70 Centre 58 50% Le

Yet, compared with our other questions, a larger minority of 36 people across markets do think there are some issues where 25% 21 neutrality does not make sense. It is also again clear who is more 13 6 5 8 likely to be in this substantial minority: younger people and those 0% on the political left. News outlets should There are some issues where Don’t know try to be neutral on it makes no sense for news every issue outlets to try to be neutral

Q_IMPARTIAL2_2021a. Thinking about the news in general in your country, when news outlets report on social and political issues, which of the following comes closest to your view?Q1F. Some people talk about ‘left’, ‘right’, and ‘centre’ to describe parties and politicians. With this in mind, where would you place yourself on the following scale? Base: Left/Centre/Right: Brazil = 397/705/477; Germany =265/1443/125; UK =358/1010/254; USA = 429/809/446. Note: A smaller number of people self-identify as right or far right in Germany compared to other countries. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 42

For younger people, it may be that, while they want facts, they Older people and those on the political right tend to more strongly are idealistic and see impartial news as less engaging, lacking advocate for the inclusion of all perspectives. But among younger authenticity, and failing to further social justice causes, instead people and those on the political left, these feelings are weaker. perpetuating the status quo (Marchi 2012). For those on the It may be that these latter groups are more attuned to issues political left, the danger of radical right-wing views and the which make them think differently. Here, social movements like scourge of racism emerge as reasons for not remaining neutral. Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, which took off on the social media platforms that younger people turn to and which have Indeed, issues of social justice inform people’s position on found support on the political left, as well as concerns about rising neutrality, with some (especially younger and left-leaning) science scepticism and right-wing extremism, inform views on the people saying there can be an ethical justification for being role of journalists in being more decisive. There is emphasis on non-neutral. In the UK, US, and Brazil, the sentiment is that journalism’s duty to accuracy and to the facts, as well as to morality there is less need to be neutral when it comes to issues such and social justice. as racism and domestic violence. Yet even among this constituency there is a strong feeling that I think as soon as you cross that border of impartial journalism is important and there is a reluctance to something becoming illegal and just pure wrong, have journalists favour one perspective or exclude points of view I don’t think they should get airtime. (unless they are harmful). Most people, once they have the facts, M, 28, UK, left-leaning do want to be exposed to range of views.

Meanwhile, in Germany, there is a strong feeling among most Moreover, what our focus group participants tell us is that they interviewees that different perspectives should be illuminated recognise they are often drawn to partial news. But what people and presented impartially as part of democracy. But, because say they want is a reliable baseline of impartial, straightforward, of Germany’s history, the line is drawn when it comes to factual reporting; beyond this, they can go off to explore opinions unconstitutional views. elsewhere where they expect to find them (e.g. social media, podcasts, chat shows, editorial pages). The showstopper for me is the constitution and criminal law. If the opinion breaks neither of those, The BBC and ITV … are renowned for being those which stuff like Holocaust denial [does break], staid sources. The advice [for them] is carry on what then you can say what you want. If it does break you are doing; don’t go left, don’t go right, sit there those laws or also ends up hurting a person that in the middle and report on what is happening. But way, then it should clearly be censored. if you don’t have the alternatives, like those with a M, 30, Germany, right-leaning bit of partiality to them … then wouldn’t we all be in a boring world? To hear somebody else’s point of view it is healthy. CONCLUSION F, 43, UK, right-leaning

Our survey and focus group data tell us that, while impartial A challenge for the industry is how to provide this desired mix or objective journalism is increasingly questioned by some, – and how to make impartial and objective reporting engaging overall people strongly support the ideal of impartial news. or entertaining without straying into partiality. This can become People want the right to decide for themselves. That means difficult, as people note, as platforms and formats (e.g. social media, journalists giving the facts plainly and simply, duly and fairly podcasts) become more informal and genres more mixed or harder presenting different perspectives, not excluding points of view, to tell apart. Practices of impartiality need to adapt to these new and keeping their own opinions out of news reports (relying ways of producing and consuming news, but our evidence indicates instead on those of interviewees). This is not easy to do in that people strongly support impartiality ideals, even in countries practice, or for every issue, and our focus groups show that with very different media systems and traditions. the public understands that – but our data also suggest that recognising that complexity does not seem to dampen people’s commitment to impartial news.

People’s views do become nuanced the more they are explored. Some note that you can’t be neutral about some fundamental principles (e.g. racism is a hard line) or matters of fact (e.g. human-induced climate change), acknowledge that expectations of impartiality and balance can vary by subject matter, and say evidence-based judgements (from experts) may sometimes be appropriate when the issue is definitive. 42 / 43

2.3 Local News Unbundled: Where Audience Value Still Lies Anne Schulz Postdoctoral Research Fellow Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Local and regional news media are under immense WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW?

financial pressure as audience attention and One important function of local and regional journalism is to hold advertising budgets increasingly flow to big local and regional politicians to account. But local journalism can platforms and other competitors. Local newspapers offer much more: providing stories that help build community, featuring local people who participate in local sports, weddings, in particular have been hit hard by disruption to or anniversaries, or service information such as weather forecasts, both consumer behaviour and business models traffic updates, or shop opening hours. And of course, covering the and the pandemic has only increased pressures. local consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic has been added Across the world we have seen a spate of cutbacks to this list of tasks in the past year. and layoffs, and longstanding titles closing down. But what information about the area they live in do people This is troubling because local and regional news actually care about? To find out, we asked respondents which local topics out of a list of 15 they had accessed in the previous media can play a critical role in informing citizens week. Across 38 markets where we asked this question, two topics and underpinning democratic processes. stuck out as most important. Around half said they had sought out local information about Coronavirus or other health news In this chapter we focus on identifying which local news topics (53%) and just as many said they had accessed local weather matter most to audiences today and where they think they forecasts (50%). But, for all other topics, reported access rates are get the best information on each of them. This will help us see low. Only a third said they had accessed news about local politics where local media still provide value and, potentially, where (32%), which comes third in the ranking across all markets. For it would be most missed. Secondly, it will identify areas where all other topics we asked about, often less than a quarter of our people feel other sources such as social media, search engines, respondents said they had accessed them in the last week. In last various websites from businesses and government, and even year’s Digital News Report, we found that many say that local news individual politicians, are providing valuable local news and is important to them, but when asked about what types of local information. Finally, we explore some of the country differences information people have actually accessed, the figures are much around the perceived value of local media to draw out lessons on lower – the difference between abstract interest and practical why some local and regional news ecologies fare better engagement is striking. than others. Things look slightly better for local news media in some countries. Asking about local and regional news consumption across Among the markets where we find relatively high self-reported markets that vary strongly in terms of their geography, political access rates across all topics are some of the Nordic countries and media structure is particularly difficult. To give respondents as well as some Eastern European ones such as Romania and from everywhere a chance to relate to our questions, we opted Croatia. Many of the Latin American countries sit somewhere in for a broader understanding of what local and regional news the middle as does the USA. Countries that tend to access less can mean, covering ‘news from the city or town, municipality or local news include the UK and Japan, but also Denmark, where region that people currently live in’. However, it should be kept between 21% and 24% told us they had not accessed any of the in mind that some markets vary considerably in terms of news topics on the list. supply at the local and regional level, so comparisons are not always straightforward.15

15 For this reason, we did not ask the local news questions in some of the smaller city states like Hong Kong or Singapore. For operational reasons we also did not ask local news questions this year in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. REUTERSReuters Institute INSTITUTE for the FOR Study THE of Journalism STUDY OF JOURNALISM/ Digital News / FURTHER Report 2021 ANALYSIS GRAPHS 44 Slide 14

PROPORTION THAT ACCESSED SELECTED LOCAL TOPICS IN THE LAST WEEK – 38 MARKETS 38 Markets Norway USA Chile UK Local Coronavirus information 53% 57% 44% 61% 46% Local weather 50% 55% 62% 37% 52% Local politics 32% 43% 33% 28% 17% Local crime news 26% 27% 34% 24% 20% REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS Local traffic 26% 34% 21% 24% 18% ShopsSlide and restaurants 15 25% 32% 22% 19% 18% Local economy 25% 20% 23% 20% 8% Local jobs 20% 16% 14% 22% 9% Things to do 19% 22% 14% 18% 7% LocalMARKET-LEVEL schools and education COMMUNITY ATTACHMENT19% BY MARKET-LEVEL18% AVERAGE16% ACCESS RATE ACROSS14% 15 LOCAL TOPICS11% – 38 MARKETS Housing and properties 18% 30% 13% 20% 10% Local35% sport 16% 18% 16% 15% 12% Local announcements 15% 29% 15% 6% 8% Local services 12% 10% 8% 13% 8% Other local information 10% 15% 8% 10% India7% None of the above 11% 11% 16% 12% 24% Finland Sweden Croatia L6_topics_2021. Thinking about local news and information, which of the following topics have you accessed in the last week? Base: Total sample in each market: 38 marketsRomania = 76,731, Norway = 2010, USA = 2001, Chile = 2009, UK = 2039. Note: We did not ask questions on local news in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia,Brazil Thailand, and Hong Kong. Bulgaria Norway Philippines Greece Turkey THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY ATTACHMENT Canada Germany Austria Switzerland 25% Colombia Poland Hungary A sense of attachment to one’s local community is one factorCzech that The nextPortugal graph showsNetherlands a clear connection with people in Austria Argentina Republic Spain previous research has documentedMexico is associated with higher local USA (76%), IndiaItaly (77%), and RomaniaIreland (80%) – who are on average news use (e.g. McLeodPeru et al. 1996). Of course, country differencesChile in more attached to their area – being also among those that have local and regional news consumption can haveTaiwan many other causes, Australiaaccessed most localSlovakia topics on average. Where attachment is lower, as Southis the Korea case in Japan (37%) or Peru (32%), people also ranging topics 15 local across rate access Average from a country’s geography, the degree of political centralismDenmark France in a state, or cultural factors such as the importance of the family and Belgiumaccess fewer local topics on average. local roots, but at the level of individualJapan markets, research has long documentedREUTERS INSTITUTE that higher FOR THE community STUDY OF JOURNALISM involvement / FURTHER is associated ANALYSISUK with GRAPHS r = .55 Slidehigher local 15 news use. Our data allow us to study this across markets by comparing15% the average access rate across our 15 local topics in 25% 35% 45% 55% 65% 75% 85% a country with the aggregate local attachment levels. Percent that feel attached to their local community

MARKET-LEVELL6_topics_2021. Thinking COMMUNITY about local news andATTACHMENT information, which BY of theMARKET-LEVEL following topics have AVERAGE you accessed inACCESS the last week? RATE Please ACROSS select all that15 LOCAL apply. L5_attached_2021. TOPICS – 38 In MARKETS general, how attached do you feel to your local community, that is, the people who live in your city district, town, or village? Base: Total sample in each market (most n ≈ 2000). Note: The proportion who feel attached35% to their local community are the proportion who say they feel very or somewhat attached to their community in each country.

India

Finland Sweden Croatia Romania Brazil Bulgaria Norway Philippines Greece Turkey Canada Germany Austria Switzerland 25% Colombia Poland Hungary Czech Portugal Netherlands Argentina Republic Spain Mexico USA Italy Ireland Peru Chile Taiwan Australia Slovakia South Korea

Average access rate across 15 local topics 15 local across rate access Average Denmark France Belgium Japan UK r = .55

15% 25% 35% 45% 55% 65% 75% 85% Percent that feel attached to their local community

L6_topics_2021. Thinking about local news and information, which of the following topics have you accessed in the last week? Please select all that apply. L5_attached_2021. In general, how attached do you feel to your local community, that is, the people who live in your city district, town, or village? Base: Total sample in each market (most n ≈ 2000). Note: The proportion who feel attached to their local community are the proportion who say they feel very or somewhat attached to their community in each country. 44 / 45

Of course, as is always the case with correlations, it is difficult Social media and search take the biggest shares for information to say if there is one variable that causes the other and, so far, about shops and restaurants (49%), local services (47%), or things research has been unable to produce evidence for a causal to do in the area (46%). Of course, some of the time search and relationship between these two (Hoffman and Eveland 2010). social might function as a route back to local news content, but Therefore, we have to consider that, while a well-functioning in many cases the information being sought is contained within local news ecology can create community attachment, the platform, making them a destination in their own right. For community attachment can also create demand for local news. housing, jobs, or the weather we also see about a fifth of users And surely, where community attachment is missing to begin turning to specialised websites or apps. It is clear that these types with, local and regional media will always have it harder. of information – integral to the old local print newspaper bundle – have been unbundled.

LOCAL NEWS EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE In the case of Coronavirus news, although local and But attachment to local news is only one part of the story. regional news media Traditional local and regional media have seen growing are considered best by competition in the past decade from big platform companies many, around half say and specialised websites and apps that focus on providing one they preferred to get their particular service, like forecasting the weather or finding a job. Coronavirus news from More recently social media feeds and groups have enabled social media, search, and communities to form around specific subjects and areas. Local other internet sites and authorities, businesses, and politicians also now often provide apps that often source official statistics regular news of their own on local issues using their own websites and present data conveniently at a glance. and social media pages.

In the following chart we can use our data to learn which of these sources people consider the best source of information for each topic. Traditional media – including newspapers, TV, and local radio – are valued most for hard-news topics such as local politics, crime, the economy, or Coronavirus, as well as local sport, with between around 50% and 60% in our sample thinking these offer the best information for them on these topics. Newspapers are also valued REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS as a place for publishing formal announcements such as births and Slidedeaths. But 16 for other topics, alternative sources tend to be preferred.

PROPORTION THAT THINKS EACH IS THE BEST SOURCE OF NEWS FOR DIFFERENT LOCAL TOPICS – 38 MARKETS

Local announcements 48 8 8 15 7 9 2 3 Local crime 31 21 10 17 8 8 2 3 Local economy 30 20 10 13 11 10 3 3 Local sport 27 20 11 16 12 10 2 2 Local politics 29 18 10 15 8 9 7 4 Local Coronavirus information 19 22 9 17 14 11 3 5 Schools & education 22 15 8 21 14 12 3 5 Local trac 17 14 13 15 19 16 2 4 Things to do in the area 22 10 7 28 18 11 2 2 Local weather 11 18 9 10 24 23 1 4 Local services 21 8 7 25 22 13 2 2 Shops & restaurants 21 8 6 25 24 12 2 2 Housing & properties 21 8 5 18 22 21 2 3 Local jobs 18 8 6 22 21 20 2 3

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Local Newspaper Local TV Local Radio Social media & messaging apps Search engines Other internet sites or apps Local politicians None of these

L7_sources_2021. You said you have accessed local news and information about the following topic in the last week … Which sources offers the best information for you on this topic?Base: Local announcements/Local crime news/Local economy/Local politics/Local sport/Things to do/Local schools/Local services/Shops and restaurants/Housing/Local Coronavirus information/Local jobs/Local traffic/ Local weather =11,560/20,219/18,940/24,355/12,555/14,941/14,337/9,025/19,381/13,963/40,316/15,557/19,705/38,404. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 46

LOCAL MARKET DIFFERENCES In the USA we see a slightly different pattern, partly due to the strength of local television, which is seen as the best source In some of our countries the local newspaper continues to for both local politics and Coronavirus information. Strong dominate across a wide variety of topics. This is especially visible competition from these free TV outlets may be one reason in Norway and looks similar in Sweden and Finland. (In some why local newspapers in the USA have had such a hard time cases, local publishers like Schibsted own some of the platforms in monetising their business. Highly developed internet sites to find jobs or real estate.) But even here, unbundling is under way mean only a fifth (21%) still feel they are best placed to provide with consumers often preferring to find ‘things to do’ or weather information about things to do. In the UK and Chile alternatives to through alternative websites or social media. traditional local media are often considered the best source across topics for more than half of our survey respondents. The UK is also Traditional local sources are deemed best across a series of topics among the countries where a significant proportion prefer to get in Germany, but our survey data show that respondents find their local politics news directly from politicians (12%). localREUTERS newspapers INSTITUTE FORsomewhat THE STUDY less OF important JOURNALISM in /a FURTHER country ANALYSIS where GRAPHS Slidepublic service 17 broadcasters offer a variety of regional radio and TV channels and where people are more hesitant to turn to social and search more generally.

PROPORTION THAT THINKS EACH IS THE BEST SOURCE OF NEWS FOR DIFFERENT LOCAL TOPICS

Local newspaper Local TV Local radio Social media & messaging apps Search engines Other internet sites or apps Local politicians None of these

Local politics 71 7 4 4 2 5 5 2 Coronavirus 53 8 3 8 4 14 4 6 Things to do 46 5 2 24 10 8 3 2 Norway Weather 28 10 5 5 11 36 1 4 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Local politics 48 15 11 5 5 6 8 2 Coronavirus 32 17 14 6 8 13 3 7 Germany Things to do 41 8 12 12 12 11 2 2 Weather 14 15 14 5 17 29 1 5 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Local politics 24 34 9 8 7 9 6 3 Coronavirus 15 39 6 8 9 16 3 4 USA Things to do 21 12 5 25 19 11 5 2 Weather 6 44 8 4 11 21 1 5 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Local politics 31 22 6 8 13 9 5 6 Coronavirus 19 30 4 8 17 11 2 9 Japan Things to do 19 19 4 14 23 13 1 7 Weather 11 30 4 6 22 19 1 7 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Local politics 30 16 5 14 7 13 12 3 Coronavirus 17 22 8 12 13 19 4 5 UK Things to do 18 6 3 26 22 18 1 6 Weather 8 23 7 6 19 31 1 5 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Local politics 14 17 16 23 8 13 4 5 Coronavirus 9 23 16 20 13 13 1 5 Chile Things to do 8 11 7 38 21 130 2 Weather 4 18 9 11 32 230 3 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

L7_sources_2021. You said you have accessed local news and information about the following topic in the last week … Which sources offers the best information for you on this topic?Base: Local politics/Things to do/Local Coronavirus information/Local weather: Norway = 865/1144/432/1110, Germany = 783/1183/294/1087, USA = 652/882/282/1231, Japan = 362/1013/277/1042, UK = 353/929/147/1070, Chile = 571/1233/369/749. 46 / 47

CONCLUSION

In the past, traditional local news media have been used for a wide range of local news and information. Today, as our analysis has shown, they are seen as the best source only for a minority of topics, with people preferring platforms and specialised websites for most others. This ‘great unbundling’ has further undermined traditional business models, underlining the importance of a much clearer value proposition for local news media who want to stand out from the many alternative sources of information available.

Local news media still come out top when it comes to information about local politics. But we also saw that only a third say they have accessed such information in the past week. So local media have clear strengths, but in a very competitive media environment effective demand may be limited. A sense of attachment to the local community is associated with higher engagement with local news, but even in countries with relatively higher levels of attachment, people have come to rely on traditional local news sources for only a very limited set of topics which will be difficult to monetise on their own.

Longstanding local publishers are moving forward in the face of these challenges, with local newspapers across the world working to develop new editorial products and distinguish value-added journalism from the abundant information available online, from Ouest-France’s new Minuit Sport offer toWestfalenpost ’s Mutmacher (Encouragement) series, featuring stories of local people overcoming difficult circumstances. Digital entrants are also active in local news, from aggregators such as News Break, to single-topic niche networks like Chalkbeat (education) or the Athletic (sports). We have also seen local editorial newsletters emerge, such as those run by Whereby.us, or those launched by Axios in Minneapolis, Denver, Tampa, and Des Moines, or acquired in North Carolina, where the company bought Charlotte Agenda for nearly $5m.

But it is uncertain how far these or similar efforts elsewhere will be able to solve the profound problems around the unbundling of local information that we have mapped with our data. Given the competition from platforms and other digital alternatives, local news media’s share of attention, and thus advertising and reader revenues, will be very different from a past in which newspapers in particular dominated local media markets. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 48

2.4 How do People Think about the Financing of the Commercial News Media? Richard Fletcher, Senior Research Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism

Conversations about the financing of commercial In this chapter, we present data on how concerned people are about news media are increasingly focused on the long- the financial situation commercial news organisations currently find themselves in, whether people think they are making more money or term sustainability of the industry. Advertising less money than in the past, and whether they think their respective revenues increasingly go to Google, Facebook, and governments should step in to help those outlets that are struggling.16

a few other large digital platforms which have The first and perhaps most important point is that commercial media further disrupted a business already challenged financing is not a particularly salient issue for many people. This by the move to digital, and while some news means that a substantial minority say they ‘don’t know’ when asked questions about it. This is a useful reminder that, although media organisations still generate significant offline and financing is undoubtedly an important issue for society, and those online advertising revenues, the share of advertising connected to the media industry often feel very passionately about it, that goes to news media is declining. Although it is not something that the public spends a lot of time worrying about. This, of course, has consequences for the extent to which proposals parts of the audience are willing to take out paid and reforms can gather public support, and will perhaps influence subscriptions from some outlets, and a few titles the extent to which politicians will see the issue as a priority. are doing very well in terms of reader revenues, The relatively low salience of this issue is evident in what appears most people are not willing to pay, as an abundance to be a lack of public awareness of the financial challenges of news remains freely accessible from commercial faced by the commercial news media. Although the picture is and in some cases public service or non-profit sometimes mixed and comprehensive global data are hard to come by, WAN-IFRA recently reported that the combined total providers. Commercial news media are exploring revenue for daily publications has shrunk by around 20% since other sources of revenue too (ecommerce, events, 2015. Although there are notable exceptions that have bucked REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS services, etc.), but for many publishers, the business this trend, it seems that since 2010 the overall trajectory is Slidedownwards 18 – particularly for newspapers, and especially for outlook remains challenging, even precarious. local titles and titles serving poor communities.

Faced with what looks to many like a classic case of market failure in an industry that can – at least in the best cases – deliver demonstrable PROPORTION THAT THINKS COMMERCIAL NEWS MEDIA societal benefits, government intervention is an option. Indeed, HAVE BECOME MORE PROFITABLE IN THE LAST DECADE – some media markets have had such arrangements for decades, for 33 MARKETS example, in the form of public service broadcasting or considerable direct and indirect subsidies for newspapers. Others are now looking Most are more pro table than they were 10 years ago 19 at alternative ways of using policy to secure additional revenues for Most are roughly as pro table commercial news media from the biggest platform companies, such as they were 10 years ago 14 as Google and Facebook, either through competition rules codes Most are less pro table than (Australia), copyright reform (EU), or potentially earmarking parts they were 10 years ago 31 of new taxes on digital services for journalism. Don't know 36 Public opinion is one of the factors that will shape governments’ 0% 25% 50% appetite for intervention and their priorities. So what does the Financing2_2021. To the best of your knowledge, which of the following best describes the financial public think about financing of the commercial news media? state of commercial news organisations in your country? Base: Total sample in 33 markets: 66,120.

16 We did not ask questions on commercial news media financing in Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, Philippines, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Peru, or Thailand. 48 / 49

Across all 33 markets where we fielded this question, around This lack of awareness about the plight of the commercial news one-third (31%) think that most news organisations are less media aligns well with data showing low levels of concern over profitable than they were ten years ago. If we split the data their financial situation. Across all markets, 53% said that they are by market we do see some variation, but the differences are either ‘not at all concerned’ or ‘not very concerned’, with just 31% small – in every market less than half think that most news saying either ‘quite concerned’ or ‘very concerned’. The remaining 2.4 How do People Think about organisations are less profitable. Perhaps more striking still 17% said ‘don’t know’. Although there is some national variation, is that one-fifth (19%) of respondents believe that most if we break this down by market, we see that the overall picture commercial news outlets are more profitable now than they is quite consistent. In almost all cases the proportion who are the Financing of the REUTERSwere a decade INSTITUTE ago. FOR It THE is also STUDY worth OF JOURNALISM noting that / FURTHER 36% say ANALYSIS they GRAPHSconcerned is usually smaller than 50%, and most of the time the don’t know, highlighting again that the finances of commercial proportion who are not concerned is larger than the proportion Slidemedia are 19not front of mind for many people outside of who are concerned. The gap is particularly large in Northern Commercial News Media? the industry. European countries, where relatively high rates of online news payment have given some outlets a strong financial footing, and some of the most widely used news outlets are publicly funded and PROPORTION CONCERNED ABOUT THE FINANCIAL STATE therefore partially insulated from commercial pressure. OF NEWS ORGANISATIONS – SELECTED MARKETS Markets with a larger proportion of people who believe that news North America Concerned Don’t Know Not Concerned organisations are less profitable also tend to have higher levels of 32% 21% 47% USA concern – with the same true at the individual level. However, there 34% 18% 49% Canada are few differences in levels of concern by demographic variables like age, gender, and education. But concern over the financial state Northern Europe Concerned Don’t Know Not Concerned of commercial news organisations is usually higher among those Denmark 19% 24% 57% with high levels of interest in the news. If we look at a country from Finland 20% 22% 58% each of the six geographic regions, we see that – with the exception Norway 20% 17% 62% of Germany – those with higher interest in news are more likely to Sweden 26% 21% 54% be concerned about the financial situation of commercial news UK 26% 23% 51% media. In the USA and South Korea those that say they trust most Ireland 37% 12% 51% news most of the time are more likely to be concerned, but in Western Europe Concerned Don’t Know Not Concerned REUTERSgeneral trust INSTITUTE in the FOR news THE is STUDY not a OF particularly JOURNALISM good / FURTHER predictor ANALYSIS of GRAPHS Austria 21% 21% 58% Slideconcern. Perhaps 20 most striking is that, even among those with Germany 23% 28% 49% high levels of interest, it is still only a minority that say they are France 29% 16% 54% concerned about the finances of commercial news media. Switzerland 30% 15% 54% Belgium 33% 17% 51% PROPORTION CONCERNED ABOUT THE FINANCIAL STATE OF Netherlands 42% 17% 41% COMMERCIAL NEWS ORGANISATIONS BY KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST – SELECTED MARKETS Southern Europe Concerned Don’t Know Not Concerned 75% Croatia 15% 9% 75% Less profitable More profitable/as profitable More protable/as protable/don't know Greece 32% 10% 59% Less protable Turkey 32% 16% 52% 50% 56 47 Spain 37% 13% 50% 43 45 44 45 41 41 38 39% 15% 47% Italy 25% 32 Portugal 49% 8% 44% 21 22

Eastern Europe Concerned Don’t Know Not Concerned 0% UK USA Germany Spain Czech Rep. S. Korea Bulgaria 14% 10% 75% Czech Republic 21% 24% 55% Financing1_2021. How concerned are you, if at all, about the financial state of commercial news organisations in your country? Financing2_2021. To the best of your knowledge, which of Slovakia 22% 7% 71% the following best describes the financial state of commercial news organisations in your Hungary 27% 12% 61% country? Base = Less profitable/More profitable: Czech Republic = 258/923, UK = 702/317, Germany = 585/668, USA = 647/549, Spain = 798/544, South Korea = 649/777. Romania 28% 10% 62% Poland 37% 20% 43% 75% High interest Low interest Low interest Asia-Pacific Concerned Don’t Know Not Concerned High interest Taiwan 27% 19% 54% 50% Australia 34% 18% 48% 46 39 41 Japan 37% 30% 34% 35 25% 28 Hong Kong 40% 9% 51% 24 24 27 25 19 South Korea 40% 19% 41% 14 15 0% Singapore 41% 13% 46% UK USA Germany Spain Czech Rep. S. Korea India 52% 11% 37% Financing1_2021. How concerned are you, if at all, about the financial state of commercial news organisations in your country? Q1c. How interested, if at all, would you say you are in Financing1_2021. How concerned are you, if at all, about the financial state of commercial news? Base = High interest/Low interest: Czech Republic = 950/159, UK = 1101/203, Germany = news organisations in your country? Base: Total sample in each market (most n ≈ 2000). 1365/145, USA = 1130/276, Spain = 1376/148, South Korea = 965/142. REUTERSReuters Institute INSTITUTE for the FOR Study THE of Journalism STUDY OF JOURNALISM/ Digital News / FURTHER Report 2021 ANALYSIS GRAPHS 50 Slide 21

PROPORTION THAT THINKS THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD As already noted, some believe that the financial situation of STEP IN TO HELP NEWS ORGANISATIONS THAT CAN’T MAKE commercial media has reached a point where government ENOUGH MONEY ON THEIR OWN – SELECTED MARKETS intervention is required. Of course, such interventions can take many different forms, each involving different actors and Northern Europe Yes, they should No, they should not Don’t know different degrees of change. Furthermore, no two media markets UK 11% 53% 36% are the same – and because there is a host of different factors Finland 16% 46% 39% that might make state intervention more or less appealing in Denmark 16% 49% 35% different circumstances (risk of media capture, pre-existing 22% 42% 36% Sweden funding arrangements, trust in the government, to name just 27% 37% 37% Norway three) – there can be no one-size-fits-all approach. However, it can 32% 41% 27% Ireland still be useful to measure the public’s appetite for government intervention in general terms, first because people may have North America Yes, they should No, they should not Don’t know views on the underlying principle of government intervention USA 18% 51% 31% in media markets regardless of the specific details, and second Canada 30% 39% 32% because, although proposed solutions do not have to be based Western Europe Yes, they should No, they should not Don’t know on spending public money, most serious and longstanding Germany 21% 50% 29% non-commercial funding arrangements will probably need to be France 25% 41% 34% backed up by government legislation in some way to be workable. Netherlands 28% 40% 32% It should also be noted that asking about specific policies is of Belgium 29% 37% 34% little value in cross-national surveys, because no one policy will Austria 31% 41% 28% be relevant in all markets, and because it is difficult to incorporate 17 Switzerland 37% 37% 26% and communicate the trade-offs inherent to different options.

Southern Europe Yes, they should No, they should not Don’t know With that in mind, we asked people whether their government Spain 20% 51% 28% should step in to help commercial news organisations that can’t Greece 27% 54% 18% make enough money on their own. Although the reasons behind Croatia 28% 47% 25% people’s responses will be varied, and it is not possible to know Italy 31% 42% 26% what these are from the data we have, it is clear that public Turkey 40% 39% 22% appetite for government intervention is low. Across all 33 markets, Portugal 41% 35% 24% just one-quarter (27%) think that the government should step in to help, compared to a 44% that think they should not. Again, if Asia-Pacific Yes, they should No, they should not Don’t know we look at the data market-by-market we do see some national Japan 20% 35% 46% variation, but on the whole the picture is quite consistent. In all South Korea 20% 59% 21% but a handful of markets, the proportion opposed to government Hong Kong 22% 52% 26% intervention is larger than the proportion that supports it. Even Australia 23% 44% 32% in stable liberal democracies that already have comparatively Taiwan 24% 49% 27% generous forms of support available for commercial news media, Singapore 36% 32% 32% whether in Denmark (often held up as an example of good India 51% 28% 21% practice) or France (where critics argue existing arrangements favour incumbants and print over new entrants and the digital Eastern Europe Yes, they should No, they should not Don’t know media preferred by younger audiences), those opposed to Czech Republic 16% 53% 31% government intervention outnumber those in favour (by three to Bulgaria 22% 56% 23% one in Denmark, and close to two to one in France). Slovakia 26% 43% 31% Hungary 30% 40% 30% Those with higher levels of concern about the financial state of Poland 31% 36% 33% commercial news organisations are also more likely to support Romania 35% 45% 20% the idea of government help. In the US, for example, just 14% who are unconcerned about the finances of commercial media would

Financing3_2021. Should the government step in to help commercial news organisations that support government intervention, but this figure rises to around can’t make enough money on their own? Base: Total sample in each market (most n ≈ 2000). one-third (30%) of those with higher levels of concern. Perhaps more of note is that, even among those most concerned about the financial health of commercial news media, most are not convinced that government intervention is the right response.

17 For example, surveys in the UK that ask people how the BBC should be funded tend to find relatively low support for the licence fee and relatively high support for advertising models – but the respondent is left to assume that quality of output would be the same for both. REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS 50 / 51 Slide 22

PROPORTION THAT THINKS THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD STEP IN TO HELP COMMERCIAL NEWS ORGANISATIONS THAT CAN’T MAKE ENOUGH MONEY ON THEIR OWN BY CONCERN – SELECTED MARKETS

Not concerned Concerned 50% Concerned Not concerned

33 33 31 25% 30 29 25 20 14 13 14 15 6 0% UK USA Germany Spain Czech Rep. S. Korea

Financing3_2021. Should the government step in to help commercial news organisations that can’t make enough money on their own? Financing1_2021. How concerned are you, if at all, about the financial state of commercial news organisations in your country? Base: Not concerned/Concerned: Czech Republic = 1105/426, UK = 464/542, Germany = 996/647, USA = 403/654, Spain = 1008/758, South Korea = 831/826.

Although the idea of governments stepping in to help commercial media is not a new one, with press subsidies a longstanding feature of some media markets, and a notion increasingly discussed in industry circles, our data suggest it is not an idea that currently enjoys huge public support. We find that most people do not have a basic understanding of the current financial trends in the industry, and only a minority support government intervention. Even those who are aware of these difficulties are not particularly concerned about them. And even among those who are most worried, there is little support for government intervention as the solution.

Of course, these debates are playing out at a time when trust in the news media is generally low, where some news publishers are very polarising and unpopular with much of the public, and amid real concerns about media capture – sometimes in countries where this has not been a pressing problem in the recent past. Established forms of government intervention (whether public service or direct support for commercial news media) will probably be read in light of these concerns. Perhaps newer, alternative approaches will too, as long as they involve the government as a key actor. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 52

2.5 How and Why do Consumers Access News on Social Media? Simge Andı Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Reuters Institute for the Study of JournalismREUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS Slide 23

Social media have played an important role in PROFILE OF USERS ON EACH SOCIAL NETWORK – how many people access the news over the past ALL MARKETS Weekly use decade. The networks people use and the way Weekly news use Age distribution in which social networks showcase news have,

however, changed considerably during that time, Facebook 69% Skews slightly older as existing platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Launched 2004 44% and YouTube evolved both in terms of how they

work and who uses them, and newer networks YouTube 69% Equally split such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have Launched 2005 29% across ages grown in importance. Twitter 24% Skews younger In this chapter, we aim to cast light on the ever-changing news Launched 2006 13% environment on social media by setting out the differences between networks and what social media news users say their motivation is for accessing news on these platforms, and who they Instagram 42% Mostly under 45 say they pay the most attention to. Our analysis relies on both Launched 2010 15% our survey and data from our focus groups, and concentrates on the six largest open social networks measured in terms of weekly use across all 46 markets: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok 15% Mostly under 25 Snapchat, and TikTok. Of these, we pay particular attention to Launched 2016 4% newer platforms with a younger user base – Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat – as much less is known about news usage on these Snapchat 11% networks. Mostly under 30 Launched 2011 2% As is clear from the next table, while well over half of Facebook and Twitter users say they have come across news on these Q12A. Which, if any, of the following have you used for any purpose in the last week? Please platforms in the past week, for other social media, less than half select all that apply. Q12B. Which, if any, of the following have you used for finding, reading, watching, sharing or discussing news in the last week? Please select all that apply. Base: Total of users say they have come across news on the platform (and sample in all markets: 92,372. much of this is incidental, the result of seeing news while on a platform for other purposes). In the rest of this chapter, we focus on social media news users specifically, but it is important to keep in mind that this is a subset of all users, and on four of the six platforms we focus on, a minority of regular users. 52 / 53

MOTIVATIONS FOR NEWS USAGE ON SOCIAL These patterns are typical of many other Western countries, NETWORKS including the United States. Though less popular than Facebook overall, Twitter is widely used by journalists and In previous reports, we have shown how social networks operate politicians and is where the news gets broken first – attracting in different ways and address diverse audiences. This year, we also others with a strong interest in the news, as is clear from our asked social media news users why they use these networks for focus groups. news. Those who say they not only use a particular platform, but also have used it in the last week to find, read, watch, share, or When I’m wondering what is going on in the world discuss news, were presented with six options and could pick one … Twitter [is] definitely like the first place I go to that represented their main motivation.18 These options can by and usually there’s like a news story that’s breaking no means capture every choice available on social networks, but and I can read the news and read people’s opinions. reflect some of the most common motivations. F, 21, US focus group

As we wrote in the Executive Summary and see in previous But we see slightly different patterns elsewhere. In much of research, while Facebook is far more widely named as a network Latin America and Asia, many more Facebook users say they where people come across news, our data show it is typically not get news while on the platform, even though much usage a platform where news consumers intentionally go to access the remains incidental. news (as others have found too, e.g. Boczkowski et al. 2018). Across countries, many of those who use the platform for news say they Nowadays where I see news most is on Facebook, pick up information incidentally. Twitter, in contrast, is often seen because that’s when you are … already seeing photos, things you like. much more as a primary destination for news, while YouTube and56 F, 28, Brazil focus group other50% networks such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are valued more for entertainment and fun – as well as for some news. I mostly see news while I’m there for other reasons In Malaysia, our data show Facebook is more of a news destination The UK is a good example of how these factors play out across the (22% ofGives those me who news use that Facebook is personally for important news sayto me they get the latest three largest networks. It is important to keep in mind that the news)REUTERS and INSTITUTE has a smaller FOR THE proportion STUDY OF JOURNALISM of news users / FURTHER who say ANALYSIS they GRAPHS figures in the next chart describe the percentage ofnews users mainlySlide seeFun 25andnews entertaining incidentally way to than pass thein the time UK. Twitter, while being on that network that say each is their main motivation for using used by a smaller proportion of people overall, is valued most for it 25%for news. 25 26 the latestEnjoy news the debateand especially and comments for alongsidedebate. the news 21 21 Although 21% of people who use Twitter for news say they do so Gives me perspectives not available in mainstream media 17 PROPORTION OF NEWS USERS ON EACH NETWORK SAYING because it’s ‘a good place to access the15 latest news’, the fact that 13 12 THIS IS THEIR MAIN MOTIVATION – MALAYSIA only a small minority actually11 use Twitter10 for news in the first place Good place to get the very latest news 9 8 8 means this equates to just 3% of the7 UK population.7 In contrast 3 3 to Twitter, where news looms large among many users, YouTube 50% 0% Of the 16% Of the 36% Of the 56% I mostly see news while I’m there for other reasons is a platform whereTwitter some find alternativeYouTube perspectivesFacebook (26% of that use Twitter that use YouTube that use Facebook for news for news for news Gives me news that is personally important to me REUTERSYouTube INSTITUTE news users), FOR whileTHE STUDY others OF useJOURNALISM it as a fun / FURTHER and entertaining ANALYSIS GRAPHS Fun and entertaining way to pass the time place (15%). Social media news users on Facebook in the UK mostly 25% 30 Enjoy the debate and comments alongside the news Slidesee news while 24 on the platform for other reasons (56%), though 25 25 21 22 Gives me perspectives not available in mainstream media debating and commenting is often part of the news experience. 17 18 18 18 14 12 13 12 11 12 13 Good place to get the very latest news 5 7 0% PROPORTION OF NEWS USERS ON EACH NETWORK SAYING Twitter YouTube Facebook THIS IS THEIR MAIN MOTIVATION – UK Good place to get the very latest news Gives me perspectives not available in mainstream media 50% 56 Enjoy the debate and comments alongside the news I mostly see news while I’m there for other reasons Of the 16% Of the 10% Of the 23% Fun and entertaining way to pass the time that use that use that use Gives me news that is personally important to me Twitter YouTube Facebook Gives me news that is personally important to me Fun and entertaining way to pass the time for news for news for news I mostly see news while I’m there for other reasons 25% Enjoy the debate and comments alongside the news 25 26 21 21 Q12_Social_motivations.Gives me perspectives You said that not you available use for media news … What is the 17 MAIN reason that you use for news? Base: Randomly selected Twitter/ 13 15 Facebook/YouTubeGood place news users: to get 173/719/381. the very latest news 11 3 12 3 9 8 7 10 7 8 0% Twitter YouTube Facebook Good place to get the very latest news Gives me perspectives not available in mainstream media Enjoy the debate and comments alongside the news Fun and entertaining way to pass the time Gives me news that is personally important to me I mostly see news while I’m there for other reasons

Q12_Social_motivations. You said that you use for news … What is the MAIN reason that you use for news? Base: Randomly selected Twitter/ Facebook/YouTube news users: 237/404/133.

18 Respondents first answered a question on which social networks they use for news. Then, for one randomly selected social network they answered two questions on motivations for using it for news and news sources they pay attention to. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 54

WHAT SOURCES OF NEWS DO PEOPLE PAY Elsewhere, alternative voices play an even bigger role. In India, for ATTENTION TO ON SOCIAL MEDIA? example, personalities (such as celebrities and influencers) attract most attention amongst social media news users across all four big Social media feeds are full of information and opinions shared networks.REUTERS INSTITUTE Facebook FOR users THE say STUDY they OF pay JOURNALISM as much attention / FURTHER to ANALYSIS ordinary GRAPHS by ordinary people, advertisers, as well as posts from activist people as they do to journalists or news organisations when accessing groups, politicians, and news media that a user follows (or the news.Slide And those27 using Twitter say they pay almost as much attention platform recommends). But who do different audience groups to politicians as they do journalists or news organisations. pay attention to across networks? Once again, we presented respondents with a range of options and asked them to say where they placed most attention when it came to news. WHO PEOPLE PAY MOST ATTENTION TO WHEN USING EACH SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS – INDIA

Taking the United States as an example, we find that, on 50% Other/None of these both Facebook and Twitter, the largest proportion of social 43 Ordinary people media news users say they are most likely to pay attention to 35 Net Personalities mainstream media and journalists. However, many users also 30 30 25% Politicians/political activists appreciate the alternative perspectives that they find there. 26 24 19 21 19 Smaller or alternative news sources 16 17 18 17 I pay attention to articles from sources I trust – 12 Mainstream news outlets/mainstream journalists 9 11 11 10 9 NY Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, and my local 8 2 3 7 3 0% newspaper. Sometimes I read articles from lesser- Twitter Facebook YouTube Instagram known sources because they often go deeper … Mainstream news outlets/mainstream journalists or present a different slant on the subject. Smaller or alternative news sources Politicians/political activists Internet personalities Ordinary people REUTERSF, 73, INSTITUTE US, Facebook FOR THE user STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS Other/None of these SlideAmong social 26 media news users, attention on YouTube tends to be evenly split between a range of sources of news and entertainment, Q12_Social_sources. You said that you use for news … When it comes to news on which of these do you generally pay most attention to? Base: including celebrities, politicians, and ordinary people. Randomly selected Twitter/Facebook/YouTube/Instagram news users: 172/469/619/239.

WHO PEOPLE PAY MOST ATTENTION TO WHEN USING EACH Finally, we find that, in general, those who trust the news less are SOCIAL NETWORK FOR NEWS – USA more likely to seek out alternative sources and less likely to say 50% they payOther/None attention toof thesemainstream news outlets. This is particularly the case on YouTube in the United States where many partisan and Ordinary people alternative views have found a home. Those with lower trust are five 37 Net Personalities times more likely to say they pay attention to alternative sources. 25% 26 26 Politicians/political activists 19 21 I usuallySmaller see or newsalternative from news Newsmax sources or OAN [One America 16 18 16 17 18 17 12 13 12 Network],Mainstream I feel news like outlets/mainstream they post information journalists that the 10 3 10 10 mainstream media won’t touch on. Like, things that 0% Twitter Facebook YouTube happened at the Capitol, as well as a lot of pro-life news Mainstream news outlets/mainstream journalists that I don’t see on the mainstream media. Smaller or alternative news sources Politicians/political activists F, 40, US, YouTube user, self-identifies fairly right-wing Internet personalities Ordinary people REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS Other/None of these I like the conspiracy channels and I love Alex SlideBelfield 28 for the way he criticises people. Q12_Social_sources. You said that you use for news … When it comes to news on which of these do you generally pay most attention to? Base: F, 62, US, YouTube user, self-identifies right-wing Randomly selected Twitter/Facebook/YouTube news users: 167/399/307.

WHO PEOPLE PAY MOST ATTENTION TO WHEN USING We see these patterns on news sources across most markets, with YOUTUBE FOR NEWS BY TRUST – USA many social media news users saying they pay the most attention 50% High trust Low trust Low trust to mainstream media on both Facebook and Twitter. But even High Trust here, news brands and journalists have to compete with a range of voices that can often be more engaging and strident. 33 25% 26 25 For instance, politicians and political activists, who often use social 19 19 17 16 media to bypass mainstream media, receive a significant share of 15 9 9 news attention on social networks like Twitter. A quarter (26%) of 5 6 0% those who use Twitter for news in the US – where the suspension Mainstream Smaller or Politicians/ Personalities Ordinary Other/ news outlets/ alternative political (social media people None of former president Donald Trump has initiated a debate about mainstream news activists influencers/ private companies’ content moderation practices – say they pay journalists sources celebrities) most attention to politicians when looking at news on the network. Q12_Social_sources. You said that you use YouTube for news … When it comes to news on YouTube which of these do you generally pay most attention to? Q6 _2016_1. To what extent do you agree with the following statement? I think you can trust most news most of the time. Base: High/low trust randomly selected YouTube news users: 95/153. 54 / 55

YOUTH-BASED NETWORKS AND THE ROLE OF Setting out facts clearly and accurately is not what these INFLUENCERS networks do. Indeed, in addition to all the other things they do, influencers and celebrities on social media have been found to Over the past few years, the Digital News Report has documented be among the key distributors of misinformation about vaccines how younger users have adopted more visually based social or the link with 5G networks.19 Could journalists and news networks like Instagram, Snapchat, and now TikTok – often while organisations play a more prominent role on these networks and also using older networks. provide more credible information? Some media organisations have already ventured into this arena. The Guardian, for example, Though the key motivation for users of these networks is fun produces the ‘Fake or for Real?’ segment on Instagram, where a and entertainment, serious news topics such as mental health, young journalist goes over the week’s claims using the platform’s climate change, COVID-19, and Black Lives Matter have been quiz feature. Strong opinions or a more comedic approach to news widely discussed in the last year. may not come naturally to many journalists steeped in traditions The benefit is, it is comprehensive, it is all right of objectivity and impartiality. Still, several journalists have experimented with a different tone. TheWashington Post’s ‘TikTok there and at the same time it is relevant. So, if you REUTERS INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF JOURNALISM / FURTHER ANALYSIS GRAPHS are checking out like your friend’s stories you can guy’ Dave Jorgenson, for example, creates regular amusing spoofs also see the news or entertainment stories. linkedSlide to the 30 news. These examples focus on creating authentic content for a particular demographic using visual content M, 26, US focus group, Snapchat user designed to work on a mobile phone. REUTERSThese networks INSTITUTE have FOR alsoTHE STUDY been OFused JOURNALISM for political / FURTHER protests ANALYSIS in GRAPHS Slidecountries like29 Peru and Indonesia. But when it comes to news, our research shows that many of the conversations are not framed by journalists but rather by ‘personalities’ or ordinary people.

