The 2017 Digital News Report surveyed 70,000 people across 36 markets on five continents to provide new insights into our digital news consumption. This research is a reminder that the digital revolution is full of contradictions and exceptions. These differences are captured in individual country pages that can be found towards the end of the report. They contain critical industry context written by experts as well as key charts and data points.
The report explores news consumption in: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
As well as country-by country analysis, the report also contains an essay by Melissa Bell, Publisher and Co-founder of Vox Media and an executive summary by Lead Author Nic Newman. Explore the report, along with a video breakdown and full interactive graphics, on our Digital News Report website: http://digitalnewsreport.org/.
1. Reuters Institute Digital
News Report 2017
You are welcome to use the data and slides in this
report for any purpose (commercial or non-
commercial) in return for simple attribution under
a Creative Commons license
We welcome feedback and questions at
info@digitalnewsreport.org
@risj_oxford | #DNR17 |
3. METHODOLOGY
Country Sample Size
Internet
penetration
USA 2,269 89%
UK 2,112 94%
Germany 2,062 89%
France 2,000 84%
Italy 2,011 63%
Spain 2,006 78%
Portugal 2,007 64%
Ireland 2,002 77%
Norway 2,056 98%
Sweden 2,021 93%
Finland 2,007 93%
Denmark 2,011 98%
Country Sample Size
Internet
penetration
Belgium 2,009 88%
Netherlands 2,006 95%
Switzerland 2,005 89%
Austria 2,000 82%
Hungary 2,004 80%
Slovakia 2,002 82%
Czech Republic 2,003 88%
Poland 2,013 73%
Romania 2,029 52%
Croatia 2,005 70%
Greece 2,002 66%
Turkey 2,005 58%
Country Sample Size
Internet
penetration
Japan 2,000 91%
Korea, South 2,002 92%
Taiwan 1,017 84%
Hong Kong 2,015 80%
Malaysia 2,108 68%
Singapore 2,000 81%
Australia 2,004 92%
Canada 2,000 93%
Urban Brazil 2,003 68%
Argentina 2,001 79%
Chile 2,005 80%
Mexico 2,003 53%
Polling by
Supported by
RESEARCH CONDUCTED ONLINE IN JANUARY/EARLY FEBRUARY 2017
4. IN THE ERA OF FAKE NEWS
ONLY …
24%
agree Social media
does a good job in
separating fact
from fiction
“PEOPLE SHARE
WITHOUT
READING THE
INFORMATION IN
THE ARTICLE”
Female (21), USA
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
5. IN THE ERA OF FAKE NEWS …
40%
agree the news media
does a good job in
separating fact
from fiction
“IT’S THEIR JOB TO
REPORT THE
FACTS”
“IT’S THEIR JOB … TO
REPORT THE FACTS”
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
6. IN THE ERA OF FAKE NEWS …
40%
agree the news media
does a good job in
separating fact
from fiction
“CREDIBLE INFORMATION
WITH WRITERS NAMES
ATTACHED”
“IT’S THEIR JOB … TO
REPORT THE FACTS”
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
7. TRUST VARIES ACROSS COUNTRIES
38
USA
53% trust
sources
they use
% THAT AGREE THEY TRUST NEWS MOST OF THE TIME
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
8. POLARISATION IN USA
AUDIENCE MAP FOR TOP ONLINE NEWS BRANDS
“FOX NEWS
KEEPS IT FAIR;
CNN TELLS US LEFT
WING LIES!”
“THEY ARE SO FAR
TO THE LEFT, THEY
MIGHT
FALL OFF ..”
Mid point
The so-called ‘liberal media’
Fox News
New York Times
W Post Yahoo News!CNN
THOSE ON THE POLITICAL RIGHT ALMOST 3X AS LIKELY TO DISTRUST THE NEWS MEDIA
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
9. UK MEDIA LANDSCAPE
AUDIENCE MAP FOR TOP ONLINE NEWS BRANDS
“I USED TO TRUST AND
VALUE THE BBC NEWS BUT NOW IT’S JUST
A MOUTHPIECE FOR
THE LIBERAL LEFTISTS.”
Male (52), UK
“EVEN THE BBC TENDS
TO SUPPORT [A] FAR RIGHT
WINGED PARTY NOWADAYS.”
Female (54), UK
Mid point
MailOnlineGuardian Online BBC News Online
The Canary
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
10. GERMANY IS LESS POLARISED
AUDIENCE MAP FOR TOP ONLINE NEWS BRANDS
“I DON’T ALWAYS TRUST THE
MEDIA, ESPECIALLY IN MATTERS
RELATING TO THE REFUGEE
CRISIS”
Female (56), Germany
THERE IS A LOT THAT IS HUSHED
UP IN THE MEDIA..”
