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News media trends 2022

How media can re-connect to readers who have turned away from news

A key challenge for the news media in 2022 is to re-engage those who have turned away from news as well as to build deeper relationships with more regular news consumers, Reuters Institute says in its trend report for the new year noting that after a booming news interest in the early pandemic, audiences for news media have been falling in 2021.

“Generational change will also continue to be a key theme, leading to more internal soul-searching in newsrooms over diversity and inclusion, about emerging agendas such as climate change and mental health, and about how journalists should behave in social media.”

“This could be the year when journalism takes a breath, focuses on the basics, and comes back stronger”, writes Senior Research Associate Nic Newman.

The report warns that subscription fatigue can limit media’s option to charge for online news, especially if economic conditions get worse.

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“Many traditional news organisations remain relentlessly focused on faster digital transformation as rising newsprint and energy costs look to make print unsustainable in some countries.”

The institute thinks that after a period where digital advertising revenue has leaked away to giant platforms, publishers have an opportunity to secure better results this year.

“Tighter privacy rules limiting third-party data, along with concerns about misinformation, have already started to swing the tide back towards trusted brands, but advertising remains a competitive and challenging business, and not every publisher will thrive.”

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“Meanwhile the talk of platform regulation becomes real this year as the EU and some national governments try to exercise more control over big tech. However, next generation technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrencies, and the metaverse (virtual or semi-virtual worlds) are already creating a new set of challenges for societies as well as new opportunities to connect, inform, and entertain.”

  • 59% of media leaders say their revenue has increased over the last year, despite the fact that 54% also reported static or falling page views. Publishers report that digital advertising has boomed with more people buying online, while subscription revenue has also increased.
  • 75% of the report’s sample of editors, CEOs, and digital leaders say they are confident about their company’s prospects for 2022, though 60% say the same about the future of journalism. Concerns relate to the polarisation of societies, attacks on journalists and the free press, and the financial sustainability of local publications.
  • 79% say subscription or membership strategies will be one of their most important revenue priorities, ahead of display and native advertising. 47% worry that subscription models may be pushing journalism towards super-serving richer and more educated audiences and leaving others behind.
  • 29% expect significant revenue from tech platforms for content licensing or innovation, with 15% looking to philanthropic funds and foundations – both up on last year. Others are hoping to restart events businesses that stalled during the pandemic.
  • 41% think more regulation over market power and social impact of tech companies might help, 34% think interventions would make no difference, and 25% say they could make things worse.
  • Publishers say they’ll be paying less attention to Facebook (-8 net score) and Twitter (-5) this year and will instead put more effort into Instagram (+54), TikTok (+44), and YouTube (+43), all networks that are popular with younger people.
  • At the same time many news organisations will be tightening their rules on how journalists should behave on social media. In the survey most editors and managers feel that journalists should stick to reporting the news on Twitter and Facebook this year and worry that expressing more personal views could undermine trust.
  • 34% rated general coverage of climate change as good, even if they felt their own coverage (65%) was better.
  • 80% of publishers will be putting more resource into podcasts and digital audio as well as email newsletters (70%). By contrast just 14% say they’ll be investing in voice and just 8% in creating new applications for the metaverse such as VR and AR.
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