WHO U35s PAY MOST ATTENTION TO WHEN USING EACH FOR NEWS – ALL MARKETS

50% Other/None of these Net: Personalities 40 36 37 Ordinary people 25% Politicians/political activists 21 20 Smaller or alternative news sources 16 18 14 14 14 12 14 Mainstream news outlets/mainstream journalists 9 6 7 8 8 5 0% Instagram Snapchat TikTok Mainstream news outlets/mainstream journalists Smaller or alternative news sources Politicians/political activists Ordinary people Internet personalities Other/None of these

Q12_Social_sources. You said that you use for news … When it comes to news on which of these do you generally pay most attention to? Base: U35 randomly selected Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok news users: 3416/597/786

Who are these ‘personalities’ that people pay attention to on social media? The definition used in our survey is rather broad, combining celebrities, such as actors and musicians, with social media The success of these experiments, however, depends on the target influencers and reality stars. audience, the network culture, and the algorithmic features of the social network (and sometimes they do not have any clear, Our open-ended responses suggest that much of the news direct form of monetisation). For instance, some networks, such circulating on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok is related to subjects as Snapchat, have a separate space for news. But on Instagram like health, fashion, and sexuality as opposed to more ‘traditional’ and TikTok, news stories blend in with videos and images that topics, such as politics or economics. Influencers often have strong other users share. Given that the algorithms are mainly driven by opinions on these topics and frequently criticise the media for their popularity and relevance, content needs to be highly engaging to perceived unfair treatment of women or LGBTQ individuals. reach a wide audience. This is perhaps even more important for newsrooms who are actively using, or are planning to use, TikTok, The social media influencers and comedians that where users spend the most time ‘flopping’ through hundreds I follow are extremely opinionated, which is a good of videos on the ‘For You’ page. thing. Because of the number of people there [on social networks], you get better sources to hear both sides of the story. F, 19, India, Instagram user

19 Ahmadi, A., Chan, F. ’Online Influencers have Become Powerful Vectors in Promoting False Information and Conspiracy Theories’, 8 Dec. 2020. https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/ influencers-vectors-misinformation/ Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 56

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, we have provided evidence of the differences between the main social networks in terms of social media news users’ motivations and whom they pay the most attention to. Platform characteristics mostly play out in similar ways across countries, but the political and social context can make a significant difference. For instance, a social network that is incidentally used for news in Western countries might be a key news destination in countries in the Global South.

For every social network other than Facebook and Twitter, it is a minority of users who say they get news while using the platform in question, and even among the social media news users we focus on in this chapter, the centrality of getting the latest news as a motivation varies (and a desire for entertainment as well as incidental exposure looms large). While our data show that mainstream media capture some attention, even around news and among social media news users, other voices play a larger role. This is particularly clear on newer networks, among younger people, and among those with lower levels of trust in news, who often seek out alternative perspectives in social media that they believe mainstream media are ignoring.

Social media are a complex space for mainstream media organisations to navigate. They have to share this space with a range of other content creators who do not have the same editorial principles and values. But given the time that people spend on social networks – and the dangers of false information and political propaganda – it still seems important that journalists and news organisations find ways to adapt to these more informal spaces, especially if they want to engage people with low interest in news and young people (groups that rarely go directly to news sites or apps), and especially if social media can convince publishers that the platform in question delivers a reasonable return on investment.

The tone and the formats that young people and others use, especially on newer networks, does not always come naturally to journalists. But the focus on fun and entertainment does not necessarily mean that young people are unwilling to talk about ‘serious’ issues on these platforms. On the contrary, from climate change to Black Lives Matter, many young people use their creativity to raise awareness about the issues that concern them, and celebrities and influencers who mostly focus on entertainment and similar issues sometimes play a key role in these discussions – at best, raising awareness and speaking out on important issues, at worst, spreading false or misleading information.

News organisations have started to recognise the importance of engaging in these spaces. In some cases, these efforts involve adapting existing content using new formats, but in others it may require an entirely new approach involving bespoke content, a diverse agenda and more editorial freedom assigned to younger journalists. The continued growth of the youth-orientated networks makes this work more vital than ever, even as the business side is rarely clear. 56 / 57 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 58 58 / 59

SECTION 3 Analysis by Country and Market

In this section we publish a market-based view of the findings, which includes an overview of the most important data points in terms of news.

These include an overview of consumption in each market, EUROPE AMERICAS including details of the most popular news brands – traditional 3.01 United Kingdom 62 3.25 United States 112 and online. The pages also contain statistics about the use of devices such as smartphones and tablets and the role of different 3.02 Austria 64 3.26 Argentina 114 social networks for news. Information is drawn from the 2021 3.03 Belgium 66 3.27 Brazil 116 Digital News Report survey using the methodology outlined on p.6, with the exception of population and internet levels which 3.04 Bulgaria 68 3.28 Canada 118 are drawn from the latest version of Internet World Statistics. 3.05 Croatia 70 3.29 Chile 120

Data from India, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa are representative 3.06 Czech Republic 72 3.30 Colombia 122 of younger English-speakers and not the national population, 3.07 Denmark 74 3.31 Mexico 124 because it is not possible to reach other groups in a representative way using online polling. The survey was fielded in English in these 3.08 Finland 76 3.32 Peru 126 markets (respondents had the option of selecting Hindi in India and 3.09 France 78 ASIA PACIFIC Swahili in Kenya, but the majority selected English), and restricted 3.10 Germany 80 3.33 Australia 130 to ages 18–50 in Kenya and Nigeria. 3.11 Greece 82 3.34 Hong Kong 132 In some other markets, where internet penetration is lower, our data often represent younger and more affluent groups – even 3.12 Hungary 84 3.35 India 134 if it meets other nationally representative quotas. For all these 3.13 Ireland 86 3.36 Indonesia 136 reasons, one should be cautious in comparing some data points 3.14 Italy 88 3.37 Japan 138 across markets where we know these limitations apply (see methodology on p.6). In a few markets we do not show certain 3.15 Netherlands 90 3.38 Malaysia 140 data points (such as paying for news) because we feel these 3.16 Norway 92 3.39 Philippines 142 could lead to misunderstandings or misleading comparisons. We have also signalled specific details about samples in a 3.17 Poland 94 3.40 Singapore 144 short note on the relevant page and also include the internet 3.18 Portugal 96 3.41 South Korea 146 penetration rate on each. 3.19 Romania 98 3.42 Taiwan 148 In the Netherlands we conducted a repoll of brand reach numbers 3.20 Slovakia 100 3.43 Thailand 150 in late March 2021 due to a scripting error in the original poll. All other numbers are taken from the January/February poll. 3.21 Spain 102 AFRICA Due to a scripting error there are no ‘Sources of News’ data for 3.22 Sweden 104 3.44 Kenya 154 2014 in any market. 3.23 Switzerland 106 3.45 Nigeria 156 We have ordered the countries and markets by geography 3.24 Turkey 108 3.46 South Africa 158 (Europe, Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Africa) and within each region countries are then ordered alphabetically – with the exception of UK at the start of the Europe section and the United States at the start of the Americas. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 60 60 / 61

SECTION 3 Analysis by Country and Market Europe

EUROPE 3.01 United Kingdom 62 3.02 Austria 64 3.03 Belgium 66 3.04 Bulgaria 68 3.05 Croatia 70 3.06 Czech Republic 72 3.07 Denmark 74 3.08 Finland 76 3.09 France 78 3.10 Germany 80 3.11 Greece 82 3.12 Hungary 84 3.13 Ireland 86 3.14 Italy 88 3.15 Netherlands 90 3.16 Norway 92 3.17 Poland 94 3.18 Portugal 96 3.19 Romania 98 3.20 Slovakia 100 3.21 Spain 102 3.22 Sweden 104 3.23 Switzerland 106 3.24 Turkey 108 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 62

UNITED KINGDOM

STATISTICS subscription to their apps and recurring donations, though the website remains Population 67m free to access. The government’s move Internet penetration 95% to scrap VAT for digital publications has benefited the industry by about £50m a year.21 Despite some subscription growth, The UK was only a small minority of our survey particularly respondents (8%) currently pay for any badly affected online news, with free news content widely available. by COVID-19, with a high death rate and strict Publishers are hoping the government may be able to help squeeze more money out lockdowns, before a successful of platforms. Facebook rolled out its news vaccination roll-out. The crisis has service in the UK in January, which involves increased consumption of news substantial payments to leading publishers, overall, but has also led to layoffs and Google is also licensing news content – but the sums involved remain modest and closures in an already fragile compared with deals done in Australia. Some media eco-system. Meanwhile expect the creation of a new Digital Markets Brexit fallout continues to fuel Unit to regulate digital platforms based within the Competition Commission may divisions, threatening the future encourage more and better deals, while the of the United Kingdom itself. communications regulator Ofcom will be in charge of regulating various online harms. A series of lockdowns has increased the importance of television news over the Overall trust in the media is up eight Davie has also restated the importance last year with BBC, ITV, and Sky News percentage points to 36%, but it should of impartiality in the light of increased all increasing weekly reach. By contrast be noted that this is still 14 points lower polarisation, culture wars, and the growing print newspapers, which are still mainly than before the Brexit referendum in 2016, popularity of opinion-led TV broadcasters. distributed via newsstands in the UK, with the media and social media often More opinion and political debate could be have been in freefall, with local and blamed for fostering divisions. Our own on the way with the launch of GB News, a national papers down by an average of research shows how trust in particular channel which says it wants to counter the 10% each and freesheets down by 40%, brands often splits along both political liberal and ‘metropolitan bias’ of existing according to industry data. In spite of a and/or generational lines. We also find broadcast outlets. Amid fears that the three-month government public health that political partisans from both sides feel UK is set to embark on an era of US-style advertising campaign designed in part to that UK media coverage has been unfair to partisan TV, GB News has insisted that it help the press, more than 2,000 staff them (see section 2.1 on fairness for more). will not be ‘shouty, angry television’, and 22 across the UK’s national and regional press will conform to existing impartiality rules. Government attitudes to the BBC had temporarily or permanently lost their jobs softened during the crisis with ministers Nic Newman as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak, returning to studios after earlier boycotts Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute according to research from Press Gazette. and plans to cut the BBC down to size or for the Study of Journalism Digital-born operators have also been decriminalise the licence fee put on hold. affected, with HuffPost losing half of However, a scandal over the methods its London-based staff, following the used by a rogue journalist, Martin Bashir, acquisition by BuzzFeed. The UK’s largest in obtaining an interview with Princess regional news group, Reach plc, is cutting Diana 25 years ago, has reignited criticism costs partly by closing offices. It says about editorial oversight and emboldened three-quarters of staff will permanently the BBC’s many critics. Incoming Director work from home in the future.20 General Tim Davie has embarked on Elsewhere the crisis has accelerated his own radical reforms to make the registration and digital subscription corporation more relevant and to address strategies. Both the Telegraph and critiques about it being too London- The Times now have around 400,000 centred. Jobs have been cut – including digital subscribers while the Guardian almost 500 in news – and key departments says 900,000 are regularly paying for its are to be moved out of the capital. online journalism via a combination of

20 https://www.ft.com/content/a3a59984-8ed0-4d11-a180-cd289aab8856 21 https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/news-industry-set-for-50m-a-year-boost-from-vat-cut-on-digital-publications/ 22 https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/gb-news-launch-date-latest-on-when-andrew-neils-channel-will-start-after-website-goes-live-for-sign-up-947550 62 / 63

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE BBC News (TV & radio) 5711 BBC News online 4611 ITV News 3113 Guardian online 178 TOP BRANDS Sky News 218 Sky News online 145 % Weekly usage Channel 4 News 116 MailOnline 145 Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday 37 Regional or local newspaper website 48 Weekly use Regional or local newspaper 46 HuPost 57 TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 62 Independent/i100 online 46 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print CNN 63 Telegraph online 46 Weekly use Sun/Sun on Sunday 2 5 Metro online 3 5 online brands Guardian/Observer 2 4 Sun online 3 5 More than 3 days per week The Times/Sunday Times 2 4 MSN News 2 5 online brands Metro 3 ITV News online 3 5 Channel 5 News 3 Mirror online 3 5 Daily Telegraph/Sunday Telegraph 3 The Times online 2 4 Daily Mirror/Sunday Mirror/Sunday People 2 BBC TV News: 52% BuzzFeed News 3 4 The i 2 BBC Radio News: 19% CNN.com 2 4

CHANGING MEDIA PAY A COVID bump for TV news masks historic declines in audiences – especially amongst younger viewers. 8% 22% Social media have become an ever more important pay for listen to PODCASTS source of news, fuelled by widespread smartphone ONLINE NEWS in the last month access (68%) which has doubled in the last nine years.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet

79% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 74% 74% 67% 68% Computer 59% 60% Printed newspapers 50% 50% TV 41% 43%

29% 24% 20% 15% 16%

0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust Neither Don’t trust Broadcasters such as the BBC 53 35 12 BBC, ITV, Sky News, and ITV 45 47 8 BBC News 62 17 21 Channel 4, that are required FT 45 50 5 News overall News I use ITV News 61 25 14 Channel 4 42 50 8 to meet strict impartiality Channel 4 News 58 27 15 Sky 39 52 9 standards, remain the most Financial Times 56 32 12 Guardian 39 51 10 trusted news brands, followed Sky News 54 27 19 (+8) Times 39 51 10 by national broadsheet titles. 36% 44% Guardian 52 29 19 Local newspaper 38 55 7 Popular outlets such as the =33/46 Regional/local newspaper 52 33 15 Independent 33 58 9 The Times 52 31 17 Sun and the Mail attract big Telegraph 30 56 14 audiences online but are Independent 47 36 17 News in search News in social Mail 16 47 37 Daily Telegraph 43 35 22 strongly distrusted – HuPost 13 74 13 HuPost 30 45 25 especially by the young and Mirror 11 58 31 Daily Mail/MailOnline 26 27 47 by those on the political left. Sun 10 50 40 Daily Mirror 23 33 44 15% 6% Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Sun 13 23 64

0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands.

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 22% 1 Facebook 23% (-1) 65% 4 YouTube 10% (+3) 59% SHARE NEWS 2 Twitter 16% (+2) 31% 5 Facebook Messenger 7% (+2) 48% via social, messaging or email 3 WhatsApp 14% (+7) 66% 6 Instagram 5% (+2) 34% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 64

AUSTRIA

STATISTICS guidelines from different departments. The public broadcaster ORF adapted rapidly Population 9m to the needs of COVID-19 in the early Internet penetration 88% stages, with journalists living and working in isolation for periods of two weeks, in specially created studios in Vienna and in News the regions, to guarantee reporting during consumption the crisis. ORF remains the most used and trust source both in broadcast and online and is still the most trusted source of information increased (74% overall). Respondents who self- compared with last year, with identify on the right continue to have lower Austrians often sceptical of the levels of trust in ORF compared with those who self-identify on the left. But the gap government’s handling of the narrowed slightly in the last year with both pandemic. Meanwhile, important groups still showing relatively high trust regulatory changes have affected levels (64% and 85% respectively). Facebook has expanded its fact-checking digital communications, including Among commercial broadcasters, ServusTV, programme to include content produced a tax on digital advertising and owned by the Red Bull corporation, saw in Austria. The German Press Agency measures aimed at stopping the greatest increase in audience and trust. DPA is responsible for the fact-checking Like other outlets, they were critical of operations, although it will be initially online hate speech. the government response, but also gave supported by the fact-checking team of the space to alternative views, for example, Austrian Press Agency APA. News consumption increased in 2020, questioning the use of masks or lockdowns. mainly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, The long-term decline in newspaper the biggest crisis of the last 15 years. But Radical plans to reform ORF were stopped sales accelerated, with the main brands another major news event shook the with the formation of a new government in losing an average of 4% circulation. Many, nation in November 2020 with Austria’s 2020. The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), however, including nationals Der Standard, first ‘Islamic state’-inspired terrorist which had been the driving force behind Die Presse, Kurier, and regional titles attack in central Vienna, with millions many public attacks on ORF and the most Kleine Zeitung, OÖNachrichten, and Tiroler following live on TV and online. The attack radical proposals for reform, are now in Tageszeitung, saw increases of over 25% in was by a lone 20-year-old Austrian man opposition. The year 2021 will, however, digital subscriptions. And apparently the who succeeded in killing four people and be a critical one for the ORF, with elections take-up is particularly high among users injuring over 20 others before he was killed due for Director General. The incumbent aged 35–44.24 by police. Alexander Wrabetz is standing for what would be an unprecedented fourth term. News brands Der Standard, Kronen The online sites of tabloids oe24.tv Chancellor Kurz of the Austrian’s People Zeitung, and Kurier jointly launched the and krone.at were widely criticised for Party (ÖVP) controls media policy and is online advertising platform NAPA (Net publishing user-generated videos including likely to be closely involved in all decisions Austrian Programmatic Alliance). NAPA images of the victims. This raised issues about the ORF’s future. hopes to attract more participants and not just about online ethics but rekindled become a credible alternative to Google controversies over whether tabloids had The FPÖ has continued its criticisms of and Facebook. Meanwhile, the 5% digital been unduly favoured over quality titles in media companies while in opposition. advertising tax targeted at the platforms the distribution of COVID financial support YouTube’s removal of a video from introduced in January 2020 had already from the government. Similarly, increases one of its channels, on the grounds of by July 2020 exceeded the €20m revenue in advertising spend by the chancellor’s promoting medical misinformation, proved forecast for its first year. office and the government came under contentious since it was of a parliamentary scrutiny. Critics have long seen this speech given by Herbert Kickl, one of Sergio Sparviero and Josef Trappel discretionary measure as a political tool FPÖ’s leading figures. The Freedom Party University of Salzburg in collaboration with used to reward uncritical media titles. considered this as censorship and an Stefan Gadringer and Roland Holzinger unacceptable intrusion into Austrian As in some other European countries, politics. This also stirred up controversy broadcast audiences grew as they played over the law against hate on the internet a key role in informing citizens about the (Gesetz gegen Hass im Netz), only passed in pandemic – while communications from late 2020, on the grounds that it would give the federal government often appeared digital platforms an incentive to arbitrarily confused, with sometimes conflicting delete more content.23

23 https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000123293259/zensurakt-youtube-loeschte-kickl-rede-im-parlament-wegen-fake-news 24 Data from https://www.oeak.at/ 25 https://viecer.univie.ac.at/corona-blog/corona-blog-beitraege/corona-dynamiken22/ 64 / 65

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE ORF News (public broadcaster) 7914 ORF News online 389 Kronen Zeitung 3614 Kronen Zeitung online 278 TOP BRANDS ServusTV News 2411 Der Standard online 206 % Weekly usage Puls 4 News 2010 GMX 157 ZDF News 199 Kurier online 157 Weekly use Puls 24 174 meinbezirk.at/woche.at/bezirksrundschau.at 148 TV, radio & print oe24 TV 167 Heute online 136 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print ARD News 157 oe24.at (incl. österreich.at, sport.oe24.at etc.) 125 Weekly use RTL News 158 KroneHit online 106 online brands Heute 148 Die Presse online 106 More than 3 days per week ATV News 148 ORF TV News: 63% Kleine Zeitung online 93 online brands Bezirksblätter 1411 ORF Radio News: 50% Puls24 online 49 KroneHit 147 salzburg24.at 47 Österreich 137 OÖ Nachrichten 37 Kleine Zeitung 135 MSN News 47 Der Standard 127 tagesschau.de (ARD Germany) 47

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Television, online, and social media news use have all increased over the last year driven by COVID-19 and 12% 32% other dramatic news events, while print consumption pay for listen to PODCASTS has continued to fall. Smartphone use for news has ONLINE NEWS in the last month grown strongly – up by eight percentage points.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21* 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 78% 77% Online67% (incl. social media) 75% Smartphone 71% 71% 70% Printed newspapers Computer 53% 50% 48% 50% TV 38% 45% 41% 22% 18%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in news overall is up by Trust Neither Don’t trust six percentage points and all BBC 53 35 12 ORF News 74 10 16 ITV 45 47 8 the main news brands saw Der Standard 69 16 15 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 increased trust. This is in ZDF News 68 19 13 Channel 4 42 50 8 sharp contrast to trust in the Die Presse 67 19 14 Sky 39 52 9 government, which fell soon Servus TV News 65 18 17 (+6) Guardian 39 51 10 after the beginning of the 46% 57% Regional/local newspaper 65 22 13 Times 39 51 10 25 17/46 Kurier 61 21 18 pandemic: 27% of our Local newspaper 38 55 7 Puls 4 News 59 23 18 respondents name the Independent 33 58 9 56 26 18 government as the main Kleine Zeitung 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph NEWS 51 29 20 source of false/misleading Mail 16 47 37 Kronen Zeitung 48 18 34 information about the HuPost 13 74 13 RTL News 48 27 25 Coronavirus. Mirror 11 58 31 oe24 43 22 35 26% 18% Sun 10 50 40 Heute 37 25 38 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 GMX 34 36 30

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 27% 1 Facebook 31% (+1) 60% 4 Instagram 11% (+2) 35% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 22% (-1) 79% 5 Facebook Messenger 5% (-2) 31% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 21% (-) 65% 6 Twitter 5% (-) 12% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 66

BELGIUM

STATISTICS In Wallonia, Rossel continued its local consolidation by acquiring the remaining Population 11.6m shares of the free daily Metro from Mediahuis Internet penetration 94% as well as expanding in Northern France by buying the struggling newspaper Paris Normandie. IPM bought L’Avenir and the Belgium has other print activities from Nethys. RTL Group two distinct (Luxembourg) bought out the third of its media markets – shares held by Audiopresse (a joint venture of Belgian publishers), meaning RTL Belgium French-speaking is now 100% owned by an international Wallonia and Flemish-speaking media group. This ended the peculiar Belgian Flanders. Given the small size of arrangement dating back to 1985, where companies seeking the new commercial the markets, publishers continue TV licences were required to partner with to see consolidation as a way of publishers, to reduce their hostility to securing their digital transition increased competition for advertising. In both regions, legacy news publishers have and keeping international now refocused their activities mainly on companies at bay. print and online. As a result, the daily press is dominated by two big players in each region, As elsewhere, Belgians flocked to Mediahuis and DPG Media in Flanders and mainstream media during the pandemic, Rossel and IPM in Wallonia. while advertising revenues initially dropped significantly before recovering in The argument seems to be gaining ground the second half of 2020. DPG Media and that small media markets need a degree Mediahuis, Flanders’ largest publishers, of concentration and collaboration to The pandemic has brought Belgium’s first increased subscriptions across their face international competition and digital high-profile case of disinformation, from Flemish and Dutch titles by 2% and 11% transition. One concrete example is the anti-vaxxers. The issue remains high on respectively, leading to strong annual ‘Flemish Netflix’ Streamz, launched the policy agenda, but so far proposals results.26 There is a similar picture in in September 2020 as a joint venture from a 2018 federal expert group for a joint Wallonia, with digital subscriptions between DPG Media and telecom initiative to combat disinformation have increasing for most publishers.27 All operator Telenet, helped by the Flemish come to nothing. However, trust in news this is taking place in a context of major government easing regulatory obstacles overall remains high, especially in Flanders, structural changes where, although and requiring the public broadcaster VRT and the downward trend of recent years there are positive signs of an increased to offer its drama content on the platform. has been reversed. Trust in major news willingness to pay and growth in digital brands remains stable, with Flemish news subscriptions (up 4% points to 16%), these In 2020 there was also a new five-year brands even showing a small trust bump. do not compensate for falling advertising agreement between public broadcaster In Flanders VTM (DPG Media) has now revenues. Estimates suggest that about 40 VRT and the Flemish government. It overtaken één (VRT) as the most used to 50% of Belgian online advertising flows requires VRT to accelerate its digital offline news source, and VTM Nieuws has to Google and Facebook.28 transformation but also to restrict its also surpassed quality newspapers De Tijd online news to broadcast-based, rather and De Standaard to become the second The year 2020 saw the consequences of than text-based content. This is in response most trusted news brand after VRT Nieuws. recent mergers play out. At DPG Media, the to lobbying by news publishers concerned In Wallonia, RTBF’s TV news (La Une) has merger brought Flanders’ most popular that VRT’s free news online undermines overtaken RTL to become the most used newspaper/website, Het Laatste Nieuws/ willingness to pay for commercial digital offline source and RTBF News remains hln.be, and commercial TV news provider, news. Meanwhile, public subsidy for the most trusted brand, but RTL is still the VTM Nieuws, under the same roof – literally, (profitable) commercial media prompted leading brand by online weekly use. in the purpose-built News City building debate. In Flanders, DPG Media received in Antwerp city centre – with a single €996,000 for digital reskilling, while in Ike Picone integrated newsroom for all their news Wallonia, RTL Belgium nearly received Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels properties. DPG Media also dropped the TV €40 million to cover losses due to the station’s own news site vtmnieuws.be and pandemic, but in the end, given the launched the live online video news channel controversy caused and a recovery in the HLN Live in an attempt to position hln.be market, did not pursue their request. as the go-to online news site.

26 https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20210318_98025429 27 https://www.lesoir.be/308910/article/2020-06-23/les-ventes-dabonnements-aux-journaux-en-forte-hausse-pendant-le-confinement 28 https://www.vlaamseregulatormedia.be/sites/default/files/rapport_mediaconcentratie_2020_zonder_afloop.pdf 66 / 67

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FLEMISH) ONLINE (FLEMISH) AND ONLINE VTM 4512 Het Laatste Nieuws online 488 Eén (VRT) 398 VRT Nieuws online 3513 TOP BRANDS Het Laatste Nieuws 2811 Het Nieuwsblad online 287 % Weekly usage Radio 2 (VRT) 228 Het Belang van Limburg online 122 Het Nieuwsblad 187 De Standaard online 114 Weekly use Qmusic 176 Gazet van Antwerpen online 104 TV, radio & print MNM (VRT) 168 De Morgen online 49 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Radio 1 (VRT) 145 De Tijd online 95 Weekly use Canvas (VRT) 135 MSN News 47 online brands Het Belang van Limburg 124 CNN.com 3 5 More than 3 days per week Joe FM 125 Knack online 3 5 online brands Studio Brussel (VRT) 115 VRT (Public broadcaster) 67% Metro online 2 4

PAY TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FRENCH) ONLINE (FRENCH)

16% La Une (RTBF) 4813 RTL News online 3911

pay for RTL 4713 RTBF News online 3011 ONLINE NEWS TF1 (France) 2911 DH online 248 249 Wallonia 16% | Flanders 16% Vivacité (RTBF) 228 Le Soir online Bel-RTL 218 7sur7 206 Le Soir 1019 L'Avenir online 197 Radio Contact 156 La Libre online 126 L’Avenir 159 Regional news online 126 Metro 1511 MSN News 69 26% La Première (RTBF) 157 Yahoo! News 85 listen to PODCASTS Regional or local newspapers 1014 Metro online 85 in the last month France Télévisions (France 2, France 3) 146 RTBF (Public broadcaster) 69% L’Echo 48

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 82% 78% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 75% 70% 64% Printed newspapers 59% Computer 50% 46% 50% TV 52% 45% 38% 39% 32% 20% 17%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST Trust in the news is up overall, though it remains considerably higher in Flemish-speaking Flanders News overall News I use News in search News in social (61%) than in French-speaking Wallonia (45%). During the COVID-19 crisis, public broadcasters VRT 54% (+9) 57% 31% 19% and RTBF have been a source of reliable information =7/46 for their respective communities and are also the Wallonia 45% Wallonia 51% Wallonia 30% Wallonia 19% brands with the highest trust scores. Flanders 61% Flanders 62% Flanders 32% Flanders 19%

BRAND TRUST SCORES Trust Neither Don’t trust TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING FLEMISH FRENCH VRT Nieuws 81 5 RTBF News 74 8 Rank Brand For news For All VTM Nieuws 78 7 Le Soir 69 9 77 5 68 8 Radio 1 La Première 1 Facebook 39% (-2) 69% Radio 2 77 5 RTL News 67 13 De Tijd 76 5 France 2 67 9 De Standaard 76 6 Vivacité 67 9 2 YouTube 18% (+2) 52% Het Nieuwsblad 75 6 TF1 66 12 Het Laatste Nieuws 73 9 Bel-RTL 64 14 3 Facebook Messenger 12% (-) 51% De Morgen 73 8 Regional/local newspaper 63 11 Knack 73 7 L'Avenir 60 12 4 WhatsApp 12% (+3) 49% Gazet van Antwerpen 71 7 DH 60 14 Regional/local newspaper 70 7 Radio Contact 56 13 5 Instagram 9% (+1) 31% Qmusic 66 9 7sur7 56 13 Metro 64 8 Metro 52 14 6 Joe FM 64 8 MSN News 40 21 Twitter 5% (-) 13% 0 100 0 100

Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale, Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 68

BULGARIA

STATISTICS of the features contributing to Bulgaria’s low press freedom ranking.30 Population 7.0m Internet penetration 67% However, 2020 also saw a reversal in the trend that has seen Bulgarian oligarchs buying media outlets for political Bulgaria influence. As domestic oligarchs retreated, remains well-resourced foreign owners moved in. After two years heading the Nova the poorest Broadcasting Group, the pro-government member of oligarch Kiril Domuschiev sold, apparently the EU and the one with the for financial reasons, to United Group – a Slovenia-based conglomerate operating lowest ranking in terms of the across eight countries. This followed main indices for press freedom United’s earlier 2020 purchase, from the and transparency. Elections in oligarch Delian Peevski, of Bulgarian telco, April 2021 led to a setback for Vivacom, and of Kanal 3 TV and the tabloid newpaper Telegraf, all of which had been the country’s long-serving Prime strongholds for Peevski’s party. Nova TV Minister with a falling vote share. under its new owners is seen as far less But although the political future pro-government. is uncertain, Bulgaria’s media Similarly, BTV Media group – which ranks After two months of live daily TV seem to have weathered the directly after Nova TV in our offline and broadcasts of COVID-19 themed morning online brand lists – was bought by Central government briefings, the prime COVID-19 pandemic better than European Media Enterprises (CME). CME minister Boyko Borissov came under some others. thereby gained 30 TV channels within unaccustomed scrutiny. Inconvenient Bulgaria to add to its operations across questions from some journalists in May Major brands saw rising audiences during five countries. In October 2020 CME was 2020 meant thereafter he limited himself the first lockdown between March and bought by the Czech-based PPF group. to preprepared statements and did no May, and Dnevnik.bg, the first print It is unclear how these multiple changes election campaign rallies. After abusing newspaper to include multimedia within might affect the political stance of the journalists and threatening publishers, its online site, reported that its web BTV stations. Borissov now relies on his own video blog traffic had almost doubled.29 Whereas the using his Facebook page. He broadcasts pandemic generally delivered a sustained One major development was the creation from his armoured SUV (known as the hit to advertising revenues elsewhere, in November 2019 of 7/8 TV, which became Boykomobile), visiting construction some Bulgarian media only saw a short- the champion of the summer 2020 sites, making promises to supporters and lived fall, with revenues back at 2019 levels anti-government protests. Its founder lauding his successes. He regularly reaches by year end. Many structural challenges Stanislav (Slavi) Trifonov, a comedian and tens of thousands with these Facebook persisted though, with the top two TV talk show host, ran for parliament with his broadcasts. stations, Nova and BTV, taking 69% of newly established party (There is Such a TV ad spend. Even so, the vast majority of People) on an anti-corruption platform. There are dozens of podcasts and vlogs media groups survived the crisis without They emerged as the second largest party in Bulgaria. Some focus on interests such closing titles even if they had to impose in April’s elections and Trifonov and his as health, music, or indeed politics and wage cuts and some layoffs. closest aides became MPs. economics, while others exploit COVID-19 to spread conspiracy theories. Partisanship Survival came at a price. The financial TV 7/8 responded to the challenge of and low ethical standards are common, stability of media companies is sometimes relying on advertising in an already but many reach six-figure audiences and more apparent than real; many rely on crowded TV market by becoming the many claim to rely for funding on the bail-outs from owners keen to please the first channel to offer reasonably priced crowdfunding and donation platform government, influential politicians, or subscriptions, at under €2 a month for Patreon. oligarchs, or all three. Government control its TV and web content. TV 7/8’s success, of public service TV strengthened in the along with the existing subscribers to Stefan Antonov run-up to the April 2021 election and the Capital weekly magazine and people Business journalist and former Reuters journalists reporting on the summer 2020 paying for foreign media, may explain Institute Journalist Fellow wave of anti-government protests were the number of our respondents reporting often arrested and beaten. These are some paying for online news.

29 https://www.dnevnik.bg/analizi/2021/02/12/4174052_zatvoreniiat_bar_e_nai-tujnoto_miasto_ili_za/ 30 112/180 countries according to the 2021 Reporters Without Borders Index. 68 / 69

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE NovaTV News 669 Nova TV News online 4910 BTV News 6210 BTV News online 1041 TOP BRANDS BNT News (Bulgarian National Television) 4711 ABV News online 3611 % Weekly usage 24 Chasa 2030 novini.bg 3518 Bulgaria on Air 2010 24 Chasa online 3117 Weekly use BNR News (Bulgarian National Radio) 187 BNT News online 268 TV, radio & print TV Evropa News 188 dir.bg 2312 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 1015 Dnevnik online 189 Weekly use Telegraf 1015 Blitz.bg 189 online brands Trud 149 Bivol.bg 169 More than 3 days per week Darik Radio 145 Petel.bg 158 online brands Kanal 3 105 Trud online 149 Capital 107 Capital online 139 Monitor 97 Maritza 136 CNN 95 BNR News online 135 Sega 37 Darik 126

CHANGING MEDIA PAY TV and print’s decline as sources of news continued, with online’s lead unchanged. TV stations and newspapers are 15% offering more content online, where they face competition pay for from multiple websites, bloggers, and politicians all trying ONLINE NEWS to win loyal audiences.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2018–21 2018–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 88% Social media Tablet 84% 86% Online (incl. social media) 77% Smartphone 72% 73% 78% 67% Computer Printed67% newspapers 61% 50% 50% TV

23% 21% 19% 15%

0% 0% 2018 2019 2020 2021 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Bulgaria still rates low for Trust Neither Don’t trust trust among our 46 BBC 53 35 12 Bulgarian National Radio 72 15 13 countries, with more people ITV 45 47 8 70 15 15 News overall News I use Bulgarian National TelevisionFT 45 50 5 saying they distrust rather 67 17 16 ChannelBTV News 4 42 50 8 than trust the news – a 67 15 18 Nova TV NewsSky 39 52 9 product of a deeply polarised 60 23 17 32% (-1) 37% GuardianCapital 39 51 10 media system. Public service 59 21 20 24Times Chasa 39 51 10 =38/46 58 26 16 radio and TV remain the Local newspaperNovini 38 55 7 most trusted brands, with Regional/localIndependent newspaper 33 55 28 58 179 popular brands that often Dnevnik 30 54 2756 1914 News in search News in social Telegraph carry more sensationalist Bivol.bgMail 16 54 47 23 2337 material less well trusted. HuPostTrud 13 54 25 74 2113 MirrorDir 11 53 58 28 1931 29% 25% ABV NewsSun 10 51 50 30 4019 Buzzfeed NewsSega 6 49 2976 2218 Blitz.bg 43 27 30 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 38% 1 Facebook 64% (-5) 76% 4 Viber 16% (-1) 61% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 32% (-3) 70% 5 Instagram 12% (-) 36% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 17% (-3) 54% 6 Twitter 8% (-) 18% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 70

CROATIA

STATISTICS The pandemic increased the structural problems of the media sector in many Population 4.1m countries but Croatia was additionally Internet penetration 92% vulnerable given its small market size and the very low level (7%) of numbers of people paying for news online. The need COVID-19 has for new digital strategies is urgent, since exacerbated the pandemic has led to a further decline the financial in the use of print as a news source, down by seven percentage points in the last pressures on year, equivalent to the decline in the Croatia’s legacy media seeking previous two years. Legacy media finally to adapt to the shift of readers seem to be waking up to the need to reach audiences online and have launched new and advertising revenues online. subscription campaigns. Journalists have lost jobs, wages, and come under more COVID-19 also added to the already difficult reporting environment for political pressure. Meanwhile, Croatian journalists. In April 2021 the current outdated regulatory HND published a report documenting arrangements risk reducing the continued use of lawsuits to silence journalists investigating people in power. the range of news channels They found 924 such cases, primarily and pose a threat to pluralism against journalists working for Hanza in Croatia. Media and Styria, publishers of the largest dailies Jutarnji list, 24 sata, and Večernji COVID-19 affected the Croatian media list. Commercial television channels RTL, by the cable-must-carry rules that apply in multiple ways. On the positive side it N1 and NOVA TV came under increased to stations licensed in Croatia. The risk is probably the main factor explaining pressure by the Prime Minister Andrej now is that the country’s largest telco, HT, the very strong increase in trust in news Plenković, who accused the media of follows suit. If it does, N1’s audience would overall in Croatia (up by 6% points) conspiring against his party’s (HDZ) be very hard hit. The channel is hoping the as people became more reliant on candidates, following local elections issues will be resolved in a new media law the media during the pandemic. But in May 2021. or a national broadcasting licence. If they the negative economic impact was are not, the potential loss of distribution Proposed amendments to the Law on considerable. A survey of electronic would pose a real risk to media pluralism Electronic Media initially attracted media, conducted by the Agency for and damage the diversity of the Croatian attention because of plans to limit hate Electronic Media in January 2021, found information ecology. speech in online comments on news that 70% of respondents reported that stories. The proposal to hold media Zrinjka Peruško revenues were down, with TV and radio organisations responsible for this content Centre for Media and Communication broadcasters being hardest hit.31 Among has been widely criticised. Some fear Research, University of Zagreb journalists, freelancers were worst that news media would choose to disable affected, nearly 30% had no work during online comments if they were held liable the first months of the pandemic, and for their content. two-thirds reported reduced earnings, according to a survey conducted by the Another issue around the media law Croatian Journalists Association (HND) relates to popular cable news channel N1, and the Union of Journalists.32 While which many admire for its independent journalists and media companies were reporting. In spring 2021, the channel was covered by the government’s COVID-19 removed from the package provided by an business support scheme, freelancers important telecom operator, A1. Because were excluded. And the problems affecting N1 is a cable channel owned by the United the print sector were evident in the fact Group, operating from the Netherlands, that many journalists suffered wage cuts – and is not a free-to-air television channel in some cases wages were halved.33 with a national licence, it is not covered

31 Pandemija uzrokovana virusom COVID-19 negativno utjecala na 78 % elektroničkih medija u Hrvatskoj, https://www.aem.hr/vijesti/pandemija-uzrokovana-virusom-covid-19- negativno-utjecala-na-78-elektronickih-medija-u-hrvatskoj/ 32 Samo 15 posto freelancera u medijima zadržalo poslove od početka zdravstvene krize, https://hnd.hr/samo-15-posto-freelancera-u-medijima-zadrzalo-poslove-od-pocetka- zdravstvene-krize 33 Kako je Covid-19 kriza utjecala na novinarstvo i medije, https://faktograf.hr/2020/10/15/kako-je-covid-19-kriza-utjecala-na-novinarstvo-i-medije 70 / 71

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE NovaTV News 5713 Index.hr 6420 RTL News 5714 24sata online 5719 TOP BRANDS HTV & HR News (public broadcaster) 5211 Jutarnji online 4818 % Weekly usage 24sata 3316 Net.hr 3916 Jutarnji list 2513 Dnevnik online 2038 Weekly use Otvoreni radio 208 Tportal.hr 3619 TV, radio & print N1 197 Večernji online 3515 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Večernji list 1911 Telegram.hr 2212 Weekly use Local radio news 188 RTL News online 2012 online brands Narodni radio 168 Dnevno.hr 2012 More than 3 days per week Local television news 117 HRT News online (incl. HRTi) (public broadcaster) 168 online brands Slobodna Dalmacija 105 Slobodna Dalmacija online 156 Antena radio 105 Direktno.hr 148 Al-Jazeera 69 Local radio news online 138 Regional or local newspaper 69 N1 online 125 Novi list 47 Novilist.hr 116

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Commercial broadcasters and the public service broadcaster remain the top news sources among legacy media, followed by 7% daily print newspapers, but with some decline. Nova TV is the pay for top offline news source and Index.hr is top online. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 91% Social media Tablet 88% 81% 79% Smartphone 75% Online72% (incl. social media) Printed64% newspapers 64% Computer 56% 54% 50% 50% TV 43% 29% 17% 15%

0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in the news has Trust Neither Don’t trust increased overall and for the BBC 53 35 12 NovaTV 75 15 10 ITV 45 47 8 sources people use RTL News 73 17 10 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 themselves. Commercial Otvoreni radio 64 24 12 Channel 4 42 50 8 broadcasters Nova TV and RTL Jutarnji list 63 22 15 Sky 39 52 9 are the two most trusted Večernji list 62 21 17 (+6) Guardian 39 51 10 brands, followed by quality 45% 48% Regional/local newspaper 61 25 14 Times 39 51 10 =19/46 HTV News (public television) 59 20 21 newspapers – with the public Local newspaper 38 55 7 HR News (public radio) 58 23 19 broadcasters lower down. Independent 33 58 9 55 28 17 Sources associated with the Tportal.hr 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 24sata 55 23 22 left or right side of the political Mail 16 47 37 Slobodna Dalmacija 55 29 16 spectrum (Index.hr and HuPost 13 74 13 index.hr 55 21 24 Dnevno.hr, respectively) carry Mirror 11 58 31 Net.hr 52 28 20 higher levels of mistrust than 34% 30% Sun 10 50 40 Telegram 52 28 20 other brands. Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Dnevno.hr 48 27 25

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 36% 1 Facebook 55% (-) 72% 4 Viber 16% (+2) 60% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 26% (-2) 71% 5 Facebook Messenger 11% (-) 48% via social, messaging or email 3 WhatsApp 19% (+3) 65% 6 Instagram 11% (+1) 40% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 72

CZECH REPUBLIC

STATISTICS Despite the overall grim situation in the print market, there were some promising Population 10.6m trends. A new economic weekly Hrot was Internet penetration 88% launched in May (the first new such title for many years), and publisher A11 expanded its portfolio of regional and metropolitan street The Czech papers titled Our Region. Several titles and media market publishers reported a marked increase in has had to digital subscriptions, including the youngest Czech daily, Deník N (launched in 2018), grapple with the that had reached 20,000 subscribers by negative impact of the pandemic the beginning of 2021, making a major step over the course of the last year, towards financial sustainability. Publishers have been further increasing the amount with the newspaper sector of paid online content, encouraged by the hardest hit. There were significant steadily growing willingness of readers moves in the TV market in 2020, to pay for it, as confirmed by this year’s Digital News Report survey. Some brands notably the change of ownership have opted for a combination of paywalls of the largest commercial TV with crowdfunding, which in the case of station Nova, and the launch of the online video channel DVTV (featuring CNN Prima News. mainly one-on-one interviews on current affairs) turned into the most successful Czech crowdfunded project ever, raising CZK The pandemic brought significant 9.73m (€375,000) from over 9,000 people.36 challenges to the Czech media market in 2020, particularly in the spring, when In the TV market, the biggest development Both public service broadcasters have advertising expenditures fell dramatically was arguably the May 2020 launch of the increased their average daily audience (-21% in May). Overall, the advertising 24/7 news channel CNN Prima News. share, claimed the number 1 place in TV market recorded a small annual rise (3%), Owned by Prima Group, the second- and radio in 2020, and perform well in driven, however, mostly by the online biggest commercial TV network in the our list of offline brands by weekly reach. sector (+13%) and TV (+8%), benefiting country, the new channel added to the Online, however, their performance from increased consumption during the list of international TV stations operating remains far below their success in lockdown, while radio and newspaper under licence from CNN. Prima’s main broadcast. High viewing figures, boosted advertising revenues experienced commercial rival, Nova Group, changed for Czech Television by the introduction substantial declines (-8% and -13%, hands in October 2020, following the of a new channel ČT3 (aimed at elderly 34 respectively). European Commission’s approval of a deal audiences) and of children’s educational in which Nova’s parent company, Central programme UčíTelka (TV Teacher) Newspaper sales dropped by 16% on European Media Enterprises (owned by during the lockdown, have again been average, more than double the previous AT&T), was sold to the Czech investment complemented by high levels of trust, as year’s decline, with the leading tabloid group PPF. Now it has added the largest seen in the DNR’s brand trust scores. At Blesk suffering the biggest hit (-20%). The Central European television company the same time, the ongoing battles for entire print sector reported total revenue to its substantial telecommunication the independence of the Czech Television losses of 2 billion CZK (€80m), which portfolio, PPF is one of the most powerful have further intensified, with a series of was not softened by any state support, as multimedia conglomerates in the region. politically partisan appointments to the the plans for launching a blanket state- While the company has emphasised the regulator, the Czech Television Council. sponsored ad campaign or for reducing VAT business rationale for the takeover, and These changed the balance of power in for publishers did not materialise.35 Many the opportunities for synergies between favour of those that have been accused of publishers were thus forced to reduce telecommunication and media, concerns seeking to muzzle critical journalism and expenditure, leading to salary cuts, layoffs have been raised about the potential impose tighter political control over the of personnel, reducing the frequency of consequences of such concentration of Czech public service broadcaster. publication of some titles, or halting their power, especially in light of PPF’s long- publication completely. The impact of the term history of veiled but often significant Václav Štětka pandemic added to the long-term financial involvement in Czech politics.37 Loughborough University problems of one of the legacy publishers, Mladá Fronta, which was declared bankrupt at the end of 2020 and sold by auction to an online publisher, Internet Info.

