Americans Are Abandoning Social Media as a News Source
A new report from Reuters found consumer trust in the news remains low, but reader revenue has increased
Many media companies are shifting their models toward higher-quality content and greater emphasis on reader subscriptions, according to “Digital News Report 2018,” a new report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
The report, which includes almost 40 countries, found the trend toward distributed content by way of social media and aggregators has stopped and is even beginning to reverse. The use of social media for news is down 6% from 2017 in the U.S., mostly due to a decline in the discovery, posting and sharing of news in Facebook.
Consumer trust in news, however, remains low in most countries, which Reuters found to be related to high levels of polarization in the media and the perception of disproportionate political influence. Across all countries studied, the average level of trust in the news is relatively stable at 44%, and 51% of people trust the news media they consume most often. This is compared to 34% of respondents who say they trust news found via search and 23% who say they trust news found on social media.
Three-quarters of respondents say publishers have the greatest responsibility to solve the problem of fake and unreliable news, while 71% say platforms have the greatest responsibility; however, only 41% of Americans say the government should intervene to stop fake news.
Although reader revenue has increased, traditional media companies have seen these gains offset by drops in print and digital advertising. Reader payments are also closely linked to political belief— particularly among left-leaning readers — and are disproportionately paid by the young. Use of ad blockers is still rising, along with browser extensions that allow users to block specific advertisers. The use of blockers is up 4% in the U.S. since 2017.
The report also studied which brands have the public’s trust. Fox News and Breitbart have much higher levels of trust from right-leaning consumers, while left-leaning consumers place their trust more heavily with CNN and MSNBC. Podcasts were found to be on the rise, a result of improved content quality and easier distribution. Advertising and sponsorship opportunities in podcasts are growing as well.
According to Nic Newman, research associate for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, “This year has been a reminder that things that once seemed certain — the importance of Facebook and the online advertising model — can shift quickly.”
View the full report here
About the Author | Sarah Steimer
Sarah Steimer is a staff writer for the AMA’s magazines and e-newsletters. She may be reached at ssteimer@ama.org or on Twitter at @sarah_steimer.
