Thread by @robblackie_oo

The Reuters Digital News Report is a must read if you’re interested in how the public is influenced by the media, and how media works.

Some highlights:

1. Facebook is still the dominant social media channel...

...However WhatsApp continues to grow as a news channel, especially in non-Western countries. A big challenge is that encrypted WhatsApp protects privacy & from abusive governments, but eases rumours and disinformation.

2.Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube & Twitter all gaining time-use with UK users.

3. People on the right of UK politics now trust media less than previously. Dissonance between Brexit views of right wing political elite vs media? It seems so because many say they don't trust news.

4. The public in the UK are highly concerned about fake news by international standards.

5. As in previous years, only a small proportion of people use the most extremely biased news sites. But worth noting that 1% reading Swawkbox might be 25% of Labour party members.

6. US polarisation might be driven by TV as much as online. A neglected fact is that people share traditional media online a lot. Good in the UK with the BBC dominant, terrible when you have channels like Fox.

7. 21% of UK used a podcast in the last month – low by international standards. Possible impact of BBC iPlayer that people might not consider to be ‘podcasts’?

8. Smartspeakers are not really used for news – only 5% of UK are using them for news, which is only one in three smartspeaker users.

9. The BBC continues to be dominant for news with everyone, online and offline, with populist leaning people and non populists. Guardian continues to be very influential online.

10. The BBC is highly trusted as well.

11. Also note the split between the left and right wing populists in the UK. The left populists largely have new media outlets (e.g. Skwawkbox), while the right have old media who went online (e.g. the Daily Mail).

12. Facebook groups, especially around local communities or hobbies, are vast and under-discussed. (Note this isn't just UK data)

13. All age groups prefer text over video for news. One reason that Snapchat isn't really taking off for news.

And there’s loads more – full report here:
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/di…

Thanks to @risj_oxford @rasmus_kleis for such useful research.