34 https://www.mediaguru.cz/clanky/2021/03/prehled-ceskeho-medialniho-trhu-v-roce-2020/ 35 https://www.mediaguru.cz/clanky/2021/02/tisk-odhaduje-propad-trzeb-v-roce-2020-na-dve-miliardy/ 36 https://www.lupa.cz/aktuality/online-televize-dvtv-pokorila-rekord-v-crowdfundingu-vybrala-9-7-milionu-kc/ 37 https://visegradinsight.eu/czech-business-empire-with-an-unsavoury-political-tinge/ 72 / 73

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE

AND ONLINE Czech TV News (incl. ČT1, ČT24) (public broadcaster) 588 Seznamzpravy.cz 5010 TV Nova News 4512 iDnes.cz 3913 TOP BRANDS Prima News 3211 Novinky.cz 349 % Weekly usage CNN Prima News 228 Aktualne.cz 2813 Czech Radio News (public broadcaster) 144 Czech TV News online (Ct24.cz) 2410 Weekly use Mlada Fronta DNES 137 Blesk.cz 158 TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 139 TN.cz 157 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Blesk 127 iPrima.cz 147 Weekly use Radio Impuls News 49 Denik.cz 148 online brands Evropa 2 News 49 Parlamentnilisty.cz 105 More than 3 days per week Metro 95 Super.cz 95 online brands Denik 85 DV T V.c z 48 Frekvence 1 News 63 Lidovky.cz 48 Lidove noviny 46 CNN.iprima.cz 48 Reex 46 Reex.cz 85 Pravo 3 5 iHned.cz 57

CHANGING MEDIA PAY The gap between online media and television as sources of news has continued to widen, while access via print has halved since 13% 2015. With COVID-19 restrictions on movement, the smartphone pay for has increased its importance as a device for accessing news. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21* 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 91% Social media Tablet 85% 87% 83% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 74% 72% Printed newspapers 62% Computer 50% 50% 50% TV 41% 37% 34%

19% 16% 12%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST After several years of decline, Trust Neither Don’t trust overall trust in news has BBC 53 35 12 Czech TV News 60 22 18 ITV 45 47 8 recorded a slight growth, Czech Radio News 59 30 11 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 possibly reflecting the Seznamzpravy.cz 55 29 16 Channel 4 42 50 8 preference for more reliable Hospodářské noviny 52 36 12 Sky 39 52 9 sources during the pandemic. Aktualne.cz 51 36 13 (+3) Guardian 39 51 10 There have been no significant 36% 40% Novinky.cz 50 33 17 Times 39 51 10 =33/46 TV Prima 49 31 20 changes in the brand trust Local newspaper 38 55 7 Mlada Fronta DNES 46 33 21 scores, with the public service Independent 33 58 9 44 39 17 broadcasters maintaining their Lidové noviny 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph Denik 43 44 13 position at the top of the list. Mail 16 47 37 Radio Impuls 42 42 16 HuPost 13 74 13 Frekvence 1 42 43 15 Mirror 11 58 31 Pravo 40 41 19 30% 17% Sun 10 50 40 TV Nova 39 29 32 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Blesk 16 24 60

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 31% 1 Facebook 42% (-3) 70% 4 WhatsApp 14% (+1) 47% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 21% (-2) 66% 5 Instagram 10% (+1) 28% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 15% (-) 51% 6 Twitter 5% (+1) 11% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 74

DENMARK

STATISTICS their readership, and the amount of democratically important political and Population 5.8m cultural content they carry. Niche nationals Internet penetration 98% (e.g. Kristeligt Dagblad, Information) receive a €3.9m subsidy; national daily broadsheets (e.g. Politiken, Berlingske) The main and tabloids (e.g. BT, Ekstra Bladet) public service €2.3m–3.4m; regional dailies €0.7–2.3m, broadcaster local €0.3–0.8m; digital-born brands €0.1–0.8m.38 DR has been restructuring following The 20% cuts imposed on DR by the previous right-wing government were substantial cuts to its funding reversed by the Social Democrats elected and ahead of a new multiyear in 2019, and in the end amounted to 420m contract in mid-2021. Private DKK (€53.6m) of the intended 900m DKK news organisations are gradually (€117m). Even so, they had already led to the closure of three linear TV channels, compensating for declining though, one, DR3 (aimed at young adults) print readers and advertising continues online. Given the continued revenue with increased digital popularity of streaming services (with weekly use of YouTube at 52%, Netflix subscriptions, together with the 48%, DR 42%, and TV2 20%),39 both substantial annual subsidies national public service organisations, DR and TV2, launched initiatives in late 2020 they receive, boosted in 2020 by Online news media are struggling to find to increase news content on their own ways to counter new data protection specific COVID- 19 support. streaming services. regulation of cookies which (1) require site COVID-19 caused a 2.7% fall in Danish GNP Across private and public service news owners to operate consent boxes, allowing in 2020, with a massive and varied impact providers the turn to audio accelerated, as easier rejection of some commercial on the Danish news media. First, it led to most news brands offer automated audio tracking, (2) have led to up to one-third an estimated 8% fall in total advertising versions of news articles. In autumn 2020, of users rejecting tracking by cookies, revenues. Second, falling revenue led to DR relaunched and renamed its DR Radio and (3) deprive newsmakers of valuable redundancies, with unemployment rising app as DR Sound to integrate its existing commercial knowledge to resell to to around 10% by year end, almost a third broadcast radio programmes with its advertisers. As a result, more content may more than 2019. Third, COVID-19 boosted podcasts. Many news organisations offer be moved behind paywalls. In addition, news media use across platforms, and daily news or current affairs podcasts free since September 2020, discrepancies in the television in particular. Danes reported of charge (DR, Zetland, Jysk Fynske, Altinget, ways in which different news organisations accessing news media more often and Information, and Politiken – which offers implement rules about users’ cookie placing more trust in news overall them free on two weekdays) attracting acceptance have meant there has been and in most brands, but relatively few thousands of listeners and appealing no reliable cross-industry measurement of reported increasing their media spend especially to a young demographic. online news use (page views, unique visits).40 during the pandemic. Towards the end of 2020, news use tended to normalise, Our figures show the numbers paying for In terms of relations between publishers especially compared to the spring 2020 news are relatively stable, around 16% and platforms, the government is poised bump. Fourth, the Danish government over recent years, but news organisations to introduce legislation akin to that in created COVID-19 support measures for report 2020 as a breakthrough year for Australia, to force Facebook and Google media companies. These amounted to an online subscriptions. A survey by Danske to pay a fee for distributing news content additional €18.7m (144m Danish kroner) in Medier found that the number of online from Danish news organisations. 2020, in addition to the standard subsidy of subscribers had increased by 100,000 Kim Christian Schrøder, €53.6m (412m Danish kroner) granted that since 2019. Mark Blach-Ørsten, and year – and which are credited with limiting After so-called ‘ambassador campaigns’ Mads Kæmsgaard Eberholst the number of layoffs. by existing members to persuade their Roskilde University, Denmark The sizeable annual state subsidies for friends to sign up, digital-born, ‘member’- commercial news media are awarded based news brand Zetland reported its first in proportion to the number of editorial operating profits in 2020 (since its launch staff, the size and social diversity of in 2012) with more than 20,000 members.

38 Mediawatch.dk, 20 Dec. 2020. 39 DR Medieforskning, Jan. 2021. 40 Mediawatch.dk, 2 Mar. 2021. 74 / 75

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE DR News incl. P1, P3, P4 (main public broadcaster) 6014 DR News online 4010 TV2 Nyhederne (incl. TV2 News) 5911 TV2 Nyhederne online 377 TOP BRANDS Regional news via TV2 (Nord, Fyn, Lorry) 279 Ekstra-Bladet online 267 % Weekly usage Free local weekly newspaper 1613 BT online 216 Regional or local newspaper 93 Local weekly online 138 Weekly use BT 48 Politiken online 125 TV, radio & print Ekstrabladet 48 Berlingske online 115 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 27 Jyllandsposten online 104 Weekly use Jyllandsposten 62 Regional or local newspaper online 93 online brands Berlingske 63 Børsen online 62 More than 3 days per week Politiken 2 5 Altinget online 46 online brands CNN 2 4 Dagens online 4 5 Børsen 3 4 Avisen online 2 4 BBC News 3 Information online 2 4 Weekendavisen 3 CNN.com 2 4 Radio 4 3 BBC News online 3 4

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Both public service organisations (DR, TV2) have gained users online (by five and eight percentage 16% 28% points respectively) and TV2’s television reach also pay for listen to PODCASTS grew by 5pp. Growth in the use of the smartphone for ONLINE NEWS in the last month news resumed after plateauing in recent years.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 85% 81% 81% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 71% 67% Printed newspapers Computer 57% 50% 49% 46% 50% TV 49% 43% 31% 29% 25% 20%

0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST COVID-19 seems to have Trust Neither Don’t trust prompted an increased BBC 53 35 12 DR News 84 11 5 reliance on authoritative ITV 45 47 8 News overall News I use TV2 Nyhederne 45 82 1250 65 information, and overall trust FT ChannelPolitiken 4 42 75 5018 87 figures recovered dramatically BørsenSky 39 74 5220 69 (by 13 percentage points) after 59% (+13) 66% Regional/local newspaperGuardian 39 73 5121 106 last year’s (11 point) drop. All Berlingske 39 73 5120 107 =4/46 Times news brands saw substantially LocalJyllands newspaper Posten 38 72 2055 87 increased trust, with public IndependentInformation 33 72 5821 97 service news showing growth Kristeligt Dagblad 30 63 5626 1411 News in search News in social Telegraph of 5–6 percentage points, and Altinget.dkMail 16 6047 30 3710 similar increases for many RadioHuPost 4 News 13 56 7434 1013 tabloid and broadsheet Avisen.dkMirror 11 49 58 36 1531 brands. 24% 13% SunBT 10 47 50 26 4027 BuzzfeedDagens.dk News 6 41 34 76 2518 Ekstra Bladet 39 24 37 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 16% 1 Facebook 36% (-1) 76% 4 Instagram 6% (-1) 41% SHARE NEWS 2 Facebook Messenger 8% (-1) 56% 5 Twitter 5% (-) 12% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 7% (-3) 52% 6 LinkedIn 4% (-1) 19% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 76

FINLAND

STATISTICS totalling €7.5 million were awarded to 97 companies, on the basis of €3,700 per Population 5.6m working journalist, up to a maximum of Internet penetration 94% €800,000 per company.

There are also plans to introduce a more The news media permanent direct subsidy mechanism for environment news media, which currently is based on the indirect support of the reduced 10% in Finland is VAT rate applied to newspapers, books, and characterised by magazines, both online as well as in print. a strong regional press, a strong If realised, the new scheme would bring Finland somewhat closer to the other Nordic public service broadcaster (Yle), countries with more generous subsidies. one widely read national daily (Helsingin Sanomat), and two The longstanding debate about the position of the public service broadcaster (Yle), tabloid Iltalehti and the economic popular evening tabloids, both moved forward when the government newspaper Kauppalehti, but welcomed reaching over half of the adult introduced a bill restricting Yle’s right the opportunity to divest from a declining population. Despite financial to publish online news in text form if regional print business to focus on digital unrelated to their audiovisual content. services. A year later Alma bought Nettix, pressures, Finnish news media The bill’s origins lie in the Finnish Media a provider of several online marketplaces have an above average level Federation’s 2017 complaint to the EU and the news aggregator Ampparit. of paying for online news and Commission claiming that Yle’s online news in text form contravened EU state aid Sanoma, for its part, gained new digital remain the most trusted among legislation and could undermine plurality. subscribers, which gives it economies of the countries surveyed. After consultations with the Commission, scale both in developing digital journalism the government proposed a change that and in advertising markets. Sanoma also Coronavirus hit the Finnish news media restricted Yle’s text-based content online to strengthened its position compared to hard. Advertising for newspaper publishers that related to their audiovisual content or Keskisuomalainen, another company declined by one-fifth from 2019 (free covered by specific exceptions. For example, that has expanded its network of regional sheets and online website included) and short text-based updates on fast-moving newspapers in recent years. Now Sanoma layoffs increased. Journalists largely news events would be allowed even if and Keskisuomalainen account for over half moved to working from home, with unrelated to Yle’s video or audio content. of the subscription and advertising revenues reporting dominated by the infection of the Finnish newspaper publishers.42 rate and other COVID-19 developments. The proposed changes in the Yle law have News organisations with online paywalls met with criticism. Commercial news Sanoma’s acquisition of Alma Media’s frequently lifted them for COVID-19 news. companies would like a stricter definition regional titles marks another move of text-based content’s relation to Yle’s towards increased concentration of Figures for news sources used generally audiovisual content and fewer exceptions. Finland’s regional press. In the longer show little impact from the pandemic, Others complain that restricting Yle’s term, given rising delivery costs (most print despite some significant increases in use offerings undermines citizens’ rights of subscriptions include home delivery) and of broadcast brands online, with increases equal access to quality journalism and that declining population outside the largest of five and seven percentage points for Yle restrictions based on distinguishing text, cities, the trend may lead to merging or and MTV online respectively. However, audio, and video content are outdated. closing titles. In January 2020, the Ilkka- changes in trust are more pronounced, In March 2021, the bill was still moving Yhtymä group provided a foretaste of with trust in news overall increasing through Parliament. future trends by merging its two regional 9% points from 56% to 65%, increasing newspapers, Ilkka and Pohjalainen to create Finland’s trust lead over most other The two biggest private Finnish media the new regional paper Ilkka-Pohjalainen. countries even as their trust figures often companies, Alma Media and Sanoma, rose too. The pandemic also seemed to refocused their strategies in February Esa Reunanen increase people’s trust in democratic 2020 when Sanoma announced that Tampere University, Finland institutions in Finland more generally.41 it would buy 15 regional and local newspapers and the regional printing In addition to temporary COVID-19 support operations from Alma Media for €115m, for all businesses, the government created with 365 staff transferred to Sanoma. a one-off subsidy scheme to support Alma Media retained its national papers journalism during the pandemic. Grants and magazines, including the evening

41 https://www.eva.fi/en/blog/2020/06/11/covid-19-crisis-had-an-exceptional-impact-on-finnish-political-views/ 42 Suomen Lehdistö, 2/2020. 43 https://www.kantar.fi/uutiskirje/2020/suomalaisen-mediapaiva 76 / 77

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Yle News (public broadcaster) 6813 Ilta-Sanomat online 6111 MTV3 News 5415 Iltalehti online 5611 TOP BRANDS Free city papers 2618 Yle News online (incl. news via Areena) 4414 % Weekly usage Regional newspapers (eg Turun Sanomat, Karjalainen) 184 MTV News online (incl. Katsomo News) 1231 Ilta-Sanomat 186 Helsingin Sanomat online 309 Weekly use Local newspapers (eg Raahen Seutu, Suur-Keuruu) 179 Regional newspapers online 165 TV, radio & print Iltalehti 165 Local newspapers online 126 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Helsingin Sanomat 144 Kauppalehti online 105 Weekly use Commercial radio news 146 Talouselämä online 85 online brands Alfa TV News 3 5 Uusi Suomi online 85 More than 3 days per week Other foreign TV news channels 2 5 Free city papers online 57 online brands Suomen Kuvalehti 3 4 MSN News 63 BBC News 3 4 Commercial radio news online 46 CNN 2 4 BBC News online 3 5 Kauppalehti 3 CNN.com 3 5 Talouselämä 3 Maaseudun Tulevaisuus online 2 4

CHANGING MEDIA PAY One year after the COVID-19 crisis began, our survey shows limited impact on the sources of news or the mix of devices. However, 20% 29% during the first half of 2020, the daily time used for reading pay for listen to PODCASTS newspapers and magazines online was over one-third higher ONLINE NEWS in the last month than a year earlier.43

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2014–21 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 90% 89% Social media Tablet 80% 75% Online (incl. social media) 73% Smartphone 65% Printed newspapers Computer 53% 58% 50% 45% 50% TV 40% 41% 31% 23% 21%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Overall trust in news has Trust Neither Don’t trust increased by nine percentage BBC 53 35 12 Yle News 85 7 8 ITV 45 47 8 points, reversing the decline Local newspaper 81 12 7 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 of recent years. However, the Helsingin Sanomat 81 10 9 Channel 4 42 50 8 trust figures in individual news MTV News 80 11 9 Sky 39 52 9 brands have stayed more or Kauppalehti 80 14 6 (+9) Guardian 39 51 10 less flat. Public broadcaster 65% 73% Talouselämä 79 15 6 Times 39 51 10 1/46 78 16 6 Yle remains most trusted, RegionalLocal newspaper newspaper 38 55 7 77 16 7 along with local newspapers. SuomenIndependent Kuvalehti 33 58 9 71 19 10 The two evening tabloid Maaseudun Tulevaisuus 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 70 21 9 newspapers and their websites HufvudstadsbladetMail 16 47 37 67 21 12 are widely used but have lower Commercial radioHuPost news 13 74 13 65 14 21 levels of trust. Ilta-SanomatMirror 11 58 31 65 22 13 30% 18% Uusi SuomiSun 10 50 40 62 23 15 BuzzfeedFree city papersNews 6 76 18 62 15 23 Iltalehti 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 28% 1 Facebook 32% (-) 68% 4 Instagram 8% (+1) 43% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 13% (+1) 72% 5 Twitter 8% (-) 18% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 13% (-2) 69% 6 Facebook Messenger 4% (-1) 37% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 78

FRANCE

STATISTICS But COVID-19 also generated serious financial pressures. The 2020 advertising Population 65m revenues fell from 2019 by 11% for TV, 13% Internet penetration 92% for radio, and 24% for the press.45 The government estimated the overall 2020 pandemic loss for the press sector at 16% France was of turnover, or €1.9bn. In August 2020, the hit early by government added to existing support COVID-19 and schemes with a new subsidy package of €483m awarded over two years to make adopted a very up for COVID-19 related losses and aid the strict national lockdown in March move to digital.

and April 2020, with more limited The year 2020 also brought some good measures in autumn, followed news from within the industry. Many by a renewed national lockdown publishers reported unprecedented in April 2021. The main media increases in digital subscribers. Le Monde now has a record 360,000 digital impact was seen in rising TV subscribers (plus 100,000 print only), with and online news consumption, a combined target of 1m by 2025. Le Figaro increased trust, and falling reported 205,000 digital subscribers, a 45% increase on 2019, with subscriptions advertising revenues, but with growing at three times their usual rate in some brands recruiting record March–April 2020. Digital-born Mediapart, numbers of digital subscribers. also reported that 2020 had delivered its strongest annual growth in its 13 years of In the first French lockdown, people stuck existence, resulting in a total of 218,000 A proposed new security bill revived at home had few distractions other than paying subscribers. tensions between journalists, police, and their screens. Smartphone use rose, and the government. Article 24 of the bill Some publishers should also benefit TV news made a comeback with record created a new offence of distributing images from a new deal with Google, following a viewing levels of four hours per day. Some that might ‘harm the physical or mental competition authority decision requiring channels extended their evening bulletins integrity’ of police officers, with penalties negotiations in April 2020.46 Almost a with government COVID-19 related of up to a year in prison or a €45,000 fine. year later Reuters News47 reported some announcements dominating coverage, Media organisations protested, seeing this financial details of agreements between often delivered in a very top-down manner. as an attack on press freedom. At the same Google and a group of 121 national and President Emmanuel Macron made several time a video of a police assault on a black local French publishers to pay $22m p.a. TV addresses – one seen live by almost 36 man in Paris released by the digital-born over three years to end their long-running million viewers. Prime Minister Jean Castex Loopsider, was viewed more than 15 million copyright dispute, and to feature these even showed up on Twitch, in an attempt to times and fuelled criticism of the bill. publishers’ content in Google Showcase. reach younger audiences. After amendments, publication will now Payments are confidential and seem to be allowed if there is no ‘obvious intent’ to Traffic to most news websites increased be calculated on an individual basis, but harm the police officers. as a result of the pandemic – at least for Reuters reported them as ranging from a time. The increase was particularly about $1.3m for Le Monde to smaller fees This was also the year when #MeToo took pronounced for regional or local for regional papers. Leading national off in France, with an increased focus on newspapers online, which reached 21% dailies such as Le Monde, Libération, and misogyny and sexual harassment in the weekly.44 COVID-19 restored to some Le Figaro were also reported to have workplace, including politics and the media. extent the relevance of local news, obtained a further $3.6m p.a. each, on top Women have been speaking out and new especially for news about developments of the fee in the agreement, for selling feminist media titles have been launched, in nearby hospitals, shops, schools, and subscriptions through Google. Publishers including newsletters such ‘Les Glorieuses’ the neighbourhood generally. France’s not included in these deals have or ‘Women who do stuff’, and podcasts like best-selling regional paper, Ouest France, complained, while none of the parties has ‘Les Couilles sur la Table’ or ‘La Poudre’. opened up two months’ free access to its confirmed any of these figures. Alice Antheaume online content for people registering with Executive Dean an email address. Sciences Po Journalism School

44 The 21% figure is the combined reach ofOuest France online and other regional or local newspapers online whilst removing the overlap between people consuming more than one local brand. 45 https://www.cbnews.fr/etudes/image-bump-recettes-publicitaires-baisse-114-2020-59510 46 https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2021/01/21/google-a-signe-un-accord-pour-remunerer-la-presse-francaise-au-titre-du-droit-voisin_6067045_3234.html 47 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-france-copyright-exclusive-idUSKBN2AC27N 78 / 79

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE BFM TV News 4011 20 minutes online 189 France Télévisions (public broadcaster) 3912 Other regional or local newspaper online 157 TOP BRANDS TF1 News (incl. TF1, LCI, TMC) 369 Le Monde online 148 % Weekly usage M6 News 2710 France Info (public broadcaster) 136 Cnews 197 BFM TV online 123 Weekly use Other regional or local newspapers 169 TF1 News online 125 TV, radio & print Public radio news (France Inter etc) 155 Le Parisien online 105 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Commercial radio news (RTL etc) 156 Le Figaro online 106 Weekly use 20 minutes 117 Brut 106 online brands Le Monde 85 M6 online 105 More than 3 days per week France 24 48 Le HuPost 69 online brands Le Figaro 46 Yahoo! News 85 Ouest France 63 Médiapart 47 Le Parisien/Aujourd’hui en France 46 Cnews online 37 Canal+ 3 5 Ouest France online 47 La Voix du Nord 2 4 MSN News 37

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Broadcast brands benefited online and offline from growth in TV news. Increased use of smartphones reflects interest in news 11% 28% updates during the pandemic. Facebook remains the top social pay for listen to PODCASTS media network for news but use declined for the second year. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 84% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 68% 68% 67% Printed newspapers 65% Computer 50% 50% 46% 50% TV 45% 38% 24% 18% 17% 14% 11% 0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Overall trust in news increased Trust Neither Don’t trust by seven percentage points BBC 53 35 12 Regional/local newspaper 64 26 10 ITV 45 47 8 but remains low by France Télévisions News 62 25 13 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 international standards. France Info 60 27 13 Channel 4 42 50 8 Regional/ local newspapers Le Monde 57 30 13 Sky 39 52 9 are most trusted, followed by France Inter 56 30 14 (+7) Guardian 39 51 10 the public service brands 30% 39% France Bleu 51 37 12 Times 39 51 10 =43/46 TF1 News 51 29 20 (France TV and France Info). Local newspaper 38 55 7 Le Figaro 49 36 15 Le Monde is the most trusted Independent 33 58 9 49 35 16 national newspaper, while the M6 News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 47 38 15 very popular 24-hour news L'ExpressMail 16 47 37 46 38 16 channel BFM TV has almost Le Parisien/Aujourd’huiHuPost en France 13 74 13 46 35 19 equal levels of distrust and MediapartMirror 11 58 31 45 40 15 trust (35% and 42%). 20% 15% 20 minutesSun 10 50 40 42 23 35 BuzzfeedBFM TV News News 6 76 18 37 43 20 Le HuPost 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 27% 1 Facebook 39% (-4) 60% 4 Facebook Messenger 14% (+2) 38% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 24% (+1) 57% 5 Instagram 12% (+3) 31% via social, messaging or email 3 WhatsApp 15% (+6) 38% 6 Twitter 10% (+1) 17% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 80

GERMANY

STATISTICS different marginalised groups, or lack of diversity among those working in Population 82m newsrooms and appearing in broadcast Internet penetration 96% coverage. They generally included the accusation that ‘old white men’ dominate coverage unduly. One response has been The Coronavirus the use of gender-neutral language by pandemic led some organisations and journalists.

to an initial Critics – from multiple quarters – surge in interest complained about the media’s perceived in news and increased trust in lack of impartiality; our data suggest that it is those on the right of politics who feel traditional news brands. However, most under-represented by and place COVID-19 has also exacerbated least trust in the media. Those on the some financial challenges while right complained about the dominance of helping fuel debate over the need left-green topics and opinions. Some might point to brands, such as TAZ, Stern, or RTL, for greater diversity of views and which often take ‘positions’ and officially people within the media. cooperate with movements such as the school student climate strikes ‘Fridays COVID-19 boosted interest in news, for Future’. Meanwhile some publishers particularly early on, and public service are preparing to fill what they see as the 10% up on 2019. But this growth may not broadcasters (PSBs) and continuous news unmet demand for conservative voices on be enough to make up for declining income channels benefited the most from this. TV. Springer has announced plans to start elsewhere. Weekly use of n-tv, for example, rose by a new Bild branded TV channel before this six percentage points in our survey this year September’s general elections, adding to A few publishers may be hoping that deals and its trust ratings rose too. Coverage of their existing Welt TV channel. for use of their content in outlets such as the pandemic has also prompted vigorous Google Showcase or Facebook News will debate, with news media accused initially PSBs can’t take positions but are help. But the issue divides the industry. of being insufficiently critical of lockdown responding cautiously to accusations While the publishers’ associations and measures. As COVID-19 advanced at very of being one-sided. Die Tagesthemen, Springer, among most others, are opposed different rates across Germany, government for example, one of the main news to participation, some major publishers responses came under more criticism. programmes on ARD, created a new (e.g. of Spiegel and Die Zeit) are reported to format ‘for and against’, where a topic is have signed agreements to participate in Attacks on the supposed lack of diverse commented on from two perspectives. both initiatives. perspectives in the media were spread on social media and messaging apps such All mainstream media have been Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of as Telegram. Self-styled ‘Querdenker’ accused of giving inadequate coverage Economics withdrew plans to support (‘lateral thinkers’) questioned the scientific to former East Germany. This may have newspapers’ digital transformation with consensus – sometimes citing questionable contributed to why the PSBs’ monthly €220m. The scheme had excluded digital scientific ‘experts’ – and protested against licence-fee increase of €0.86, proposed by publishers and raised many questions the lockdowns on social media and in the the independent commission (KEF), was regarding the independence of the press. streets. Journalists were assaulted when vetoed by the state parliament of Saxony- Last year saw further consolidation, covering demonstrations and accused Anhalt even though approved by the other particularly in the regional market, with of false or pro-government reporting. 15 state parliaments. PSBs will lose out on possible consequences for the density and Reporters Without Borders cited attacks €365m in 2021, potentially leading to cuts diversity of coverage. Some companies on German journalists by extremists in programming. agreed to work together on areas such and conspiracy theory believers during Private news media experienced falling as national reporting, a few titles were protests against pandemic restrictions as advertising revenues and daily print acquired by other publishers, and others contributing to Germany losing its ‘good’ sales. But weekly newspapers and digital were bought by companies from outside rating in the 2021 Press Freedom Index.48 subscriptions are doing better. Die Zeit, the media industry. In addition, sparked in parts by the Black Spiegel, and Bild all increased their digital Sascha Hölig and Uwe Hasebrink Lives Matter protests in the USA and subscribers. Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Leibniz Institute for Media Research/ resurgent interest in gender equality, a doubling in digital subscribers in 2020 Hans Bredow Institute, Hamburg debate grew around coverage of racism, to reach 180,000. BILDplus reported the right language to use to address 500,000 digital subscribers by year end,

48 https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/world-press-freedom-index-2021-eu-getting-more-heterogeneous/ 80 / 81

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE ARD News (Tagesschau, Tagesthemen) 5414 ARD News online (tagesschau.de etc) 186 ZDF News (heute, heute-journal etc) 4518 Spiegel online 167 TOP BRANDS Regional or local newspaper 2710 t-online 155 % Weekly usage RTL aktuell 268 Focus online 146 n-tv 2410 n-tv.de 145 Weekly use Public regional radio news 218 Bild.de 135 TV, radio & print Public regional TV news 209 Regional or local newspaper online 125 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 135 welt.de 114 Weekly use WELT (former N24) 135 Web.de 115 online brands Sat.1 News 137 Gmx.de 103 More than 3 days per week Bild/Bild am Sonntag 48 ZEIT Online 105 online brands Commercial regional TV news 48 Sueddeutsche.de 95 Der Spiegel 47 ZDF News online (heute.de etc) 83 ProSieben News 47 Public regional TV news websites 48 Focus 47 Stern.de 47 CNN 63 FAZ.NET 47

CHANGING MEDIA PAY While the smartphone extends its lead as the most important device for online news, people in general rely on traditional news 9% 25% brands. TV brands benefit from the desire for reliable news pay for listen to PODCASTS whereas Facebook’s role as news source decreases. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 82% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 66% 69% 71% 69% Computer 63% Printed newspapers 61% 50% 50% TV 49%

31% 26% 22% 18% 21% 10% 0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES TRUST BBC 53 35 12 OF TRUST Trust Neither Don’t trust During the ongoing pandemic, ITV 45 47 8 more people in Germany FT 45 50 5 ARD Tagesschau 70 15 15 placed their trust in the news Channel 4 42 50 8 News overall News I use ZDF heute 68 17 15 Sky 39 52 9 media in general and in Regional/local newspaper 66 22 12 Guardian 39 51 10 specific brands they use. While n-tv 63 23 14 Times 39 51 10 PSBs and local news media Süddeutsche Zeitung 60 26 14 (+8) Local newspaper 38 55 7 still obtain the highest trust 53% 62% Die ZEIT 59 26 15 Independent 33 58 9 scores, the figures of the =10/46 Der Spiegel 58 25 17 Telegraph 30 56 14 FAZ 56 29 15 24-hour news channel n-tv Mail 16 47 37 grew the most. Trust in search Focus 54 27 19 News in search News in social HuPost 13 74 13 Stern 51 28 21 and social media remains at a Mirror 11 58 31 RTL aktuell 46 25 29 low level. Sun 10 50 40 t-online 43 34 23 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Bild 19 21 60 25% 14% 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands.

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 19% 1 Facebook 18% (-4) 44% 4 Instagram 7% (+1) 29% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 17% (+1) 71% 5 Twitter 6% (-) 12% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 16% (+2) 58% 6 Telegram 4% (+2) 12% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 82

GREECE

STATISTICS cannot control. Meanwhile, the Facebook- approved fact-checker for Greece, ‘Greek Population 11m Hoaxes’, has been at the forefront of many Internet penetration 73% discussions, controversies, and attacks, from both left and right.

The media The national TV landscape in Greece was market in relatively stable last year after a long period of turmoil, including broadcaster Greece is closures and licensing disputes. One of the characterised by few changes was the relaunch of MEGA digital fragmentation, lack of trust TV, for years the largest commercial broadcaster in Greece, after being shut for in news, a politically polarised 1½ years because of financial difficulties. press, and one of the highest uses It was bought by Evangelos Marinakis, of social media for news. who recently acquired many legacy outlets. The station has yet to achieve Longstanding political polarisation in the leading role it had before. The public Greece was reflected again in its media service broadcaster’s news bulletin landscape in 2020. The news media were showed modest increases in ratings, while also badly affected by the pandemic, with there has been a strong push towards TV advertising expenditure falling by 61% digital with the establishment of a public in 2020 compared to 2019.49 During the service web platform, ERTflix, which first wave of COVID-19, the government’s includes news but is primarily used for decision to spend €20m on a ‘stay at entertainment programmes. home’ advertising campaign was heavily The digital news market in Greece remains as of March 2021, there had been no criticised. Eventually, the campaign funded fragmented. The average Digital News public debate about sexual abuse within 1,232 news organisations, including 627 Report survey respondent in Greece uses journalism. Mainstream journalism was digital news websites, some of which were more digital news sources per week than also largely absent from the coverage not legitimate news organisations. The fact respondents from all other 46 countries in of the #MeToo movement in Greece; that 54% of Greek respondents opposed the sample, other than Kenya. This finding Greek news organisations reported the government stepping in to help highlights the casual and fragmented revelations but did not lead with their commercial news organisations unable nature of digital news consumption in own investigative reporting, as was the to support themselves, one of the highest Greece. This may help explain the lack of case in other countries. rates across 46 countries, may have been an online news payment culture in Greece, influenced by this controversy. with the exception of some niche outlets. In recent years, we have seen a range of digital initiatives aiming to strengthen Syriza, the largest opposition party, Podcast use increased during the past year investigative and independent journalism blamed the government for unfavourable in Greece – 40% of online news users tell in Greece. One of these is Reporters coverage in the news bulletins of ERT, the us that they listen to a podcast in a given United, a hub aiming to support Public Service Broadcaster, following a month. One of the most successful Greek investigative journalism in Greece and long tradition of similar complaints from podcast initiatives is pod.gr, a podcast-only connect it to international networks. opposition parties. In turn, the current media outlet which publishes on various Another is slow news journalism government is accusing a Syriza ex- topics, including news and politics. A Inside Story, which broke a number minister of interference in the TV licensing few digital-savvy news organisations like of investigative stories this year, most process under the previous administration. LiFO and 24Media were also successful in notably related to the government’s In March 2021, discussion around the producing their own series of podcasts. handling of pandemic data. Finally, iMedD role of social media platforms in politics (The Incubator for Media Education In early 2021, Greece had its own and the public sphere intensified. The and Development), a non-profit funded #MeToo moment, with hundreds of Prime Minister called social media a by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, women and men publicly revealing their ‘threat to democracy’, addressing the toxic was launched to support independent experiences of sexual misconduct and nature of public debates and the levels journalism and highlight best practice. abuse following the public revelations of of misinformation on social media. This Sofia Bekatorou, a sailing champion. The Antonis Kalogeropoulos was met with a strong backlash by the majority of revelations came from those University of Liverpool opposition and social media users who working in the entertainment sector, accused the Prime Minister of attempting causing a public sensation. However, to criticise information gateways he

49 https://medianalysis.net/2020/12/12/ta-mesa-enhmerosis-stin-epochi-tis-pandimias/ 82 / 83

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE SKAI News (incl. radio) 1651 Newsbomb.gr 3319 ANT1 News 4318 Dikaiologitika.gr 1631 TOP BRANDS Alpha News 4016 In.gr 2713 % Weekly usage ERT (incl. ERT3 & ERA1) (public broadcaster) 3815 News247.gr 2616 MEGA 3414 Proto Thema online 2612 Weekly use Star News 3414 Kathimerini online 2414 TV, radio & print Open News 3214 Newsit.gr 2212 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Kathimerini 1711 CNN Greece online 2213 Weekly use Real News (print & radio) 1711 SKAI online 2010 online brands Proto Thema 159 Newsbeast.gr 1912 More than 3 days per week Regional or local newspaper 1511 Iemerida.gr 1019 online brands To Vima 1014 mixanitouxronou.gr 1811 Ta Nea 128 Zougla.gr 1018 BBC News 116 Lifo.gr 1811 CNN 105 Capital.gr 1017 Regional or local radio news 47 Naemporiki online 169

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Smartphones are now far ahead of computers in terms of weekly use, with 70% and 55% respectively. More than two-thirds 12% (69%) of Greeks online get their news via social media, pay for a much higher share than most countries in our sample. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 96% Tablet 89% Social media Smartphone 74% Online (incl. social media) 69% 72% 70% 66% 67% Printed newspapers Computer 55% 50% 50% TV47%

31% 28% 22% 20%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST As in most other countries Trust Neither Don’t trust trust in news increased, by BBC 53 35 12 Dikaiologitika.gr 62 24 14 ITV 45 47 8 four percentage points in Kathimerini 60 22 18 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 Greece. Despite the increase, ERT News 58 21 21 Channel 4 42 50 8 Greece is still well behind Regional/local newspaper 58 27 15 Sky 39 52 9 most other countries in trust. Ta Nea 57 22 21 (+4) Guardian 39 51 10 The survey took place in 32% 33% in.gr 56 24 20 Times 39 51 10 =38/46 Alpha News 56 23 21 January/February 2021 and Local newspaper 38 55 7 Ant1 News 55 24 21 thus does not reflect Independent 33 58 9 54 25 21 controversies over protest Real News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 53 29 18 news coverage in March 2021. news247.grMail 16 47 37 52 24 24 E merida ton HuPostSintakton 13 74 13 50 25 25 Proto MirrorThema 11 58 31 50 25 25 35% 22% Star NewsSun 10 50 40 48 19 33 BuzzfeedSKAI News News 6 76 18 47 27 26 Newsbomb.gr 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 37% 1 Facebook 52% (-5) 76% 4 Viber 23% (+6) 64% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 33% (+1) 78% 5 Instagram 15% (-1) 50% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 23% (+1) 63% 6 Twitter 12% (-1) 25% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 84

HUNGARY

STATISTICS with allies of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán buying into media companies to Population 9.7m manipulate public opinion and influence Internet penetration 89% voting. But the trend took a major step forward in July 2020 with the firing of the editor-in-chief and consequent resignation The of the editorial board of Index, the leading Coronavirus- online site, and a major remaining bastion related public of independent media in Hungary. The changes followed the acquisition of a health and 50% stake in the firm controlling Index’s socio-economic crisis has shaped finances by a pro-Orbán media manager, Hungarian media in 2020 in Miklos Vaszily, CEO of the pro-government broadcaster TV2. Index had been seen numerous ways: not only did it set as a trusted online news source on both the agenda, but combined with sides of the political spectrum. It was strong political factors, it further very widely used by news consumers, regardless of their political stance, in spite, shrank the space for independent or even because of, its critical reporting of journalism, and contributed to misdeeds by government and opposition the polarisation of the public. alike, a rarity in the highly polarised political environment. News consumption increased in the first The takeover and subsequent events Independent media outlets responded to half of 2020, especially from television and at Index were not unexpected, but they the challenges posed by the deteriorating online, with radio and print lagging behind. shook the shrinking Hungarian public situation in a variety of ways: many The increase was due to people’s need for sphere by further increasing polarisation introduced crowdfunding campaigns and information amid the unfolding crisis, and and decreasing the chance of critical paywalls, which is reflected in the increasing because life under lockdown meant more information reaching the public. Some of numbers of our respondents who pay time at home. During the first wave of the the former journalists of Index started a for news; strengthened their audience pandemic, traditionally trusted online new news portal, Telex, funded by audience engagement activities; produced content news portals and the main television donations. The fundamental changes at in a variety of formats such as podcasts and channels were the leading sources of news, Index did not shake the portal’s position videos; and others became masters in data with public service media gaining some as one of the leading news sources, but its journalism and visualisation to make up for ground in news consumption.50 trust score fell. the lack of publicly available information on Even though news outlets experienced a the pandemic. Aside from the politicised distribution of bump in reach early on in the pandemic, state advertising and the case of Index, Though these efforts are valuable, they this was not generally reflected in revenues, politics shaped the media in other ways. cannot do everything one would want from as total advertising spend dropped by an The ruling parties introduced legislation independent journalism. This is especially estimated 38% year-on-year.51 This posed restricting press freedom in the name of troubling in a time where research immense challenges for media companies, ‘preventing the pandemic’ or ‘averting suggests that public service media are especially for print and for smaller, the consequences of the pandemic’, failing to fulfil their remit and – according independent media outlets, while media which tended to encourage journalistic to independent research – have been outlets with ties to the government received self-censorship. The Hungarian focused on promoting the government significant state funding in the form of state government was criticised for not narrative.53 The dearth of widely used, advertising.52 Hence, the gap between the providing clear and credible information, widely trusted, robust independent financial stability of non-government and with government data on the pandemic news provision risks contributing both to pro-government media is widening. often inaccurate, difficult to interpret, polarisation and politicisation of public In addition to the pandemic and the or simply absent. Similarly, reporting on discourse and, at worst, can put lives economic crisis, politics left a deep mark on the pandemic was very constrained, with at risk in a situation where trustworthy Hungarian media in 2020. The country was journalists unable to ask direct questions information is a question of life and death. already ranked 89th out of 180 countries in at official press conferences, and only the Eva Bognar the 2020 Reporters Without Borders Press government-controlled National News Center for Media, Data and Society, Freedom Index and had established itself Agency allowed to report from hospitals Central European University as a leading example of media capture, and vaccination points.

50 https://nmhh.hu/dokumentum/213415/NMHH_PSYMA_COVID_JELENTES_fin.pdf 51 https://wecan.net/learning-to-ride-the-waves-of-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR1dpVYJQRov5v6fLp8XteHhTuhszy4n8blnaBzWQb_ae7CYqXMz4ZQCkyE 52 h https://media1.hu/2021/03/24/k-alaku-valsagot-okozott-a-koronavirus-a-magyar-mediapiacon/?fbclid=IwAR2IDe94RKTbKpMrLtPIwifIpRnba- 7FkYrBnZopQtp6DL-3Dql74b6JmVQ 53 Mérték Médiaelemző Műhely: Szúrópróba, 28 (2020), https://mertek.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Szuroproba_28.pdf 84 / 85

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE RTL Klub 1551 24.hu 2039 TV2 3413 index.hu 3718 TOP BRANDS ATV 2810 origo.hu 3417 % Weekly usage MTV (public TV news) 199 444.hu 2916 Hír TV 1019 hvg.hu 2816 Weekly use Retro Rádió 199 rtlklub.hu 2411 TV, radio & print Duna TV 158 telex.hu 207 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print HVG 159 atv.hu 188 Weekly use Blikk 1411 tv2.hu 188 online brands Rádió 1 147 blikk.hu 1611 More than 3 days per week Magyar Rádió (public radio news) 136 portfolio.hu 159 online brands Regional or local newspaper 107 hirado.hu (public broadcaster) 117 Bors 68 hirtv.hu 106 CNN 47 168ora.hu 107 Euronews 47 napi.hu 69 Nemzeti Sport 46 ripost.hu 57

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Online continues as the top source for news, while print has further declined in 2020 and many titles are in deep financial 14% trouble. Smartphones are the most common devices for news pay for consumption, with computers a close second. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21* 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Tablet 88% Social media 85% Online74% (incl. social media) Smartphone 72% 68% 64% 64% Printed newspapers Computer 63% 60% 50% 50% TV 43% 27%

12% 12% 9% 0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Hungary, with a highly Trust Neither Don’t trust polarised public, has one of the BBC 53 35 12 HVG 61 24 15 ITV 45 47 8 lowest news trust scores in our RTL Klub 58 23 19 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 survey. Low levels of trust in 24.hu 55 27 18 Channel 4 42 50 8 public service media are telex.hu 54 28 18 Sky 39 52 9 particularly problematic. The ATV 53 25 22 (+3) Guardian 39 51 10 takeover of Index by people 30% 53% Index.hu 50 26 24 Times 39 51 10 =43/46 Regional/local newspaper 48 27 25 with ties to the government is Local newspaper 38 55 7 444.hu 46 29 25 reflected in a decrease in trust Independent 33 58 9 44 30 26 (-7 percentage points). Népszava 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 44 24 32 Origo.huMail 16 47 37 43 28 29 MagyarHuPost Nemzet 13 74 13 41 24 35 MirrorHír TV 11 58 31 40 21 39 38% 24% SunMTV 10 50 40 40 20 40 Buzzfeed NewsTV2 6 76 18 31 29 40 Blikk 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 32% 1 Facebook 59% (-2) 81% 4 Instagram 6% (-1) 32% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 26% (-1) 76% 5 Twitter 4% (-) 15% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 12% (-1) 68% 6 Pinterest 3% (-) 22% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 86

IRELAND

STATISTICS with increases of five and eight percentage points respectively. Nonetheless, more Population 4.8m than a quarter of a million people evaded Internet penetration 92% the national licence fee, which cost the corporation €50 million in lost revenue.

