Top trending news stories 2018 graphic full#
With data covering nearly 40 countries and five continents, this research is a reminder that the digital revolution is full of contradictions and exceptions. Part of the digital-born news sector is being hit by Facebook’s decision to downgrade news and the continuing hold platforms have over online advertising. On the business side, pain has intensified for many traditional media companies in the last year with any rise in reader revenue often offset by continuing falls in print and digital advertising. Adding to the mix are high levels of concern about so-called ‘fake news’, partly stoked by politicians, who in some countries are already using this as an opportunity to clamp down on media freedom. Our data show that consumer trust in news remains worryingly low in most countries, often linked to high levels of media polarisation, and the perception of undue political influence. Meanwhile notions of trust and quality are being incorporated into the algorithms of some tech platforms - as they respond to political and consumer demands to fix the reliability of information in their systems.Īnd yet these changes are fragile, unevenly distributed, and come on top of many years of digital disruption, which has undermined confidence of both publishers and consumers. We find that the move to distributed content via social media and aggregators has been halted - or is even starting to reverse, while subscriptions are increasing in a number of countries.
Change is in the air with many media companies shifting models towards higher quality content and more emphasis on reader payment. This year’s report contains signs of hope for the news industry following the green shoots that emerged 12 months ago.
0 kommentar(er)
