Tech platforms overtake publishers as global news source | Mirror launches paywall
Plus survey reveals gap between climate change concern and actual news coverage
Good morning from the team at Press Gazette on Tuesday, 16 June.
This is the event which recognises the best digital journalism products (newsletters, podcasts, websites and apps) and recognises the best in news media innovation.
🤓 The latest Reuters Institute Digital News report is out this morning and as ever provides a priceless insight into the major disruptive trends impacting news in the UK, US and around the world.
Social and video networks have remained pretty much stable as a source of news over the last five years as TV and publisher websites/apps have declined. Now, for the first time, the former have overtaken the latter as a source of news.
This explains the ongoing focus from major newsbrands on publishing directly to platforms like Youtube and Tiktok.
Trust in news and news avoidance remain major trends in the UK and US (with both markets following a similar pattern of decline over the last decade).
In the UK, just 30% of people say they trust “most news most of the time” compared with more than 50% a decade ago. The topics that people believe are most poorly covered by news media are: immigration, climate and the Middle East.
Despite the ongoing rise of paywalls across news websites, the proportion of Britons saying they pay for online news remains stubbornly stable at 10% of the population. In the US it has actually fallen from 20% to 16%.
This means the focus for many UK publishers is on nurturing their existing fanbases and seeking growth abroad.
One positive trend (as I see it) is the fact AI answer engines remain a tiny part of the mix when it comes to news consumption with just 4% and 6% in the UK and US respectively using them for this purpose.
💷 The latest UK news website to follow the paywall trend is the Mirror, which yesterday began charging £3.99 for access to premium articles (including original in-depth reporting and comment).
According to Ipsos iris data the Mirror is the fourth biggest news website in the UK in terms of monthly reach with a total audience of 20 million.
Looking at the top ten biggest UK online news websites only the BBC, Guardian, Yahoo! and Sky News don’t yet operate some form of website paywall.
The Reuters Digital News Report shows that collectively publishers are failing to grow the market for paid online news suggesting a tough grind is ahead for the Mirror as it starts its paywall journey.
As the Reuters survey shows, the public doesn’t like the way this topic is covered.
New research suggests broadcast journalists themselves see climate change as one of the top three most important issues in public life (alongside the cost of living and the wider economy). Yet this is not reflected in terms of daily coverage.
Ryley says: “Too often there is little appetite to explain as well as report…News is treated as a series of isolated events rather than as part of a larger story that requires context and analysis.”
He added: “Now is the time for all good journalists to rethink how climate stories are told.”
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🤏 News In Brief
Master of the doorstep interview Roger Cook has died aged 83. The Cook Report on ITV was a groundbreaking investigative series where Cook fronted up to criminals and con artists. (BBC)
BBC News is expected to reveal plans for hundreds of job losses next week, as part of around 2,000 jobs are expected to be cut across the whole of the BBC as previously announced. (Financial Times)
Fox is buying streaming TV platform Roku for $22bn, a deal that could strengthen its position by combining its sports, news and entertainment shows, as well its streaming service Tubi, with Roku’s devices and platform. (CNN)
Podcaster Candace Owens claimed the FBI rejected her Freedom of Information Act request for FBI director Kash Patel’s travel records, citing the request’s excessive burden. The claim sparked a public dispute between Owens and the FBI on X. (Hindustan Times)
👀In case you missed it:
1) Publishers to bill AI firms for unwanted scraping – and take them to court if they don’t pay
Search-only contracts added to website terms open up new front in war with AI companies.
2) SPUR publishes ‘common language’ for tracking AI use of publisher content
Publisher coalition invites feedback on framework which could drive AI payments for content.
3) Top 50 English-language news sites in the world: Indian brands hit hardest by traffic drops in May
Four of the five worst-hit newsbrands were based in India.
4) Times close to ‘cresting the hill’ as digital revenue set to overtake print
Publisher Chris Longcroft says returns from digital investment are increasing.
5) Newsletter mastery: Tips for publishers from Edinburgh Minute
Michael MacLeod on how he built a sustainable local newsletter business.
📻Latest podcast
Thai police jokester drags down UK press standards
In the latest edition, Dominic Ponsford and Charlotte Tobitt talk about the latest changes to Google. Agentic search will probably stay niche, but forcing AI mode into search engine queries is a new threat to publisher referral traffic.
They also discuss the publishing dilemma du jour: should publishers block LLMs or do all they can to optimise content to show up in ChatGPT-style answers?
And publishers in the UK and US have been caught out by another AI-generated hoax. What can we learn from the curious case of the ‘LADYBOYS IN BLUE’ - the Thai police officers who didn’t really dress as carnival dancers to carry out an undercover drug dealer arrest?