Coronavirus In the commercial news sector, COVID-19 has dominated has created the perfect storm with a precipitous downfall in advertising and the news in lockdowns restricting people’s ability to Ireland over the buy print newspapers. Companies that past year, with audiences able sought temporary layoffs, closures, pay cuts, or redundancies included the local to follow live press conferences and regional newspaper companies Iconic with government ministers and Newspapers Group, Johnston Press Group, health and emergency officials on Local Ireland, and Journal Media publishers an almost daily basis, along with of the digital-born TheJournal.ie. However, in more positive news, our data show detailed reporting on every aspect TheJournal.ie and the Irish Times increased of the crisis. Strong interest their weekly online reach by four and seven in COVID-19 appears to have percentage points respectively, along with and publishers have put enormous a four percentage point increase (to 16%) pressure on news media outlets.’ The reinforced the position of the in people reporting paying for news online. Commission recommendations will be most trusted brands. The Irish Times reported subscriptions published later in 2021.56 growing in 2020 at three times the rate of Uncertainty in politics caused instability 2019 (when they reached 90,000), while The European Union’s 2018 Audiovisual on many fronts in the first half of 2020. Independent.ie reported more than 30,000 Media Services Directorate (AVMSD) A February election resulted in an subscribers by the end of 2020.54 updated the regulatory environment for unprecedented three-way split between audiovisual media services and extended the centre-right parties Fianna Fáil and To offset the dire situation for local radio some rules to video-sharing platforms. Fine Gael and the Irish republican left- stations, the government asked the The revised directive has not yet been wing party Sinn Féin. Each won an equal Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to transposed into national legislation. share of the vote, but Sinn Féin had the implement a waiver of the broadcasting Similarly, the date for the introduction of most first-preference votes. The latter’s levy, a move which saved the sector almost the proposed Irish legislation, the Online popularity with young people can partly €1 million. Safety and Media Regulation Bill published be explained by a strong social media in December 2020, remains unclear. This To explore new ways to secure the campaign, particularly on Facebook. In is due in part to the significance of the sustainability of Irish media into the future, the end, coalition negotiations dragged on location of tech giants in Ireland and also the government set up the Future of Media until June, when Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and because of potential conflicts between Commission which aired industry and the Green Party united against Sinn Féin aspects of the proposed legislation and the expert testimony in a series of ‘Thematic and agreed to form a government. EU Digital Services Act (DSA). Dialogues’ in early 2021. Many of the Interest in public service health submissions focused on the fact that One of the biggest industry stories involved announcements was demonstrated big tech companies had taken the lion’s the sale of Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp in March 2020 by the St Patrick’s Day share of the digital advertising spend. radio group to Germany’s Bauer Media COVID-19 speech by then Taoiseach Leo According to Core’s ‘Outlook 21 – Media Audio. Communicorp owned two high- 55 Varadkar, which was watched by 1.7 million Forecasts’ report, Google and Facebook rating national radio stations, Today FM and viewers. The subsequent RTÉ nine o’clock ‘accounted for 84.4% of all online Newstalk. This follows other international television news bulletin was watched by 1.3 advertising investment and 44.6% of the mergers and buy-outs, including Virgin Media million. Throughout the various COVID-19 total media market’. NewsBrands Ireland, merging with O2 (owned by Telefónica), lockdowns, the nation’s viewers have the industry’s representative organisation, Independent News and Media (INM) being turned to the public service broadcaster, summed up the assorted challenges in its sold to Mediahuis, and the takeover by the RTÉ, in high numbers. This is reflected submission: ‘Declining print circulation, Irish Times of the Irish Examiner. in the weekly reach figures showing RTÉ draconian defamation laws, changed Colleen Murrell retaining its place as the top news source advertising models, and a fundamental Dublin City University in both the offline and online categories, imbalance of power between platforms

54 https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/operating-profit-at-irish-times-group-up-46-to-3-82m-in-2019-1.4351742; https://www. independent.ie/business/inm-owner-mediahuis-reports-2020-profit-despite-impact-of-covid-40130082.html 55 https://www.linkedin.com/smart-links/AQErnRDjJhYcYA/01dd9770-4392-4662-b481-30fc3e507c6c 56 https://futureofmediacommission.ie/wp-content/uploads/768.-NewsBrands-Ireland-Submission.pdf 86 / 87

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE RTÉ News (public broadcaster) 6614 RTÉ News online 4111 Sky News 3012 TheJournal.ie 3517 TOP BRANDS BBC News 2711 Irish Independent online 2811 % Weekly usage Virgin Media TV News 259 The Irish Times online 2410 Irish Independent/Sunday Independent 2212 BreakingNews.ie 2312 Weekly use Today FM 198 Sky News online 167 TV, radio & print The Irish Times 199 BBC News online 167 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print CNN 186 Irish Examiner online 136 Weekly use Local radio news 188 Irish Mirror online 115 online brands Newstalk 167 Local radio news online 115 More than 3 days per week ITV or Channel 4 News 127 CNN.com 105 online brands Irish Daily Sun 116 Virgin Media News online 105 Irish Examiner 117 MailOnline 95 Irish Mirror 118 Guardian online 95 Regional or local newspaper 108 RTÉ TV News: 56% Her.ie/joe.ie 85 Irish Daily Mail/Irish Mail on Sunday 107 RTÉ Radio News: 30% Regional or local newspaper 85

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Online remains the main source of news. While COVID-19 has accelerated the structural decline in print, it also seems to have 16% 41% fuelled a slight increase in TV and in the use of the smartphones, pay for listen to PODCASTS in line with trends seen elsewhere. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 83% 81% 76% Online74% (incl. social media) Smartphone 68% 72% Printed newspapers Computer 50% 51% 52% 50% 50% TV 46% 49%

28% 22% 21%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust Neither Don’t trust COVID-19 seems to have BBC 53 35 12 boosted trust over the past ITV 45 47 8 RTÉ News 78 11 11 year (+5pp) for ‘news overall’ FT 45 50 5 News overall News I use The Irish Times 77 14 9 Channel 4 42 50 8 and for ‘news I use’ (+7pp). BBC News 76 14 10 Sky 39 52 9 Public broadcaster RTÉ Regional/local radio 75 16 9 Guardian 39 51 10 remains the most trusted Irish Independent 74 15 11 (+5) Times 39 51 10 brand (78%), closely followed 53% 59% Sky News 72 16 12 Local newspaper 38 55 7 by the Irish Times (77%), with =10/46 Irish Examiner 71 19 10 Independent 33 58 9 Virgin Media News 71 18 11 Virgin Media News registering Telegraph 30 56 14 a seven percentage point Newstalk 70 19 11 News in search News in social Mail 16 47 37 Today FM 69 20 11 increase on last year. HuPost 13 74 13 TheJournal.ie 64 22 14 Mirror 11 58 31 Breakingnews.ie 62 23 15 Sun 10 50 40 Irish Daily Mail 52 22 26 34% 19% Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 her.ie/joe.ie 45 32 23

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 36% 1 Facebook 35% (-4) 64% 4 Twitter 13% (-1) 25% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 23% (+4) 69% 5 Instagram 12% (+1) 38% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 18% (-4) 61% 6 Facebook Messenger 11% (+2) 45% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 88

ITALY

STATISTICS online platforms, which already generate approximately 80% of online advertising Population 59m revenues in Italy, who are benefiting from Internet penetration 93% this increase (+11%), while publishers and advertising agencies are experiencing further significant losses in this market too The COVID-19 (-7%).59 pandemic has Italian news media have responded in exacerbated various ways. Several major news outlets some of the have increased the number of ads on their historical weaknesses of the websites, as well as their invasiveness. The trend towards pay models for online news Italian media sector, contributing is developing further and, although it has to the decline of overall revenues, so far mainly been used by newspapers’ the fall in newspaper readership, websites, two digital-born news sites, Il and the lowering of the editorial Post.it and VareseNews, have recently introduced membership schemes. Even standards adopted in news so, our data show that the proportion reporting. The consequences of people paying for online news is still of the pandemic seem to have low (13%). Government support for news and SkyTg24), the main Italian news organisations includes updating and agency (ANSA), and the main newspapers been less severe for major online extending the recent system of 50% tax (La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera, Il platforms. credits on all corporate media advertising Fatto Quotidiano, and Il Sole 24 Ore). The spend (including online) and postponing online reach of the Italian public service The Italian media environment has the ending of direct press subsidies, long broadcaster RAI is stable, but still far from traditionally been characterised by a criticised for the influence of political its levels on TV and radio. Interestingly, the particularly strong television sector and clientelism on the award process. digital-born outlet Fanpage, which has a a weak and declining newspaper sector. particularly strong social media presence, However, online advertising revenues There were some major changes retains its position among the top Italian overtook television advertising revenues of ownership and leadership in the online news players that it has achieved for the first time in 2019, and now represent newspaper sector. The Agnelli-Elkann in recent years. Good online results have almost half (49%) of overall advertising family, the largest shareholder of Fiat also been achieved by local outlets like revenues in the Italian media sector.57 Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), bought the Quotidiano.net (8%), La Stampa (8%), Il De Benedetti family’s controlling stake in Messaggero (8%), and digital-born outlets Because of the severity of the COVID-19 GEDI, one of the largest Italian publishing like HuffPost Italia (11%) and Il Post.it (8%). pandemic, Italian media increased groups, which publishes the daily national the space given to the news, and both newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa, On the editorial side, coverage of the television and online news outlets have as well as several local newspapers and COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the seen a significant increase in audience radio stations. A new editor-in-chief has shortage of specialist science journalists in reach. During the March and April 2020 been appointed for La Repubblica, and Italy, as well as a tendency to focus news outbreak, for example, Italian prime-time his attempts to adopt a more neutral coverage on speculation and leaks about newscasts drew over 50% audience share, editorial line for the traditionally centre- possible changes to Coronavirus-related with an increase of approximately 5% on left leaning newspaper have been followed restrictions, rather than on the actual the previous year.58 by the resignations of several high-profile decisions, together with sensationalist journalists. Carlo De Benedetti, the former and often contradictory coverage of facts However, the pandemic has also produced publisher of La Repubblica, launched a new related to the pandemic and vaccines. This, a sharp drop in advertising revenues, which newspaper in September 2020, Domani, together with the spread of disinformation, are the main funding source for many also aimed at centre-left readers. In might have contributed to the audience’s Italian outlets, and exacerbated the decline addition, some titles have closed, including dissatisfaction and lack of trust in news. in newspaper circulation. In the first nine the online-only Lettera43 and the local months of 2020, total revenues for the newspaper Il Trentino. Alessio Cornia Italian media sector fell by €780m, with Dublin City University considerable decreases observed in both The online news market is still mainly the newspaper (-15%) and broadcasting dominated by legacy players. The sectors (-8%), while online advertising websites with the widest online reach grew (+7%). As the Italian communication are those of the established commercial authority has pointed out, it is the major TV broadcasters (Mediaset’s TgCom24

57 https://www.agcom.it/relazioni-annuali 58 https://www.agcom.it/relazioni-annuali 59 https://www.agcom.it/osservatorio-sulle-comunicazioni 88 / 89

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE RAI TV News (Tg1, Tg2, Tg3, TgR) 4612 TgCom24 online (Mediaset) 2410 Mediaset TV News (Tg4, Tg5, Studio Aperto) 4210 SkyTg24 online 228 TOP BRANDS SkyTg24 3212 ANSA online 2010 % Weekly usage TgCom24 (Mediaset) 3215 La Repubblica online 208 RAI News24 2612 Fanpage 1019 Weekly use Tg La7 2210 Il Corriere della Sera online 168 TV, radio & print La Repubblica 1711 RAI News online (public broadcaster) 148 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Il Corriere della Sera 138 Il Fatto Quotidiano online 126 Weekly use RAI radio news (Gr1, Gr2, Gr3) 127 Il Sole 24 ore online 129 online brands Porta a Porta 128 HuPost 117 More than 3 days per week Regional or local newspaper 129 Commercial radio news online 115 online brands Non è l’Arena 129 Regional or local newspaper online 116 Commercial radio news 115 Notizie Libero online 116 Piazza pulita 119 Yahoo! News 106 Dritto e Rovescio 107 TgLa7 online 49 Il Sole 24 Ore 69 Quotidiano.net (La Nazione online, etc.) 85

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Newspaper readership continues to fall steadily while television news viewership is more stable than in many other countries. 13% 31% The smartphone is the main device used to get online news. pay for listen to PODCASTS ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21* 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet

80% 76% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 74% 75% 68% Printed newspapers Computer 59% 58% 50% 47% 50% TV 42%

27% 25% 18% 16% 14% 0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST After an 11-percentage point Trust Neither Don’t trust fall in 2020, trust recovered all BBC 53 35 12 ANSA 82 13 5 ITV 45 47 8 of that this year but is still SkyTG24 76 16 8 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 relatively low. The most Il Sole 24 ore 74 19 7 Channel 4 42 50 8 trusted brands are generally Tg La7 69 20 11 Sky 39 52 9 those that are known for lower Il Corriere della Sera 68 20 12 (+11) Guardian 39 51 10 levels of political partisanship. 40% 47% Regional/local newspaper 68 22 10 Times 39 51 10 =26/46 RAI News (public broadcaster) 67 19 14 Least trusted are outlets with Local newspaper 38 55 7 La Repubblica 65 20 15 a pronounced partisan bias Independent 33 58 9 62 24 14 and the popular digital-born La Stampa 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 61 19 20 outlet Fanpage. Mediaset NewsMail 16 47 37 58 24 18 Il Fatto QuotidianoHuPost 13 74 13 54 23 23 Porta Mirrora Porta 11 58 31 51 27 22 32% 20% Il GiornaleSun 10 50 40 47 24 29 LiberoBuzzfeed Quotidiano News 6 76 18 45 29 26 Fanpage 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 40% 1 Facebook 50% (-6) 74% 4 Instagram 15% (-2) 48% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 30% (+1) 84% 5 Twitter 8% (-1) 18% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 20% (-4) 67% 6 Telegram 7% (+1) 28% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 90

NETHERLANDS

STATISTICS

Population 17m There was some debate within the Internet penetration 96% media on the right way to cover the government’s response to COVID-19. In particular, remarks in early March 2020 The Dutch by De Volkskrant’s editor-in-chief, Pieter media Klok, about how, given fear of the virus, news media should ‘speak with one voice’ landscape is and not ‘magnify contradictions’ led to characterised by accusations, especially in the alternative increased media concentration, blogosphere, of mainstream media’s supposed one-sidedness and retreat from strong growth of digital news its watchdog function. use, and the appearance of alternative and sometimes The international English version of Dutch membership-based online news site De strongly partisan sources. Correspondent closed on 1 January 2021. The founders said The Correspondent was 2020 saw a drastic reduction in pluralism no longer sustainable after an increase in within the Dutch media landscape and membership cancellations in part due to the commercial market is now dominated COVID-19. Their critics, particularly among by two Belgian publishers. DPG Media US members, blamed the closure on the – owner of national daily titles such as failure to place a US office at the heart of AD and De Volkskrant along with a large the English-language edition. Metro, the number of regional papers – acquired last free newspaper in the Netherlands, Sanoma, the largest owner of magazines ceased publication in 2020, citing the bookshop chains Bruna and AKO were and the leading online news site Nu.nl. collapse of the advertising market due to criticised for selling print copies of Gezond Mediahuis, owner of national newspapers COVID-19. Verstand. Minister of the Interior Kajsa De Telegraaf and NRC, expanded its grip Ollongren argued that bookshops should on the regional market by acquiring NDC In March 2021 PublicSpaces – aimed decide what they sold, but suggested mediagroep. This unparalleled media at ‘providing an alternative software placing Gezond Verstand next to the concentration and ownership of several ecosystem that serves the common interest Fabeltjeskrant (the Fables Newspaper), a titles by consolidated groups raises and does not seek profit’ – organised reference to an old children’s TV show in questions about both the external and a conference designed to kickstart which a puppet owl read fables. YouTube internal pluralism of the Dutch media. international cooperation and build a deleted two of Café Weltschermz’s network of organisations and developers videos suggesting the anti-malaria drug Although both commercial and public ‘committed to fixing the internet’. Founded hydroxychloroquine provided protection TV and radio faced declining revenues in 2018, PublicSpaces’ initiative to against COVID-19. A court later ruled the from advertising, audiences were boosted reimagine ‘the internet as a public space’ is removal of these videos was justified. by the crisis, with 6.9 million people on supported by, among others, the Ministry of average watching news and current affairs Interior and the Dutch public broadcasting Even though the Netherlands ranks programmes every evening compared organisation NPO. fourth for trust overall, violence against 60 to 6.1 million in 2019. DPG Media and journalists is becoming increasingly Mediahuis appear to have benefited most Several initiatives aimed at providing an common. In January 2021 alone, journalists from the COVID-19 crisis. Both publishers alternative to what they call ‘mainstream reported 39 cases of intimidation, threats, saw increased revenues in 2020, driven by media’ have attracted attention over the and assault to PersVeilig, which runs a strong growth in digital subscriptions, with past year: De Andere Krant (The Other reporting website, hotline, and helpdesk Mediahuis reporting digital subscriptions Paper/Side), Gezond Verstand (Common for journalists under attack. That number 61 up by 47% in 2020. In March 2021, their Sense), and Café Weltschmerz. These represents almost a third of the 141 reports national title NRC reported a record- publications often question (scientific) received for the whole of 2020. breaking 300,000 subscriptions, the consensus and government policy related highest since its creation in 1970. In our to issues including COVID-19, 5G, and Irene Costera Meijer and 2021 survey, 17% of our respondents climate change. Other news media, Tim Groot Kormelink reported paying for news online, a three politicians, and experts have denounced Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam percentage point increase on 2020 and up them for spreading disinformation and from 11% in 2019. conspiracy theories. In October 2020,

60 https://kijkonderzoek.nl/images/Persberichten/2020/Jaarpersberichten/210107_Factsheet_coronacrisis_-_kerncijfers_TV_2020.pdf 61 https://www.mediahuislimburg.nl/actueel/2020-kanteljaar-in-de-digitale-transformatie-van-mediahuis/#:~:text=Op%20de%20Nederlandse%20 markt%20steeg,met%20maar%20liefst%20%2B16%25 90 / 91

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE* NOS News (public broadcaster) 6112 NU.nl 4111 RTL (incl. RTL Z and EditieNL) 2910 NOS News online 289 TOP BRANDS SBS News 228 Algemeen Dagblad online 268 % Weekly usage Regional or local newspaper 186 De Telegraaf online 227 Free local papers 1418 RTL News online 156 Weekly use Algemeen Dagblad 176 Regional or local newspaper online 115 TV, radio & print Other NPO TV news programmes 168 Regional or local TV news online 115 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print De Telegraaf 156 de Volkskrant online 48 Weekly use Commercial radio news 156 SBS News online 37 online brands Regional TV news 135 MSN News 47 More than 3 days per week Regional radio news 115 indebuurt.nl 3 5 online brands de Volkskrant 83 Geen Stijl 3 5 CNN 46 NRC online 3 5 Non-daily regional or local newspaper 65 Linda News 3 5 * Due to a scripting error in the original survey, brand reach data in the Netherlands comes BNR Nieuwsradio 63 BBC News online 2 4 from a separate re-poll conducted from 26 March to 6 April 2021 (N=1504). BBC News 2 5 Nederlands Dagblad online 2 4

CHANGING MEDIA PAY News consumption went through the roof during the first months of the COVID-19 crisis, but eventually usage 17% 28% returned to 2019 levels. Hyperlocal news site indebuurt pay for listen to PODCASTS (In the Neighbourhood) became a relatively popular news ONLINE NEWS in the last month source reaching 5% of the population.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21* 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 80% 76% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 76% 64% 68% Printed newspapers 63% Computer

50% 43% 50% TV 46% 42% 37% 42% 32% 25% 24%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in news is high at 59%, Trust Neither Don’t trust but lower amongst the young BBC 53 35 12 NOS News 80 13 7 ITV 45 47 8 (18–34). People who strongly Regional/local newspaper 75 18 7 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 distrust the news are RTL News 74 17 9 Channel 4 42 50 8 protesting online and in NU (Nu.nl) 73 18 9 Sky 39 52 9 demonstrations. The most AD (Algemeen Dagblad) 72 19 9 (+7) Guardian 39 51 10 trusted news source, NOS, 59% 65% De Volkskrant 71 20 9 Times 39 51 10 =4/46 Het Financieele Dagblad 69 23 8 removed its logo after its Local newspaper 38 55 7 Trouw 69 22 9 vehicles were targeted by Independent 33 58 9 69 22 9 protesters against COVID-19 or NRC Handelsblad 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 63 22 15 CO2 reduction measures. Hart van NederlandMail 16 47 37 63 27 10 BNR newsHuPost radio 13 74 13 58 29 13 MirrorMetro 11 58 31 58 22 20 31% 20% De TelegraafSun 10 50 40 42 33 25 BuzzfeedLinda News News 6 76 18 34 31 35 Geen Stijl 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 21% 1 Facebook 26% (-2) 59% 4 Instagram 10% (+1) 34% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 22% (+2) 73% 5 Twitter 8% (+1) 16% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 15% (-) 52% 6 LinkedIn 5% (+1) 20% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 92

NORWAY

STATISTICS Faced with the consequences of lockdown measures, the government poured public Population 5.4m funding into general industry support Internet penetration 98% packages, and also instigated a special €30m pandemic press support scheme. Longstanding press subsidies still help The Norwegian support the plethora of local newspapers media and a handful of national ones, and landscape a relatively new initiative to support innovation adds to the existing scheme, mixes strong making it comparatively wide-ranging national publishers and public and generous.

service media, with a reputation Public service broadcaster NRK retained for innovation in content and its central position in the news landscape, business models. A year into the as the most used news source offline, and pandemic, Norwegians report the second most used one online (where weekly reach increased by 8pp) as well as increased trust in, and willingness the most trusted Norwegian news brand. to pay for, news. While NRK retains a broad remit across platforms and seems to have strong public Norway remains the country with the legitimacy, criticism of its online activities highest number of consumers (45%) in particular by commercial providers willing to pay for online news, up three continues, and the Ministry of Culture has percentage points since last year (and 11pp launched a review which is due to report since 2019), with growth skewed towards in 2021. the well-off. Given the strong tradition of launches, a continued strong presence reading print newspapers, the transition to There was a continued focus in the news from the NRK, and a degree of attention for digital subscriptions has been promoted on #MeToo in 2020 and an increased popular ‘podcast stars’ previously restricted with hybrid solutions that typically bundle awareness and debate on racism and to television entertainment personalities. paper and digital content. This, and the discrimination in Norway. The coverage In Norway, as elsewhere, the pandemic absence of freesheets, explains why followed international events, such as the focused public attention on misinformation Norway remains the leading country in murder of George Floyd in the USA and spread through online media. In our survey the survey in paying for online news. the Black Lives Matter movement, which heightened discussions of representation we see that 45% are concerned about what New audiences paying for news was not the in media and the dominance of white is fake and real on the internet when only positive sign for the media business (male) people in leading news positions. thinking about online news. Since 2019, this in 2020: Norwegian news providers The NRK also broadcast detailed coverage number has risen three percentage points experienced an increase in online users, of a 20-year-old racially motivated murder each year, with no apparent bump following and industry sources suggest the decrease of a 15-year-old boy which triggered new the pandemic. Among the topics on which in offline audiences also slowed down. discussion about racism. We continue to see Norwegians say they have come across false While the pandemic shook the business, the interlinkages between social media and or misleading information, Coronavirus is particularly with advertising spending politics, with topics raised in social media mentioned most frequently (30%), but it grinding to a halt during early spring quickly finding their way into the news. is closely followed by climate change/ 2020, threatening layoffs, major players environment and politics. Specifically on reported positive figures coming out of Almost four out of ten Norwegians (37%) the pandemic, Norwegian respondents say the pandemic’s first year. Schibsted, for have used podcasts during the last month, a they fear false and misleading information instance, which owns the largest quality slight increase on last year. Podcasts reach first and foremost from activists, and see newspaper Aftenposten, numerous regional the younger age groups particularly, with Facebook as a major source for this. newspapers, as well as the popular tabloid close to two-thirds (59%) of those under Janne Bjørgan and Hallvard Moe VG, reported revenue growth and cost 35 having used podcasts, compared to University of Bergen savings for their news media with a profit only 29% of those over 35. Several of the at year end of 10% (EBITDA). Amedia, major newspapers now publish a range which owns 80 local newspapers as well of podcasts, especially focused on news as the popular online paper Nettavisen, commentary and weekly summaries of reported very similar levels (14.7%) and current events. There was a strengthened managed to keep all their journalists professionalisation in 2020 of this employed through the year. previously bottom-up medium, with more 92 / 93

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE NRK News (TV & radio) (public broadcaster) 5612 VG Nett 5911 TV2 News 5014 NRK News online 4210 TOP BRANDS VG (Verdens Gang) 238 Dagbladet online 3711 % Weekly usage Regional or local newspaper 208 TV2 News online 3411 P4 News (radio) 157 Nettavisen 2713 Weekly use Local radio news 136 Regional or local newspaper online 235 TV, radio & print Dagbladet 116 Aenposten online 219 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Aenposten 114 ABC News online 116 Weekly use Local TV news 116 Dagens Næringsliv online 115 online brands CNN 105 Bergens Tidende online 49 More than 3 days per week Radio Norge 48 CNN.com 85 online brands BBC News 48 Dagsavisen online 47 Dagens Næringsliv 63 Adresseavisen online 37 SVT (Svensk TV) 3 5 BBC News online 47 Bergens Tidende 1 4 NRK TV News: 51% Resett.no 2 5 Klassekampen 2 4 NRK Radio News: 23% Document.no 3 5

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Whereas many other countries report a rise in TV consumption, there is only a slight increase (+2pp) in Norway. Social media are 45% 37% declining as a source of news, with Facebook’s continued fall pay for listen to PODCASTS particularly pronounced (-14pp since 2019). ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 86% 85% Online (incl. social media) 76% Smartphone 72% 66% 63% Printed64% newspapers Computer 54% 50% 50% TV 50% 41% 44% 36% 25% 21%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in news overall is up Trust Neither Don’t trust significantly, with increases for BBC 53 35 12 NRK News 83 8 9 ITV 45 47 8 NRK and other national and Regional/local newspaper 80 13 7 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 local news brands. VG, which TV2 News 78 13 9 Channel 4 42 50 8 was hit by a 2019 ethics Aenposten 76 15 9 Sky 39 52 9 scandal, saw the biggest jump. Dagens Næringsliv 74 18 8 (+12) Guardian 39 51 10 ‘Alternative’ news sites Resett 57% 67% VG 71 15 14 Times 39 51 10 6/46 Dagbladet 66 18 16 and Document remain trusted Local newspaper 38 55 7 P4 65 23 12 by a small, but declining, Independent 33 58 9 61 26 13 minority, and are seeing Radio Norge 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 61 27 12 increased levels of mistrust. DagsavisenMail 16 47 37 58 24 18 NettavisenHuPost 13 74 13 54 26 20 KlassekampenMirror 11 58 31 47 33 20 28% 18% ABC NewsSun 10 50 40 31 26 43 BuzzfeedDocument.no News 6 76 18 26 24 50 Resett.no 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 23% 1 Facebook 31% (-6) 75% 4 Snapchat 9% (-1) 52% SHARE NEWS 2 Facebook Messenger 12% (-1) 60% 5 Instagram 7% (-1) 48% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 12% (-1) 57% 6 Twitter 7% (-) 18% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 94

POLAND

STATISTICS and radio stations went off air for 24 hours on 10 February 2021 in protest – as did a Population 38m number of web portals.63 Internet penetration 78% As an election year, 2020 saw an intensification of conflict between the COVID-19 ruling coalition and its critics. Public affected news service broadcasting, which depends increasingly on the annual award of audiences state subsidies to top up declining and hit media licence income, as expected, acted as a revenues in Poland as elsewhere. propaganda vehicle for government.64 But government control can occasionally But in the deeply polarised Polish backfire in surprising ways. When public media landscape, the pandemic radio’s channel Trojka removed a song was overshadowed by mounting criticising the ruling party leader from their political pressures in a turbulent weekly chart in May 2020, some prominent journalists resigned in protest. Thanks to election year. Independent crowdfunding campaigns they launched newsrooms saw some journalists two new independent stations online. The arrested, assaulted, and fined. incident also hit Trojka’s audience share, news broadcaster, TVN24, and top online which fell to just 1.9% in the quarter ending site, Onet.pl, remain foreign owned, by And the state started to extend its February 2021, compared to 5.1% for the Discovery Communications and Ringier control over private media. same period a year before. Axel Springer Polska respectively. But in addition to the Polska Press sale to The ruling party pursued its radical agenda Physical attacks on journalists took Orlen, Bauer Media shut seven magazines in 2020 with the pandemic providing place around two major demonstrations. and sold Interia.pl, the fourth most used further impetus for its moves to redraw The first in October 2020 was a massive weekly online news source in our survey, Poland’s media landscape. In November protest against a controversial ruling by to Poland’s biggest media conglomerate, 2020 the state-owned oil company, Orlen, the Polish Constitutional Court restricting Cyfrowy Polsat. bought Ruch, the biggest newspaper abortions. At least three reporters covering distributor. Later Orlen bought the largest it, including one from the Gazeta Wyborcza, The pandemic added to financial pressures, regional daily newspaper group, Polska were injured following assaults by masked forcing publishers and broadcasters to Press, from its German proprietors, men. Other journalists faced charges cut staff and salaries. The first title to fall making the government owner of a major or fines after covering protests by the victim was in March 2020 when Wprost media outlet for the first time since the All-Poland Women’s Strike movement, weekly closed its print edition, a casualty fall of Communism. Publishers were which played a key role in the October of the closure of newsstands in lockdown. understandably concerned at a state-owned demonstrations. And then reporters from Six months of temporary government firm controlling distribution and becoming Newsweek Polska were beaten up by police support helped others but journalist layoffs a direct competitor. Orlen had already while covering the far-right Independence followed when it ended. created an advertising agency, Sigma Bis Day March on 11 November, despite Other companies saw subscription spikes (jointly with state-controlled insurer PZU), wearing ‘Press’ jackets. or accelerated digital development. that is likely to allocate advertising spend by The courts have also been used by TVN successfully switched its video-on- state-owned companies. those affiliated with the ruling party to demand (VOD) business from advertising Several pro-government titles already suppress independent media, creating to a subscription model and its news arm, benefit from significant amounts of state a chilling effect. Since 2015 more than TVN24, introduced a premium section advertising, according to research by 60 defamation lawsuits have been filed behind the registration wall, thought to be a Tadeusz Kowalski at Warsaw University. against Gazeta Wyborcza and at least 40 step towards paid content. Gazeta Wyborcza For the weekly magazine Sieci this against Ringier Axel Springer Polska, daily added a premium offer, with interviews amounted to almost a third (31%) of 2020 owners of Newsweek Polska and Onet.pl, with experts and politicians available advertising revenues and for the right- the leading online news site. live for subscribers, a behind-the-scenes wing daily Gazeta Polska Codziennie it was newsletter, and premium podcasts. Foreign ownership has on occasions been over half (53%).62 Meanwhile, plans for an an important bulwark of independence Vadim Makarenko advertising tax added to pressure on the in a difficult environment for local media Journalist at Gazeta Wyborcza and former industry overall. Independent Polish media but proposals for a ‘Repolonisation law’ Reuters Institute Journalist Fellow denounced it as an attempt to undermine would limit this. Both the top rating press freedom. Commercial TV channels

62 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349410539_Report_Advertising_expenditures_of_state-owned_companies_Poland_2015-2020 63 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/10/polish-media-hold-blackout-in-protest-at-tax-threat 64 https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/4/9/455728.pdf 94 / 95

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TVN News (incl. TVN 24) 498 Onet.pl 5016 Polsat News 3811 WP.pl 3913 TOP BRANDS RMF FM 3812 TVN24.pl 3610 % Weekly usage TVP News (public broadcaster) 267 Interia.pl 3011 Radio Zet 2512 (Gazeta) Wyborcza.pl 2011 Weekly use Gazeta Wyborcza 1017 RMF24.pl 198 TV, radio & print Fakt 169 Fakt.pl 179 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 149 Gazeta.pl 179 Weekly use Eska 147 Polsatnews.pl 178 online brands TTV 135 TVP.info 155 More than 3 days per week Regional or local radio 125 Radiozet.pl 127 online brands Super Express 118 OKO.press 116 Newsweek Polska 69 Newsweek.pl 118 Angora 47 Regional or local newspaper online 106 Polityka 57 NaszeMiasto.pl 85 VOX FM 37 Wprost.pl 68

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Interest in all news sources declined this year, with television news showing none of the growth under lockdown seen 18% elsewhere. Online news portals Onet and WP remain the pay for top destinations online. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21* 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 84% 84% 81% 81% 81% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 70% Printed newspapers 65% Computer 59% 50% 52% 50% TV 52%

28% 18% 17% 14%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in news overall recovered Trust Neither Don’t trust the three percentage point BBC 53 35 12 RMF FM 68 21 11 ITV 45 47 8 loss from last year. The TVN News 64 16 20 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 remaining independent media Polsat News 64 21 15 Channel 4 42 50 8 tend to score better on trust, Radio Zet 62 24 14 Sky 39 52 9 while the state-controlled Onet.pl 61 21 18 (+3) Guardian 39 51 10 public broadcaster TVP again 48% 55% Newsweek Polska 58 24 18 Times 39 51 10 16/46 Regional/local newspaper 58 28 14 comes bottom of the trust Local newspaper 38 55 7 Interia 57 27 16 ranking, with more distrusting Independent 33 58 9 57 26 17 (46%) than trusting it (36%). WP.pl 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 56 29 15 MailEska 16 47 37 53 22 25 Gazeta HuPostWyborcza 13 74 13 41 26 33 MirrorFakt 11 58 31 39 30 31 46% 37% Super ExpressSun 10 50 40 38 28 34 BuzzfeedGazeta NewsPolska 6 76 18 36 18 46 TVP News 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 39% 1 Facebook 55% (-10) 72% 4 Instagram 13% (+1) 35% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 35% (-1) 72% 5 WhatsApp 12% (+2) 35% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 25% (+1) 63% 6 Twitter 9% (-2) 17% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 96

PORTUGAL

STATISTICS Digital News Report survey data,67 and by research centre OberCom. Expresso Population 10m reported digital paid circulation up by 53% Internet penetration 78% in 2020, while Público increased by 97%. However, news brands have generally not increased digital revenues fast enough to In a country make up for the significant losses in paid that repeatedly print circulation, on which most rely.

ranks high in One unusual form of support came from terms of trust Santa Casa da Misericórdia, the social in news, digital business models institution that among other things manages the Euromillions lottery, which are no longer just about revenue launched an initiative to fund 20,000 free diversification but have become digital news subscriptions for eight media critical to survival. And in 2020 outlets (seven general and one sports concerns around COVID-19 brand). Brands used these in different ways: the weekly magazine Visão gave appear to have played a role in some of these free subscriptions to older making more people willing to citizens attending the University of the 3rd pay for digital content. Age while Público targeted unemployed people.

The impact of COVID-19 added to the Another – albeit controversial – response longstanding structural problems of was the creation by the Portuguese Portuguese news companies of falling print government in Spring 2020 of a COVID-19 and advertising revenues and the failure emergency financial media support service OPTO, while public broadcaster, to replace these with new digital business scheme – based on compensating for the RTP, invested considerable resources models. estimated revenue loss from cancelled in expanding its existing free streaming corporate advertising. €11.25m was service, RTP Play. Diário de Notícias, one of Analysts estimate that COVID-19 hit awarded to national media brands and Portugal’s oldest newspapers, returned to a advertising profits by 40–50% in 2020 €3.75m to local and regional outlets. daily print edition, after having abandoned and the pandemic impacted on all aspects Debate focused on both the approach and that in June 2018 for a weekly print edition of the industry. Paid print circulation fell the amounts awarded to each brand. alongside a daily digital-only presence. by nearly 20% in Q1 and our data shows print as a source down six percentage A rise in COVID-19 related disinformation Smaller independent brands such as points on last year. Television audiences has concerned policymakers and Fumaça, Mapa, Shifter, Divergente, increased initially, thanks to concern over news organisations. OberCom68 and or Interruptor continue to promote COVID-19 and more people being at home. MediaLab ISCTE-IUL69 have reported innovation both in journalistic practices But the radio sector was hit by the collapse how disinformation has been spread in and business models. They generally aim in commuters listening, which deprived private messaging platforms such as to build long-term sustainability through a brands of their most profitable advertising WhatsApp, using social media profiles much closer and intimate relationship with slots. Job losses followed, with a significant that mimic genuine news sources, and their audiences, with start-up funds often proportion of Portuguese journalists reach wide audiences on social media. coming from a mix of crowdfunding and either laid off or experiencing salary cuts Several news outlets lifted paywalls for key foundations. The regional media landscape 65 in 2020. One company, the Global Media COVID-19 related content early on and for is also changing, with new projects Group, owner of brands such as Diário de the first time fact-checking outlets took developing and existing digital brands, Notícias, Jornal de Notícias, and TSF radio, centre stage in daily news. Polígrafo and such as Medio Tejo and Sul Informação, underwent a radical restructure in April Observador, the two main national fact- growing steadily. 2020 with 538 temporary layoffs. checkers, feature in prime-time news slots, on the SIC and TVI TV channels. Ana Pinto-Martinho, Miguel Paisana, The brighter news is that industry figures and Gustavo Cardoso show an increase in the numbers paying Despite the pandemic, 2020 saw some ISCTE-IUL University Institute of Lisbon for online news, albeit from a low base. important strategic developments. The SIC The COVID-19 bump in digital news private television broadcaster launched subscriptions was highlighted by the the first Portuguese private streaming APCT66 (the industry statistics body), by

65 https://www.ics.ulisboa.pt/docs/covid19/RelatorioCOVID19Jornalismo.pdf 66 http://www.apct.pt/ 67 Digital News Report survey data also show a substantial bump in digital subscriptions this year. Please note, however, that the 17% figure is likely to overstate the total number of subscribers, as respondents mention many types of digital payments for news content across online, mobile phones, TV, and radio – not just publisher subscriptions. 68 https://obercom.pt/pandemia-e-consumos-mediaticos/ 69 https://medialab.iscte-iul.pt/information-and-misinformation-coronavirus-in-portugal/ 96 / 97

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE SIC News (incl. SIC Noticias) 7014 SIC News online 3714 TVI News (incl. TVI 24) 5615 Notícias ao Minuto 3315 TOP BRANDS RTP News (public broadcaster) 4413 Sapo 2712 % Weekly usage Correio da Manhã TV 2610 TVI News online (incl. TVI 24) 2610 Correio da Manhã (newspaper) 2313 Observador 2512 Weekly use Jornal de Notícias 2212 Correio da Manhã online 2411 TV, radio & print Rádio Comercial 219 Jornal de Notícias online 2413 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print RFM 209 Público online 1021 Weekly use TSF 177 Expresso online 2011 online brands Expresso 149 Correio da Manhã TV online 178 More than 3 days per week Público 138 RTP News online 178 online brands Diário de Notícias 138 Diário de Notícias online 169 M80 104 MSN News 146 Regional or local newspaper 107 Jornal Económico 149 A Bola 49 Jornal ECO online 125 CNN 95 Rádio Comercial online 115

CHANGING MEDIA PAY COVID-19 accelerated the existing downward trends in print, while TV and online (including social media) showed little 17% change compared with last year. The smartphone became pay for the pre-eminent form of access, despite reduced mobility. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21* 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 86% 85% 77% Online78% (incl. social media) Smartphone 77% 75% 61% Printed newspapers Computer 55% 52% 50% 47% 50% TV 34% 27% 21% 15%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST High trust in news remains a Trust Neither Don’t trust feature of Portugal’s media BBC 53 35 12 RTP News 81 14 5 ITV 45 47 8 landscape, even in a context SIC News 80 12 8 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 where Coronavirus-related Jornal de Notícias 79 15 6 Channel 4 42 50 8 disinformation steadily Expresso 78 16 6 Sky 39 52 9 increased, particularly in Diário de Notícias 77 17 6 (+5) Guardian 39 51 10 social media. Public 61% 62% Público 76 18 6 Times 39 51 10 =2/46 TVI News 74 15 11 broadcaster RTP remains the Local newspaper 38 55 7 TSF 74 20 6 most trusted news brand, Independent 33 58 9 73 21 6 while popular news brand Rádio Renascença 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 72 21 7 Correio da Manhã, which RDP AntenaMail 1 16 47 37 69 22 9 operates across print, TV, and Notícias aoHuPost Minuto 13 74 13 68 24 8 online, is less well trusted. ObservadorMirror 11 58 31 67 25 8 45% 27% SapoSun 10 50 40 65 27 8 Regional/localBuzzfeed newspaper News 6 76 18 52 19 29 Correio da Manhã 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 46% 1 Facebook 48% (-2) 73% 4 Facebook Messenger 14% (-2) 55% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 21% (+3) 64% 5 Instagram 14% (-) 48% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 20% (-4) 66% 6 Twitter 11% (+3) 20% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 98

ROMANIA

STATISTICS bulletins for weeks. The level of anxiety and the public pressure were so great Population 19m that members of Parliament voted for a Internet penetration 74% government they had dismissed through a censure motion some five weeks earlier. Politicians from all parties accepted the Rarely, in the medical arguments for restrictions to fight three decades Coronavirus, allowing for an easier early since the fall of implementation of lockdown rules. Communism, By spring 2021, even as cases rose, the have Romanians been so hungry mood changed and demonstrations against government measures started. for up-to-date information But in January–February 2021, when the to help them take the right Digital News Report survey took place, decisions, and journalists so ill there was an extraordinarily high degree of equipped to provide accurate consensus around COVID-19 containment measures. This may help explain the information, with the necessary increased level of trust seen for most context and explanation. Yet, media brands surveyed.

during this COVID-19 ravaged Journalists, whether stuck at home or in year, trust in media has actually their newsrooms, were wholly reliant on increased slightly. information about the pandemic released by a mysterious Group of Strategic The level of interest in news was so high Communication, whose membership during the pandemic that our 2021 data was kept secret for over a year. During the second half of 2020, the government reveal the first important change in the the two months allowed by law for the was also accused of trying to buy support 70 last five years in the top brands online. initial state of emergency, the Group from news organisations. Several local Digi24, the online version of the Digi24 was empowered to block media outlets media organisations say, however, that as continuous news channel, became the spreading conspiracy theories or obvious the pandemic developed, public money most used brand, thus overtaking the untruths. The closure of several sites met was the only source of income for many news site of ProTV, the linear TV channel with protests from the Organisation for newsrooms. that leads our offline brand list. Digi24’s Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Limited access to information, closed sites success appears to be due to the public’s and of the People’s Advocate (a Romanian and newsrooms dependent on government thirst for immediate updates on COVID-19 Ombudsman), asking the government to subsidies – all these would provide cause for news. According to data from the Joint produce clear criteria for limitations on concern in any democracy. Fortunately, Industry Committee for Print and Internet freedom of speech during the lockdown, the public showed a lively interest in data (BRAT) Digi24’s traffic spiked at times of particularly since there was no right of visualisation and investigative pieces. increased concern about COVID-19 or the appeal or redress. Later, when the state Whistle-blowers inside the medical system, announcement of new measures. of emergency was lifted, closed sites were allowed to reopen. The actions of the trusted local and national newsrooms, and While ProTV and Digi24 lead in terms Group of Strategic Communication appear breaking news journalists and civic activists of both consumption and trust, public to have had a signalling effect – suggesting pressured national and local administrations service radio and TV are also among the unsanctioned newsrooms were telling the for correct, in-depth data and explanations. top five most trusted media brands. All truth and should be trusted. The very first investigative piece broke on 71 five – including the radio news channel Facebook, one week into the lockdown, Europa FM – generally tried to maintain a The government also helped with the and was shared more than 5,000 times. moderate tone and balanced coverage of creation in May 2020 of a €40m fund All these factors kept institutions in the crisis, even at times of breaking news. intended to make up for the lockdown power accountable. losses incurred by commercial media. Nevertheless, much Romanian news Funds were disbursed as payments Raluca-Nicoleta Radu coverage is sensationalist, with outrage for advertising the state-run COVID-19 University of Bucharest the stock in trade for many commentators. prevention campaign. Payments were By 14 March 2020, when President based on audience size, which meant that Klaus Iohannis announced the state of some worried about rewarding sensational emergency and lockdown, reports of the and click-bait-based journalism. With local ‘killer virus’ had been leading daily news and parliamentary elections scheduled for

70 Tăpălagă, D. 20 June 2020, ‘What you are Never Going to Find Out from the Media Financed by the Orban Cabinet’, https://www.g4media.ro/ce-nu-veti-auzi-niciodata-de-la-presa- finantata-de-guvernul-orban-cum-au-capitalizat-liberalii-moguli-care-nu-aveau-nevoie-sau-nu-merita-ajutor.html. 71 https://www.facebook.com/victor.g.ilie/posts/3302943889739618 98 / 99

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Pro TV 6113 Digi24 online 3510 Digi24 4712 Pro TV News online 2910 TOP BRANDS Antena 1 4013 Ziare.com 2816 % Weekly usage Antena 3 339 Adevărul online 2414 România TV 298 Libertatea online 2413 Weekly use TVR (public broadcaster) 2710 Mediafax online 2313 TV, radio & print B1 TV 239 Yahoo! News 2210 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Adevărul 2213 Stiripesurse.ro 2011 Weekly use Realitatea TV 229 HotNews 2010 online brands Kanal D 218 Ziarul Financiar online 189 More than 3 days per week Radio Europa FM 198 Evenimentul Zilei 1017 online brands Radio România (public broadcaster) 187 Capital online 1016 Libertatea 1812 Antena 3 online 166 Regional or local newspaper 1813 România TV online 156 Prima TV News 179 DCNews 157 Free city paper 149 Click online 148

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Romanian audiences rely primarily on TV and online as news sources. Our survey, conducted in January–February 2021, 20% captures this well and coincided with the second phase of pay for vaccination involving large numbers and a consequent ONLINE NEWS intense period for news consumption.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 88% 84% 84% 77% 79% Online72% (incl. social media) Smartphone 65% Printed newspapers Computer 58% 56% 50% 50% TV 50%

22% 17% 17% 11% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust Neither Don’t trust Trust in media increased BBC 53 35 12 slightly, while trust in social ITV 45 47 8 Pro TV 76 14 10 media decreased. The most FT 45 50 5 News overall News I use Digi 24 75 15 10 Channel 4 42 50 8 trusted brands try to offer a Radio Europa FM 72 18 10 Sky 39 52 9 balanced picture while many Radio România 72 17 11 Guardian 39 51 10 other brands have a TVR 69 17 14 (+4) Times 39 51 10 reputation for sensationalist 42% 46% Adevărul 66 21 13 Local newspaper 38 55 7 or partisan coverage. Seven =22/46 Capital 66 21 13 Independent 33 58 9 HotNews 63 22 15 out of ten respondents Telegraph 30 56 14 declare they used more than Antena 1 60 17 23 News in search News in social Mail 16 47 37 Libertatea 60 23 17 seven different sources per HuPost 13 74 13 Evenimentul Zilei 60 22 18 week, online and offline (a Mirror 11 58 31 Kanal D 56 25 19 constant in the last five years). Sun 10 50 40 România TV 54 18 28 41% 29% Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Antena 3 51 16 33

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 33% 1 Facebook 60% (-7) 79% 4 Facebook Messenger 19% (-1) 56% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 38% (+6) 77% 5 Instagram 13% (+1) 40% via social, messaging or email 3 WhatsApp 28% (+7) 70% 6 Twitter 9% (+3) 19% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 100

SLOVAKIA

STATISTICS but politicians’ attacks on the media for alleged bias only briefly subsided post- Population 5.4m election. Gone are media boycotts and Internet penetration 85% bans from press conferences, but Prime Minister (until 1 April 2021) Igor Matovič denounced the press in striking language. Commercial In September he wrote on Facebook TV stations that the main media organisations and digital- are ‘in the hands of oligarchs’ paying journalists to ‘carpet-bomb’ him and his born news party. Matovič had proposed a state fund portals remain the dominant to support investigative journalism, an news sources for Slovaks, whose idea most news organisations rejected: state ‘meddling’ in journalism is viewed media use has been influenced sceptically given Slovakia’s history of by three key events in 2020: the political interference. Our data imply that Coronavirus pandemic, a change in the idea was unlikely to be welcomed by the public: just 26% of respondents government, and the ongoing trial supported government subsidies for of those suspected of involvement commercial news organisations. in the 2018 murder of investigative As reported in the 2019 Digital News Report, The government proposed several complaints that management fails to protect journalist Ján Kuciak. During the other media-related policy initiatives, journalists from political pressure led to year pressure grew on the Director none of which, however, has yet been several resignations. RTVS management, by General of the public service implemented. A policy document on contrast, views the proposal as a threat to its combating disinformation was undergoing independence from political influence. broadcaster, while many media interdepartmental review in early 2021: outlets were accused of bias by the proposals envisage cooperation Slovaks are highly exposed to Coronavirus- related fake news, with 64% declaring the new Prime Minister. with the media and NGOs and a public alerting system. Another law is planned to they had encountered misinformation concerning COVID-19. They cited concern 2020 saw increased public interest in strengthen protection of journalists and their about politicians and political parties as a information provided by audiovisual and sources. Controversial plans for a monthly source of false or misleading information internet media, driven by the pandemic. government newspaper with a distribution (37%) followed by ordinary members of the Rolling news channel TA3 saw its of up to two million were reported to be public (18%). Only 12% believed the news viewership rise significantly. Aktuality.sk, ready for public tender in March 2021. media spread misinformation on COVID-19. a paywall-free, digital-born news website Public service broadcaster RTVS had a Politicians, including far-right leader associated with murdered investigative difficult year, with Director General Jaroslav Marián Kotleba and former PM Robert Fico, reporter Ján Kuciak, remains the most Rezník facing accusations of political used social and mass media to challenge widely read online brand. favouritism and financial mismanagement. measures aimed at containing the spread of The centre-right coalition government The broadcaster was criticised for reacting the virus and the vaccination campaign. which took office on 21 March 2020 slowly to the first wave of the pandemic Newspaper sales continue to decline, but was immediately faced with a public and underestimating its newsworthiness. the pandemic did not really accelerate the health crisis. Its communication policy Commercial rival Markíza, which has trend. Some brands increased their digital on the pandemic has been criticised as a higher audience share than RTVS, subscriptions, though not by enough to chaotic in a country which won praise for devoted more of its news programming to make up for the fall in advertising receipts. its successful containment of the first Coronavirus and was first to introduce a Major publishers expected the impact to be wave with a pre-emptive hard lockdown, regular prime-time slot on the pandemic. more severe than it was, but lack of funds and pioneered mass testing in the This became the preferred outlet for has meant existential issues for some left- autumn. However, by winter the country politicians and experts. However, RTVS wing, conservative, or local media outlets succumbed to a catastrophic second (along with TA3) seems to have won the not under the wing of large corporations. wave, during which Slovakia briefly had battle of trust according to this year’s survey. the world’s highest per capita death rate Legislation is planned to establish an Andrea Chlebcová Hečková from Coronavirus. independent ethics committee at RTVS, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra and Simon Smith Sections of the media had operated in a justified by the need to expand public Charles University, Prague state of mutual hostility with the previous oversight from programme content to Smer-Social Democracy-led government, relations between management and staff.

