Reuters Institute of Digital News and Reporting released its Global Digital News Report 2014 (based on a survey conducted by YouGov) and a number of interesting trends are revealed that show just how much the news industry has changed in a few short years.
Computer, Mobile, or Tablet?
According to the report, 37% of consumers access news from a smartphone each week, and 20% access news from a tablet each week. Consumers from 10 countries participated in the study: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Italy, Brazil, and Japan. The main source of digital news for consumers in each of these countries is shown in the chart below.
Main Source of Digital News for Consumers Who Use Devices to Access News
| UK | US | GER | FR | DEN | FIN | IT | BRA | SP | JAP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer | 57% | 69% | 60% | 61% | 54% | 74% | 69% | 62% | 63% | 79% |
| Mobile | 24% | 17% | 24% | 22% | 24% | 15% | 19% | 18% | 22% | 15% |
| Tablet | 16% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 18% | 9% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 3% |
Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report
Paying for News
The study also found that smartphones encourage people to use fewer news sources. However, only 11% of survey respondents around the world had paid for online news in the past year. Furthermore, the vast majority of digital news consumers are not prepared to pay to access online news in the future as the chart below shows:
% of Respondents Who Have Not Paid for Online Content in the Last Year Who Are Prepared to Pay for Online News in the Future
| US | UK | GER | FR | DEN | FIN | SP | IT | BRA | JAP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very or Somewhat Likely | 11% | 7% | 15% | 10% | 11% | 11% | 21% | 23% | 61% | 8% |
Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report
Finding News Content
When asked how they find news today, results were spread across direct access to a brand’s content, search, social media, and email. The chart below shows how consumers in each of the participating countries accessed news stories in the week before the survey was conducted:
Top Gateways to News – % Finding by Brand, Search, Social Network, and Email
| US | UK | GER | FRA | DEN | FIN | SP | IT | BRA | JAP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | 33% | 45% | 27% | 22% | 46% | 57% | 46% | 39% | 46% | 20% |
| Search | 40% | 29% | 42% | 40% | 15% | 26% | 35% | 59% | 59% | 41% |
| Social | 28% | 17% | 15% | 14% | 16% | 24% | 38% | 34% | 46% | 12% |
| 27% | 9% | 12% | 24% | 16% | 11% | 12% | 12% | 22% | 18% |
Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report
Social Media for News Content
According to the study, Twitter is commonly used to get news content in Spain (21%), the U.K. (12%), and the U.S. (8%). However, Twitter is least used in Finland (6%) and Germany (3%). In both countries, Google+ is twice as popular for getting news content. On the other hand, YouTube is commonly used for news access in Italy (23%), France (16%), and the U.S. (17%), but YouTube is far less frequently used to get news in the U.K. (6%) and Denmark (5%). The chart below offers a global look at the top social networks for news:
Top Social Networks and Top Networks for News – All Countries
Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report
News Formats
When it comes to the formats of news that consumers around the world prefer, lists and stories rank in first place in all countries where the survey was conducted. You can see the breakdown in the chart below:
Formats of News Consumed Weekly by Country
| US | UK | GER | FRA | DEN | FIN | SP | IT | BRA | JAP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lists/stories | 72% | 68% | 69% | 71% | 58% | 80% | 73% | 84% | 81% | 85% |
| Video/audio | 34% | 18% | 21% | 18% | 22% | 23% | 33% | 31% | 32% | 11% |
| Live pages | 9% | 8% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 7% | 12% | 15% | 18% | 12% |
| Pictures/graphics | 24% | 15% | 25% | 19% | 8% | 23% | 23% | 20% | 32% | 25% |
Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report
Sharing News
According to the study results, some countries are far more likely to share news content than others. The chart below shows that Brazilians are much more likely to share news content than consumers in any other country included in the study:
Top Sharing Nations – % Sharing via Email or Social Network Weekly
| Country | % sharing |
|---|---|
| Brazil | 54% |
| Italy | 44% |
| Spain | 40% |
| US | 35% |
| Finland | 24% |
| Denmark | 23% |
| France | 21% |
| UK | 16% |
Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report
Lessons for Authoritative Content Publishers
The information provided in this report from Reuters Institute of Digital News can help Authoritative Content publishers better understand what kind of content readers around the world want to consume as well as when and how they want to consume it. Key trends related to mobile and social should play an important role in your strategic content planning.
You can download the full report using the link to the Reuters Institute of Digital News website at the beginning of this article. Key highlights from the study are provided in the video below.
Charts and data are also provided in the SlideShare presentation below.
All charts are provided through a Creative Commons 3.0 license from Reuters Institute Digital News Report.