Female (30), Germany
Mid point
N24
Zeit Online
ARD (Tageschau)
Spiegel online Focus
Bild.de
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
11. ONLINE NEWS MEDIA POLARISATION SCORE
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
SELECTED COUNTRIES
HIGHER SCORE -> HIGHER POLARIZATION IN MEDIA USE
12. DIFFERENT BRANDS ARE TRUSTED FOR DIFFERENT THINGS
SELECTED UK BRANDS
% WHO SAY BEST FOR …
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
13. DIFFERENT BRANDS ARE TRUSTED FOR DIFFERENT THINGS
SELECTED ITALIAN BRANDS
% who say best for
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
14. WEEKLY NEWS REACH OF SELECTED INTERNATIONAL BRANDS
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
16. AROUND HALF NOW USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR NEWS …
Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? (Please select all that apply)/Q10 Thinking about how you
FIND news online, which are the main ways that you come across news stories? - Used social media and came across news that way. Base:
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
USA
UK
51%
41%
54% AVERAGE ACROSS ALL COUNTRIES, MORE IN LATIN AMERICA AND SOUTHERN EUROPE
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
17. GERMANY
FRANCE
BUT ELSEWHERE SOCIAL MEDIA USE IS SLOWING
OR GOING INTO REVERSE
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
SPAIN51%
41%
41%
ALSO
Portugal 64% (-4)
Sweden 51% (-5)
Austria 45% (-3)
Q3. Which, if any, of the following have you used in the last week as a source of news? (Please select all that apply)/Q10 Thinking about how you
FIND news online, which are the main ways that you come across news stories? - Used social media and came across news that way
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
18. SOCIAL NETWORKS AND THE RISE OF MESSAGING APPS
TOP SOCIAL NETWORKS OR MESSAGING APPS (ALL MARKETS)
80% USE A FACEBOOK PRODUCT WEEKLY FOR ANY PURPOSE
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
20. FAR FROM CREATING ECHO CHAMBERS, DISTRIBUTED MEDIA
OFTEN EXPOSES PEOPLE TO MORE SOURCES
People use search and social media (and
news aggregators) tend to use more
sources of news and greater diversity of
sources than those that don’t
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
21. BUT BRAND ATTRIBUTION IN DISTRIBUTED ENVIRONMENTS IS
A PROBLEM …
81%
DIRECT TRAFFIC
47%
SOCIAL
44%
55%
37%
SEARCH
Fewer than half could remember the news
brand that produced a story when coming
from social media or search
Based on YouGov passive tracking + 3000 surveys
– UK only
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
23. SPAIN
USA
SMARTPHONES BECOMING EVER MORE CENTRAL
JAPAN
REACH HAS DOUBLED IN FIVE YEARS, BUT IS BEGINNING TO LEVEL OFF
UK
GERMANY
FRANCE
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
access news
via smartphone
across all
36 countries
56%
% weekly usage for news 2013-17 (selected countries)
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
24. WE’RE BECOMING MORE DEPENDENT ON MOBILE…
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2014 2015 2016 2017
Computer
USE OF COMPUTER/LAPTOP FOR NEWS IS FALLING IN ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE TERMS
% using as MAIN device
USA
Smartphone & Tablet
Smartphone
Tablet
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
25. WE’RE BECOMING MORE DEPENDENT ON MOBILE ...
THE SMARTPHONE IS ALWAYS WITH YOU, PERSONAL, MULTI-FUNCTIONAL, CONVENIENT
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
26. NOT ALL COUNTRIES ARE MOVING AT THE SAME PACE
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
27. MOBILE APPS ARE BECOMING MORE IMPORTANT
27% SAY THEY USE A NEWS APP WEEKLY
Growth due to deep linking, better promotion and
growth of mobile alerts and notifications
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
28. NOT JUST PUBLISHER APPS NOW …
APPLE NEWS GROWTH
25% of iPhone users - 13% in 2016 (+12)
25% of iPhone users - 8% in 2016 (+17)
18% of iPhone users - 12% in 2016 (+6)
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
29. NOT JUST PUBLISHER APPS NOW …
SNAPCHAT DISCOVER
23% reach with 18-24s
12% in 2016
14% reach with 18-24s
Launched Feb 2016
9% reach with 18-24s
Launched Sep 2016
10% reach with 18-24s
<1% with over 35s
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
30. AND THE NEXT STEP MAY BE VOICE …
EMERGING DEVICES FOR NEWS – USA, UK, GERMANY
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
35. PROPORTION THAT PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS IN THE LAST YEAR
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
ALL MARKETS
36. EVIDENCE OF ‘TRUMP BUMP’ IN THE US
DRIVEN BY U35S AND THOSE ON THE LEFT
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
2014 2015 2016 2017
Finland Denmark Italy UK Germany France Japan Spain USA
Trump bump
+7
+ 500,000
digital
subscribers
+ 200,000
digital
subscribers
RECORD GROWTH SINCE NOV
+ 250,000
digital
subscribers
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
37. BUT LITTLE CHANGE ELSEWHERE …
ALL COUNTRIES
Proportion who pay for any online news
European countries
13%PAY FOR
ONLINE NEWS
PAY Highest in Norway
26%
Lowest in UK
6%
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
38. HOW NEWS COMPARES WITH OTHER ONLINE PAYMENT?
ALL COUNTRIES
Q7b_2017. Thinking more generally, which of the following types of digital media (if any) have you paid for online in the last year?
Base: Total sample in each country
31%
33%
28%
23%
14%
25%
24%
19%
14%
8%
13%
17%
14%
12%
12%
0%
20%
40%
60%
18-24 25-34 35-44 44-55 55+
TV and film (eg
Netflix)
Music (eg Spotify)
News
Pays for New York Times, The
Guardian, The Intercept, Young Turks
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
39. REASONS FOR PAYING AND NOT PAYING FOR ONLINE NEWS
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
49. AD-BLOCKING ON HOLD
43% have temporarily disabled their
ad-blocker specifically for news
24% regularly use software
to block ads
7% block
on mobile devices
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
53. 53
UK: NEWS BRANDS USED LAST WEEK
RISJ Digital News Report 2017
BBC reaches over 70% across radio and TV. Guardian, Mail and Huffington Post attract readers online
54. 54
UK: AUDIENCE MAP, BRAND ATTRIBUTES AND BUSINESS ISSUES
RISJ Digital News Report 2017