Earlier this summer, Reuters Institute released the Digital News Report 2017. The report presented statistics regarding the digital news consumption. The data was collected by a YouGov survey that included over 70,000 online news consumers in 36 different countries. Specifically, the Digital News Report focused on data revolving around fake news, business models and different platforms for news consumption.
A few of the standout numbers include the following:
Digital
In digital, 56 percent of people use mobile to access news rather than computers in the United States. Of this majority, 46 percent say they primarily access news in bed, while others say they access news through mobile on public transportation or in the bathroom. Half of the four percent of those polled who have voice-activated devices (like Alexa and Echo) use it to access news.
Social Media
In social media, while only 14 percent say that social media is their main source for news more than half use social media as one form of receiving news content. Still, at 24 percent, trust in social media is lower than trust in news media.
Trust
On the topic of trust, 53 percent say they trust the news sources that they use. In the United States, 38 percent trust the news media. Additionally, trust is higher in overall news media’s ability to separate fact from fiction than that of social media.
Subscriptions and Donations
Almost doubling the numbers reported in recent years, subscriptions in the United States are at 16 percent. Those who pay for news are primarily under 35 years old. News donations have tripled. A third of these donors say they want to “help fund journalism.”
Ad-Blocking
People are not turning to ad-blocking anymore. While 24 percent use ad-blocking software, 48 percent will disable it to access news they like.