72 https://www.median.sk/pdf/MML2020/MMLOmnibus_2020_IV_Najobjektivnejsie_TV_spravodajstvo.pdf 100 / 101

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TV Markíza 5516 aktuality.sk 4719 TV JOJ 5418 topky.sk 3817 TOP BRANDS TA3 4815 tvnoviny.sk 2615 % Weekly usage RTVS (public broadcaster) 4715 sme.sk 2613 Rádio Expres 2913 ta3.com 2510 Weekly use Nový Čas 2316 cas.sk 2311 TV, radio & print SME 1015 pravda.sk 2211 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Plus 7 dní 1411 noviny.sk 1912 Weekly use Pravda 128 pluska.sk 169 online brands Fun rádio 127 dennikn.sk 158 More than 3 days per week Regional or local newspaper 108 hnonline.sk 127 online brands Rádio Vlna 105 refresher.sk 126 Denník N 69 dnes24.sk 117 Plus Jeden Deň 97 hlavnespravy.sk 105 Rádio Europa 2 48 RTVS TV News: 38% webnoviny.sk 97 Rádio Jemné 85 RTVS Radio News: 23% startitup.sk 95

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Slovaks are increasingly reliant on smartphones for access to news. Print is used as a news source by fewer than one 13% in five adults; just four years ago nearly one-third relied pay for on newspapers or magazines. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 86% 79% 80% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 74% Printed64% newspapers 64% Computer 58% 56% 54% 50% 50% TV 41% 29% 17% 16% 13% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST While overall trust in news Trust Neither Don’t trust recovered slightly from last BBC 53 35 12 TA3 65 20 15 year’s low-point, almost all ITV 45 47 8 News overall News I use RTVS 63 20 17 FT 45 50 5 the surveyed brands saw their Aktuality.sk 55 26 19 Channel 4 42 50 8 trust score fall. The biggest Hospodárske noviny 55 29 16 Sky 39 52 9 decline (-5pp) affected the Rádio Expres 54 30 16 (+2) Guardian 39 51 10 country’s leading news source, 30% 42% Regional/local newspaper 53 32 15 Times 39 51 10 TV Markíza, praised by media =43/46 TV JOJ 52 25 23 Local newspaper 38 55 7 critics for its pandemic Pravda 52 30 18 Independent 33 58 9 response. Median’s survey TV Markiza 48 25 27 News in search News in social Telegraph 30 56 14 SME 47 29 24 results on perceived objectivity Mail 16 47 37 72 Denník N 43 27 30 confirm this trend. HuPost 13 74 13 Korzár 41 38 21 Mirror 11 58 31 Plus 7 dni 37 31 32 29% 16% Sun 10 50 40 topky.sk 35 33 32 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Nový Čas 33 29 38

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 34% 1 Facebook 55% (+1) 72% 4 Instagram 11% (+3) 29% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 26% (+2) 67% 5 WhatsApp 9% (+4) 29% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 19% (+2) 51% 6 Viber 5% (+1) 20% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 102

SPAIN

STATISTICS support, arguing that loans and a reduction in VAT rates for digital subscriptions from Population 46m 21% to 4% were insufficient. Internet penetration 92% Plans for a so-called ‘Google tax’ were approved in February 2020 and came into Governments force in January 2021. The tax, of 3%, on and the media digital services and online advertising is predicted to produce around €1bn in 2021. tried to unite There has been discussion about how the country in the revenues should be used to support the battle against COVID-19, while different sectors in difficulty, including tourism and journalism. Back in 2014 journalists struggled to provide Spain had pioneered the idea of a ‘link clarity among often contradictory tax’ or ‘snippet tax’ charging platforms for messages about the pandemic. aggregating news stories. This included Meanwhile, as demand for the payment of copyright fees to news organisations, but led to the closure of news increased but traditional Google News Spain in December 2014, revenues fell, many news and the approach was not at that stage organisations pushed forward adopted elsewhere. interviews, also inherit audiences from their popular entertainment programming. with pay strategies. Developments in the industry and policy Regional public broadcasters’ reach arenas were reflected in changes in increased as audiences sought the regional Spanish publishers have embraced digital the editorial leadership of some of the angle on the pandemic as in Spain many paywalls in the last year, in the face of major Spanish newspapers: four men key policies are made at the regional level. increased demand for reliable news were appointed editors-in-chief of major but declining revenue from print and newspapers: Jordi Juan at La Vanguardia, Several firms modernised their products advertising. According to industry figures Albert Sáez at El Periódico, Javier Moreno in spite of COVID-19 related difficulties. the left of centre national newspaper El País back at the helm of El País, and Julián El Periódico and La Razón did their most reached 100,000 digital subscribers just Quirós at ABC. At the ownership level, radical print and online redesigns in ten months after introducing its paywall Javier Monzón was dismissed as chairman decades. Catalan-language newspaper in May 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. of PRISA. His replacement, Joseph Ara overhauled its website and apps for its El Mundo, which started its pay model in Oughourlian, was approved by the new tenth anniversary. ElDiario.es refreshed October 2019, reported having 60,000 major shareholders, Amber Capital, its site and its quarterly print magazine, digital subscribers, also by March 2021. Telefónica, and Vivendi. strengthened its newsletter offer, and Meanwhile, the digital-born ElDiario.es started collaborating on exclusives and reached 63,000 paying users as it made Public broadcaster RTVE has new video with the smaller digital native membership compulsory for full access, leadership. The incoming chairman, infoLibre, of which it bought a 10% share. with free or discounted fees for those José Manuel Pérez Tornero, sworn in unable to afford it. Joining the freemium in March 2021, is a well-respected and PRISA started SER Podcast, trend in 2020 were El Confidencial,La experienced Professor of Journalism but complementing digital-native Podium Vanguardia, and ABC. Our Digital News politicians faced accusations of appointing Podcast. Podimo arrived in Spain in June Report data also show some people paying some political party loyalists to the 2020 and Audible in October; both signed for digital versions of local and regional board. TVE had already made significant up well-known Spanish hosts. Barcelona- papers. Some Vocento regionals had changes in 2020 to its main broadcast based podcast platform iVoox, founded operated paywalls since 2015 and La Voz channel, boosting political coverage in in 2008 and with a 20% monthly reach in de Galicia since 2019. In total, the Spanish its midday schedule and modernising the Spain, launched a subscription service in media market now records about 400,000 presentation of its news bulletin of record, September 2020. Public radio broadcaster subscribers to online news services Telediario, and its 24-hour news channel RNE now provides more podcast-exclusive provided by nearly 30 news brands. registered its highest-ever annual audience content and reached a distribution share. However, RTVE online remains agreement with Spotify. Despite soaring digital subscriptions, one of the less well used brands and on the main traditional media groups (PRISA, TV its reach still lags behind commercial Samuel Negredo, Avelino Amoedo, Unidad Editorial, and Vocento) lost millions rivals Antena 3 and Telecinco, whose Alfonso Vara, Elsa Moreno, and from COVID-19’s impact on advertising faster-paced news, with high-profile Jürg Kaufmann and print’s declining sales. Publishers’ presenters providing more commentary University of Navarra associations requested more government and sometimes hard-hitting political 102 / 103

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Antena 3 News 4612 El País online 1021 LaSexta News 3210 20 Minutos online 157 TOP BRANDS Telecinco News 307 elDiario.es 147 % Weekly usage RTVE (public broadcaster) 289 El Mundo online 146 Cuatro News 219 Antena 3 online 146 Weekly use Local public TV or radio news 196 Regional or local newspaper online 136 TV, radio & print El País 1016 El Condencial 127 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 137 La Vanguardia online 126 Weekly use Cadena SER News 124 OKDiario 116 online brands Local private TV or radio news 115 Marca online 114 More than 3 days per week El Mundo 116 RTVE News online (public broadcaster) 115 online brands 20 Minutos 106 Local public TV or radio news online 104 COPE News 103 Telecinco online 104 Marca 48 ABC online 49 La Vanguardia 47 LaSexta online 49 El Periódico 47 Local private TV or radio news online 83

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Smartphones overtook computers for digital news access four years ago, and are now twice their level. Changing habits during 12% 38% the COVID-19 pandemic may have flattened the slow decline of pay for listen to PODCASTS tablets. Print’s fall as a news source continued. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21* 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet

79% 78% Online (incl. social media) 78% Smartphone 72% 64% 61% Printed newspapers Computer 55% 56% 50% 50% TV 35% 36% 28% 26% 17% 13% 0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in the news remains at its Trust Neither Don’t trust lowest level since 2015 and the BBC 53 35 12 Regional/local newspaper 53 30 17 ITV 45 47 8 general figures show no Antena 3 53 25 22 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 change on 2020. When users Cadena SER 49 27 24 Channel 4 42 50 8 are asked about specific media RTVE (public broadcaster) 48 27 25 Sky 39 52 9 brands, trust shows a El País 48 29 23 (-) Guardian 39 51 10 remarkable decrease in all 36% 41% LaSexta 46 26 28 Times 39 51 10 =33/46 El Mundo 45 28 27 cases and only regional/local Local newspaper 38 55 7 La Vanguardia 43 31 26 newspapers and Antena 3 Independent 33 58 9 42 34 24 reach more than 50% of El Periódico 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 41 26 33 approval. COPEMail 16 47 37 41 34 25 elDiario.esHuPost 13 74 13 40 29 31 MirrorABC 11 58 31 39 34 27 30% 24% El CondencialSun 10 50 40 38 37 25 Buzzfeed20 Minutos News 6 76 18 35 28 37 Telecinco 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 46% 1 Facebook 39% (-5) 66% 4 Twitter 19% (-1) 33% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 35% (+1) 83% 5 Instagram 17% (-) 55% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 21% (-4) 70% 6 Telegram 8% (+3) 23% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 104

SWEDEN

STATISTICS news. DNR data show that many of the online subscriptions go to four national Population 10m newspapers, Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Internet penetration 96% Nyheter, and Svenska Dagbladet. Sweden’s local news sector, comprising more than a hundred local titles, has also been Amid continued successful in attracting paying customers falls in online – accounting for more than a third revenues from (37%) of the total. However, it should be noted that subscription data include those advertising, taking out short-term trial subscriptions traditional and commercial and special offers. One study found major news journalism in Sweden is differences between subscribers, with short-term subscribers showing much nowadays mainly financed by paid less involvement and activity with the subscriptions, and increasingly news compared to users with long-term supported by diverse subsidies. ones.73 Altogether, in 2020 nearly five out of ten Swedes lived in a household with Sweden is marked by wide-reaching a subscription for news (print or digital), 74 broadband access and digital innovation, whereas in the 1980s eight out of ten did. with global platform companies also Despite the pandemic, according to the gaining a strong foothold. Public service Swedish Newspaper Association the broadcasters and newspapers have long national and local morning newspapers had a strong presence in the Swedish media increased their overall reader revenues market, and nowadays compete for attention slightly in 2020. The improvement online alongside a plethora of information was driven by online subscriptions, larger population. The €144m total for sources, including alternative news media. where revenues were up 45% on 2019, 2020 compared to €62.7m in 2019 and Public service broadcasters, Swedish counteracting the impact of lower income included one-off payments of €29.6m in Television (SVT) and Swedish Radio (SR), from print subscriptions, down 4%, and general editorial support and €14.8m in

continue to play significant roles in the declining advertising revenues, 21% COVID support.News publishers have .75 Swedish media landscape, and their down compared to 2019 The global generally reorganised to work remotely, legitimacy is associated with offering platform companies continue to take the using digital platforms and tools such content for everyone and a wide reach majority of the digital advertising spend as Slack and Teams to coordinate news among the public. Older citizens regularly in Sweden, leaving publishers struggling production activities. turn to PSBs, but they must work harder to to compete. Nevertheless, Swedish media Our survey findings suggest SVT, reach the young. In this regard, SR actively companies have invested heavily in using commercial channel TV4, SR, and local works with third-party platforms such as data and analytics to acquire and engage newspapers are the most widely used Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify, online users and to maximise advertising legacy news media, whereas Swedes focusing on audio and storytelling. SVT is and in 2020 the local news organisation predominantly turn to SVT and the evening also present on third-party platforms, yet MittMedia became the global INMA winner tabloids Aftonbladet and Expressen for their tends to be more concerned about allowing for ‘Best use of data analytics or research’. online news. Several alternative online platforms to collect and analyse metrics The COVID-19 crisis has affected Sweden news media, Fria Tider, Nyheter Idag, and about their audiences. Many commercial and Swedish news media in various ways. Samhällsnytt, which appear near the news media companies in Sweden Sweden has not enforced a strict lockdown, bottom of our list of news sources used have also developed more restrictive but the authorities have imposed multiple each week, largely appeal to right-wing approaches to platform companies. restrictions, and have also increased audiences and secure about 7% weekly There is a long history of Swedes financial support to all struggling sectors, reach each. subscribing to newspapers. Nearly as well as more specific subsidies to Oscar Westlund one-third (30%) have paid for online the news industry. In 2020 a total of Oslo Metropolitan University, Volda University news in the last year according to the €144m was granted in direct support College, and University of Gothenburg. Digital News Report survey, which places to commercial Swedish news media, Sweden among the countries with the placing the Swedish subsidy scheme very highest percentage paying for online significantly ahead of all the other Nordic countries even after allowing for Sweden’s

73 Wadbring, I., Bergström, L. ‘Audiences behind the Paywall: News Navigation among Established versus Newly Added Subscribers’, Digital Journalism (2021). DOI: 10.1080/21670811.2021.1878919 74 Ohlson, J., Blach-Ørsten, M., Willig, I. Covid-19 och de nordiska nyhetsmedierna (Gothenburg: Nordicom, 2021). 75 ’Hushållen lägger mer pengar på nyheter’, TU Mediefakta, 11 Mar. 2021. https://tu.se/mediefakta/hushallen-lagger-mer-pengar-pa-nyheter/ 104 / 105

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE SVT News (public television) 5714 Aonbladet online 419 TV4 News 5216 SVT News online 3411 TOP BRANDS SR News (public radio) 3410 Expressen online 3010 % Weekly usage Regional or local newspaper 2111 TV4 News online 1021 Aonbladet 165 Regional or local newspaper online 156 Weekly use Expressen 126 Dagens Nyheter online 136 TV, radio & print Dagens Nyheter 105 Nyheter 24 (News 24) 128 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print CNN 105 SR News online 126 Weekly use BBC News 37 Svenska Dagbladet online 105 online brands Svenska Dagbladet 63 CNN.com 48 More than 3 days per week Göteborgs-Posten 63 Göteborgs-Posten online 83 online brands News media from outside Sweden 3 4 BBC News online 48 Dagens Industri 2 4 Fria Tider 37 Sydsvenska Dagbladet 2 4 Samhällsnytt 47 Uppsala Nya Tidning 3 Nyheter Idag 47 Helsingsborgs Dagblad 2 Dagens Industri online 2 5

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Swedes continue to mainly use their smartphone for online news, followed by computers or tablets. These patterns have 30% 37% remained stable over time, as has social media use, for which pay for listen to PODCASTS Facebook is most important in general and for news. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 89% Social media Tablet 84% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 72% 69% 71% 67% Printed64% newspapers Computer 56% 50% 50% TV 43% 47% 48% 34% 26% 25%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Half (50%) of Swedes say Trust Neither Don’t trust they trust the news overall, BBC 53 35 12 SVT News (public TV) 77 11 12 ITV 45 47 8 significantly up from last SR News (public radio) 76 12 12 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 year. As elsewhere, trust is Regional/local newspaper 71 18 11 Channel 4 42 50 8 higher in the news media Dagens Industri 69 21 10 Sky 39 52 9 individuals use, but with Dagens Nyheter 67 18 15 (+12) Guardian 39 51 10 unusually low levels of trust 50% 56% Svenska Dagbladet 67 19 14 Times 39 51 10 =14/46 TV4 News 64 21 15 in news found via social Local newspaper 38 55 7 Aonbladet 51 21 28 media. SVT, SR, and local Independent 33 58 9 50 23 27 media are most trusted, Expressen 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 49 31 20 followed by quality LedarsidornaMail 16 47 37 45 29 26 newspapers. NyheterHuPost 24 13 74 13 41 33 26 NyheterMirror Idag 11 58 31 41 30 29 30% 16% SamhällsnyttSun 10 50 40 26 26 48 BuzzfeedNya News Tider 6 76 18 26 23 51 Fria Tider 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 21% 1 Facebook 29% (-3) 69% 4 Instagram 9% (-1) 53% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 14% (-2) 61% 5 Twitter 7% (-1) 14% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 10% (+1) 52% 6 WhatsApp 4% (+1) 22% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 106

SWITZERLAND

STATISTICS listed holding company in 2020. The new structure includes news companies Population 8.6m Tamedia (offering subscription media such Internet penetration 94% as Tages-Anzeiger) and 20 Minuten (popular free-sheets) which lost money due to falling advertising revenues, together with Swiss media profitable marketing activities and online operate within marketplaces, but their profits are not linguistically intended to cover deficits elsewhere. distinct and The quality of news coverage of the relatively small markets. Despite pandemic has generally been good, with multiple angles covered and authoritative enjoying increasing trust in the journalism.77 This might help explain the COVID-19 pandemic, most media recent rise in trust (+7pp). Data journalism companies have only weathered has received a boost, as outlets such as additional economic pressure tagesanzeiger.ch have compared data on the pandemic. A ‘pivot to video’, however, due to state subsidies, further seems to be limited to tabloid journalism, cost-cutting, and revenues from with blick.ch launching Blick TV for its The public service broadcasters, i.e. SRF non-journalistic activities. digital news and 20minuten.ch increasing video output also for mobile news in German-speaking and RTS in French- consumption. Newsletters have become speaking Switzerland, as the most trusted COVID-19 has hit the finances of a common feature. Offering more than sources have seen significant increases Switzerland’s media companies hard, just a list of news articles, crowdfunded in their online audiences (up 10pp and particularly those reliant on advertising start-up Republik (which reported 28,000 6pp respectively), but reach online still or print sales, with our figures showing a subscribers in April 2021), for instance, significantly trails that offline. SRF’s move seven percentage point decline in print as has used a ‘Covid 19 Uhr’ (COVID 7 pm) to drop some well-known radio and TV a news source. However, most companies newsletter to provide more analysis. cultural programmes, and launch digital remain profitable or have managed to formats on YouTube and Instagram or a contain losses, for multiple reasons. Developing digital business models multilingual video streaming platform, First, many have received emergency remains challenging. Swiss media has been criticised both by commercial state funding and, like other companies, companies collaborated to create ‘OneLog’, competitors and the cultural sector. RTS direct support for wage bills during a system to provide users a single login is also under scrutiny after revelations of the pandemic. Second, several media for online news content – both free and sexual harassment, reflecting growing companies have intensified cost-cutting paid – from multiple providers, while awareness of gender discrimination and the measures, including by reducing spend on companies hope to get better data for lack of diversity within the sector as a whole. journalists. Recent years had already seen advertising. Generally, however, digital is the rise of a joint venture CH Media (AZ intensifying competition and pressures Media policy is slowly adapting to the Medien and NZZ Mediengruppe) and the on costs, increasing the need for new digital transformation. A proposed law is implementation of centralised newsrooms funding models. Most of the top online expected to deliver a 30m Swiss franc direct sharing national and international news brands are free to access and reliant on subsidy to online news providers, including across formerly independent news brands. advertising. Watson.ch, an online pure both legacy and digital-born companies TX Group, which has been following the player specialising in native advertising but that sum pales in comparison with same path since 2018, plans to further and offering a mix of hard news and soft the planned 80–100m planned to support centralise news production, sharing news, has recently started a spin-off in print distribution. In an already highly local news between different titles and French-speaking Switzerland. Ringier, the concentrated media market, this proposed possibly reducing the coverage of some publisher of Zurich-based tabloid blick.ch, media support might not be enough to municipalities, which will increase ‘media has recently sold its prestigious French- substantially increase diversity and 76 content concentration’. Loss of distinct language quality paper Le Temps to a non- quality in the online sector. local coverage matters, particularly in profit foundation (Fondation Aventinus) Linards Udris and Mark Eisenegger Switzerland as a federal country where but launches a French-speaking version Research Center for the Public Sphere & many important political decisions of blick.ch in June 2021. While some see Society, Department of Communication and are decided at the regional and local this as welcome investment in the small, Media Research, University of Zurich level. Third, several commercial media underdeveloped French-speaking market, companies have been diversifying into critics see it as motivated primarily by the more profitable activities. TX Group, desire to create a single national market for instance, reorganised as a publicly for online advertising.

76 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1761865 77 http://www.foeg.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:efe9e096-c9a1-4c33-b255-876200f5e40c/Main_Findings_2020.pdf 106 / 107

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT (GERMAN) ONLINE (GERMAN) AND ONLINE SRF News (public broadcaster) 6617 20 minuten online 4911 20 minuten 4414 SRF News online 3214 TOP BRANDS German public TV news 2510 Blick and Blick am Abend online 278 % Weekly usage Private TV news 228 Watson 209 German private TV news 219 Bluewin News 187 Weekly use Blick 187 nau.ch 177 TV, radio & print Private radio news 178 gmx 126 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Regional/local newspaper 159 Tages-Anzeiger online 114 Weekly use Tages-Anzeiger 126 NZZ online 105 online brands CNN 49 Teletext online 49 More than 3 days per week BBC News 48 SRF TV News: 47% Regional/local newspaper online 95 online brands SonntagsZeitung 68 SRF Radio News: 41% CNN.com 47

TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FRENCH) ONLINE (FRENCH) PAY RTS News (public broadcaster) 2074 20 minutes online 5410 17% pay for 20 minutes 5017 RTS News online 3717 ONLINE NEWS French private TV news 3312 Le Matin (incl. Sunday) 2413 2612 207 French 22% | German 15% French public TV news Bluewin.ch 24 heures 198 24 heures.ch 198 Le Matin Dimanche 1217 Teletext online 157 Private radio news 167 MSN News 117 Le Temps 158 Tribune de Genève online 104 Regional or local newspaper 116 Le Temps online 106 35% Private TV news 106 Le Nouvelliste online 104 listen to PODCASTS Tribune de Genève 105 RTS TV News: 58% Yahoo! News 69 in the last month La Liberté 49 RTS Radio News: 40% Arcinfo.ch 93

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21* 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 82% 82% Online (incl. social media) 76% Smartphone 69% 61% 63% Printed newspapers Computer 59% 60% 53% 50% 47% 47% 50% TV 37% 29% 24%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST Overall news trust is up by seven percentage points, most likely linked to greater reliance on News overall News I use News in search News in social the media during COVID-19. In terms of brands, public broadcasters are the most trusted in both 51% (+7) 58% 29% 20% German- and French-speaking areas, followed 13/46 by local newspapers and quality newspapers. French 44% French 51% French 24% French 14% Tabloids and digital-born brands are least trusted. German 53% German 60% German 32% German 22%

BRAND TRUST SCORES Trust Neither Don’t trust TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING GERMAN FRENCH SRF News 77 9 RTS News 76 7 Rank Brand For news For All Regional/local newspaper 68 9 Regional/local newspaper 72 7 NZZ 67 10 Le Temps 72 7 1 WhatsApp 30% (+4) 80% Tages-Anzeiger 67 11 24 heures 68 8 NZZ am Sonntag 66 10 Tribune de Genève 63 9 2 Facebook 27% (-3) 57% SonntagsZeitung 61 13 Le Matin 63 14 Private radio news 60 12 Private TV news 63 9 3 YouTube 24% (-) 63% Aargauer Zeitung 54 11 La Liberté 61 8 Tele Züri 53 16 20 minutes 58 21 4 Instagram 13% (+2) 40% 20 minuten 53 23 Private Radio news 58 11 Bluewin 49 18 Le Nouvelliste 57 9 5 Facebook Messenger 8% (-1) 28% Watson 45 19 Arcinfo 53 12 Blick 38 39 Bluewin 49 15 6 Twitter 6% (-) 12% gmx 37 24 MSN News 32 27 MSN News 37 25 Yahoo! News 30 30

TURKEY

STATISTICS journalists, have found themselves facing prosecution for their posts.79 In the second Population 83m half of 2020, the Turkish government Internet penetration 83% amended existing internet laws (mainly Law no. 5651) to require popular social media platforms to have a legal base in Turkey with In a news an in-country representative to respond to environment content removal requests. According to the dominated by government, these new regulations – which raised concerns over freedom of speech – pro-government are aimed at protecting citizen rights and voices, citizens looking for are based on the ‘German model’.80 All the different perspectives are big social networks – including Twitter which is often at the centre of political increasingly turning to online debates – have agreed to work within these news outlets, social media, and new laws. The growing popularity of closed private messaging apps. But messaging apps such as WhatsApp (30% for news) and Telegram (13% for news) is likely independent news organisations due, at least in part, to the pressures on free Communications has recently announced have faced greater threats to expression applied to other outlets. preparations for its own fact-checking their editorial and financial platform called ‘Doğru mu?’ Despite this background, smaller online independence over the last year. news outlets, such as Medyascope, Fox TV (54%), followed by the 24-hour news dokuz8news, or Duvar, still have a large channel CNN Türk (33%) and Sözcü (32%), Ranked 153rd out of 180 countries in press social media following and provide a range continue to be the most popular offline freedom by Reporters Without Borders, of alternative news and commentaries. sources of news. Sondakika.com, CNN Türk Turkey remains a difficult environment for Podcasts are also gradually becoming a online, and Sözcü online appear to be among independent journalism. Media outlets, significant source of news commentary as the most used online sources. Sözcü is still particularly those critical of the well as shows on lifestyle and entertainment. seen as an independent outlet, critical of government, are under constant political the government, albeit in a difficult political and financial pressure. In the past year, the The pandemic further damaged the environment. In contrast, the recent Turkish media regulator, the Radio and political and financial conditions for acquisition of CNN Türk and Hürriyet by a Television Supreme Council, and the official independent journalism in Turkey. pro-government business group has raised Press Advertising Agency issued several Journalists working for local and national concerns that their coverage can no longer broadcast and advertising bans, as well as news outlets were prosecuted or detained be regarded as unbiased. NTV is also seen 81 imposing fines on outlets seen as critical of for their reporting on COVID-19. Print as relatively impartial. the government. These include Fox TV and newspaper sales, already in decline before Halk TV and newspapers such as Birgün and the first COVID-19 case, slumped following International brands like the BBC (20% Cumhuriyet. Olay TV, a TV channel created in the introduction of lockdown measures weekly use online) are increasing their November 2020, was closed by their main in Turkey. With the oldest (65+) groups presence in Turkey’s digital news market shareholder after just 26 days, a decision its hardest hit, news brands struggled to reach and providing more Turkish-language journalists blamed on pressure from their most loyal readers and purchasers of stories. Social media sites, such as Twitter, government officials unhappy with what print newspapers. YouTube, and Instagram, are an essential they saw as favourable coverage of a access route for these brands. For instance, pro-Kurdish opposition party.78 Misinformation has become an increasing +90 – a new online outlet founded as a concern for many during the pandemic, joint venture between Deutsche Welle, In addition, thousands of websites and including the Turkish authorities who have BBC, France24, and Voice of America – is online news have been blocked, and investigated citizens for sharing ‘baseless increasingly popular on Instagram and 82 legal action has been taken to remove and provocative’ information. Turkey has YouTube, and publishes stories on youth news stories. Despite this, social media a number of internationally recognised poverty and fundamental rights, which are have become a significant source for fact-checking organisations, such as teyit.org, largely ignored in the traditional media. independent perspectives, with 61% in our who regularly debunk misleading data saying they use it for news. However, Coronavirus-related claims. Fact-checking is, Nic Newman self-censorship on social media has become however, becoming an increasingly contested Senior Research Associate, Reuters Institute common as social media users, including issue, as the Presidential Directorate of for the Study of Journalism

78 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-26/turkish-tv-outlet-shuts-as-journalists-blame-government-pressure 79 https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey/freedom-net/2020 80 https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-53480762 81 https://rsf.org/en/news/turkish-journalists-arrested-reporting-covid-19-cases; https://www.coe.int/en/web/media-freedom/detail-alert?p_p_id=sojdashboard_WAR_ coesojportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=column-3&p_p_col_count=7&_sojdashboard_WAR_coesojportlet_alertPK=63989191 82 https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-detains-510-people-for-provocative-covid-19-posts-on-social-media-154989 108 / 109

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Fox TV News 5411 Sondakika.com 3013 CNN Türk 3313 CNN Türk online 3013 TOP BRANDS Sözcü 3213 Sözcü online 278 % Weekly usage NTV 3012 NTV online 2511 Show TV 2810 Mynet 239 Weekly use Habertürk TV 2710 TRT news online 2211 TV, radio & print Hürriyet 2616 Hürriyet online 2213 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print TRT News (public broadcaster) 2510 Cumhuriyet online 209 Weekly use Kanal D News 2510 BBC News online 208 online brands ATV News 249 Haberler.com 1018 More than 3 days per week Star TV 2410 Habertürk online 188 online brands Cumhuriyet 2212 İnternethaber 1017 Milliyet 2011 memurlar.net 178 Sabah 1912 Milliyet online 167 A Haber 198 Ensonhaber 158 Halk TV 186 AA (Anadolu Ajansı) 157

METHODOLOGY NOTE In 2021 we changed the panel providers for our online survey in Turkey as part of continued efforts to make our data as accurate as possible. Although we have used the same quotas on age, gender, and region, attempts to interpret change from 2020 to 2021 should be avoided. See Methodology on p. 6 for further information.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2015–21* 2015–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 88% 81% 75% Online (incl. social media) 75% Smartphone 65% 67% 61% Printed newspapers Computer 60% 57% 50% 50% 50% TV 40%

30% 24% 19%

0% 0% 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Fox News, Cumhuriyet, and Trust Neither Don’t trust NTV are three brands that our BBC 53 35 12 Fox TV News 71 13 16 ITV 45 47 8 respondents rate most highly Cumhuriyet 63 18 19 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 in terms of trust – with NTV News 62 18 20 Channel 4 42 50 8 partisan brands generally less Sözcü 61 18 21 Sky 39 52 9 trusted. Overall trust in the Habertürk 60 21 19 (-14) Guardian 39 51 10 news is down this year, though 41% 47% CNN Türk 59 17 24 Times 39 51 10 =24/46 TRT News 55 14 31 this headline number could Local newspaper 38 55 7 Kanal D News 51 21 28 have been affected by the Independent 33 58 9 51 16 33 switch to a new panel provider. AA (Anadolu Ajansı) 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 50 22 28 OdatvMail 16 47 37 50 20 30 HuPostHürriyet 13 74 13 49 23 28 MilliyetMirror 11 58 31 49 21 30 40% 36% Show TV NewsSun 10 50 40 45 27 28 Buzzfeed BirgünNews 6 76 18 44 19 37 Sabah 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 44% 1 YouTube 40% (-5) 71% 4 Facebook 30% (-19) 54% SHARE NEWS 2 Twitter 34% (+4) 48% 5 WhatsApp 30% (-1) 72% via social, messaging or email 3 Instagram 34% (-7) 64% 6 Telegram 13% (+8) 34% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 110 110 / 111

SECTION 3 Analysis by Country and Market Americas

AMERICAS 3.25 United States 112 3.26 Argentina 114 3.27 Brazil 116 3.28 Canada 118 3.29 Chile 120 3.30 Colombia 122 3.31 Mexico 124 3.32 Peru 126 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 112

USA

STATISTICS Another factor, though, may be declining attention to the Coronavirus pandemic; Population 327m just 31% of US adults were following COVID Internet penetration 96% news closely in a March 2021 Pew survey, down from 37% at the end of November and 57% in March 2020.85 US news organisations While the early months of the pandemic coincided with record traffic levels for have struggled many news outlets, the loss of advertisers, to cover a distribution, events, and other revenue pandemic that has claimed more sources took a devastating toll. One consultancy report suggested the media than 500,000 lives, along with industry lost more than 30,000 jobs the contentious 2020 presidential in 2020, with national outlets such election, a racial reckoning as BuzzFeed, Vice, Vox, and HuffPost marked by nationwide protests, announcing furloughs and layoffs. BuzzFeed acquired HuffPost in February and a violent attack on the Capitol but subsequently announced cuts racial reckoning. Notably, the New York by supporters of the outgoing affecting 47 US employees. Times editorial page editor resigned after president. The unrelenting news staff outcry over a column by Arkansas Local newsrooms faced particularly acute Senator Tom Cotton calling to ‘send in the cycle seemed to take a toll on challenges. By February 2021, more than troops’ against protesters, the Philadelphia audiences as well, with declines in 60 local newsrooms across the country Inquirer’s top editor left in response to staff had closed, including those owned by consumption, interest, and trust rebuke of a ‘Buildings Matter, Too’ headline, large chains (CNHI) and local families and editors at Variety and Bon Appetit in the news. and many that had been operating for stepped down amid concerns about a lack 86 more than a century. These closures, of newsroom diversity. Calls for enhanced The long-predicted end of the ‘Trump as well as layoffs, furloughs, and reduced representation in newsrooms and news bump’ showed up clearly in our Digital print days, exacerbated concerns about coverage also spurred the creation of News Report survey, with a seven the rise of news deserts in the US, The 19th*, a racially, ideologically, and percentage point drop in the most avid where nearly 1,800 newspapers have socio-economically diverse non-profit 87 news users (who access once a day or closed since 2004. These declines have news outlet led by women and focused on more), along with a decline of 11 percentage amplified calls for public funding for US covering stories related to gender, politics, points in respondents who are ‘extremely’ media, including opportunities to confer and policy, including the 2020 election, the or ‘very’ interested in news. Industry data non-profit status on news organisations pandemic, race, the LGBTQ+ community, echoed this trend, with national news and create subsidies supporting new health care, and business. brands especially hard hit.83 Online traffic journalism outlets and initiatives. to the New York Times and Washington Post Meanwhile San Francisco-based Substack in February 2021 fell sharply from January’s More positively, the New York Times has been making headlines for attracting peak – 17% and 26%, respectively – and attracted a record 2.3 million digital-only high-profile journalists away from was also down year-over-year, according to subscriptions in 2020 and, for the first time, established news outlets with a platform ComScore data. Meanwhile, by mid-March saw its digital revenue overtake print. The for monetising subscription digital CNN and MSNBC lost 45% and 26% of Washington Post, whose digital subscriptions newsletters. It now features the likes of their prime-time audiences respectively, have reached nearly 3 million, announced in Vox co-founder Matthew Yglesias, Rolling from highs in January. December 2020 that it would add 150 jobs Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi, in 2021, resulting in the largest newsroom BuzzFeed senior technology reporter Alex The collective tuning out was no surprise in the company’s history. Kantrowitz, and New Republic climate after an unusually bitter election reporter Emily Atkin, with some journalists The summer of protests sparked by the culminating in a second impeachment drawing hundreds of thousands of dollars death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the trial and the political exit (for now) of an in subscription revenues. extraordinarily divisive and attention- hands of four Minneapolis police officers grabbing president. As a former CNN in May 2020 drew millions of people to Joy Jenkins head predicted in August, ‘What would go the streets across the country and caught University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and away is the bad guy in the story. There’s no the attention of news audiences. However, Lucas Graves antagonist. So what are we tuning in for?’84 media organisations faced their own University of Wisconsin-Madison

83 https https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/media-trump-bump-slump/2021/03/22/5f13549a-85d1-11eb-bfdf-4d36dab83a6d_story.html 84 https://digiday.com/media/theres-no-antagonist-news-outlets-mull-the-possible-end-of-their-editorial-and-business-side-trump-bump-bonanza/ 85 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/26/attention-to-covid-19-news-drops-but-democrats-still-substantially-more-interested-than-republicans/ 86 https://www.poynter.org/locally/2021/the-coronavirus-has-closed-more-than-60-local-newsrooms-across-america-and-counting/ 87 https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/expanding-news-desert/loss-of-local-news/loss-newspapers-readers/ 112 / 113

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Local TV news 268 CNN.com 186 Fox News 257 Yahoo! News 166 TOP BRANDS CNN 248 New York Times online 156 % Weekly usage ABC News 209 Fox News online 145 NBC/MSNBC News 205 Local TV news online 146 Weekly use CBS News 209 NBC/MSNBC News online 136 TV, radio & print Local radio news 146 Washington Post online 126 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 148 HuPost 116 Weekly use BBC News 104 BuzzFeed News 117 online brands New York Times 105 BBC News online 116 More than 3 days per week NPR News 104 MSN News 105 online brands PBS News 95 ABC News online 49 Newsmax TV 49 CBS News online 48 USA Today 85 Newsmax online 83 The Rush Limbaugh Show 83 USA Today online 85 Washington Post 37 NPR News online 48

CHANGING MEDIA PAY All major channels for news – TV, print, online, and social – saw parallel declines as regular news sources, with print and TV 21% 37% dropping to historic lows after small gains in 2020. pay for listen to PODCASTS ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet

75% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 71% 72% 66% Printed newspapers 60% Computer 52% 50% 50% 47% TV 45% 42% 27% 28% 18% 16% 16%

0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Overall trust measures Trust Neither Don’t trust remained flat in the US, with BBC 53 35 12 Local TV news 58 22 20 ITV 45 47 8 only tiny dips for trust in ‘news CBS News 48 21 31 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 I use’ and ‘news in social’. ABC News 48 20 32 Channel 4 42 50 8 These findings highlight the BBC News 47 28 25 Sky 39 52 9 challenges of translating Wall Street Journal 46 27 27 (-) Guardian 39 51 10 2020’s surging news usage into 29% 44% NBC/MSNBC News 46 19 35 Times 39 51 10 46/46 CNN 45 18 37 long-term trust-building in the Local newspaper 38 55 7 New York Times 44 23 33 highly polarised American Independent 33 58 9 44 25 31 market. Cable news channels NPR News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 43 25 32 Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC WashingtonMail Post 16 47 37 43 26 31 have some of the highest USAHuPost Today 13 74 13 36 28 36 levels of distrust. HuPostMirror 11 58 31 35 19 46 22% 13% Fox NewsSun 10 50 40 34 31 35 BuzzfeedYahoo! News News 6 76 18 30 33 37 BuzzFeed News 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 31% 1 Facebook 28% (-7) 58% 4 Facebook Messenger 9% (-) 40% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 23% (-1) 60% 5 Instagram 8% (-) 31% via social, messaging or email 3 Twitter 13% (-4) 25% 6 WhatsApp 6% (+2) 15% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 114

ARGENTINA

STATISTICS perceived as pro-government, regardless of which party is in power, a result perhaps Population 44m of the lack of independent funding and Internet penetration 93% oversight.

Despite COVID-19, news consumption Coronavirus has in Argentina declined across television, placed fresh online, social, and print. Lower print circulations led to newspapers either pressures on the setting up, or tightening, paywalls. news industry Perfil, which publishes print editions in Argentina, one of the biggest at weekends, told readers ‘every day it becomes more difficult for us to sustain media markets in South America. structures that allow us to carry out Journalists have provided detailed critical, incisive journalism, [which is] by coverage of the epidemic and definition expensive’.88 The top-selling lockdowns, but lower revenues print newspapers, Clarín and La Nación, which had launched their paywalls in 2017, left many major news companies reached 300,000 digital subscribers each dependent on state subsidies. for the first time. Despite the economic crisis, 15% of respondents reported paying On the first day of the Coronavirus for online news, compared to 11% a year lockdown in Argentina, the country’s before. Subscriptions to entertainment major daily newspapers did something platforms, such as Netflix and Disney+, unusual: they put aside partisanship also increased. Infobae, the top news brand and agreed to run the same front-page in weekly usage, remains the only major headline. On a blue background, the online news outlet with no paywall or the pandemic has further complicated headline read: ‘We will stop this virus voluntary subscription model. matters. The government launched a together. Let’s make responsibility go programme to subsidise salaries across the viral.’ The next few months saw the story Loss in print revenue also led news outlets private sector (ATP, Emergency Assistance grow – in the following six months, six to expand their video strategies. La Nación to Labor and Production), and several of the ten most popular stories from the revamped its cable channel, La Nación +, media companies benefited. websites of La Nación, Clarín, Infobae, which had launched in 2016, hiring and Página/12 were about the pandemic anchors and journalists and investing A variety of media players – big and small, (Zunino and Arcangeletti Yacante 2020). in new studios. Perfil, which had set up national and regional – are taking part in But as deaths increased, and lockdown its own terrestrial television channel Google News Showcase, a programme measures including school closures in 2018, Net TV, also hired new staff which gives them prominence in Google became increasingly unpopular, coverage and refreshed its programming. Grupo News listings and helps them monetise became once again more polarised. Octubre, parent company of left-wing their content. Thirty-one companies are Outlets generally reverted to type, daily Página/12, launched another taking part, including Clarín, La Nación, mirroring their normal pro- or anti- cable news channel, IP. These three Perfil, and Infobae, and also regional government stances. Clarín, La Nación, new networks join TN (owned by Grupo companies such as El Litoral from the and Infobae adopted a more negative tone Clarín), Crónica, C5N, Canal 26, and Province of Santa Fe. The selected and Página/12 maintained its alignment América 24, making a total of eight companies include pro- and anti- with the government. Cable news did news networks in a country of 45 million government media. Smaller media who the same: TN and La Nación + tended to people. Ratings are low: top-rated TN, were not included fear marginalisation, oppose President Alberto Fernández and which is also the most popular offline and though it has not been announced how his policies, while TV channels C5N and IP brand in this report, had an average much each player stands to earn from the generally supported him. daily viewership of less than 200,000. programme, outlets which were included Infobae, rather than investing in its own have publicly expressed their satisfaction Polarised coverage might explain the TV infrastructure, put programmes on with the arrangement. relatively low levels of trust in news, which YouTube, including a documentary on only 36% of respondents find credible, and the last days of Diego Maradona, which Eugenia Mitchelstein and the high levels of distrust in well-known reached more than 3 million viewers. Pablo J. Boczkowski brands. The Public Broadcasting System, Center for the Study of Media and Society, which includes Televisión Pública and Although the media industry in Argentina Argentina (MESO) Radio Nacional, plays a minor role and has been under economic hardship does not serve as a trusted source. It is since the start of the recession in 2018,

88 https://www.perfil.com/noticias/medios/carta-a-los-lectores-de-perfil-por-el-lanzamiento-del-paywall.phtml 114 / 115

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TN (Todo Noticias) 3710 Infobae 4617 Telefe News 3412 TN online 3212 TOP BRANDS Canal 13 News 2610 Clarín online 2512 % Weekly usage C5N 258 La Nación online 2111 América TV News 218 Minuto Uno 149 Weekly use A24 218 A24 online 147 TV, radio & print Regional/local newspaper 2012 Regional/local newspaper online 136 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Clarín 1812 Olé 125 Weekly use Crónica TV News 168 Página/12 104 online brands Canal 26 News 168 Public TV and radio news online 105 More than 3 days per week Canal 9 News 158 Crónica News online 48 online brands TV pública news (public broadcaster) 147 El Destape Web 48 La Nación 128 MDZ online 37 Regional or local TV news 114 Cadena 3 online 37 Radio Mitre News 103 La Voz 47 Regional or local radio news 49 Primicias Ya 57

CHANGING MEDIA PAY News consumption has been decreasing since 2017. In 2020, heightened interest in news at the beginning of the pandemic 15% 29% gave way to fatigue in the final months of the year. pay for listen to PODCASTS Smartphones lost ground as devices for news, while ONLINE NEWS in the last month computers stopped their decline.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 92% Social media Tablet 81% 83% Online (incl. social media) 76% Smartphone 74% 66% 62% 64% Printed62% newspapers Computer 50% 45% 50% TV 39%

20% 17% 6% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in ‘news overall’ and ‘in Trust Neither Don’t trust news I use’ increased to BBC 53 35 12 Telefé News 53 29 18 ITV 45 47 8 36% and 47% respectively Infobae 49 30 21 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 when compared to the TN (Todo Noticias) 47 26 27 Channel 4 42 50 8 previous year but remained Olé 47 32 21 Sky 39 52 9 far from their 2018 peak of La Nación 46 28 26 (+3) Guardian 39 51 10 41% and 52%. In contrast, 36% 47% Canal 13 News 46 28 26 Times 39 51 10 =33/46 Regional/local newspaper 46 35 19 trust in news in social media Local newspaper 38 55 7 A24 44 31 25 has remained low but stable. Independent 33 58 9 41 26 33 High levels of political Clarín 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 36 31 33 polarisation affect the Página/12Mail 16 47 37 35 32 33 media industry in Argentina, TVHuPost pública 13 74 13 35 24 41 with many well-known MirrorC5N 11 58 31 34 40 26 brands attracting strong 34% 28% MinutoSun Uno 10 50 40 La Voz 33 40 27 levels of distrust. Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 32 38 30 Perl 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 45% 1 Facebook 56% (-9) 80% 4 YouTube 24% (-2) 73% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 36% (-2) 86% 5 Twitter 12% (-2) 23% via social, messaging or email 3 Instagram 25% (+2) 62% 6 Facebook Messenger 7% (-3) 35% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 116

BRAZIL

STATISTICS day, Facebook and Instagram removed similar posts – Mark Zuckerberg said it was Population 211m an example of Facebook removing false Internet penetration 71% information. By 13 April 2021, Aos Fatos (To the Facts), an independent fact-checking agency, said it had identified 2,805 false or Brazil has been misleading statements made by President among the Bolsonaro during his 833 days in office. nations worst The president has also attacked the press aggressively. A report by the National affected by Federation of Journalists in January 2021 Coronavirus – with the second blamed his rhetoric for a rise in attacks highest death toll after the US by on journalists. In 2020 it counted 428 verbal and physical assaults, including two early 2021. The media have been homicides – the highest number since the highly critical of far-right President early 1990s. The president himself was Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the responsible for 175 of the verbal attacks, it said.90 crisis, which included a series of false statements about a disease The Brazilian Association of Radio and he has described as ‘a little flu’. Television Broadcasters said a survey had found 7,900 posts were being published The media have, however, also online every day which contained come under attack. derogatory language towards the press. Reporters Without Borders said that Brazil’s most influential newspapers, Bolsonaro, along with his relatives and including O Globo, Folha de S. Paulo, some government officials, had created an Conversely, streaming services, led by and O Estado de S. Paulo, criticised atmosphere of ‘hatred and distrust toward Netflix, had a boom year as people spent Bolsonaro’s repeated statements which journalism in Brazil’. more time at home. Leading TV station downplayed the pandemic. In particular Globo, which in 2015 launched its own they highlighted his COVID scepticism, COVID-19 hit the advertising market streaming service, Globoplay, showing a his prioritising of the Brazilian economy hard, and seems to have accelerated the combination of telenovelas, sport, and over social distancing, and the federal migration to digital platforms. Overall international programming, has now government’s delay in ordering vaccines. circulations of the ten best-selling introduced more than 80 of its podcasts newspapers fell by 9.2%, but the digital onto the platform as it extended into Free-to-air TV networks – still very popular proportion of their readership rose to audio. It also announced partnerships – have been split on the issue. Some, like 64% in the first half of 2020. Virtually with independent content producers to Rede TV and Record TV, seem to be more all papers have tightened their paywalls, diversify its podcast portfolio. positive towards the administration. But but many have also been offering digital Globo, the largest TV broadcaster, has subscriptions at significant discounts. A significant investment came with strongly made the case for following WHO The shift might also have something to do the launch of the Brazilian version of recommendations. The press generally with readers being concerned – at least in CNN as a paid 24-hour news channel. supports following a scientific approach. the early stages of the pandemic – about The Atlanta-based network licensed the risk of infection from paper. O Globo its brand to a new Brazilian company The president has made misleading claims reassured readers that this was unlikely if led by journalist Douglas Tavolaro and about Coronavirus and treatments, including simple hygiene measures, such as washing billionaire entrepreneur Rubens Menin, promoting hydroxychloroquine which he said hands, were taken. which at launch said it would be hiring helped cure him, and he has also criticised 400 journalists around the world. Almost mask-wearing. In November he stated he Commercial television broadcasters are all of its programmes are Brazilian-made. 89 would not take any vaccine. More than still the main force in the country’s media Tavolaro left the venture after 12 months. 400,000 Brazilians had died by May 2021. landscape but have continued to lose ground to social media as a source of news. Rodrigo Carro In March, Twitter removed two of the Free-to-air TV’s share of the advertising Financial journalist and former Reuters president’s posts which included videos market remained stable at 51.9% but Institute Journalist Fellow where he could be seen walking among Brazilians are showing themselves dozens of supporters and attacking stay- unwilling to pay for online news, and paid at-home measures. The company said TV lost more than 800,000 subscribers as the videos violated its rules. The next the trend of cord-cutting continued91.

