Interest and trust in news across age groups and markets is falling, particularly among younger audiences, according to a survey by Reuters. People under 35 are the lowest-trusting age group, with only a third (37%) of both 18–24s and 25–34s saying they trust most news most of the time, as opposed to 47% of respondents older than 55, the survey found. The eleventh edition of the Digital News Report by Reuters Institute, analysed data from six continents and 46 markets, including India.
Eight-in-ten (78%) in the 18-24 age group access news via aggregators, search engines and social media each week, as per the survey.
Here are 8 things to know from the survey:
> Facebook remains the most-used social network for news but users are more likely to say they see too much news in their feed compared with other networks. TikTok has become the fastest growing network in this year’s survey, reaching 40% of 18–24s, with 15% using the platform for news. As per the survey, Telegram is now emerging as an alternative to WhatsApp and has grown significantly in markets such as Singapore, Italy, India and Kenya.
> India registered a small increase in news trust, improving its overall position among the 46 markets from 31 to 20. Legacy print brands and public broadcasters, such as DD News and All India Radio, continue to enjoy high trust among the survey respondents, while 24-hour television news channels are less well trusted, along with newer digital brands like The Print and The Wire.
> The report said India is a strongly mobile-focused market, with 72% accessing news through smartphones and just 35% via computers. “News aggregator platforms and apps such as Google News (53%), Dailyhunt (25%), InShorts (19%), and NewsPoint (17%) have become an important way to access news and are valued for convenience,” the report said. Social media was found to be popular in India, with a significant number in the surveyed audience using YouTube (53%) and WhatsApp (51%) for accessing news. The News Minute also found a mention in the report with a weekly online reach of 10%. However, the India survey respondents are not fully representative of the population, as they are primarily English-speaking, online news users, who are possibly more affluent, younger, educated, and city-dwelling, making this a small subset of the media market.
> Younger audiences (under 35s) globally said the news has a negative effect on their mood and of late, that there is too much news coverage of topics like politics or coronavirus. “In particular, the longstanding criticism of the depressing or overwhelming nature of news persists among young people,” the report said.
> Trust in the news has fallen in almost half the countries in the survey, and risen in just seven. On average, around four in ten of the total sample (42%) said they trust most news most of the time. Finland remains the country with the highest levels of overall trust (69%), while news trust in the USA has fallen by a further three percentage points and remains the lowest (26%) in the survey. India stands at 41%.
> Consumption of traditional media, such as TV and print, declined further in the last year in almost all markets (pre-Ukraine invasion), with online and social consumption not making up the gap. Interest in news has fallen sharply across markets, from 63% in 2017 to 51% in 2022.
> Global concerns about false and misleading information remain stable this year, ranging from 72% in Kenya and Nigeria to 32% in Germany and 31% in Austria. People said they have seen more false information about coronavirus than about politics in most countries.
> Access to news continues to become more distributed. Across all markets, less than a quarter (23%) prefer to start their news journeys with a website or app, down nine points since 2018. “Those aged 18–24 have an even weaker connection with websites and apps, preferring to access news via side-door routes such as social media, search, and mobile aggregators,” the survey noted.