In conversation with Nic Newman about the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2020
I spoke with Nic Newman, the Lead Author for the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2020 to find out about his findings and a look at how the media industry is being challenged, not just by digital and social, but by COVID.
In this podcast, Nic shared with me the background and outcomes of media organisations going “all in” with Facebook in 2016. He also makes the point of how digital ads are becoming less important for many and are now pivoting to direct payments to keep their businesses going. There will be casualties as COVID accelerates the pace of change in digital transformation.
In the short-term ‘we know that this crisis has substantially increased the amount and frequency of news consumption as well as influenced attitudes to the news media, at least temporarily,’ says Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen in his foreword.
News fatigue is also setting in, ‘and the short-term and long-term economic impact of the crisis is likely to be profound – advertising budgets are slashed and a recession looms, threatening news media, some of whom are struggling with adapting to a changing world.’
The survey covered respondents in 40 markets, including 24 in Europe, and four in Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico) as well as the United States and Canada. In Asia Pacific, the report includes data and individual reports from the Philippines as well as from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia. Kenya joins South Africa with data from their own media industries.
Nic and I also discuss the impact of misinformation on reputation and trust and what tech companies are doing to counter this.
We talk about how media organisations in different international markets are choosing different and more relevant strategies based on the social and messaging usage of their audiences. He talks about the rise of Instagram and TikTok for news, as well as other short-form video and audio content platforms, and the importance of data in storytelling.
Iin order to survive many have to secure ‘stronger and deeper connection with audiences online,’ which is why the report also examines the growing importance of emails and podcasts, formats that are being deployed in greater numbers to increase engagement and loyalty.
It’s a report worth reading, but listen to the conversation and subscribe for future updates.