89 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-bolsonaro-vaccine-idUSKBN28704L 90 https://latamjournalismreview.org/articles/attacks-journalists-brazil-2020-bolsonaro/ 91 www.teleco.com.br 116 / 117

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TV Globo (incl. Jornal Nacional) 468 Globo News Online (incl. G1) 4813 Record TV 3610 UOL online 2045 TOP BRANDS TV SBT (incl. SBT Brasil) 2910 Record News online (incl. R7.com) 3413 % Weekly usage GloboNews (24 hour channel) 2510 O Globo online 2715 Regional or local newspaper 2414 Yahoo! News 2010 Weekly use BandNews (all news radio) 2411 Folha de S. Paulo online 1811 TV, radio & print O Globo 2212 Terra.com.br 1711 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print CNN 197 Regional or local newspaper online 1016 Weekly use TV Band News 189 MSN News 168 online brands Folha de S. Paulo 138 Band News online 168 More than 3 days per week Commercial radio news 126 BBC News online 127 online brands Veja 128 O Estado de S. Paulo online 117 Rede TV (incl. Rede TV Notícias) 106 Free city paper online 117 Free city paper 69 Rede TV News online 69 O Estado de S. Paulo 95 Commercial radio news online 95 BBC News 48 Jornal Extra online 69

METHODOLOGY NOTE PAY In 2021 we changed the panel providers for our online survey in Brazil as part of continued efforts to make our data as accurate as 17% possible. Although we have used the same quotas on age, gender, pay for and region, attempts to interpret change from 2020 to 2021 should ONLINE NEWS be avoided. See Methodology on p. 6 for further information.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21* 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 90% Social media Tablet 83% 83% Smartphone 75% Online (incl. social media) 77% 63% Printed newspapers Computer 61% 50% 50% 50% TV 47% 36% 23% 12% 14% 8% 0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

* 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST The uncertainty brought by Trust Neither Don’t trust the health crisis apparently BBC 53 35 12 Jornal do SBT 67 19 14 ITV 45 47 8 strengthened people’s Record News 66 18 16 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 appetite for reliable Band News 64 21 15 Channel 4 42 50 8 information. Overall trust in Regional/local newspaper 63 25 12 Sky 39 52 9 the news is relatively high by UOL 60 24 16 (+3) Guardian 39 51 10 international standards with 54% 52% Globo News 58 15 27 Times 39 51 10 =7/46 O Globo 57 17 26 trust much lower in news Local newspaper 38 55 7 O Estado de S. Paulo 56 23 21 published on social media. Independent 33 58 9 56 21 23 TV brands tend to be most Folha de S. Paulo 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 53 31 16 trusted along with local and Rede TV NewsMail 16 47 37 53 23 24 regional newspapers. RevistaHuPost Veja 13 74 13 52 28 20 RevistaMirror Época 11 58 31 49 37 14 48% 34% Valor EconômicoSun 10 50 40 48 34 18 BuzzfeedYahoo! News News 6 76 18 42 41 17 Metrópoles.com 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 47% 1 Facebook 47% (-7) 72% 4 Instagram 30% (-) 61% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 43% (-5) 80% 5 Twitter 12% (-5) 23% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 39% (-6) 77% 6 Facebook Messenger 11% (-2) 35% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 118

CANADA

STATISTICS newspaper La Presse launched a new brand for its sponsored content, Studio Population 37m XTRA La Presse, and is considering a paid Internet penetration 90% subscription for its digital daily news. A group of six regional dailies in Quebec, CN2i, adopted an online subscription Canadian media model offering access to all publications. companies As part of the licence requirements for its continue to acquisition of an over-the-air television build new network, renamed Noovo, Bell Media revenue sources, from tech created a French-language news service including regional broadcasts, and hired 60 services to parcel delivery, to staff. The French-language market leader, offset the accelerated decline of TVA, increased its regional news offerings advertising. The long-term effects a few weeks before the launch. Both TVA of the pandemic on the industry and CTV, the leading English network, have rebranded their online streaming In February 2021, nearly 100 newspapers remain uncertain. services. Global News is offering local printed a blank front page as part of a news streams for Montreal, Winnipeg, and national campaign to bring attention to The Canadian advertising market was Halifax in addition to Calgary, Edmonton, the impact of global tech giants such as among the hardest hit globally in 2020. and Toronto. Google and Facebook on the sustainability of One year into the pandemic, 40 media journalism. The Canadian government tabled outlets have closed permanently and the Discussion of racial diversity and legislation to extend broadcast regulation status of 19 ‘temporary’ closures is still inclusion in Canadian newsrooms to digital audiovisual content providers. undetermined. The media sector reported intensified in response to the Black Lives Foreign-based digital services will be forced 1,200 permanent job losses; 1,800 more Matter movement and racist incidents to charge sales tax; a corporate level tax on 92 job cuts are still in the balance. Many in Canada, such as the death of Joyce digital companies operating in Canada will newspapers have suspended or reduced Echaquan, a young Atikamekw woman, take effect in 2022. However, in the context print distribution. Although digital ad who recorded verbal abuse from hospital of a minority government, an election before spending increased, online news sources workers on a Facebook Live video. the end of 2021 is a real possibility. were not spared: HuffPost Canada ceased New diversity initiatives include New its operations in March 2021. Canadian Media, a news site dedicated In addition to increased government ad to immigrant and minority ethnic money (especially public health messages) News organisations’ websites offered free reporting, Room Up Front, a minority since the beginning of the pandemic, a (non-paywalled) online content related photojournalist mentorship programme, number of previously announced direct to Coronavirus for several months; some and youth news site The Pigeon. public subsidies are coming into effect. created specialised newsletters which Dozens of journalists have been hired are still running a year later. Coverage of New partnerships and collaborations through a government grant to cover rural the pandemic was largely supportive of also emerged during this challenging and underserved audiences, including public health measures, which led to some year. APTN, Canada’s national Indigenous First Nations communities. Some media criticism, but also online harassment. television network, joined forces with news organisations will also now be able to In Quebec City, a talk radio station lost organisations in Australia and the United issue tax receipts for donations; some several advertising clients for giving regular States to produce The Anti-Indigenous online news subscriptions are now eligible airtime to ‘COVID sceptics’. Handbook, an investigative reporting for a tax credit. Media literacy and anti- project. Other initiatives of note include disinformation projects spearheaded by The crisis has forced some publications to a new national non-profit association for media outlets and journalism associations step up the pace of digital innovation. The independent news organisations, Press have received public funding as well. Globe and Mail credits a homegrown AI Forward; a directory of local news sources (Artificial Intelligence) tool called Sophi for hosted by CBC; and a vote for unionisation Colette Brin helping it reach 170,000 digital subscribers by the employees of Canadaland, a news- Director, Centre d’études sur les médias, and bring in millions of dollars of revenue. focused podcast. Université Laval. Sophi also assists with editing the homepage, allowing journalists to focus on During the public broadcaster’s licence Professor Brin is also chairperson of the finding and reporting stories.93 The Toronto renewal hearings, concerns were raised Independent Advisory Board for Canada’s Star parent group, Torstar, meanwhile, about CBC/Radio-Canada’s focus on journalism tax credit programme and is a launched a package delivery service and is advertising revenue and its French- member of the Steering Committee for the branching out into online gaming. Online language sponsored content service. Digital Citizen Initiative.

92 Wechsler, S. ‘A Year of Mapping Media Impacts of the Pandemic in Canada’, J-Source, 11 Mar. 2021. https://j-source.ca/article/a-year-of-mapping-media-impacts-of-the-pandemic-in- canada-covid-19-media-impact-map-for-canada-update-march-11-2021/ 93 https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/phillip-crawley-interview-globe-and-mail-canada/ 118 / 119

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT (ENGLISH) ONLINE (ENGLISH) AND ONLINE Global News 3312 CBC News online 279 CTV News 3211 CTV News online 269 TOP BRANDS CNN 308 CNN.com 236 % Weekly usage CBC News (public broadcaster) 2710 Global News online 197 Local radio news 227 Yahoo! News 147 Weekly use CityTV News 189 Globe and Mail online 148 TV, radio & print CP24 164 MSN News 148 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print BBC News 168 BBC News online 145 Weekly use Community newspaper 149 HuPost 128 online brands Toronto Star 115 Toronto Star online 127 More than 3 days per week Fox News 116 BuzzFeed News 117 online brands Local daily newspaper (eg Calgary Sun) 106 CP24 online 102

TV, RADIO AND PRINT (FRENCH) ONLINE (FRENCH) PAY TVA/LCN Nouvelles 629 TVA Nouvelles online 3611 13% pay for Radio-Canada/ICI RDI (public broadcaster) 4912 Radio-Canada/ICI RDI online 3411 ONLINE NEWS Journal de Montréal ou Québec 2612 La Presse online 299 135 2410 English 14% | French 12% Local radio news Journal de Montréal ou Québec online Regional or local newspaper 1013 MSN News 158 TV5 49 Le Devoir online 105 CNN 83 Local radio online 105 Le Devoir 47 Narcity.com 106 33% CTV News 63 HuPost 69 L’actualité 46 Yahoo! News 85 listen to PODCASTS CBC News 46 Other regional or local newspaper website 57 in the last month Métro 46 Le Soleil or regional daily online 63 English 35% | French 26%

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21* 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet

75% 79% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 71% 61% Printed64% newspapers 62% Computer 55% 50% 48% 50% TV 46% 36% 39% 24% 26% 16%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

* 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

CHANGING MEDIA DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUST The context of the pandemic accelerated the decline News overall News I use News in search News in social of print news sources. Since 2020, smartphones have surpassed computers as preferred devices for online news – by a majority of both English- and 45% (+1) 51% 31% 18% French-speaking Canadians. =19/46 English 44% English 49% English 31% English 18% French 54% French 61% French 36% French 23%

BRAND TRUST SCORES Trust Neither Don’t trust TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING ENGLISH FRENCH Global News 71 12 ICI Radio-Canada Info/ICI RDI 79 6 Rank Brand For news For All CTV News 71 12 La Presse 74 8 Regional/local newspaper 70 10 TVA Nouvelles/LCN 72 14 1 Facebook 41% (-) 69% CBC News/Newsworld 68 14 Le Devoir 71 7 BBC News 67 13 La Presse Canadienne 70 7 2 CityTV News 66 12 Regional/local newspaper 69 7 YouTube 27% (-) 67% Globe and Mail 66 13 Journal de Montréal ou Québec 67 14 National Post 60 15 L’actualité 64 9 3 Facebook Messenger 18% (+5) 52% CNN 59 21 TV5 59 8 Toronto Star 57 16 CTV News 58 10 4 Instagram 13% (+3) 35% CP24 55 15 The Montreal Gazette 57 11 MSN News 47 20 24 Heures 53 12 5 Twitter 11% (-2) 20% HuPost 44 22 Métro 49 12 Yahoo! News 39 25 MSN News 49 19 6 WhatsApp 8% (+2) 22% Fox News 33 45 HuPost 45 14 0 100 0 100

CHILE

STATISTICS After these changes, tensions between the government and the media eased slightly, Population 18m only for them to rise again in April 2021 Internet penetration 77% when the minister accused the New York Times and the Washington Post of covering Chile’s rise in infections unfavourably. The COVID-19 has country’s vaccination roll-out has been the given the media fastest in South America – and also ahead the opportunity of global averages. to rebuild public The challenges of COVID-19, along with trust, which was undermined the consequences of the protests, led to a period of soul searching. Journalists during student-led protests in and others examined their role in 2019 where news organisations society and what needed to change. The were seen to take the side protests had highlighted a crisis in trust of large economic interests. in establishment powers, including the media – one popular slogan had been ‘Turn Efforts to report the pandemic off the TV’, in part a reflection of a feeling in an independent fashion have that daily journalism had not done its duty helped journalists restore some in prioritising accurate information above commercial interests or holding those in credibility, but have also led to power to account. These sentiments about conflict with the government. television news do not extend to radio.

As the pandemic took hold, the Chilean There was a discernible effort by the minister of health took aim at the media, media to rebuild trust with its audiences weekend and in certain regions. Capital, accusing them of, among other things, – this was particularly felt in TV stations a magazine, also stopped printing. Most wanting to ‘sell by inventing lies’. The changing their approach to morning publishers hope audiences will migrate to minister also refused to answer a question programming. Where previously they had digital equivalents. at a news conference, an event which shown four hours of entertainment chat, There will be several elections in 2021, became a Twitter trending topic. The they started offering politics and current some with more than one round. Critical exchanges have highlighted changing affairs, with opinionated journalists positions are up for election, including relationships between the media and those debating with members of congress and the president, parliamentarians, mayors, in power. Until now, there has not been mayors. The change was so marked that and governors, but also the drafters of a strong cultural expectation that daily sanctions were introduced in parliament a new constitution, the development of journalism would fulfil a watchdog role. for congress members who neglected their which arose out of the social protests. That seems to have evolved in the aftermath duties because they had been participating Coverage of complex issues with a of social protests which gripped the country in morning shows. multitude of candidates will be a in the months before the pandemic. Some outlets have tried to rebuild trust daunting task for the media. After the minister in question left office, by strengthening their own editorial To help voters choose, some media, his replacement initially made an effort processes or by introducing fact-checking including CNN Chile, 24horas.cl, La Tercera, to improve relations with the media – and initiatives, especially concerning and some independent sites, are inviting communication with the public – by staging misinformation about COVID-19. The role users to take surveys which will, they say, daily Coronavirus news conferences. These of fake news and citizens’ responsibilities provide an indication of which candidates found a significant audience on television, on social media have become a subject of they will have more affinity with. as viewers looked for information on the national debate. outbreak and how they should respond to Despite the interest in COVID, falls in print Francisco Javier Fernández Medina and it. News websites and portals introduced circulation continued, and the biggest Enrique Núñez-Mussa, counters that tracked the number of newsrooms, including in television, have Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile cases, deaths, and the rate of infection responded by making dramatic rounds based on official figures. Most sites also of layoffs. Copesa, the parent company introduced special sections, and La of La Tercera, cut more than 200 jobs and Tercera, one of the biggest newspapers, ceased printing La Cuarta, leaving just four offered readers its Coronavirus coverage journalists to write a web version of the without charge. paper. La Tercera is now only printed at the 120 / 121

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Chilevisión News 4613 Emol.com 2816 MEGA News 4212 Bío Bío Chile online 248 TOP BRANDS Canal 13 News 3914 24horas online 248 % Weekly usage TVN news (public broadcaster) 3613 Meganoticias.cl (MEGA) 227 CNN 2711 Lun.com 2210 Weekly use 24 Horas 2512 Elmostrador online 1221 TV, radio & print Bío Bío Chile 206 t13.cl 209 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Las Últimas Noticias 1812 CNN.com (incl. Cnnchile.cl) 2011 Weekly use Cooperativa 137 Latercera.com 2014 online brands La Red 127 Chvnoticias.cl 166 More than 3 days per week El Mercurio 117 Cooperativa online 157 online brands La Tercera 118 El Mercurio online 139 Free city newspaper 118 Theclinic.cl 127 Regional or local newspaper 107 Ciperchile.cl 116 ADN 105 Regional or local newspaper online 119 La Cuarta 97 Lacuarta.com 117

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Television was an important source of news during the COVID-19 crisis, but social media are equally popular as 12% 35% a way of finding and consuming news in Chile. pay for listen to PODCASTS Newspaper readership continues its sharp decline in ONLINE NEWS in the last month line with global trends.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 93% Social media Tablet 80% 84% Online (incl. social media) 81% Smartphone 76% 69% 74% 68% Printed newspapers Computer 51% 50% 46% 50% TV 31% 23% 18% 8% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Although overall trust (36%) Trust Neither Don’t trust has increased, it remains low BBC 53 35 12 Bío Bío Chile 59 23 18 ITV 45 47 8 by international standards and Cooperativa 57 24 19 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 still more than ten points CNN Chile 57 24 19 Channel 4 42 50 8 lower than before Chile’s Regional/local newspaper 53 30 17 Sky 39 52 9 recent social protests. Falling ADN 51 28 21 (+6) Guardian 39 51 10 trust in the news found in 36% 39% Chilevisión 50 26 24 Times 39 51 10 =33/46 24 Horas 46 27 27 social media (32%) can be Local newspaper 38 55 7 Free city newspaper 43 32 25 explained by a growing Independent 33 58 9 42 26 32 awareness of misinformation MEGA News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 42 27 31 in such platforms, added to TVN News (public broadcaster)Mail 16 47 37 41 26 33 greater dependence on official HuPostCanal 13 13 74 13 41 24 35 government information El MercurioMirror 11 58 31 41 27 32 about COVID-19 that has been 36% 32% Emol.comSun 10 50 40 La Tercera 41 28 31 broadcast daily and live on TV Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Lun.com 35 28 37 and radio. 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 48% 1 Facebook 54% (-9) 78% 4 YouTube 24% (-3) 75% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 36% (-4) 84% 5 Twitter 19% (-3) 31% via social, messaging or email 3 Instagram 27% (-1) 60% 6 Facebook Messenger 9% (-5) 39% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 122

COLOMBIA

STATISTICS budgets have been reduced by economic contraction. Population 49m Internet penetration 63% Specialist niche digital native media such as El Paciente Colombiano, Conversemos de Salud, and La Silla Vacía, took the The difficult opportunity to provide detailed health implementation and science coverage. But more generalist media struggled to report on COVID-19 of the peace because of a lack of specialists in their process newsrooms. A tendency to politicise public between FARC guerrillas and the issues did not help either. government, which ended more False information about COVID-19 and than 50 years of conflict, has, vaccines on social media has been a along with social protests and concern. Traditional media have been collaborating on editorial initiatives to COVID-19, dominated the news. counter misinformation, reinforcing the The pressures of the pandemic idea that they are trustworthy sources. have accelerated the digitisation For instance, ‘Vera, the Voice of Truth’ is a series of radio spots produced by a The El Tiempo newspaper website is by far of newspapers and magazines. conglomerate of stations, featuring the the most used news site (40%), followed metallic tone of a female bot who corrects by the online versions of El Espectador Coronavirus disrupted Colombia’s printing misinformation (and embodies the social and Caracol TV (27%). But some digital industry, with distribution networks being responsibility of traditional radio stations). native media are growing in importance. affected by lockdowns. Many people were For example, Las2Orillas offers alternative not willing to buy or receive papers in Google and Facebook strengthened news, emphasising social inequalities, and public places. Some regional papers, like alliances with digital native media like publishing stories written by its users (Nota El Mundo from Medellín, stopped printing La Silla Vacía and Colombiacheck to spot ciudadana or Citizens’ stories). Conversely, for financial and logistical reasons, but and correct misinformation about the Pulzo, the main news aggregator, has others, including El Espectador and El pandemic. Facebook reached an agreement a business model based on clicks and Tiempo, began sending subscribers print with the Colombian government and the advertising, with an audience mostly under editions in bags as a COVID-19 preventive World Health Organisation (WHO) to 35. The majority of its content comes from measure. Free newspapers like Publimetro tackle fake COVID-19 news, adding a link in other national and international media. suspended printing and launched PDF Colombians’ newsfeeds to official Ministry editions together with social media of Health information. There is very high mobile use in Colombia, content distribution campaigns to retain with more than eight out of ten respondents traditional advertisers in digital formats. The most common forms of using mobile phones for news consumption. misinformation claim ‘miraculous cures’, In this (online) survey, online sources stand Traditional news publishers like El Tiempo, promote hazardous treatments, and out as people’s main source of information El Espectador, and Semana magazine, which undermine vaccines. But there are also (87%), outperforming traditional media like had been already struggling with their plenty of politically motivated distortions TV (58%) and print (24%). Facebook (67%) business models, introduced or tightened about lockdown plans. The scale of and WhatsApp (45%) are the main social their paywalls to compensate for shrinking coverage of the pandemic, along with networks to get news. income. the social protests and peace process implementation, have led to some signs of Mobile internet is dominant here, thanks Colombian media has historically been waning public interest in these issues, but to competition between networks, low dominated by publishers and broadcasters both will probably get fresh momentum levels of fixed line internet access in some with strong ties to the political and with the approach of presidential elections areas, and government programmes business elites. That influence seems to in 2022. that have encouraged its use. Higher be transferring to the digital world, but concentrations of connectivity in urban new players and social media are clearly Audiences still turn to TV as the main areas compared to rural ones and security changing consumption trends. traditional information provider during pose challenges for the future.94 long lockdowns – Caracol TV (59%) is by Online and TV news consumption far the top brand for traditional sources Víctor García Perdomo increased hugely as people looked for weekly. But this surge in TV viewing may Universidad de La Sabana information about the pandemic, but drop once the country returns to normality. this interest has not been converted into advertising income because advertising

94 GSMA, ‘Country Overview: Colombia’ (2020). https://data.gsmaintelligence.com/api-web/v2/research-file-download?id=28999732&file=Country%20overview%20Colombia.pdf 122 / 123

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Noticias Caracol TV 5910 Eltiempo.com 4015 Noticias RCN TV 369 El Espectador.com 2710 TOP BRANDS Regional TV news 289 Noticias Caracol TV online 2710 % Weekly usage El Tiempo 2515 Las 2 Orillas 2211 Q´Hubo 1221 Semana.com 2210 Weekly use Noticias Caracol Radio 198 Regional TV news online 228 TV, radio & print NotiCentro 1 CM& 187 Pulzo 2211 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print El Espectador 1016 Regional newspapers online 208 Weekly use Noticias RCN Radio 168 Noticias RCN TV online 198 online brands NTN24 158 Noticias Caracol Radio online 136 More than 3 days per week Blu Radio 136 Free newspapers online 127 online brands CNN 137 Minuto30 125 Regional or local newspaper 129 RCNRadio.com 125 Señal Colombia (public broadcaster) 106 CNN.com 126 Revista Semana 69 Yahoo! News 106 CableNoticias 95 La Silla VacÌa 95

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Smartphones have been widely adopted in Colombia and, for many, they are now the main or only access point for the 15% internet and internet news. Social media news use (70%) pay for is also amongst the highest in our survey. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 58% 87% 39% 83%

Print Social media Tablet 24% 70% 7%

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Regional TV news channels Trust Neither Don’t trust such as Citytv, TeleAntioquia, BBC 53 35 12 Regional TV news 70 20 10 ITV 45 47 8 and TeleCaribe showed the NotiCentro 1 CM& 68 19 13 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 highest levels of trust (70%) in Señal Colombia 66 23 11 Channel 4 42 50 8 our survey among news El Espectator 64 22 14 Sky 39 52 9 providers – perhaps because El Tiempo 64 21 15 Guardian 39 51 10 they are closer to communities 40% 45% Noticias Caracol Radio 55 22 23 Times 39 51 10 =26/46 Semana 54 22 24 and their issues – followed by Local newspaper 38 55 7 Noticias Caracol TV 54 21 25 CM& and public broadcaster Independent 33 58 9 53 29 18 Señal Colombia. RCN TV and El Colombiano 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 51 21 28 RCN Radio, which support Noticias RCNMail TV 16 47 37 51 23 26 right-wing politics, and Noticias RCNHuPost Radio 13 74 13 46 31 23 Q´Hubo, a tabloid news brand, Las2OrillasMirror 11 58 31 46 30 24 have higher levels of mistrust. 42% 36% PulzoSun 10 50 40 45 30 25 BuzzfeedLa Silla News Vacía 6 76 18 43 29 28 Q´Hubo 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 51% 1 Facebook 67% 84% 4 Instagram 28% 60% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 45% 86% 5 Twitter 18% 30% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 34% 79% 6 Facebook Messenger 14% 46% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 124

MEXICO

STATISTICS of testing, mask avoidance, and a slow vaccination roll-out. Population 131m Internet penetration 65% The president’s attacks could be one reason for falling trust in the media among Mexicans – this is just one of a handful On top of all of countries in this year’s survey to see the problems declining figures. facing the media Though by no means alone in seeing its in Mexico – a trust figures falling, digital-native news polarised society, economic brand Aristegui News saw the biggest drop in confidence, perhaps as a result contraction, COVID-19 – there of the attacks by the president and his are also frequent attacks from a government on publications with greater populist president who accuses political influence. In our 2019 report we noted that brands which seemed to have the media of unfair coverage an affinity with the then new president, and corruption. The president is including Aristegui, might have been getting more popular, and people expecting to benefit from higher trust levels. That has not happened. are trusting the media less. Another reason, though, could be the Every day at 7am, the President of spread of false and misleading information. Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador In our survey, 69% said they had seen false (also known as AMLO), holds a press or misleading information about Coronavirus conference. Broadcast live, the mañeneras and 52% about politics in the preceding week traditional TV and radio are still the most – morning briefings – give the president – both figures are considerably higher than popular media overall and receive the the opportunity to address the nation. the all-market average. most advertising revenue. Traditional press Often, journalists who challenge him find continue to play an important role. themselves on the end of a verbal bashing. Social networks and messaging apps are He prefers to take questions from what widely used in Mexico for news, especially Many news outlets launched dedicated he refers to as ‘blessed social networks’ or by lower educated groups. When it comes editorial sections and even webinars to from sympathetic fringe characters such as to spreading misinformation, people say cover the pandemic. Most were offered for a bowtie-wearing YouTuber.95 they are most concerned about the role free, and even the websites of traditional played by Facebook (28%), followed by newspapers such as El Economista and López Obrador enthusiastically uses messaging apps such as WhatsApp (26%), El Financiero lowered their paywalls. YouTube to connect with voters on news websites (15%), search engines (7%), The news industry was not included in social media, going over the heads of YouTube (6%), and Twitter (4%). the government’s financial support to the traditional media, parts of which he businesses facing the impact of COVID-19, accuses of having acted as propagandists It was hoped that the election of López one element of which was a further decline for his predecessors.96 His own government Obrador would see a reduction in violence in advertising. has, however, been generous in its state against journalists, but things have not advertising for supportive outlets. improved. In just a few days in 2020, three The virus has not derailed the president. journalists were shot dead, taking the An undersecretary responsible for COVID The approach is working for the president, year’s tally to nine. At least 120 journalists prevention faced criticism when he said whose popularity – around 50% at the have been killed since 2000. that, if the president had been a carrier of time of writing – is arguably one of the the virus, he could not infect more people highest figures in the history of Mexico. The established media face audience because of his moral strength. For his part, An economic nationalist who comes from polarisation, declining advertising revenue, the president said he would ‘put on a mask the left, he espouses equality, vilifies the and the need to respond to digital shifts in when there is no corruption’. intelligentsia and appeals to the largest, consumer habits. Digital-born competition lower income, segments of society. has blossomed in the past decade as María Elena Gutiérrez-Renteria Combined with his aggressive tone towards consumers have discovered a rich variety Universidad Panamericana those who question him, the approach of content offers and formats. UnoTV, has echoes of Trump and Bolsonaro. part of Carlos Slim’s América Móvil, which Like them, his handling of COVID-19 has began life by sending news via SMS and been criticised, in his case for low rates grew into an influential news website, is perhaps the most successful. Nevertheless,

95 https://www.chicagotribune.com/espanol/sns-es-prensa-en-tiempo-de-amlo-mananeras-acoso-y-violencia-20200918-qppwgd2hhbhtvk5nhvhvtjxixa-story.html 96 https://www.informador.mx/mexico/AMLO-acusa-amarillismo-en-los-medios-de-comunicacion-20210312-0036.html 124 / 125

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TV Azteca News 4311 El Universal online 3014 Televisa News 3510 UnoTV online 2511 TOP BRANDS El Universal 2514 TV Azteca News online 248 % Weekly usage Regional or local newspaper 2317 Aristegui News 1021 Milenio News 228 Televisa News online 176 Weekly use Imagen News 229 City paper online 167 TV, radio & print CNN 168 CNN.com 168 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Reforma 128 Imagen News online 168 Weekly use Excelsior 118 Reforma online 149 online brands La Jornada 116 Animal Político 147 More than 3 days per week Local radio news 104 Regional or local newspaper online 138 online brands Radio Fórmula News 105 El Financiero online 137 Local TV news 105 La Jornada online 127 Canal 22 News (public broadcaster) 95 Local TV news online 117 El Sol de México 69 Latinus (Carlos Loret y Brozzo) online 114 El Financiero 47 BBC News online 105

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Online and social media remain the most popular sources of news in Mexico with our predominantly urban sample. TV and 18% radio remain important to reach the millions of people who are pay for not online. The majority of internet news access is now via ONLINE NEWS smartphones (79%) rather than computers or tablets.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 91% Social media Tablet 84% Online (incl. social media) 79% Smartphone 72% 70% 65% 67% Printed newspapers Computer

51% 50% 50% 44% TV 45%

24% 21% 18% 10% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in the news is low by Trust Neither Don’t trust international standards, partly BBC 53 35 12 CNN 71 17 12 ITV 45 47 8 due to repeated attacks from El Universal 63 21 16 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 the president. International Milenio News 62 21 17 Channel 4 42 50 8 broadcaster CNN is the most Imagen News 61 22 17 Sky 39 52 9 trusted brand in our survey. El Financiero 61 24 15 (-2) Guardian 39 51 10 But two of the most popular 37% 43% Radio Fórmula News 61 21 18 Times 39 51 10 32/46 El Economista 61 23 16 domestic television news Local newspaper 38 55 7 Canal 22 60 24 16 channels, TV Azteca and Independent 33 58 9 60 21 19 Televisa news, are least trusted Aristegui News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 59 20 21 – reflecting polarised attitudes ReformaMail 16 47 37 58 24 18 to much of the media. HuPostUnoTV 13 74 13 56 25 19 Regional/local newspaperMirror 11 58 31 54 26 20 40% 35% Animal PolíticoSun 10 50 40 53 21 26 BuzzfeedTV Azteca News News 6 76 18 43 23 34 Televisa News 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 49% 1 Facebook 60% (-10) 80% 4 Twitter 17% (+2) 32% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 37% (-7) 80% 5 Facebook Messenger 15% (-5) 51% via social, messaging or email 3 WhatsApp 35% (-4) 82% 6 Instagram 13% (-) 42% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 126

PERU

STATISTICS and TV stations reported losing income for advertising99 and cut programming Population 33m time and staff, and temporarily or Internet penetration 68% permanently closed some operations. Regional broadcasters did not benefit from government stimulus programmes, The unlike the large media groups, but were combination of able to get some relief by taking part the pandemic, in ‘Aprendo en Casa’ a state-run home- schooling initiative. Election advertising political has also helped some publishers, but it instability, and protests has provides temporary relief that might not severely affected the media be enough to save some media operating in remote areas. in Peru. Significant job losses throughout the country, and a There were also high numbers of attacks record number of journalists on the press. The most prominent ones were recorded during street protests killed by COVID-19, point to a in November following the removal of difficult recovery. President Martín Vizcarra by Congress, and the subsequent swearing in of Manuel Faced with one of the strictest lockdowns Merino, the head of Congress. More than in South America, newspapers stopped 40 journalists reported physical attacks printing and it was months before many and detentions, mostly by police forces of them returned to the streets. The who are also considered responsible for fall in advertising has meant that some the death of two protesters. After a week important papers, such as La República, of protests, peace was restored after (28%). Smartphones were the main way of have been slow to return to full printed Merino’s resignation and the installation accessing the news – with 80% weekly use. daily editions. of an interim government led by Francisco Digital versions of traditional newspapers, Sagasti. such as El Comercio and La República, are The National Association of Journalists still leaders in online readership, but they (ANP) reported more than 500 layoffs as Young people are credited with the success are being challenged by digital offerings of of October 202097 and other estimates, of the demonstrations, even though they radio stations – especially RPP News which based on tax records, suggest that number were not previously politically organised. also ranks higher in trust – and digital- – including all related media positions Live video was shared on social platforms native news outlets. Investigative sites – could reach 2,000. Many jobs are not including, for one of the first times in a IDL-Reporteros and the member-funded expected to return after the pandemic. The protest, TikTok, where influencers with OjoPúblico appeared in the top 15 outlets El Comercio Group, the most dominant more than 1,000 followers were able to ranking in trust and readership. news operation in the country, led with stream live. There were tutorials shared 300 layoffs, including 100 journalists, on social media on how to neutralise the The decline in traditional broadcasting followed by La República Group with 50 effects of tear gas, and videos sharing the increases the risk of news deserts layoffs. Both groups and others have fired location of medical and nursing students developing, especially in interior areas most of their correspondents in the interior offering first aid and law students offering which relied heavily on local media for regions. El Comercio Group also closed legal help. Several traditional and digital information about the Coronavirus and the free newspaper Publimetro and ended media operations also joined the platform, politics. Though digital outlets informally the print edition of El Bocón, a 26-year-old and Peru now ranks fourth among the report large rises in audiences, relatively low sports newspaper. countries in this survey for TikTok usage – internet penetration in Peru (68%) means 26% of participants use it for any purpose access will not be shared universally. In addition, ANP recorded 135 journalists and 7% specifically for finding, sharing, or killed by COVID-19 in 2020,98 one of the consuming news. Lourdes M. Cueva Chacón largest numbers of journalist deaths in the San Diego State University world. Most of them (80%) lived outside As in many other countries, access to the capital, Lima, demonstrating the news via the digital media is consolidating. precariousness of the working conditions Among those surveyed, social media is the of journalists, who often operate most popular way to access news (70%), independently. Regional and local radio higher than both TV (63%) and print

97 International Federation of Journalists, 2020. https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/latin-america/article/peru-163-periodistas-fallecidos-y-500-despedidos- durante-la-pandemia.html 98 ANP (Asociación Nacional de Periodistas del Perú), 2020. https://www.facebook.com/ANPgremiodelaprensaperuana/posts/3772350269523201 99 http://www.concortv.gob.pe/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Informe-Final-Radio-y-TV-COVID-19-.pdf 126 / 127

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE América News 4815 El Comercio online 2812 ATV News 4414 RPP News online 279 TOP BRANDS Latina News 4312 La República online 2512 % Weekly usage TV Perú News 1431 Peru.com 2519 RPP News (Radio Programas del Perú) 2911 Perú21 online 2411 Weekly use Panamericana TV News 2511 ATV News online 207 TV, radio & print Diario Trome 2312 Latina News online 197 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Diario El Comercio 1421 Exitosa News online 187 Weekly use Radio Exitosa 209 TV Perú online 147 online brands Canal N 2010 Diario Ocial El Peruano online 137 More than 3 days per week Diario Perú21 1911 Gestión online 136 online brands Diario La República 1912 CNN.com 126 Diario Correo 1015 Canal N online 116 Willax TV News 155 Diario Correo online 115 CNN 127 Ojo Público 107 Diario Ojo 107 Trome online 104

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Online and social media remain the most popular sources of news in Peru with our more urban sample. TV and radio remain 16% important for the millions of people who are not online. The pay for majority of internet news access is now via smartphones (80%). ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 63% 85% 22% 80%

Print Social media Tablet 28% 70% 7%

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Four out of ten respondents Trust Neither Don’t trust trust the news overall, slightly BBC 53 35 12 El Peruano 65 21 14 ITV 45 47 8 higher for sources people use RPP News 64 21 15 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 themselves. State-run media, TV Perú News 61 22 17 Channel 4 42 50 8 El Peruano (newspaper) and TV Canal N 56 23 21 Sky 39 52 9 Perú News, rank highly for El Comercio 55 23 22 Guardian 39 51 10 trust – even though the 40% 43% Gestión 54 26 20 Times 39 51 10 =26/46 La República 54 25 21 government itself is not often Local newspaper 38 55 7 Exitosa 52 25 23 trusted. The need to access Independent 33 58 9 49 29 22 official information during the Panamericana News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 47 26 27 pandemic could explain this Latina NewsMail 16 47 37 47 29 24 phenomenon. HuPostCorreo 13 74 13 45 33 22 Local radio or newspaperMirror 11 58 31 44 25 31 42% 37% América TV NewsSun 10 50 40 44 29 27 BuzzfeedIDL Reporteros News 6 76 18 30 29 41 Trome 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 52% 1 Facebook 69% 84% 4 Instagram 18% 48% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 42% 80% 5 Facebook Messenger 18% 50% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 35% 78% 6 Twitter 13% 23% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 128 128 / 129

SECTION 3 Analysis by Country and Market Asia Pacific

ASIA PACIFIC 3.33 Australia 130 3.34 Hong Kong 132 3.35 India 134 3.36 Indonesia 136 3.37 Japan 138 3.38 Malaysia 140 3.39 Philippines 142 3.40 Singapore 144 3.41 South Korea 146 3.42 Taiwan 148 3.43 Thailand 150 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 130

AUSTRALIA

STATISTICS former Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh and is still in operation. Population 26m Internet penetration 86% With a diversified portfolio including print and online publishing, Seven West is the second largest commercial TV network in 2020 was Australia. In May 2020, they sold Pacific one of the Magazines to Bauer Media Group. The AU$40 million deal was approved by toughest years the Competition Authority, but the deal in the Australian coincided with the pandemic, leading to news media’s history. More than mass job cuts and the closure of many titles including NW, OK!, Harper’s Bazaar, 150 news titles were closed and Elle. or suspended100 – in part as a response to COVID-19. Australia It is not all gloom and doom. While our figures show a continuation of Australia’s was also in the spotlight because modest level (13%) of people paying for of government moves to introduce news online, there has been a flurry of a mandatory ‘news media new start-up news organisations and new online mastheads during the pandemic. bargaining code’ as a way of News Corp started to publish digital-only resetting the relationship between news in major centres of regional Victoria, tech platforms and journalism. New South Wales, and South Australia. In regional towns, community-based COVID-19 provided the trigger for a radical newspapers have emerged, particularly round of redundancies and closures in the in places where existing newspapers had its far-reaching Digital Platforms Inquiry Australian news industry. Leading the job been closed. A few short-term COVID-19 report in December 2019. The report losses is Australia’s largest news company relief packages have been offered from the urged strong action by the government News Corp Australia, which suspended the government, including an AU$50 million to regulate the operations of large digital print editions of 112 suburban and regional public interest news-gathering programme platforms such as Facebook and Google. mastheads, axing almost 1,000 jobs. News (PING). The Australian Communications After much discussion, a major outcome Corp reported a 22% decrease in revenue and Media Authority also supported small was the passing into law of the world’s in the 2019–20 financial year. In April, and regional publishers with AU$5m of first News Media and Digital Platforms Australian Community Media, which owns innovation funding. Mandatory Bargaining Code in March 160 regional newspapers including the 2021. This encouraged a swathe of deals Public broadcaster ABC had a mixed year. Canberra Times and the Newcastle Herald, between media companies and Google It was already anticipating implementing suspended non-daily print editions and and Facebook, which Rod Sims, Australia’s more than 200 job cuts, of which 70 shut down four printing sites. competition regulator, estimated as came from the news division, due to a being worth A$100m ($77m) annually to Much of this upheaval predates funding freeze by the federal government journalism101 (the deals are private, so no COVID-19, but the pandemic prompted an imposed prior to the pandemic. As a result, details are publicly available). Whether acceleration of trends established by the signature programmes such as 7:45am, these deals are enough to solve the industry’s decades-long struggle to replace ABC radio news bulletins and ABC Life were industry’s problems is unclear but they falling advertising revenue. With print discontinued. But as with some other public should help. Another outcome was the only being used by less than one-fifth of broadcasters, the pandemic seemed to development of the voluntary Australian Australians as a source of news it has been boost ABC’s audiences. Our survey shows Code of Practice on Disinformation and particularly hard for the newspaper and ABC consolidating its position as the leading Misinformation, which has been adopted magazine businesses. offline source, overtaking News.com.au in by Twitter, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, online reach, and opening up a bigger gap Redbubble, TikTok, Adobe, and Apple Those pressures impacted on the newswire with other providers – while remaining the in Australia. service, Australian Associated Press (AAP), most trusted Australian news brand. which was slated for closure in February Sora Park 2020 (before COVID-19 hit) after its major On the political front, there have been News and Media Research Centre, shareholders Nine and News Corp decided policy changes that will affect the University of Canberra it was no longer commercially viable. Australian and global news industries for However, it was thrown a lifeline by a group years to come. The Australian Competition of philanthropists and investors led by and Consumer Commission published

100 Public Interest Journalism Initiative, ‘Newsroom Changes January 2019–March 2021’, The Australian Newsroom Mapping Project (2021). https://anmp.piji.com.au/ 101 Murphy, H., Smith, J. ‘Facebook Agrees to Pay News Corp for Content in Australia’, Financial Times, 15 Mar. 2021. 130 / 131

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE ABC News (TV & radio) (public broadcaster) 4011 ABC News online 269 Channel 7 News 3913 News.com.au 228 TOP BRANDS Channel 9 News 3613 7News.com.au 176 % Weekly usage Channel TEN News 199 nine.com.au 177 SBS News 158 Guardian Australia online 115 Weekly use Commercial FM radio news 115 BBC News online 104 TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 117 Sydney Morning Herald online 105 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Sky News 104 The Age online 85 Weekly use BBC News 104 CNN.com 37 online brands Herald Sun 95 Sky News online 37 More than 3 days per week The Australian 48 Daily Telegraph online 37 online brands Daily Telegraph 48 Herald Sun online 47 Prime7 48 The Australian online 47 Commercial AM radio news 27 Regional or local newspaper online 47 CNN 37 ABC TV News: 34% The New Daily online 62 WIN Television 47 ABC Radio News: 17% Australian Financial Review online 2 5

CHANGING MEDIA PAY News access has been declining overall in recent years, with print declining by 16 percentage points since 2018. 13% 31% Mobile devices continue to increase as a source of news, pay for listen to PODCASTS with 62% accessing news on their smartphones each ONLINE NEWS in the last month week.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet

78% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 73% 65% 62% Computer 61% Printed60% newspapers 52% 50% 51% 50% 47% TV 45% 38% 27% 20% 19%

0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in news is up by five Trust Neither Don’t trust percentage points, placing BBC 53 35 12 ABC News 70 18 12 ITV 45 47 8 Australia in the mid-range SBS News 69 20 11 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 among the 46 countries. Regional/local newspaper 62 27 11 Channel 4 42 50 8 This improvement reflects Channel 7 News 61 23 16 Sky 39 52 9 the trend for greater reliance Channel 9 News 61 22 17 (+5) Guardian 39 51 10 on the news media in a crisis. 43% 49% Australian Financial Review 57 31 12 Times 39 51 10 21/46 Nine.com.au 57 24 19 The Australian news media Local newspaper 38 55 7 The Australian 55 28 17 have been particularly Independent 33 58 9 53 30 17 active in disseminating Sydney Morning Herald 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 52 29 19 official health advice News.com.auMail 16 47 37 52 31 17 during the pandemic. HuPostThe Age 13 74 13 50 25 25 SkyMirror News 11 58 31 49 33 18 31% 18% Guardian onlineSun 10 50 40 49 31 20 BuzzfeedHerald News Sun 6 76 18 47 31 22 Daily Telegraph 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 27% 1 Facebook 33% (-6) 67% 4 Instagram 10% (+1) 37% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 20% (-1) 61% 5 WhatsApp 9% (+1) 29% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 11% (-1) 51% 6 Twitter 9% (-1) 18% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 132

HONG KONG

STATISTICS between journalists and the authorities. From one side the police chief expressed Population 7.5m concerns about suspected ‘fake reporters’ Internet penetration 89% who allegedly obstructed and even attacked the police at protest sites.102 From the other, journalists pointed to instances A new National of being pepper-sprayed and police officers Security Law displaying reporters’ ID cards in front of has deepened live cameras. The police announced, in September 2020, their revised definition already serious of ‘media representatives’ to encompass concerns about diminishing only those affiliated with media outlets press freedom and editorial registered with the Hong Kong government – as well as internationally recognised and independence in Hong Kong. ‘reputable’ overseas media. Ostensibly This follows a challenging time this was to allow frontline police officers to for the news media in reporting quickly verify the credentials of journalists, but press groups argued that this was de prolonged citizen protests amid a facto accreditation of media professionals major health pandemic. by a government entity that unfairly capital from business interests in China, prejudiced against freelancers, student which held direct control or stakes in nine The National Security Law was unilaterally reporters, and emerging online media.103 of the 26 mainstream media outlets in imposed on Hong Kong by China in June 2017.104 This has increased further following 2020, raising concerns that new sweeping Some media professionals were not the purchase of Hong Kong’s oldest local police powers can be used against spared from the politically charged and Chinese-language paper, Sing Tao Daily, by journalists and news media organisations frequently violent nature of the protests. the daughter of a real-estate tycoon in 2021. under the guise of law violations against Around 20 staff from theApple Daily had ‘secession’, ‘subversion’, ‘terrorism’, and their personal information revealed on Hong Kong’s only public broadcaster Radio ‘collusion with foreign forces’. Of particular an anti-protest website (a tactic known as Television Hong Kong (RTHK) continues concern was the broad nature of the doxxing). There were also instances where to be embroiled in controversies. In definitions, such that giving airtime to a protesters harassed reporters and camera one instance the popular satirical show foreign critic of China or interviewing a crews from news outlets perceived to be Headliner, which first aired in 1989, was proponent of Hong Kong independence pro-government. suspended indefinitely after RTHK was could be construed as violating the law. reprimanded by the regulatory body The impact of Coronavirus exacerbated because of the show’s negative depiction Indeed, soon after the law’s enactment the already severe economic of the police. The release of a recent the owner of the pro-democracy Apple environment for the news media. The government report criticising RTHK’s Daily, Jimmy Lai, was arrested for alleged largest pay TV operator i-Cable laid off management in February 2021105 and collusion and over 100 police officers raided 40 staff from the news department, the installation of a new head in March the office of the newspaper. Moreover, which led to further resignations in 2021 who had no previous broadcasting some overseas journalists had their visa protest – although the company made a experience suggest that the Hong Kong applications delayed or rejected without commitment not to make more cuts for government is taking steps to rein in explanation. Most notably, the Hong Kong two years. Bought by tech giant Alibaba the editorial independence of the public Immigration department rejected the visa in 2015, the English-language daily South broadcaster. application of New York Times correspondent China Morning Post (SCMP) instituted Chris Buckley, who had earlier been three weeks unpaid leave for all staff While its 80th ranking in the 2021 World expelled from China. This led to the and cut the salaries of top management. Press Freedom Index106 far exceeds China’s newspaper’s decision to relocate a third of Faced with declining ad revenue, both 177th rank, this still marks a precipitous its Hong Kong staff to Seoul, South Korea, as the Apple Daily and SCMP introduced decline from its 18th position in 2002. executives cited the uncertain environment paywalls, while popular independent posed by the new law. online news outlets such as Citizen News Michael Chan, Francis Lee, and and Stand News rely on donations. Hsuan-Ting Chen The policing and on-the-ground reporting Chinese University of Hong Kong of the Anti-Extradition Law protests Despite these challenging conditions, (2019–20) had earlier exposed tensions Hong Kong’s news media continue to attract

102 Police Act on ‘Fake Reporters’, https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/11/223220/Police-act-on-’fake-reporters’ 103 ‘FCC [Foreign Correspondents Club] Expresses Solidarity with Press Organisations Following Hong Kong Police Revision of Media Definition Reports’, https://www.fcchk.org/fcc- expresses-solidarity-with-press-organisations-following-hong-kong-police-revision-of-media-definition-reports/ 104 Lee, Francis L. F. 2018. ‘Changing Political Economy of the Hong Kong Media’, China Perspectives, 2018/3. https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/pdf/8009 105 Police Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Governance and Management of Radio Television Hong Kong Review Report (Hong Kong: Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Feb. 2021). https://www.cedb.gov.hk/ccib/en/consultations-and-publications/reports/rthkreview.pdf 106 Erosion of Press Freedom, https://rsf.org/en/hong-kong 132 / 133

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TVB News 569 TVB News online 388 RTHK News (public broadcaster) 289 Apple Daily online 296 TOP BRANDS Headline Daily 289 Hk01.com 2710 % Weekly usage Apple Daily 278 Yahoo! News 279 NowTV News 236 RTHK News online 248 Weekly use Oriental Daily News 188 Headline Daily online 248 TV, radio & print AM730 156 Stand News 219 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Commercial radio 124 Now TV News online 217 Weekly use Sky Post 125 Oriental Daily News online 187 online brands i-CABLE News 115 AM730 online 135 More than 3 days per week Sing Tao Daily 49 i-CABLE news online 104 online brands BBC News 83 Sky Post online 93 Ming Pao 37 Commercial radio news online 93 Hong Kong Economic Times 63 Sing Tao Daily online 48 CNN 63 Bastillepost 85 Metro Radio 63 BBC News online 37

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Usage of all types of sources dropped in 2021, probably because the 2020 survey registered unusually high levels of 23% news consumption during the Anti-Extradition Bill protests. pay for The decline in print media usage is particularly striking. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 84% 81% Online (incl. social media) 78% Smartphone 74% 68% 67% Computer 60% 61% Printed newspapers 50% 48% 50% TV 37% 35% 26% 25% 21%

0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST As social protests and the Trust Neither Don’t trust pandemic subsided, the BBC 53 35 12 NOW TV News 62 28 10 ITV 45 47 8 information environment also RTHK News 59 23 18 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 became less contentious, and Commercial radio news 54 32 14 Channel 4 42 50 8 fake news and rumours were i-CABLE News 54 31 15 Sky 39 52 9 relatively less frequently Headline Daily 53 30 17 (+10) Guardian 39 51 10 shared. This might explain an 40% 45% Ming Pao 52 32 16 Times 39 51 10 =26/46 Yahoo! News 52 35 13 increase in overall trust in the Local newspaper 38 55 7 Sing Tao Daily 50 31 19 news as well as trust in ‘the Independent 33 58 9 50 35 15 news I use’, ‘news in search’, AM730 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 49 21 30 and ‘social media’. Apple MailDaily 16 47 37 49 27 24 StandHuPost News 13 74 13 48 21 31 TVBMirror News 11 58 31 48 27 25 26% 22% Oriental Daily NewsSun 10 50 40 45 32 23 Buzzfeed NewsHK01 6 76 18 35 42 23 Bastillepost 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 40% 1 Facebook 49% (-9) 76% 4 Instagram 14% (-2) 39% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 36% (-14) 83% 5 WeChat 13% (-3) 47% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 36% (-3) 73% 6 Facebook Messenger 7% (-3) 30% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 134

INDIA

STATISTICS corporate ownership, with no regulations on cross-media ownership. A culture of Population 1400m 24×7 news channels operating on ‘breaking Internet penetration 54% news’ models and polarised debates often distort and sensationalise news.

