The 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report emerges in a time of significant challenges and uncertainties in the news industry. This year’s findings reflect the struggles news organizations face with declining social media traffic and shrinking advertising revenue. Furthermore, with a record number of elections happening globally in 2024, concerns about misinformation and news manipulation are particularly heightened.
Surveying nearly 100,000 consumers across 47 markets that collectively represent over half the world’s population, the report explores the evolving digital news landscape.
Key areas of focus include among others:
- The ongoing issues of trust in news and misinformation
- The decline of Facebook as a news source and the growing impact of video platforms and messaging apps
- Increasing news fatigue and avoidance
- The influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on journalism
Let’s get a closer look at the state of news consumption around the world.
Shifts in news sources and credibility challenges
Digital platforms, including social media, search engines, and aggregators, are the primary sources of online news for most consumers. However, only 22% now identify media websites or apps as their main news source, marking a 10% decline from previous years. Distinguishing reliable content from unreliable content remains a concern, particularly on platforms like TikTok and X, where misinformation and AI-generated content, such as deepfakes, are prevalent.
Trust in news across nations
Despite various challenges, trust in news remains stable at 40%, although this figure has generally decreased since the pandemic's peak.
Trust levels vary significantly by country, with Finland exhibiting the highest trust at 69%, while Greece and Hungary have the lowest at 23%, where political and corporate influences on the media are major concerns. Users find it hardest to identify reliable news on TikTok, while Google is the easiest platform for this purpose.
Declining interest in news and politics
Interest in news and politics is waning in many countries. Although elections have sparked increased interest in some regions, such as the United States (52%, up 3 points from last year), the overall trend is downward.
Across 12 markets, news interest has dropped from 66% in 2018 to 49% in 2024, and political interest has similarly declined from 45% to 30%. This decline is most pronounced in the United Kingdom, where interest in news has nearly halved over nine years, falling from 70% in 2015 to 38% in 2024.
Rising news avoidance: an escalating phenomenon
Selective news avoidance is on the rise, with 39% of respondents now saying they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 36% last year and 29% in 2017. This trend is notable in countries like Brazil, Spain, Germany, and Finland. The primary drivers of this fatigue include the overwhelming volume of news and its predominantly negative content.
From traditional traffic to social media engagement in news consumption
The way people find and consume news is shifting, with a move away from direct access to websites/apps toward social media platforms. As social media's importance grows, so do the challenges of navigating different platforms.
Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have altered their strategies to retain users, deprioritizing news content and leading to a significant decrease in referral traffic to news sites by 48% and 27%, respectively, in 2024.
Conclusion
The 2024 Reuters Institute Digital News Report paints a complex picture of the current news landscape, highlighting significant challenges and shifts. As news organizations grapple with declining social media traffic and advertising revenue, the need to adapt is more pressing than ever. The pervasive issues of misinformation, declining trust, and news fatigue compound the difficulty of engaging
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