Indian media In October last year, news channels faced are extremely a credibility crisis as their Television Rating Points (TRPs) published by the Broadcast diverse, with Audience Research Council (BARC) came thousands of under scrutiny. Republic TV and two outlets operating in multiple Marathi entertainment channels were accused by the Mumbai police of tampering languages. Much of the media with metering devices installed in selected is controlled by large, for-profit sample households to boost their ratings. corporations, many of them Despite these accusations, the considerable privately held, and mainly funded popularity enjoyed by Republic TV’s online and offline platforms – which have by advertising. But these business both increased considerably since our models are being disrupted by a last survey in 2019 – perhaps indicate the rapid shift to online consumption growing popularity of right-wing ideology come up with controversial new proposals propagated by the ruling party in India. to expand the scope of existing legislation – and the impact of COVID-19. to social platforms, news websites, and India is one of the strongest mobile- Over the Top (OTT) content providers. Legacy print news brands, including the focused markets in our global survey, with In an apparent step to limit false and most popular in the survey – Times of India, 73% accessing news through smartphones objectionable information on social media Hindustan Times, and The Hindu – and and just 37% via computer. India has more platforms, new guidelines expect platforms newspapers in general, have borne the than 600 million active internet users, to trace the origin of information that can brunt of the slowdown. The pandemic many of whom access the internet only be misleading or objectionable based on an has hit print circulation and decreased through mobile phones – aided by low data order from a court or competent authority. advertisements, leading companies charges and cheap devices. Authorities have on several occasions to slash salaries, cut jobs, and close asked platform companies to block posts, Among our respondents, WhatsApp, editions across the country due to the including those by activists, journalists, YouTube, and Facebook are widely used drastic decline in economic activity in and opposition politicians. one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. for news and there have been serious The industry has also had to cope with problems with misinformation and hate DigiPub, a group of digital news reduced government and commercial speech. Individual members of the ruling organisations formed in 2020, says advertisement spending,107 which fell BJP and groups aligned with the party these rules go against the ‘fundamental by more than half since the start of the are alleged to systematically spread false principles of news’, giving control to the pandemic. Leading news channel NDTV and misleading information via social government to remove news content 108 announced salary cuts for a time, while media and other platforms. In late 2020, online. India has consistently slipped in the digital born-operator The Quint furloughed Facebook India’s policy head resigned after Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without staff and was forced to close its planned accusations that the company deliberately Borders in the last few years, occupying TV division after three years’ unsuccessful took a lenient line on ruling party 142nd position out of 180 countries.110 RSF’s attempts to get a broadcasting licence. supporters who allegedly violated hate 2021 report notes journalists in India face 109 speech rules with anti-Muslim posts. In increasing violence, trolling, and threats of Despite the growing popularity of digital response, the number of independent fact- rape and death on social media, along with media with our surveyed audience, which checking organisations has grown in recent excessive use of sedition laws for criticism tends to lean towards an urban and years, with support from international of the government or its policies. Freedom educated population, television remains tech companies and foundations, while House changed India’s status from ‘free’ to the most popular source overall. India has mainstream media organisations have a ‘partly free’ country earlier this year.111 altogether 392 news channels, dominated formed dedicated fact-checking and by regional language channels and private debunking teams. Anjana Krishnan players. Broadcast television channels, like Research Associate, Asian College of print media in India, are self-regulated and With the growing popularity of online Journalism, Chennai often have strong political affiliations and platforms, the Indian government has

107 For the period 2019–20, government ad spending in print was only $1.20 billion, compared to $2.74 billion in 2018–19, which in turn was almost half of $4.28 billion spent in 2017–18. https://caravanmagazine.in/data/fine-print 108 https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/how-modi-shah-turned-a-women-s-rights-ngo-into-a-secret-election-propaganda-machine_in_5ca5962ce4b05acba4dc1819 109 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-54715995 110 https://rsf.org/en/india 111 https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2021/democracy-under-siege 134 / 135

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE The Times of India 4415 NDTV online 3513 NDTV (24-hour news) 4216 The Times of India online 3111 TOP BRANDS India Today TV 3416 BBC News online 249 % Weekly usage Republic TV 2910 Republic TV online 228 BBC News 2712 News 18 online 219 Weekly use Hindustan Times 2511 Hindustan Times online 219 TV, radio & print Doordarshan/DD (public broadcaster) 2512 India.com 2113 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Times Now 2413 Yahoo! News 2010 Weekly use The Hindu 2410 India Today online 209 online brands Regional or local newspaper 196 The Hindu online 188 More than 3 days per week CNN 1018 DD News online 177 online brands The Indian Express 179 Times Now News online 1017 CNBC TV-18 168 The Indian Express online 169 The Economic Times 168 The Economic Times online 168 All India Radio 157 CNN.com 146 The New Indian Express 69 The Quint 127

METHODOLOGY NOTE These data are based on a survey of mainly English-speaking, online news users in India – a small subset of a larger, more diverse, media market. Respondents are generally more affluent, younger, have higher levels of formal education, and are more likely to live in cities than the wider Indian population. Findings should not be taken to be nationally representative.

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 59% 82% 37% 73%

Print Social media Tablet 50% 63% 14%

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Legacy print brands and Trust Neither Don’t trust government broadcasters, DD BBC 53 35 12 The Times of India 74 12 14 ITV 45 47 8 News (Doordarshan) and All DD News 73 13 14 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 India Radio, retain high levels All India Radio 73 14 13 Channel 4 42 50 8 of trust among consumers. BBC News 73 12 15 Sky 39 52 9 Print brands, in general, are The Indian Express 72 15 13 Guardian 39 51 10 more trusted than television 38% 45% Economic Times 71 16 13 Times 39 51 10 31/46 Hindustan Times 71 16 13 brands, which are far more Local newspaper 38 55 7 The Hindu 70 15 15 polarised and sensational in Independent 33 58 9 68 16 16 their coverage. Republic TV, CNN 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 68 16 16 despite its popularity as a Business StandardMail 16 47 37 68 13 19 news source, has lower trust HuPostNDTV 13 74 13 67 17 16 scores than legacy print and IndiaMirror Today 11 58 31 66 18 16 television brands – and the 45% 32% Regional/local newspaperSun 10 50 40 The Wire 55 23 22 highest levels of distrust. Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 54 17 29 Republic TV 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 48% 1 WhatsApp 53% 80% 4 Instagram 27% 50% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 53% 77% 5 Twitter 19% 37% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook 43% 66% 6 Telegram 18% 36% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 136

INDONESIA

STATISTICS on news production and distribution for Indonesians, foreign ownership of Population 276m broadcast media is banned under the Internet penetration 71% 2002 Broadcast Act. Although the Press Council is supposed to adjudicate all media disputes, authorities continue to Indonesia is the bring defamation charges to the courts. largest market Defamation is an offence covered by in Southeast more than 40 provisions of the Criminal Code. The 2008 Electronic Information Asia with a lively and Transactions Law likewise provides and diverse media sector. But criminal penalties for those found guilty of economic pressures generated by distributing, transmitting, and/or making electronic information containing libel Coronavirus, concerns about fake accessible to the public. news, and the threat of multiple legal provisions relating to Indonesia is 87% Muslim, and contains the world’s largest Muslim population, media have suffered primarily through a criminal defamation made 2020 but Islam is not the state religion. The loss of advertising revenue. As companies an especially challenging year for national ideology of Pancasila upholds in the private sector cut their marketing media businesses belief in one god, but the world’s other budgets, local governments stepped up major faiths are also formally recognised. their spending on media, especially in Since independence in 1948, Indonesia’s the provinces. Most ministries allocated The resignation of Indonesian president brand of secular democracy continues to funds to promote their activities through Soeharto in 1998 ended 32 years of be contested by those who would prefer a the purchase of advertising, thus helping authoritarian rule, and launched a new larger role for Islam. to keep media businesses afloat. Two era of ‘Reformasi’. This, along with the newspapers – Koran Tempo and Indo Pos, the passage of the landmark 1999 Press Law, Social media sites such as WhatsApp, national edition of the Jawa Pos – stopped with its attendant code of ethics and the YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are publishing print editions in 2020, and creation of an independent Press Council, extremely popular among users in Indonesia. Suara Pembaruan stopped its print edition made Indonesia a regional model for press TikTok is gaining popularity with the in February 2021. Other venerable print freedom. younger generation as elsewhere in the publications, such as Tempo magazine, region.113 Many politicians and parties used But since the fall of Soeharto, powerful Kompas newspaper, and the Jakarta Post, paid commenters, known as ‘buzzers’, and media companies owned by tycoons have strengthened their paywalls. automated accounts to generate political have replaced the state as the primary propaganda ahead of the general elections in Controversy over the 2008 Electronic source of censorship, and the Indonesian April 2019. Much attention has been directed Information and Transactions (ITE) Law media landscape is dominated by eight at the use of social media to disseminate continues, as NGOs and press freedom large commercial entities.112 Although disinformation (locally known as hoaxes) groups to press for its repeal. The law, a wide range of privately owned local and hate speech. The Coronavirus crisis intended to regulate e-commerce, publications operate across Indonesia’s in particular has led to an avalanche of introduced instead a range of vague provinces, the print sector is dominated misinformation, ranging from the ‘danger’ of and imprecise offences with draconian by two media conglomerates, the Jawa thermometer guns to rumours that vaccines penalties, including arrest and detention. Pos Group and the Kompas-Gramedia are adulterated with pork. Any kind of electronic communication Group. Television remains the most – including social media – is fair game widely used medium across Indonesia’s On the positive side, Indonesia is also under the law, as are all manner of ‘insults’ vast population, much of which is still home to an exemplary multi-stakeholder including blasphemy. not online. Major national commercial NGO dedicated to combating online networks such as TV One and Metro TV disinformation, Mafindo (Masyarakat Data compiled by Amnesty International amongst others compete with state- Anti Fitnah Indonesia, or the Indonesian Indonesia shows that there were 119 cases owned Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI). Anti-Hoax Community), and its extensive of ITE Law violation in 2020, the highest citizen-run programmes stand in stark in six years, with 141 suspects, including Broadcast media are licensed by contrast to government-led efforts 18 activists and four journalists.114 the Ministry of Communication and elsewhere in the region, which generally Information Technology and the focus on using the criminal law. Janet Steele Indonesian Broadcasting Commission Professor of Media and Public Affairs (KPI), both of which operate independently. The Coronavirus pandemic has affected and International Affairs, Although there are few restrictions the overall Indonesian economy, and George Washington University

112 Tapsell, R., Media Power in Indonesia (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). 113 https://theconversation.com/how-tiktok-can-be-the-new-platform-for-political-activism-lessons-from-southeast-asia-155556 114 https://www.amnesty.id/segera-revisi-uu-ite-dan-tegakkan-kebebasan-berekspresi/ 136 / 137

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TVOne 5314 Detik.com 6522 Metro TV 4813 Kompas.com 2047 TOP BRANDS Kompas 3917 CNN.com 3613 % Weekly usage CNN 3611 Tribunnews online 1531 Seputar Indonesia (RCTI) 3312 TVOne News online 2911 Weekly use TransTV 3011 Metro TV News online 2912 TV, radio & print Liptuan 6 (SCTV) 228 Kumparan.com 2513 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Koran Tempo 189 Liputan 6 (SCTV News online) 2410 Weekly use TVRI (public broadcaster) 178 Tempo.co.id 2412 online brands Regional or local newspaper 159 Okezone 2313 More than 3 days per week Indosiar 146 Viva.co.id 2010 online brands Tempo 148 Idntimes News 179 BBC News 136 Merdeka.com 1016 Media Indonesia 116 Seputar Indonesia (RCTI News online) 157 Republika 69 Jawa Pos online 158 Koran Sindo 95 BBC News online 157

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Online and social media remain the most popular sources of news in Indonesia with our more urban sample but TV 19% and radio remain important for the millions of people who pay for are not online. The majority of internet news access is via ONLINE NEWS smartphones (85%) with computers much less popular.

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 58% 89% 37% 85%

Print Social media Tablet 20% 64% 10%

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust Neither Don’t trust Overall trust in news is low BBC 53 35 12 (39%) while CNN, which is ITV 45 47 8 CNN 69 25 6 owned by local conglomerate FT 45 50 5 News overall News I use Kompas 67 27 6 Channel 4 42 50 8 Trans Media, ranks the highest TVRI 66 29 5 Sky 39 52 9 in brand trust at 69%. Detik.com 64 29 7 Guardian 39 51 10 Interestingly, the news brand SCTV (Liputan6) 62 31 7 Times 39 51 10 with greatest reach (TVOne) is 39% 42% TVOne 62 26 12 Local newspaper 38 55 7 also one of the brands with a 30/46 Tempo 60 30 10 Independent 33 58 9 Local television news 58 36 6 large minority (12%) that say Telegraph 30 56 14 they do not trust it, which Tribunnews 55 34 11 News in search News in social Mail 16 47 37 PikiranRakyat.com 53 39 8 some may attribute to its more HuPost 13 74 13 Okezone 52 38 10 sensational style of reporting. Mirror 11 58 31 Sindonews.com 52 39 9 Sun 10 50 40 Merdeka.com 51 41 8 37% 31% Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Suara.com 49 43 8

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 39% 1 WhatsApp 60% 87% 4 Instagram 38% 66% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 46% 79% 5 Twitter 22% 37% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook 42% 65% 6 Telegram 18% 41% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 138

JAPAN

STATISTICS digital platform Asahi Shimbun Digital has acquired 3.75 million registrations, Population 126m of whom 320,000 are paid subscribers.116 Internet penetration 95% Asahi has also stepped up its use of daily and weekly newsletters, including an article series delivered ahead of online The Japanese publication. The series, ‘Another Note’, media brings personal and compelling stories landscape from frontline journalists. has long been Paying for online news remains at a dominated by five nationwide TV relatively modest level in Japan, though it has increased slightly this year to networks and a small number 10% (+2pp). Nikkei and Asahi are the of high-circulation newspapers. most successful publishers in terms of But print readership is falling subscription according to Digital News and many news organisations Report data, along with Yomiuri, whose full digital subscription is still entirely linked are being forced to embrace to print. But efforts have been hampered digital change. by the popularity of free services such as Yahoo! News, SmartNews, and Gunosy between the Okinawa Times newspaper Japan has had relatively few Coronavirus that aggregate online content from and Kyodo news agency, which was able to cases and has been one of the few multiple publishers. Yahoo! Japan and Line provide the support of a veteran defence countries to have avoided a nationally merged their operations by placing the reporter with 25 years’ experience. mandated lockdown – but the media two under a holding company in 2021 to industry has not emerged unscathed. compete better with US and Chinese tech Such newsroom alliances have previously Already-decreasing print circulation sank rivals. They will, however, keep their news been unheard of in Japan’s company- by a further 7% in 2020, outstripping the services separate. centred journalistic culture, but have previous year’s fall.115 On top of a rising been encouraged by the global impact of tide of subscription cancellations, many One new entrant to the subscription the Panama Papers investigation in 2016 readers looked to avoid contact with market this year has been SlowNews, and other collaborative projects. During physical newspapers, partly out of fear of which specialises in long reads and tough the tenth anniversary of the Great East catching the virus. investigations. With a monthly payment Japan Earthquake of 2011, dozens of news of 1,650 yen, or £11, it combines local media joined a Twitter hashtag #bosai- Meanwhile, a number of media companies journalism with in-depth reports from ima-dekirukoto (‘what we can do now accelerated plans for digital transition at the New York Times, ProPublica, and for disaster preparedness’) as a way of a time of crisis. Nikkei (Japan Economic the Guardian translated into Japanese, aggregating disaster-related stories. The Daily), which has forged a reputation as along with more than 100 books from hashtag appeared automatically with an a digital pioneer since it purchased the six major publishers. SlowNews, which emoji of a paper crane, which represents Financial Times in 2015, abandoned its is a subsidiary of the mobile aggregator care and prayer. traditional structure of sections such as SmartNews, aims to use any profits to politics, economics, industry, and foreign support more investigative journalism. More widely, live internet streaming of news. In its place, Nikkei has created five TV has taken a leap forward this year with units targeted at different audience needs A trend of growing collaborations across public broadcaster NHK launching a full – business, lifestyle, finance/markets, Japanese media houses was highlighted online streaming service in April 2020. society, and policymaking. The change by the breaking of two exclusive stories in Several major private broadcast stations aims to focus more on distinctive content, February 2021. One carried allegations of are now reportedly planning to add live rather than continuing to pump out a seemingly organised mass falsification streaming to their joint archive platform commoditised business information. of signatures in a recall petition against TVer, whose views soared during the the Aichi Prefectural Governor. Another pandemic. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper, another revealed a secret agreement over the use leader in digital transition, has been of an American base in Okinawa between Yasuomi Sawa trying to attract new audiences through US Marines and the Japanese Ground Self Journalist and Professor at the Department Line, Japan’s dominant messenger app. Defence Force. The bogus signature story of Journalism, Senshu University The liberal daily announced in February was a joint investigation by the Chunichi 2021 that they have now 5 million Line newspaper from Aichi and Nishi-nippon friends, who receive Asahi’s news bulletins (West-Japan) newspaper from Fukuoka. The and alerts every day. Meanwhile, its military story involved deep collaboration

115 https://www.pressnet.or.jp/english/data/circulation/circulation01.php 116 https://www.mediatechnology.jp/entry/2020/10/12/100000 117 https://www.chosakai.gr.jp/wp/wp-content/themes/shinbun/asset/pdf/project/newsd/20210300_710.pdf#page=1 138 / 139

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE NHK News (public broadcaster) 499 Yahoo! News 546 Nippon TV News (NTV) 4515 NHK News online 124 TOP BRANDS Asahi TV News 4013 Nippon TV News online 104 % Weekly usage Fuji TV News 3914 Fuji TV News online 49 TBS News 3916 Asahi TV News online 48 Weekly use TV Tokyo News 209 TBS News online 83 TV, radio & print Regional or local newspaper 195 Nikkei (Japan Economic Daily) online 83 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Commercial radio news 146 Asahi Shimbun Digital 37 Weekly use Yomiuri Shimbun 132 Yomiuri Shimbun online 62 online brands Asahi Shimbun 92 TV Tokyo News online 63 More than 3 days per week Nikkei (Japan Economic Daily) 82 MSN News 2 5 online brands Mainichi Shimbun 2 5 Toyo Keizai online 2 5 CNN 2 4 Regional or local newspaper online 2 5 BBC News 2 4 Abema TV online 2 5 Sankei Shimbun 1 4 Sankei News online 2 4 Weekly Bunshun 3 4 Nikkei Business online 2 4

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Traditional forms of media such as TV and print have declined in importance over the last few years. Newspaper readership has 10% 25% more than halved since 2013. Japanese engage with online news pay for listen to PODCASTS primarily through aggregators like Yahoo! News. They also tend to ONLINE NEWS in the last month use social networks less, and have taken longer to fully embrace smartphones.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2013–21* 2013–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 85% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 69% 63% 68% 63% Printed newspapers Computer 58% 55% 50% 50% TV 47% 27% 17% 24% 19% 10% 6% 0% 0% 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Overall trust in the news has Trust Neither Don’t trust risen by five percentage points BBC 53 35 12 NHK News 60 28 12 ITV 45 47 8 in the last year while trust in Nikkei (Japan Economic Daily) 55 35 10 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 social media has fallen by two Local newspaper 54 34 12 Channel 4 42 50 8 points. The news media were Nippon TV News (NTV) 54 33 13 Sky 39 52 9 widely consulted during the TBS News 53 33 14 (+5) Guardian 39 51 10 pandemic, with greater impact 42% 43% Fuji TV News 51 34 15 Times 39 51 10 =22/46 TV Asahi News 50 32 18 than the national government Local newspaper 38 55 7 Yomiuri Shimbun 50 36 14 and a long way ahead of social Independent 33 58 9 48 37 15 media, according to a survey Yahoo! News 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 47 39 14 from the Japan Press Research Sankei ShimbunMail 16 47 37 46 37 17 Institute.117 Public broadcaster MainichiHuPost Shimbun 13 74 13 45 34 21 NHK remains the most trusted Asahi ShimbunMirror 11 58 31 31 52 17 news brand. 27% 21% HuPost JapanSun 10 50 40 28 46 26 BuzzfeedWeekly Shincho News 6 76 18 28 42 30 Weekly Bunshun 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 13% 1 YouTube 24% (+5) 57% 4 Facebook 6% (-) 19% SHARE NEWS 2 Line 18% (+2) 39% 5 Instagram 4% (+1) 21% via social, messaging or email 3 Twitter 16% (+1) 31% 6 Niconico 2% (-) 8% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 140

MALAYSIA

STATISTICS pandemic or current state of emergency that is not to its liking … The publication Population 33m of such information with “intent to cause, Internet penetration 89% or which is likely to cause fear or alarm to the public, or any section of the public” is punishable by three years in prison and a After the fine of 300,000 ringgits (€20,000).’118 collapse of Journalists and other media professionals a reformist face renewed intimidation after 22 government in months of relative freedom. Two February 2020, renewed political internationally reported incidents were the July 2020 police investigation of an instability and a national state Al-Jazeera documentary on the arrest of of emergency, ostensibly as a undocumented migrant labourers and the result of COVID-19, have reversed questioning of a South China Morning Post hopes for improvement in media (SCMP) journalist who had reported on migrant arrests.119 freedom in Malaysia. More recently, graphic artist Fahmi For a brief period of 22 months – from May Reza and political cartoonist Zunar 2018 until February 2020 – the Malaysian were detained and investigated by the media environment was one that held police under the Sedition Act, the Penal Political actors have again stepped in to out hope, despite the technological and Code, and the CMA. Fahmi’s ‘crime’ was own and control the Malaysian media economic pressures, especially on the satirising the Malaysian Queen, while environment in anticipation of an early print media. A new coalition government, Zunar’s was for ‘mischief and abuse of the general election in 2022. A new online Pakatan Harapan (PH), was in power for internet over a caricature’ of the Chief news portal, The Vibes (thevibes.com) the first time in the 61-year history of Minister of the state of Kedah.120 was launched in September 2020, said Malaysia’s general elections. PH promised to be backed by opposition leader, Anwar reform in many areas, including the In February this year, the country’s Ibrahim. Most online portals still provide media, where it repealed a controversial most popular independent online free access, although some, like The Anti-Fake News Act and set the wheels in newspaper, Malaysiakini, was found Malaysian Insight (TMI), have followed motion for an independent national Media guilty of contempt by Malaysia’s highest the path set by Malaysiakini of adopting a Council. But due to its inexperience and court, for posting five critical readers’ subscription-based model. external resistance, many of these hopes comments about the Lord President remained unfulfilled when the coalition and the judiciary. The portal was fined The biggest Malaysian media suddenly collapsed. a whopping MYR500,000 but, more conglomerate, Media Prima, has also come tellingly, it took Malaysiakini only six under the spotlight with recent share Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, the hastily hours to raise the sum from public acquisitions by former BN second finance assembled Perikatan Nasional (PN) donations. Now Malaysiakini appears to minister, Johari Abdul Ghani. Two years coalition government initially suspended be besieged again, together with local ago, Media Prima was bleeding financially parliament, locked down the country, and Chinese-language portal, China Press. for economic and technological reasons. convinced the Malaysian King to declare a In April, both were summoned by the But the past year or so has seen a revival national emergency, beginning 12 January Home Ministry over ‘unfavourable’ – of its fortunes due to the fresh injection until 1 August 2021. albeit accurate – reports about a careless of funds by prominent Malaysian tycoon, statement on rape made by the Deputy Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary.121 The emergency gives PN exceptional Inspector General of Police. powers over the media. It already has These manoeuvres point to a familiar an arsenal of draconian legislation at Structurally, television remains a key pattern close to general elections where its disposal, the main ones being the source of news for many of the older the dominant political parties consolidate Communications and Multimedia Act generation who are not internet-savvy. their control over the media. It has also 1998 (CMA) and the Sedition Act 1948. More creative and critical formats, such been reported that online media are being These powers allowed PN to issue an as Awani’s Consider This current affairs targeted this time around. anti-fake news emergency ordinance on talk show, have drawn in a more urban, 12 March this year ‘that effectively bans questioning audience. Zaharom Nain any information about the Coronavirus University of Nottingham in Malaysia

118 Reporters Without Borders, Mar. 2021. https://rsf.org/en/news/new-malaysian-ordinance-threatens-very-concept-truth. 119 Bangkok Post, July 2020. https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1947336/malaysia-probes-al-jazeera-documentary-about-migrant-arrests 120 Free Malaysia Today, Apr. 2021. https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/04/28/zunar-hauled-up-over-cartoon-on-axing-of-thaipusam-holiday/ 121 Media Prima’s diverse media empire includes all four of Malaysia’s free-to-air television stations, the New Straits Times press, popular radio stations Fly FM and HotFM, and leading outdoor advertising company, Big Tree. 140 / 141

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TV3 News 5311 Malaysiakini 5023 Astro Awani (24-hour news) 3814 Astro Awani online 4016 TOP BRANDS Harian Metro 2715 The Star online 2910 % Weekly usage Berita Harian 2513 Berita Harian online 259 Radio Televisyen Malaysia (public broadcaster) 239 Harian Metro online 249 Weekly use The Star 2311 Sinar Harian online 197 TV, radio & print Sinar Harian 1911 Free Malaysia Today 1019 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Utusan Malaysia 1018 Malaysia Today 1913 Weekly use TV9 News 167 Bernama.com 1711 online brands 8TV News 154 Utusan Malaysia online 167 More than 3 days per week NTV7 News 148 CNN.com 157 online brands New Straits Times 127 Yahoo! News 136 CNN 125 BBC News online 137 BBC News 116 NST online 115 Bernama News Channel 106 The Malaysian Insight 107 Al-Hijrah 105 Malay Mail online 49

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Print has continued its decline as a source of news. Increasing use of smartphones to get news has coincided with the 16% increasing popularity of online news media. Television news pay for has become more attractive partly due to the various ONLINE NEWS lockdowns forcing many to stay at home.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 86% 88% 85% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 72% 67% Printed65% newspapers Computer 57% 55% 50% 50% TV 45% 45% 40%

24% 18% 12% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Overall trust in the various Trust Neither Don’t trust media has increased BBC 53 35 12 Astro Awani 70 22 8 ITV 45 47 8 considerably as compared to The Star 65 24 11 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 the past two years. The TV9 News 65 26 9 Channel 4 42 50 8 pandemic and lockdowns have Radio Televisyen Malaysia 65 24 11 Sky 39 52 9 resulted in greater TV3 News 64 24 12 (+16) Guardian 39 51 10 dependence on the main news 41% 43% Regional or local newspaper 63 28 9 Times 39 51 10 =24/46 Berita Harian 62 25 13 sources for information on the Local newspaper 38 55 7 Malaysiakini 60 25 15 threats and challenges of the Independent 33 58 9 60 27 13 virus. Astro Awani, a 24-hour Sinar Harian 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 58 28 14 news channel with innovative, Harian MetroMail 16 47 37 57 25 18 often critical, news and current UtusanHuPost Malaysia 13 74 13 55 34 11 affairs programmes, still leads The MalaysianMirror Insight 11 58 31 55 35 10 in the area of brand trust. 35% 24% Yahoo! BeritaSun 10 50 40 55 33 12 FreeBuzzfeed Malaysia News Today 6 76 18 51 34 15 Sin Chew Daily 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 47% 1 Facebook 56% (-1) 77% 4 Instagram 22% (+2) 50% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 54% (+3) 83% 5 Telegram 20% (+8) 45% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 36% (+3) 75% 6 Twitter 16% (+1) 29% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 142

PHILIPPINES

STATISTICS Broadcasting Company replaced DZRH Network News with MBC Network News, Population 111m which now simulcasts three times a day Internet penetration 78% on its flagship and provincial radio and television stations. TV5 converted its primetime newscast Aksyon to Frontline Major revenue Pilipinas and fielded more anchors. Last drops arising February, GMA Network rebranded GMA from prolonged News TV, its second free-to-air channel, as GTV (Good TV), adding more sports, COVID-19 entertainment, and lifestyle programmes lockdowns have forced significant to its existing line-up of news and current downsizing of the Philippine affairs programmes. media. The media environment The newspaper industry has been hit has also been reshaped by the particularly hard as COVID-19 curtailed closure of a major free-to-air TV distribution. The Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), one of the biggest dailies, offered Locally produced news and current affairs network. Journalists that have early retirement to employees, let go podcasts include those from ANC, Puma been critical of the government of several columnists, shut down its Podcast, and the Manila Times. PDI and continue to face attacks and Metro section, and shrank the number the Philippine Center for Investigative of its pages. Earlier, it closed its free Journalism are newcomers. online harassment. paper Inquirer Libre and tabloid Bandera, keeping the latter only online. In March, Over the past year, a number of Filipino The Philippines somewhat defies the trend PDI launched a digital subscription journalists have been dogged by ‘red- in many countries that has seen TV viewing package where its Inquirer Plus mobile tagging’, where they are labelled state surge as lockdowns grounded people at app combines access to one of eight enemies, subversives, or communists home. By February this year, at the time the local newspaper partners. It says this by the police and military, including via Digital News Report survey was conducted, strategy will help local journalism remain social media. In September, Facebook TV usage had slid to 61% (–5pp) with an sustainable and is in keeping with the removed more than 100 fake accounts even bigger decline in print consumption to growing subscription model worldwide. traced to police and military units in the 16% (–6pp). The decline in TV viewing may Philippines for engaging in ‘coordinated have been partly influenced by the closure At least a dozen big community papers inauthentic behaviour’.124 Maria Ressa of ABS-CBN’s free-to-air stations after the temporarily ceased publication, returning and Rappler continue to be the subject House of Representatives refused to renew later in the year with reduced pages or of political attacks and a series of threats its franchise to operate. The once profitable frequency. The newspaper association and lawsuits that Reporters Without media giant continues online and via a Philippine Press Institute has been Borders describe as ‘a clear and present number of pay television channels but laid supporting struggling community papers danger to press freedom’. She is not alone. off nearly 5,000 of its 11,000 employees, by paying for some of the stories they post One female editor from the red-tagged including a third from its news staff, and on its website, PPI News Commons. alternative news site Manila Today was chalked up losses of $150m as of the third arrested on charges of illegal possession of quarter of 2020. Going digital makes sense in a country that firearms and explosives on 10 December, spends the greatest amount of time online International Human Rights Day – though By contrast, the rival GMA Network in the world (nearly 11 hours per day), she was released months later. In Central enjoyed a 79% jump in profits particularly on social media (more than Philippines, a 22-year-old ‘red-tagged’ 122 (US$80.6m), from the previous year for four hours). Social media as a source of female journalist has been languishing the same period, while other big publicly news have risen to 72% (+4) in our survey, in jail for more than a year on charges of listed media houses reported significantly with TikTok even becoming a destination illegal possession of firearms. reduced profit. Besides benefiting from for news among Filipinos (6%) alongside the airtime advertising resulting from Facebook (73%), YouTube (53%), Facebook Meanwhile, a bill seeking to renew the ABS-CBN’s closure, GMA’s online and Messenger (36%), and Twitter (19%). franchise of ABS-CBN has been filed in digital ad sales grew 36%. It has launched both chambers of Congress. But chances a DTT receiver, GMA Affordabox, and Despite the overall slight drop in podcast that the network would operate its free-to- mobile dongle, GMA Now. listenership from a year ago (–3pp to 54%), air stations again while President Rodrigo podcasting remains especially popular Duterte is in office appear to be slim. Many big television networks have taken with younger users. A survey for Spotify to rebranding or reformatting programmes bears this out,123 prompting the platform Yvonne T. Chua in a bid to engage consumers. Manila to sign up 16 Filipino podcasts exclusively. University of the Philippines

122 https://wearesocial.com/digital-2021 123 https://culturenextvol1-sea.spotifyforbrands.com/ph 124 https://about.fb.com/news/2020/09/removing-coordinated-inauthentic-behavior-china-philippines/ 142 / 143

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE GMA Network (24 Oras, Saksi, GMA News TV) 5910 GMA News online 5311 ABS-CBN (TV Patrol, ANC, Kapamilya) 409 ABS-CBN News online 4310 TOP BRANDS Philippine Daily Inquirer 1931 Philippine Daily Inquirer online 3718 % Weekly usage CNN 3012 Rappler 3215 The Philippine Star 2818 Yahoo! News 3014 Weekly use Manila Bulletin 2517 The Philippine Star online 2513 TV, radio & print TV5 (Frontline Pilipinas, One Balita Pilipinas) 208 CNN.com 2310 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Super Radyo DZBB (Super Balita) 157 Manila Bulletin online 1221 Weekly use Local radio news 157 TV5 News online 219 online brands Teleradyo 137 BuzzFeed News 2011 More than 3 days per week PTV News 125 PEP.ph 179 online brands DZRH News (Manila Broadcasting Co.) 116 CNN Philippines online 168 BBC News 49 MSN News 127 Balita 69 BBC News online 115 Regional or local newspaper 85 SunStar online 115 Radyo Pilipinas News/DZRB 47 Manila Times online 116

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Dependence on smartphones to access online news, including on social media, has grown among Filipinos (+3pp) during what 17% was one of the world’s longest lockdowns due to COVID-19. pay for Not surprisingly, consumption of traditional media, particularly ONLINE NEWS print, has gone down.

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 61% 87% 39% 78% (-5) (+2) (-) (+3)

Print Social media Tablet 16% 72% 12% (-6) (+4) (-2)

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Overall trust in news among Trust Neither Don’t trust Filipino internet users has BBC 53 35 12 GMA Network 74 17 9 risen (+5pp), but has fallen in ITV 45 47 8 News overall News I use Manila Bulletin 69 23 8 FT 45 50 5 social media (-2pp) amid TV5 68 24 8 Channel 4 42 50 8 concerns over misinformation Philippine Star 68 23 9 Sky 39 52 9 on the internet, especially Philippine Daily Inquirer 66 22 12 (+5) Guardian 39 51 10 information about Coronavirus 32% 37% Super Balita DZBB 65 26 9 Times 39 51 10 from government, politicians =38/46 DZRH 64 27 9 Local newspaper 38 55 7 and political parties, and Regional/local newspaper 64 28 8 Independent 33 58 9 ordinary people. Distrust in TeleRadyo 63 27 10 News in search News in social Telegraph 30 56 14 PTV 60 27 13 news brands has declined Mail 16 47 37 Radyo Pilipinas 59 31 10 except for Rappler, which HuPost 13 74 13 ABS-CBN 57 22 21 government supporters Mirror 11 58 31 Abante 47 36 17 continue to attack. 30% 20% Sun 10 50 40 Rappler 45 26 29 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Bulgar 40 38 22

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 47% 1 Facebook 73% (-) 86% 4 Twitter 19% (+3) 33% SHARE NEWS 2 YouTube 53% (+4) 85% 5 Instagram 12% (-) 41% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook Messenger 36% (+3) 76% 6 TikTok 6% (+4) 22% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 144

SINGAPORE

STATISTICS trust – which is up by nine percentage points – as residents found themselves Population 5.8m relying on the news media for important Internet penetration 88% and accurate information, amid the flurry of fake news online.125

Trust in the Last year, the Singapore government news media issued several correction orders under its Protection from Online Falsehoods and in Singapore Manipulation Act (POFMA), a law passed in has increased May 2019 that empowers ministers to issue significantly in a year marked corrections or take down orders against online falsehoods. by the COVID-19 pandemic, a historical election that saw Some of the orders targeted posts viral social media posts. It has since the political opposition make by opposition parties during the amassed a large following and been campaign,126 while others targeted recognised as a registered news media unprecedented gains, as well as COVID-19 related claims, such as one outlet in Singapore. layoffs in one of the two media posted by the States Times Review (STR) Offline and online news platforms in conglomerates in the country. The on Facebook claiming that COVID-19 spread in schools in May 2020.127 Singapore are covered by an extensive pandemic and the elections also regulatory system. The Newspaper and saw the government invoke the Operated outside the country, the STR is Printing Presses Act governs the licensing a website critical of the administration country’s ‘fake news law’ several of newspaper companies while the that has been called out for publishing Broadcasting Act regulates the licensing of times, sparking criticisms. sensationalised and inaccurate accounts, broadcasting services as well as internet and it is also used weekly by 7% of our content providers, including online Mainstream news media brands remain survey respondents. While the website news sites. In 2013, the government also the most trusted news sources, with had been banned in Singapore since 2018, required individual licensing for online MediaCorp’s round-the-clock news followers could still access its Facebook news sites that publish regular articles on network Channel News Asia (CNA) being page until the government ordered Singapore news and current affairs and the most trusted (79%) followed by local access to be blocked in February have large numbers of monthly visitors.129 the newspaper The Straits Times (77%) 2021. While Facebook complied with the published by the Singapore Press Holdings government order, it expressed concern In terms of specific social media platforms, (SPH). SPH publishes most of Singapore’s ‘about the precedent this sets for stifling WhatsApp and Facebook both saw local newspapers, including Chinese- freedom of expression in Singapore’.128 significantly lower usage for news this year, language Lianhe Zaobao, Malay-language The government justified its move by though Telegram, another messaging app, Berita Harian, and Tamil-language Tamil saying swift actions were needed against is up three percentage points to 14% for Murasu. Mediacorp operates all the local COVID-19 related falsehoods that can news. WhatsApp remains the most popular television stations and most radio stations trigger public panic. social app overall, however, and the in Singapore. Singapore government has made full use Mediacorp’s CNA remains the most of this platform, sending daily WhatsApp Initially praised internationally for its popular traditional news brand, used updates on COVID-19 to subscribers. handling of the COVID-19 virus, Singapore weekly by 39%, followed by SPH’s The went through pockets of panic buying as Straits Times (38%) and Mediacorp’s In September 2020, SPH announced the the number of positive cases exponentially Channel 5 (27%) and Channel 8 (25%) layoff of 140 of its employees from its media rose in dorms occupied by migrant workers newscasts. CNA’s website was also the sales and magazines operations, citing the in March 2020 – leading to nearly two most used digital brand (48%), followed impact of COVID-19 on advertising. In May months of lockdown. by the online-only Mothership.sg (42%) 2021 it announced it would be transferring which is now just ahead of the website of its media business to a not-for-profit Singapore held its general elections in The Straits Times. While it has climbed over company to focus on new funding streams July 2020, where the ruling party won the 130 the years to be the second most used news to support quality journalism. majority of the seats, as expected, but its website in Singapore, it ranks significantly share of total votes shrank as the political Edson C. Tandoc Jr. lower in brand trust. Founded in 2014, opposition gained ground. A combination Wee Kim Wee School of Communication Mothership.sg is known for its bite-sized of the elections and the pandemic may and Information, Nanyang Technological articles, many of which are sourced from help explain the increase in news media University, Singapore.

125 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/covid-19-coronavirus-forwarding-whatsapp-message-fake-news-12670016 126 https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/pofma-correction-directions-issued-to-4-facebook-pages-1-website 127 https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/government-directs-states-times-review-correct-post-about-covid-19-cases-schools 128 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/facebook-blocks-singapore-users-access-states-times-review-pofma-12446952 129 https://www.gov.sg/factually/content/what-is-the-licensing-framework-for-online-news-sites-all-about 130 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sph-to-restructure-media-business-into-not-for-profit-entity 144 / 145

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE MediaCorp Channel News Asia 3912 Channel News Asia online 4815 The Straits Times 3814 Mothership.sg 4217 TOP BRANDS MediaCorp Channel 5 News 2711 Straits Times online 4014 % Weekly usage MediaCorp Channel 8 News 258 Yahoo! News 259 CNN 167 Today online 2010 Weekly use The New Paper 136 STOMP 168 TV, radio & print MediaCorp Radio News 114 CNN.com 156 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print BBC News 49 AsiaOne.com 158 Weekly use Lianhe Zaobao 48 BBC News online 136 online brands Lianhe Wanbao 63 The Online Citizen 127 More than 3 days per week The Business Times 63 All Singapore Stu 127 online brands MediaCorp Suria Berita 2 5 The New Paper online 116 Shin Min Daily 3 5 Mustsharenews.com 95 Berita Harian 2 4 Zaobao online 27 Other foreign media 1 3 States Times Review 57 MediaCorp Tamil Seithi 2 South China Morning Post (SCMP) 47

CHANGING MEDIA PAY Online news remains the primary way of getting news, though the use of social media for news has declined slightly compared with 14% 28% last year. Singaporeans turned more to TV during the COVID crisis pay for listen to PODCASTS but print use has fallen further – halving in just five years. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 85% 83% Online (incl. social media) 80% Smartphone 72% 61% Printed newspapers Computer 57% 57% 52% 50% 53% 47% 50% TV 46%

27% 21% 17%

0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in the news increased to Trust Neither Don’t trust 45%, with respondents also BBC 53 35 12 MediaCorp Channel News Asia 79 16 5 ITV 45 47 8 trusting more the news that The Straits Times 77 16 7 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 they use. Trust in news MediaCorp Channel 5 News 76 18 6 Channel 4 42 50 8 obtained in search engines and MediaCorp Channel 8 News 75 20 5 Sky 39 52 9 social media remained at MediaCorp Radio News 72 22 6 (+9) Guardian 39 51 10 similar levels to last year. 45% 50% BBC News 71 24 5 Times 39 51 10 18/46 CNN 70 23 7 Local newspaper 38 55 7 Today online 69 25 6 Independent 33 58 9 Lianhe Zaobao 65 27 8 News in search News in social Telegraph 30 56 14 63 26 11 The New PaperMail 16 47 37 58 32 10 Yahoo!HuPost News 13 74 13 54 33 13 Shin MinMirror Daily 11 58 31 53 34 13 26% 18% Mothership.sgSun 10 50 40 39 40 21 TheBuzzfeed Online CitizenNews 6 76 18 37 43 20 All Singapore Stu 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 32% 1 WhatsApp 40% (-7) 88% 4 Telegram 14% (+3) 38% SHARE NEWS 2 Facebook 40% (-6) 70% 5 Instagram 13% (-3) 49% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 25% (+1) 73% 6 Twitter 7% (-) 18% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 146

SOUTH KOREA

STATISTICS Against this backdrop, media companies are trying to slash costs and diversify Population 51m revenue streams. Broadcasters have Internet penetration 96% increased the proportion of online and mobile ads, while taking active steps to produce and distribute content through News online platforms. Newspapers have consumption introduced unpaid leave and cut staff. and trust in A survey conducted by Korea Press Foundation,134 found that a third (31%) news media of newspaper companies have already have both increased since the reduced the number of pages or plan to outbreak of COVID-19, but media do so. While many companies are hoping for governmental support such as tax outlets are struggling to shore up cuts, some are experimenting with new finances that have been adversely business models, including paid digital affected by the pandemic. subscription. In South Korea, news consumers tend to Koreans have come to depend more on the pay for a mix of diverse content such as news over the last year as the pandemic YouTube Premium or bundled content has impacted both lives and livelihoods. services offered by telecom service This is likely to be a key factor in the providers. Few people are willing to pay a sharp rise in trust (+11 percentage points) subscription just for news – and most of in this year’s survey, while trust (and the rest (80%) say they would be very or consumption) of social media has fallen. somewhat unlikely to pay in the future. Much of this has been driven by increased Media bias has long been regarded as a reliance on television news and increased Online reader payment has been slow chronic problem of the Korean media – reach for both scheduled news bulletins to take off in South Korea because of especially when it comes to politics. Many and live news channels. the strength of online portals that offer respondents to our survey feel that news a convenient package of free news from coverage is often particularly unfair when A survey by the Korea Press Foundation,131 multiple publishers. For many years these it comes to representing different political also found widespread dependence on portals have paid publishers significant opinions as well as people from a lower television as a source of news about sums to license content – rather like socio-economic class. With Korea set to COVID-19, along with the big online portals Facebook and Google are starting to do hold the presidential election in 2022, Naver and Daum. Three-quarters (72%) elsewhere. But in 2020 the largest portal, fairness of media coverage on serious of respondents said their news usage Naver, announced it would be switching topics such as politics and the economy is had increased over the last year. Use of back to an advertising revenue share expected to be a critical issue. OTT streaming services like Netflix has model and announced plans to offer an increased and overall viewing time is up, additional subscription-based model This year’s survey also finds that the vast after years of decline. for premium content. Publishers are majority of Korean respondents still hold out the hope that media outlets will But media outlets have been struggling considering whether to sign up for the offer objective news, carrying a variety of to cope with the financial fallout from new service which would provide a share perspectives that help consumers make the pandemic. According to industry of profits but might risk building deeper up their own minds. At the same time, last research,132 corporate ad spending for 2020 connections on their own websites. year’s report showed that the proportion is projected to fall by 5% for television, While YouTube remains the most widely of respondents who prefer ‘news reflecting print, and other media, while online ads are used platform for Korean users, Facebook, their views’ was also high. This suggests that expected to rise. The decline in corporate KakaoTalk Messenger, and Instagram there is both political bias in news production ads has hit broadcasters more severely are emerging as fresh news sources. Also and readers’ bias in their consumption of than newspapers, which can still rely on a notable is the increased industry focus on news which may be hard to balance. steady stream of government advertising – email newsletters, with a variety of new levels of expenditure have risen every year services from start-ups to mainstream Se-Uk Oh since 2016.133 For this reason, terrestrial media companies, even if usage levels Korea Press Foundation, and broadcasters issued a joint statement remain low. So-Eun Lee calling for emergency financial support Pukyong National University from the government.

131 Korea Press Foundation, Changes in the Everyday Life After COVID-19 in Korea. https://www.kpf.or.kr/front/research/consumerListPage.do 132 Korea Broadcast Advertising Corporation, Korea Advertising Expenditure Research. https://adstat.kobaco.co.kr/sub/expenditure_report_view.do?MENU=ad_data&BBS_ID=1308 133 https://www.goad.or.kr/hp/info/govAdStat.do 134 Korea Press Foundation, Newspaper Industry in Korea 2020. https://www.kpf.or.kr/front/research/realityListPage.do 146 / 147

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE KBS News (public broadcaster) 4713 Naver 6212 YTN 4412 Daum 298 TOP BRANDS SBS News 1441 YTN online 268 % Weekly usage MBC News 3913 KBS News online 237 JTBC News 3813 JTBC News online 229 Weekly use Yonhapnews TV 3511 MBC News online 218 TV, radio & print TV Chosun News 2610 Yonhapnews TV online 208 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print MBN News 209 SBS News online 197 Weekly use Channel A News 208 TV Chosun News online 165 online brands Chosun Ilbo 1018 Chosun Ilbo online 147 More than 3 days per week Joongang Ilbo 158 JoongAng Ilbo online 148 online brands Dong-A Ilbo 117 MBN News online 114 Korea Economic Daily 116 Channel A News online 114 Maeil Business Newspaper 116 Yonhapnews online 115 Hankyoreh 106 Dong-A Ilbo online 105 Regional or local newspaper 68 Maeil Business Newspaper online 95

CHANGING MEDIA PAY The use of TV news, which was declining, has rebounded since the outbreak of COVID-19. Social media have become much more 13% 49% important as a source of news, driven by global platforms YouTube, pay for listen to PODCASTS Facebook, and Instagram. ONLINE NEWS in the last month

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2016–21* 2016–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 86% 81% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 71% 66% 66% Printed newspapers 63% Computer 60% 50% 50% TV 48% 42% 32% 28% 18% 12% 12% 0% 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 * 2018 figures for computer use were likely overstated due to an error in polling

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in the news in general Trust Neither Don’t trust has surged (+11pp) amid the BBC 53 35 12 YTN 56 27 17 ITV 45 47 8 COVID-19 pandemic, but JTBC News 55 24 21 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 remains low by international MBC News 53 27 20 Channel 4 42 50 8 standards. Trust in individual KBS News 52 26 22 Sky 39 52 9 media brands has also gone SBS News 51 27 22 (+11) Guardian 39 51 10 up, with a number of 32% 42% Yonhapnews TV 50 29 21 Times 39 51 10 =38/46 Channel A News 41 28 31 broadcasters heading the list Local newspaper 38 55 7 MBN News 41 32 27 – including YTN, a 24/7 cable Independent 33 58 9 37 29 34 news channel, and public JoongAng Ilbo 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 37 25 38 broadcaster KBS. Newspapers, TV Chosun NewsMail 16 47 37 37 32 31 by contrast, tend to be less HankyorehHuPost 13 74 13 36 30 34 trusted. Dong-AMirror Ilbo 11 58 31 35 37 28 26% 21% Kyunghyang ShinmunSun 10 50 40 35 39 26 Regional/localBuzzfeed newspaper News 6 76 18 35 25 40 Chosun Ilbo 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 25% 1 YouTube 44% (-1) 74% 4 Instagram 12% (+3) 41% SHARE NEWS 2 Kakao Talk 27% (-) 75% 5 Twitter 7% (+1) 18% via social, messaging or email 3 Facebook 16% (-3) 39% 6 Kakao Story 5% (-3) 23% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 148

TAIWAN

STATISTICS information to citizens. Technology was widely used, including apps showing the Population 24m numbers of masks left in each drugstore. Internet penetration 93% The Taiwan FactCheck Center, a non-profit organisation made up of journalists and educators, stepped up its efforts to debunk Despite its false information. Other approaches proximity enlisted members of the public to help verify to mainland the authenticity of information via apps like News Helper and Cofacts LINE BOT. China, Taiwan managed to keep the COVID-19 Despite these efforts, rumours and conspiracies still spread, not least from outbreak at bay without the need mainstream media outlets from the China for lockdowns. Early warning Times media group. Two of its pro-China TV about the threat came via posts channels were fined for exaggerating the on a popular online bulletin extent of the virus spread and for ‘violating the principles of fact verification’ by the board, enabling the government National Communications Commission take decisive measures to cut (NCC). The ChungTien News Channel had travel across the Taiwan Strait. falsely claimed in a headline that Taiwan was ‘to be locked down in six days’. Another channel in the group, Chinese Television, One early morning in mid-December 2019, had reported that 148 soldiers had been doctors at the Center for Disease Control infected and were spreading the virus in (CDC) came across a post on Taiwan’s local communities, whereas in fact 24 online bulletin board system (PTT). The sailors from a naval ship had tested positive is linked to the popular messaging app of post included a screenshot of messages and had been quarantined.135 ChungTien the same name, has also gained popularity sent by Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, has been repeatedly fined during its six-year and both organisations have started indicating that at least seven cases of licence period for 25 breaches of media to provide more of their own content, atypical pneumonia had been reported regulations ranging from biased reporting including commentaries, online polls, and in Wuhan, China. The information was to spreading misinformation. discussions. initially covered up in China and Doctor Li was later punished for leaking the As a result of these breaches and its More than two-thirds of Taiwanese use information – before succumbing himself failure to improve internal controls, social media (including Line, Facebook, to the disease. Taiwan had suffered greatly ChungTien’s licence renewal was rejected and YouTube) for all purposes and most during the SARS epidemic in 2003, and the in November 2020 by the NCC and it of them also use the networks for news. government was quick to close its border ceased broadcasting. The opposition Because social media are seen as a key with China at the end of January – two Chinese Nationalist party protested that source of misinformation – as well as months before the European Union acted. the government had interfered with disinformation from foreign forces – the press freedom and undermined Taiwan’s government is proposing regulation via The government was also proactive in democracy. ChungTien’s news channel a new digital communication bill. This creating campaigns around frequent continues to operate online and there is would require platforms to consult local hand washing, keeping a social distance, an ongoing battle to take its crucial slot fact-checking organisations, tell the public and wearing masks and distributed these on cable television. If this slot is given about false information circulated, and messages through daily press conferences, to Public Service Television, this could publish annual reports in how they are as well as social media channels including give more prominence to a news service handling so-called ‘fake news’. Line and Facebook. The government which has gained support from a small but also requisitioned both terrestrial and influential audience in recent years. Lihyun Lin satellite television channels to broadcast a National Taiwan University public health video produced by the CDC. Aggregators play an important part in Taiwanese citizens have historically low online news consumption in Taiwan. trust in the news but the media’s role in Yahoo! News remains the most used digital emphasising public health messages may news source (39% weekly use). It provides have contributed to a significant rise this a convenient one-stop for news from year to 31% (+7pp). A range of NGOs and multiple news providers, along with email, health organisations also contributed to blogs, and games. Line News (34%), which the effort to bring accurate and updated

135 Taiwan adopts a co-regulation approach whereby the public can file complaints about news programmes that are then judged by experts. A content review committee is composed of media scholars, professionals, and NGO representatives who decide if the contents have violated the regulations. The NCC makes the final decision. 148 / 149

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE TVBS News 4211 Yahoo! News 3911 Eastern Broadcasting News 1031 ETtoday online 3814 TOP BRANDS Sanlih E-Television News 2911 Line News 3410 % Weekly usage Formosa TV News 2510 TVBS News online 3212 Apple Daily 2311 EBS News online 239 Weekly use Liberty Times 2010 Sanlih E-Television News online 239 TV, radio & print China TV News (CTV) 187 Apple Daily online 209 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print Taiwan Television News 178 ChungTien News online 187 Weekly use ERA News 157 United Daily online 168 online brands United Daily News 157 Liberty Times online 167 More than 3 days per week Next TV 135 Business Weekly online 127 online brands Unique Satellite TV News 135 China TV News online 125 Public Television Service News 125 CommonWealth Magazine online 128 China Times 115 cnYes.com 115 Business Weekly 117 Storm Media 118 Chinese Television System News 115 Taiwan Television News online 104

CHANGING MEDIA PAY With the routine of most Taiwanese unaffected by the pandemic, news consumption has decreased in the past year across all 14% media sources (television, print, internet, and social media). pay for Print consumption has halved over the last five years. ONLINE NEWS

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2017–21 2017–21 Social media Print 100% 100% Social media Tablet 88% 81% 77% Online (incl. social media) 77% Smartphone Printed65% newspapers Computer 57% 59% 50% 54% 50% TV 55% 41% 41%

19% 20% 14% 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in news has risen seven Trust Neither Don’t trust percentage points at a critical BBC 53 35 12 Public Television Service 52 38 10 ITV 45 47 8 period. Public service Business Weekly 51 40 9 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 television remains the most CommonWealth Magazine 51 41 8 Channel 4 42 50 8 trusted in our survey, followed TVBS News 50 39 11 Sky 39 52 9 by the economic news media Economic Daily 49 43 8 (+7) Guardian 39 51 10 (CommonWealth and Business 31% 38% Ettoday.net 45 42 13 Times 39 51 10 42/46 United Daily 44 42 14 Weekly). The rest of the news Local newspaper 38 55 7 TTV News 44 46 10 brands in the polarised media Independent 33 58 9 41 46 13 landscape are trusted by one China TV News (CTV) 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 37 41 22 group, but distrusted by Liberty TimesMail 16 47 37 37 41 22 another. FormosaHuPost TV News 13 74 13 37 43 20 AppleMirror Daily 11 58 31 37 48 15 29% 21% Central News AgencySun 10 50 40 36 38 26 BuzzfeedSanlih News News 6 76 18 31 49 20 Storm Media 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 33% 1 Line 47% (-2) 70% 4 PTT (bulletin board) 7% (-1) 16% SHARE NEWS 2 Facebook 41% (-6) 66% 5 Facebook Messenger 7% (-1) 33% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 38% (-3) 65% 6 Instagram 7% (-1) 29% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 150

THAILAND

STATISTICS Thai Rath TV 32, and Channel 7 HD. Radio remains a popular medium in Thailand, Population 70m with MCOT 100.5 News Network attracting Internet penetration 82% most listeners.

There is often a blurry and somewhat The media symbiotic line between the alternative industry in and traditional media. Some prominent journalists work for traditional media, but Thailand have also built up an independent profile is facing a online. On their own websites or via social period of profound change as a media, they can tackle different subjects or be more outspoken. Some get additional result of digital disruption and income from donations or from product societal change. Student-led placement. In turn, mainstream media pro-democracy protests fuelled often report what is trending in social by social media have helped to media, allowing them to extend the scope of their coverage without getting into open up the media that have trouble with the authorities. long been reluctant to criticise The print media, which are largely privately the authorities. run, include a handful of Thai-language dailies, including Thai Rath Daily, Khaosod, YouTube and Facebook Lives were at the and Daily News. Many papers have found heart of the recent anti-establishment it hard to adapt to online, and some have Our survey shows that the majority of protests that started in 2020 but have closed (M2F) or have cut staff.Post Today Thais (61%) are concerned about being continued through this year. Alternative and The Nation dailies transitioned to able to distinguish true and fake news on media have built substantial audiences via online-only in 2019. Newspapers do not the internet, with topics such as COVID-19 social platforms, with content that often charge subscriptions for online news in and politics most frequently mentioned. openly criticises the government and the Thailand, relying instead on advertising The government passed a wide-ranging monarchy – something that was previously income or from cross-subsidies from law, the Computer Crime Act, claiming unheard of in this strongly deferential television if they are part of a bigger to protect citizens137. But critics fear the 136 country . Facebook, YouTube, and Line are media brand. vagueness of the provisions and harsh the most important networks, but Twitter penalties could be used to stifle legitimate and TikTok have also played essential roles The preferences of Thai people to watch critics of the government. in the protests, especially with younger or listen to the news rather than read has users. Beyond news, Thais have embraced been much discussed. This puts further Intense competition has led to a battle social platforms more widely, with pressure on printed media – despite a for attention amongst media companies, celebrities and influencers playing a more number of government campaigns to which in turn has increased levels of prominent role. get younger people to read. It also helps sensationalism and negativity in Thai explain the popularity of Facebook journalism. Stories that involve insults or Against this background, traditional Lives and YouTube as key ways in which dramas tend to attract bigger audiences broadcasters and newspapers have been journalism is delivered – often accessed and are often spiced up with emojis struggling to adapt. The media are free to from the markets or from public transport or other visual accompaniments. For criticise government policies and cover due to widely available ‘unlimited data’ instance, crime stories are widely covered, instances of corruption and human rights packages from many telecom operators. with one recent murder suspect becoming abuses. But journalists tend to exercise a nationwide celebrity as a result of self-censorship regarding the military, the Smartphones have been widely adopted in wall-to-wall media coverage. As a result, monarchy, and other sensitive issues. They Thailand and, for many, they are now the those that still practise more traditional also face financial pressures as a result main or only access point for the internet journalism are getting left behind, and of digital change. Following an expensive and internet news. Mobile portals that many worry about the future of serious battle to win digital television licences in aggregate news from different providers investigations and documentaries. 2014, many channels have had to close are a popular way to access news in down due to financial losses. Only 15 of the Thailand – valued for their convenience. Professor Jantima Kheokao licensed 24 stations are still broadcasting Both Line Today (36%) and Pantip.com University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, after failing to attract sufficient ratings and (34%) are accessed by more than a third of and Dhanaraj Kheokao advertising revenue. In our survey, the top our survey respondents weekly. Potsdam University, Germany three television stations are Channel 3 HD,

136 https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/how-activists-and-digital-publishers-are-redefining-media-freedoms-thailand 137 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-cyber-idUSKCN1QH1OB 150 / 151

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Channel 3 HD 3610 Thai Rath online 1051 Thai Rath TV 32 339 Thai PBS News online 3213 TOP BRANDS Thai Rath Daily 1231 Khaosod online 279 % Weekly usage Channel One 31 2910 PPTV online 2310 Channel 7 HD 298 MCOT News Network online 229 Weekly use Thai PBS (public broadcaster) 259 The Reporter Thailand 2111 TV, radio & print Amarin TV HD 34 257 Matichon online 207 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print PPTV 36 237 Voice 185 Weekly use MCOT 30 (incl. Thai News Agency) 218 BBC News online 188 online brands Khaosod 209 MSN News 169 More than 3 days per week Channel 8 News 196 CNN.com 165 online brands Nation TV 22 176 Yahoo! News 1016 Daily News 1017 Nation online 145 True4U News 146 Manager online (mgronline) 145 Matichon 136 Bangkok Post online 136 MCOT News Network FM 100.5 136 The Standard Thailand 113

CHANGING MEDIA In this (online) survey, online sources stand out as people’s main source of information (91%), outperforming traditional media like TV (51%) and print (15%). Facebook (66%) and Line (56%) are the main social networks for accessing news.

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 51% 91% 31% 81%

Print Social media Tablet 15% 78% 19%

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in the media (50%) is Trust Neither Don’t trust relatively high by regional BBC 53 35 12 Thai PBS 70 22 8 ITV 45 47 8 standards, but traditional Thai Thai Rath 70 21 9 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 deference towards institutions Channel 7 HD 68 25 7 Channel 4 42 50 8 – including journalists – is MCOT News Network 68 25 7 Sky 39 52 9 starting to breakdown. Thai Krobkruakao 3 68 24 8 Guardian 39 51 10 PBS and Thai Rath have the 50% 50% Khaosod 67 24 9 Times 39 51 10 =14/46 Amarin 64 25 11 highest levels of brand trust, Local newspaper 38 55 7 Matichon online 63 27 10 with the Nation, which came Independent 33 58 9 63 26 11 under fire in recent protests Matichon Daily 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 62 29 9 for a pro-establishment/its BangkokMail Post 16 47 37 58 31 11 business owners’ bias, least HuPostManager 13 74 13 58 28 14 trusted. This may change MirrorVoice 11 58 31 56 35 9 following a recent transfer 46% 38% ISRANEWS AgencySun 10 50 40 Thinking Radio 52 40 8 of ownership. Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 51 25 24 Nation 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 47% 1 Facebook 66% 80% 4 Facebook Messenger 27% 53% SHARE NEWS 2 Line 56% 78% 5 Twitter 21% 32% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 53% 79% 6 TikTok 14% 30% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 152 152 / 153

SECTION 3 Analysis by Country and Market Africa

AFRICA 3.44 Kenya 154 3.45 Nigeria 156 3.46 South Africa 158 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 154

KENYA

STATISTICS region. However, several laws restrict press freedom and incidents of harassment of Population 55m journalists are rarely investigated. This and Internet penetration 85% the high dependency on advertising leads self-censorship as the media are often afraid to ask hard questions about corporate Kenyan failures and government corruption. media were The Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes suffering from Act of 2018, which criminalises falsehoods pre-existing and misinformation and penalises those financial instability before the convicted with a fine of US$50,000 or a maximum of two years’ imprisonment, has COVID-19 pandemic as they been used to harass journalists, bloggers, struggled to come to terms with and other activists who have been critical digital disruption. Despite these of the government’s handling of the new challenges, the media are still a Coronavirus. The establishment of a multi-agency team to monitor, document, trusted source of news and the and enforce compliance with media choices available to consumers broadcasting laws and social media continue to expand. guidance ahead of the 2022 general with consumers. A digital tax introduced election has also had a chilling effect on in January 2021, which is charged on press freedom. At least ten journalists and subscription-based media, including news, Kenya leads the region in internet digital content creators have since been magazines, and journals, may further connectivity, mobile phone use, and social arrested or threatened with prosecution dampen the expected growth. More than media engagement and this in turn has under the provisions of the Act. They 300 journalists have lost their jobs as part made the country a pioneer in both digital have been accused of spreading false and of media cost-saving measures and those consumption and innovation. Our survey alarming information on social media about that remain have had to accept hefty salary shows that most of our Kenyan sample the new Coronavirus.140 At least ten others cuts (between 30% and 50%).141 (83%) use a smartphone rather than a were arrested under the Public Order Act computer to access news each week and the for allegedly flouting the curfew, even The Kenya Editors Guild and the Media GSMA estimates that Kenya will have seven though journalists have been identified as Council of Kenya have suggested the million new mobile subscribers by 2025.138 essential service providers and therefore creation of a media sustainability fund, but others worry that such a fund could For most Kenyans, though, free-to-air exempted from the curfew restrictions. make the media even more vulnerable digital terrestrial TV still remains the most So-called ‘fake news’ is a phenomenon to pressure from politicians, risking popular medium – with radio also reaching of deep concern for consumers, with the further undermining independence. An a significant proportion of the population majority (75%) of those surveyed agreeing early casualty of the changing business via more than 150 licensed stations in that they found it hard to distinguish circumstances is HiviSasa.com, a digital multiple languages. between what is real and what is fake pioneer that closed after it was unable Media ownership is concentrated when it comes to news on the internet. to identify a viable advertisement-led among the political elite, reinforcing the Over half of our sample indicated that business model. perception that the media are ‘captured’ they had come across false or misleading Several local media organisations have by political and corporate interests to the information about health/COVID-19 (56%) partnered with international news detriment of their public interest role. A or politics (63%) in the last week. organisations such as the BBC, VOA, study conducted by the Media Council of Restrictions around COVID-19 have and DW to re-transmit their broadcasts. Kenya showed that just ten media owners affected the sales of print newspapers, The Nation Media Group also joined the – including the Nation Media Group, The partly due to fear of infection from surface rapidly expanding podcast market when Standard Group, Radio Africa Group (Star+), contact and deprioritisation of spend it launched Afripods, a new platform the Royal Media Services Group (Citizen TV, on news in household budgets. Media designed to showcase African content. Citizen Radio, etc.), and Mediamax (People organisations have reported losses and Daily, K24TV, Kameme FM) – dominate some, like the Nation and the Standard, Catherine Gicheru the landscape.139 are pinning their hopes on the growth ICFJ Fellow and Director of the Africa Women Journalism Project142 Kenyan media are considered to be more of digital subscriptions, even though vibrant when compared to others in the paying for news online is not popular

138 GSMA, ‘Mobile Economy Africa’, 2020. https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/sub-saharan-africa/ 139 Council of Media of Kenya, Media Status Report, May 2012. https://issuu.com/mediacouncilkenya/docs/status_of_media_in_kenya_report 140 https://www.article19.org/resources/kenya-journalists-attacked/ 141 https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/kenyan-editors-in-plea-for-media-journalists-1444020 142 https://theawjp.org/ 154 / 155

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Citizen TV 7213 Citizen Digital 5711 Daily Nation 6233 Nation online 5523 TOP BRANDS KTN News (incl. KTN Home) 5919 Kenyans.co.ke 5227 % Weekly usage NTV (Nation TV) 4717 KTN News (incl. KTN Home) 4412 The Standard 4526 The Standard online 4319 Weekly use Citizen Radio 3214 NTV online 3412 TV, radio & print K-24 3016 Nairobi News 2027 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print CNN 249 Yahoo! News 2412 Weekly use BBC News 2310 BBC News online 249 online brands KBC News (public broadcaster) 2212 CNN.com 238 More than 3 days per week Radio Maisha 2010 The Star online 2011 online brands The Star 2014 Al-Jazeera online 185 Classic FM 199 Citizen Radio online 188 The Nairobian 1419 The Nairobian online 1811 Radio Jambo 179 K-24 online 177 The People Daily (free daily) 1015 Business Daily online 159

METHODOLOGY NOTE These data are based on an online survey of mainly English-speaking, online news users in Kenya – a subset of a larger, more diverse, media market. Respondents were generally more affluent, younger (18–50 only), have higher levels of formal education, and are more likely to live in cities than the overall Kenyan population. Findings should not be taken to be nationally representative.

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 73% 88% 49% 83% (-1) (-2) (-6) (-)

Print Social media Tablet 36% 76% 9% (-11) (-1) (-2)

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust in media is relatively high Trust Neither Don’t trust by international standards, BBC 53 35 12 KTN News 89 5 6 ITV 45 47 8 with 61% saying they trust Citizen TV 89 5 6 News overall News I use FT 45 50 5 most news most of the time. Daily Nation 89 6 5 Channel 4 42 50 8 By contrast, trust is lower in NTV 89 5 6 Sky 39 52 9 the news found in social media Citizen Radio 87 7 6 (+11) Guardian 39 51 10 or search engines. KTN News, 61% 65% The Standard 86 7 7 Times 39 51 10 =2/46 The Business Daily 84 8 8 Citizen TV, the Daily Nation, Local newspaper 38 55 7 Radio Maisha 81 11 8 and NTV are the most trusted Independent 33 58 9 81 10 9 sources of news. K-24 TV 30 56 14 News in search News in social Telegraph 79 11 10 KBC NewsMail 16 47 37 79 11 10 HuPostTaifa Leo 13 74 13 78 12 10 RadioMirror Jambo 11 58 31 74 14 12 55% 40% The People DailySun 10 50 40 70 14 16 BuzzfeedThe News Star 6 76 18 58 19 23 The Nairobian 0% 100% Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands. TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 54% 1 WhatsApp 64% (-3) 88% 4 Twitter 34% (-6) 49% SHARE NEWS 2 Facebook 62% (-4) 79% 5 Instagram 22% (-4) 47% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 47% (-4) 78% 6 Facebook Messenger 20% (-1) 46% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 156

NIGERIA

STATISTICS of misinformation online. The law will enable the government to order internet Population 211m shutdowns and block access to social Internet penetration 73% media sites. 144

The corollary to government attempts to Nigeria’s vibrant influence the media is that independently media scene is owned news brands that are perceived to be free of political control come out best characterised in our Brand Trust Scores. Channels TV is by state and the most trusted brand at 84%, followed private broadcasters, popular by Vanguard (82%), The Punch (82%), and the Guardian (80%) – all privately owned international brands like the BBC daily newspapers. and CNN, and more than 100 national and local print titles, In terms of top news sources accessed, big offline brands like Channels TV and many of which are struggling The Punch head the list, but international with digital transition. Relations brands CNN and BBC are popular online between the media and the with our respondents. The Punch, the Guardian, and Vanguard have seen more government are often difficult. traffic and increased online revenue. Industry data show The Punch’s traffic Nigeria’s information minister’s response increasing from 17.7 million visits in to the announcement that Twitter had February to 28.8 million in March. Daily chosen to set up its first African office in Trust also launched a new product called neighbouring Ghana instead of Nigeria Trust TV with the aim to capture a However, in line with global trends, the was to blame the media. He said the media younger audience. pandemic adversely affected advertising had misrepresented the country when spend in Nigeria, with analysts forecasting reporting protests calling for reforms to the As befits a population where 70% of that Nigerian newspapers may be forced to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (#EndSARS), citizens are below the age of 30, news cut about 10% of staff.147 which spiked in October 2020. ’This is consumed on mobile (84%) is more what you get when you de-market your than double the number of readers on Independent radio network Dandal Kura own country,’ the minister told reporters. computers (41%), while tablets lag behind International reported that it had cut ‘Nigerian journalists were … painting at 11%. Nigeria has relatively low data salaries – for some people by as much Nigeria as a hell where nobody should live.’ charges, ranking 43rd on the recent 230 as 80% – and at least a third of the staff country list of mobile data pricing.145 were instructed not to attend work due It’s indicative of the fractious relationship This enables the high usage of social to pandemic-related cuts in advertising between the government and media, and media, a fertile ground for the spread of spend. Punch reduced its newspaper page indeed of the inimical conditions in which misinformation, which includes claims count from 48 to 32 pages, and retrenched Nigerian journalists have to operate. The that consuming cow urine, or a mixture workers or cut their salaries. The Nation Media Foundation for West Africa said of garlic and honey, cures COVID. The cut 100 of its staff, a 20% reduction. Nigeria was among the countries in the impact is exacerbated by the fact that region where journalists are assaulted, misinformation on social media can There are many other examples of what attacked, or have had equipment seized migrate to legitimate news sites.146 is a drastic cut in income for journalists, and destroyed while covering COVID-19.143 and a decline in media resources, with Journalists reported that, in some states, The COVID-19 pandemic saw a number the Nigeria Union of Journalists pointing stories relating to the pandemic had to be of media organisations come up with out that only state-owned outlets were approved by the taskforce set up by the innovative ideas to quell the spread of relatively unaffected. This is an unequal state before they could be published. The misinformation by ensuring fact-checked dynamic between independent journalism 2021 World Press Freedom Index ranks information was available in a number of and state-controlled media and is not an Nigeria at 120 out of 180 countries, with languages. BBC Africa launched a minute- environment currently conducive to the journalists facing harassment, arrest, and long broadcast that aimed to provide an thriving of a free press. prosecution when reporting on corruption educational aspect as well as provide the and terrorism. Nigerian lawmakers are audience with updated information. This Adaugo Isaac and Chris Roper currently reviewing legislation, with a broadcast segment was also published on Code for Africa view to criminalising the dissemination the phone app of mobile company MTN.

143 https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/west-africas-press-freedoms-risk-during-coronavirus 144 https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/rights-groups-sound-alarm-over-waning-press-freedoms-nigeria 145 https://www.cable.co.uk/mobiles/worldwide-data-pricing/ 146 https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-03-06/nigeria-fights-fake-news-about-coronavirus 147 https://gijn.org/2020/04/27/coronavirus-may-spell-the-end-for-many-of-africas-print-newspapers/ 156 / 157

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE Channels TV (24-hour news) 5214 CNN.com 5617 The Punch 4924 BBC News online 5417 TOP BRANDS CNN 4715 Punch online 5219 % Weekly usage TVC News (24-hour news) 4516 Vanguard online 4317 BBC News (TV and radio) 3915 Sahara Reporters 4217 Weekly use The Vanguard 3821 Pulse.ng 4219 TV, radio & print The Guardian 2034 Daily Trust online 1331 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print National Television Authority 1231 News 24 3015 Weekly use Daily Trust 2916 Naija gist 2916 online brands The Sun 2818 The Daily Post online 2415 More than 3 days per week Wazobia FM 2812 Premium Times 178 online brands Cool FM 2212 The Nation Nigeria 168 Arise TV News 1021 Tribune 137 ThisDay 1913 News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) 128 Raypower FM 179 Online Nigeria 127 Silverbird Television news 1711 Information Nigeria 117

METHODOLOGY NOTE These data are based on a survey of English-speaking, online news users in Nigeria – a subset of a larger, more diverse, media market. Respondents are generally more affluent, younger (18–50 only), have higher levels of formal education, and are more likely to live in cities than the wider Nigerian population. Findings should not be taken to be nationally representative.

SOURCES OF NEWS DEVICES FOR NEWS

TV Online (including social media) Computer Smartphone 66% 94% 41% 84%

Print Social media Tablet 28% 78% 11%

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Trust Neither Don’t trust Trust in news is relatively high BBC 53 35 12 by international standards 45 47 8 ChannelsITV TV 84 7 9 (54%), with particularly high 45 50 5 News overall News I use VanguardFT 82 10 8 42 50 8 scores for independent news ChannelPunch 4 82 10 8 39 52 9 brands. By contrast, social The GuardianSky 80 12 8 39 51 10 media trust is at a low 38%, GuardianTVC News 77 12 11 39 51 10 despite 78% of respondents 54% 60% TheTimes Sun 77 12 11 38 55 7 saying they get news from =7/46 Local newspaperArise TV 76 13 11 33 58 9 social media. WhatsApp and IndependentThe Nation 76 14 10 Telegraph 30 56 14 Facebook lead at 65% and ThisDay 74 15 11 News in search News in social Mail 16 47 37 63% respectively as sources Premium Times 74 15 11 HuPost 13 74 13 for news each week. Africa Independent Television 74 13 13 Mirror 11 58 31 The Cable 72 16 12 Sun 10 50 40 55% 38% News Agency of Nigeria 63 20 17 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Stears Business 56 28 16

0% 100%

Trust = % scored 6-10 on 10-point scale. Don’t trust = 0-4, Neither = 5. Those that haven’t heard of each brand were excluded. Only the above brands were included in the survey so should not be treated as a list of the most trusted brands.

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA AND MESSAGING

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 59% 1 WhatsApp 65% 88% 4 YouTube 34% 70% SHARE NEWS 2 Facebook 63% 82% 5 Instagram 34% 63% via social, messaging or email 3 Twitter 44% 58% 6 Telegram 23% 50% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 158

SOUTH AFRICA

STATISTICS Benefiting from an innovative partnership with the loyalty scheme of a major Population 60m supermarket chain, Daily Maverick claim Internet penetration 58% a circulation of 31,000 copies per week for the seven weeks leading up to end March. Too new to feature in this year’s survey, the South Africa has newspaper undoubtedly benefits from the one of the most Daily Maverick’s growing reach online (up diverse and from 11% to 19%) and growth in trust from 60% in 2020 to 66%. independent media in Africa with a high degree The Daily Maverick was, however, responsible for an egregious editorial of press freedom. But structural blunder when they published a story in change combined with the effects February 2021 by renowned investigative of the COVID-19 pandemic are journalist Jacques Pauw, in which he putting intense pressure on the apparently concocted details of false arrest and police harassment. The DM finances of news organisations and journalist issued apologies, but the – at the same time as increasing incident was seized upon by those eager demand for authoritative and to discredit reputable media. Trust in media is, however, based on a number of fact-based news. variables. Independent Online, the digital channel for Independent Media, scores All large media houses in South Africa have just one percentage point (65%) below seen a precipitous decline in circulation the Daily Maverick (66%), despite having and revenue for print over the last year, embarked on a dizzying spiral of publishing that attacks journalists reporting on with a concomitant knock-on effect for misinformation and blatantly invented the corruption hearings around former some of their digital products. As an news.149 Its daily newspaper, The Star, which president Jacob Zuma, attempting to paint example, circulations for daily newspapers lost 60% of its circulation Q2 2019–20, is the reporting as either racist propaganda are down by 40%, on average, for Q2 placed just above with a trust score of 68%. or by media biased toward a particular 148 2020/2021. Our Digital News Report government faction.150 survey shows that print as a source of news A notable mover in the survey is television has dropped to 32%, 5pp down from last channel eNCA, whose trust score is up 4pp The DNR shows that concern about year. It can only be a matter of time before to 82%, making it the third most trusted misinformation is higher in Africa (74%) we see more print titles closing. brand in South Africa, a position it also held than other regions, with the global average last year. eNCA’s television reach jumped at 58%. In South Africa, there have been Not all the indicators are discouraging. 18pp to 58%, making it the most accessed calls by politicians for Facebook to be Several news sites have built sustainable offline brand, pushing the SABC into second summoned to parliament to discuss steps businesses, with the likes of Daily Maverick place at 53%. Its online reach also jumped to fight misinformation on its platforms. and Netwerk24 operating effectively on 15pp. This was despite eNCA being fined by Facebook owns three of the top six an amalgam of membership/subscription the Broadcasting Complaints Commission platforms used by South Africans – with models and advertising, and investigative of SA for contravening the Broadcast WhatsApp (88%) and Facebook (78%) the specialists amaBhungane on donor Code by featuring conspiracy theorist and most used networks for any purpose and funding. Relatively new to the subscription COVID-19 denialist David Icke on one of for news. Generally, the economic and trust model game is News24, the country’s their talk shows. In March 2021, the SABC pressures on media that the big platforms leading news site (73% of people surveyed cut back over 621 of their 3,000 employees, facilitate are mirrored by the political access it at least weekly) and joint most- significantly impacting the public environment, with a range of interest trusted brand with the BBC. Launching broadcaster’s ability to provide a wide range groups invested in problematising the their paywall in August 2020, they reached of services in multiple languages. notion of truth, particularly with reference 20,000 subscribers in the first two months. to investigative media. As is the global norm, social media Incredibly, in the midst of a pandemic and a platforms have become an important Chris Roper generally disastrous revenue environment arena for corrupt politicians, criminal Deputy CEO, Code for Africa for news, the Daily Maverick launched businesspeople, and conspiracy theorists a weekly, high-quality print publication in their attempts to discredit news media. called DM168 in September 2020. For example, there is an active, self-titled Radical Economic Transformation group

148 https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/the-terrifying-collapse-of-newspapers-is-here/ 149 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-11-25-iqbal-surves-campaign-of-lies/ 150 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-03-30-beware-the-rising-intensity-of-warfare-against-democracy-and-south-africas-constitution/ 158 / 159

WEEKLY REACH OFFLINE TV, RADIO AND PRINT ONLINE AND ONLINE eNCA 5815 News24 2073 SABC News (incl. SABC 1,2,3) 5312 SABC News online 5115 TOP BRANDS SABC radio news 3312 eNCA online 4514 % Weekly usage CNN 3212 CNN.com 2711 BBC News 3113 Daily Sun online 2512 Weekly use Daily Sun 2614 BBC News online 2511 TV, radio & print Local radio news 2611 TimesLive 2011 More than 3 days per week TV, radio & print The Sunday Times 2619 Daily Maverick 1019 Weekly use The Citizen 1017 The Citizen online 1912 online brands City Press 1711 IOL 198 More than 3 days per week Sowetan 1711 City Press online 1911 online brands Regional or local newspaper 1611 Netwerk24 1018 Newzroom Afrika 167 Eyewitness News (EWN) 178 Mail & Guardian 149 Mail & Guardian online 169 SAFM 135 BusinessTech.co.za 1016 UkhoziFM 135 SowetanLive 158

METHODOLOGY NOTE These data are based on a survey of English-speaking, online news users in South Africa – an important part of a larger, more diverse, media market. Respondents are generally more affluent, younger, have higher levels of formal education, and are more likely to live in cities than the wider South African population. Findings should not be taken to be nationally representative.

SOURCES OF NEWS Online (incl. social media) DEVICES FOR NEWS TV 2019–21 2019–21 Social media Print 100% 100% 90% 91% Social media Tablet 83% Online (incl. social media) Smartphone 72% 75% 76% 74% 68% Printed newspapers58% Computer 55% 50% 50% TV 40% 32% 19% 18%

0% 0% 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021

TRUST DIFFERENT TYPES BRAND TRUST SCORES OF TRUST Despite some high-profile Trust Neither Don’t trust editorial errors, and a BBC 53 35 12 BBC News 83 10 7 concerted effort by agents of ITV 45 47 8 News overall News I use News24 83 9 8 FT 45 50 5 misinformation to attack eNCA 82 10 8 Channel 4 42 50 8 media credibility, 2021 saw a SABC News 78 10 12 Sky 39 52 9 growth in trust in news overall Sunday Times 76 14 10 (+4) Guardian 39 51 10 (52%, up 4pp from 2020). It’s 52% 57% Mail & Guardian 75 17 8 Times 39 51 10 possible that the surfacing of 12/46 EWN (Eye Witness News) 73 17 10 Local newspaper 38 55 7 the debate has educated users Regional/local newspaper 73 17 10 Independent 33 58 9 in understanding, and placing TimesLive 72 18 10 News in search News in social Telegraph 30 56 14 City Press 68 20 12 value on, the editorial integrity Mail 16 47 37 The Star 68 20 12 of trusted brands. HuPost 13 74 13 Daily Maverick 66 23 11 Mirror 11 58 31 IOL 65 22 13 47% 29% Sun 10 50 40 Sowetan 62 23 15 Buzzfeed News 6 76 18 Daily Sun 50 22 28

Rank Brand For News For All Rank Brand For News For All 61% 1 Facebook 55% (-2) 78% 4 Twitter 28% (+5) 44% SHARE NEWS 2 WhatsApp 52% (+3) 88% 5 Instagram 17% (-) 46% via social, messaging or email 3 YouTube 39% (-) 77% 6 Telegram 13% (+8) 34% Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 160 160 / 161

SECTION 4 References and Selected Publications

The authors welcome feedback on this report and suggestions on how to improve our work via [email protected] as well as potential partnerships and support for our ongoing work. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism / Digital News Report 2021 162

References

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Boykoff, M. T., Boykoff, J. M. 2004. ‘Balance as Bias: Global Warming and the US Prestige Press’, Global Environmental Change 14(2), 125–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2003.10.001

Cherubini, F., Newman, N., Nielsen, R. K. 2020. Changing Newsrooms 2020: Addressing Diversity and Nurturing Talent at a Time of Unprecedented Change. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Hiles, S. S., Hinnant, A. 2014. ‘Climate Change in the Newsroom: Journalists’ Evolving Standards of Objectivity When Covering Global Warming’, Science Communication 36(4), 428–53. https:// doi.org/10.1177/1075547014534077

Hoffman, L. H., Eveland, W. P. 2010. ‘Assessing Causality in the Relationship between Community Attachment and Local News Media Use’, Mass Communication and Society 13(2), 174–95. https:// doi.org/10.1080/15205430903012144

Kreiss, D. 2019. ‘The Social Identity of Journalists‘, Journalism 20(1), 27–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918807595

McLeod, J. M., Daily, K., Zhongshi, G., Eveland, W. P., Jan, B., Seungchan, Y., Hsu, W. 1996. ‘Community Integration, Local Media Use, and Democratic Processes’, Communication Research 23(2), 179–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365096023002002

Marchi, R. 2012. ‘With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic “Objectivity”’, Journal of Communication Inquiry 36(3), 246–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859912458700

Newman, N., Gallo, N. 2020. Daily News Podcasts: Building New Habits in the Shadow of Coronavirus. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Thurman, N., Cornia, A., Kunert, J. 2016. Journalists in the UK. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

Vallone, R. P., Ross, L., Lepper, M. R. 1985. ‘The Hostile Media Phenomenon: Biased Perception and Perceptions of Media Bias in Coverage of the Beirut Massacre’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49(3), 577–585. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022- 3514.49.3.577

Zunino, E., Arcangeletti Yacante, C. A. 2020. ‘Media Coverage of COVID-19 in Argentina: A Study about the Agendas of the Pandemic in the Main National Digital Media’, Prácticas de Oficio 25(1), 49–66. https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/121490 162 / 163

Recent Reuters Institute Publications

An Ongoing Infodemic: How People in Eight Countries Access and Rate Daily News Podcasts: Building New Habits in the Shadow of Coronavirus News and Information about Coronavirus a Year into the Pandemic Nic Newman and Nathan Gallo Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Anne Schulz, and Richard Fletcher Communications in the Coronavirus Crisis: Lessons for the Second Wave Listening to What Trust in News Means to Users: Qualitative Evidence Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos, from Four Countries and Felix M. Simon Benjamin Toff, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila Mont’Alverne, Amy Ross Arguedas, Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Changing Newsrooms 2020: Addressing Diversity and Nurturing Talent at a Time of Unprecedented Change Women and Leadership in the News Media 2021: Evidence from Twelve Federica Cherubini, Nic Newman, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Markets Craig T. Robertson, Meera Selva, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Few Winners, Many Losers: The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Dramatic and Unequal Impact on Independent News Media Race and Leadership in the News Media 2021: Evidence from Five Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Federica Cherubini, and Simge Andı Markets Craig T. Robertson, Meera Selva, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Publish Less, but Publish Better: Pivoting to Paid in Local News Joy Jenkins Journalism, Media, and Technology Trends and Predictions 2021 Nic Newman Information Inequality in the UK Coronavirus Communications Crisis Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos, Felix M. Simon, What We Think We Know and What We Want to Know: and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Perspectives on Trust in News in a Changing World Benjamin Toff, Sumitra Badrinathan, Camila Mont’Alverne, Social Media Communities and Reporting of the COVID-19 Pandemic Amy Ross Arguedas, Richard Fletcher, and Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Mark Frankel

Women and News: An Overview of Audience Behaviour in Eleven Volume and Patterns of Toxicity in Social Media Conversations during Countries the COVID-19 Pandemic Meera Selva and Simge Andı Sílvia Majó-Vázquez, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Joan Verdú, Nandan Rao, Manlio de Domenico, and Omiros Papaspiliopoulos Hearts and Minds: Harnessing Leadership, Culture, and Talent to Really Go Digital Lucy Kueng

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism is dedicated to exploring the future of journalism worldwide through debate, engagement, and research. It is part of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford, and affiliated with Green Templeton College. Core funding comes from the Thomson Reuters Foundation with additional support from a wide range of other funders including academic funding bodies, foundations, non-profits, and industry partners. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism e: [email protected] w: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk w: www.digitalnewsreport.org/2021

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