Reuters Digital News Report – does it represent a realistic future for UK newsbrands?
Newsworks’ Vanessa Clifford dissects the latest Reuters Digital News Report – and finds some inconvenient truths along the way…
The number of people accessing news on a smartphone has risen from 33% to 42% in the UK over the past year, according to the latest Reuters Institute Digital News Report, which was unveiled on Tuesday morning.
The role of social media and growth of native advertising are also explored in this year’s report, but do the results give a full insight into the UK’s current newsbrand landscape?
Surveying online news consumers across 12 countries, the report sheds light on how people are accessing news, with this year’s findings underlining some key trends in media consumption -including the dominance of mobile, native advertising and the role of social media as a ‘gateway’ to established newsbrands.
From the perspective of UK newsbrands, so far so positive. Mobile, social media and native ad solutions are all areas where newsbrands are not only functioning, but are, in many cases, embarking on innovative and exciting ventures and as a result are reaching bigger audiences than ever before – according to the latest NRS PADD they have a total multiplatform reach of 46 million a month (print, online, tablet and mobile).
However, while the Digital News Report offers many interesting insights into global media consumption trends, the predictions relating to newsbrands are not all complimentary. So, through the lens of newsbrands (naturally!), what are the inconvenient truths in the Reuters report?
Smartphones are on the up
Smartphone use has been consistently gaining ground since the report launched in 2012. The past year has seen the biggest annual UK increase in smartphone usage (up from 33% to 44%) and 27% saying that their smartphone is the main way of accessing online news.
But what does this mean for newspaper brands? Well, while some are predictably declaring their inability to maintain relevance or economic viability in a smartphone dominated eco-system, there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary.
The audience is huge and growing – 22.3 million people access newsbrands on their smartphones every month, according to comScore (April 2015), making them a key aspect of newsbrands’ multi-platform presence. In addition, newspaper brands’ mobile success is strongest among a younger audience, with 87% of 18-24 year old smartphone users accessing monthly.
Looking at a wider context, more newsbrand readers are using multiple digital platforms than readers of digital native brands such as BuzzFeed and Huffington Post, indicating that UK newsbrands provide a rich and varied experience across platforms.
Ultimately, it’s not newsbrands vs mobile – that would be confusing a medium with a platform. Newsbrands are mobile and will continue to adapt and evolve. Audience growth suggests that they’re getting something right.
Social media acts as a “gateway”
According to the report, 41% use Facebook to read, watch, share and comment on news each week – up 6 percentage points on last year – while YouTube is the next biggest, with 18% using it to access news.
Last year UK newspaper brands drove 445 million interactions on social media (Newswhip) and, as with smartphones, the growth of social media platforms is a great thing for newspaper brands. It provides yet another way for people to access their content.
Whether via Facebook or in a newspaper, there is no right or wrong way to read journalism and social media allows newsbrands to reach people they might not have done otherwise. On the other side of the coin, social media would be far less rich without the unique, verified and curated journalism of newsbrands.
In fact, a close relationship between newbrands and social media is something that is being actively encouraged, for example the Guardian published a brilliant Facebook Instant Article piece last week and the Daily Mail has partnered with Snapchat.
As Alan Rusbridger said recently: “We distribute our journalism across multiple channels, platforms and devices, including live discussion and debate. We’re on the iWatch; we’re in bed with Facebook; we’re still in the corner shop.”
The business of journalism
There was quite a lot of doom and gloom in the report about how publishers are going to find it difficult to deliver sufficient revenue and profit streams.
For advertisers, the more gateways to newsbrand readership, especially to specialised content, the better. When it comes to revenues from display advertising, digital newsbrands (16.4%) are increasing at a faster rate than digital display overall (15%) (AA/Warc).
The report also suggests that ad blocking and distrust of native advertising is a threat to potential digital revenues. Newsbrands are better protected than other types of site, according to a number of research projects on both context and native. Indeed these new revenue streams will keep growing, as in recent years.
Newspaper readers welcome ads that are relevant, interesting and involving. Across all platforms, newsbrands provide a trusted context that delivers a higher return on advertising spend for advertisers.
Research indicates that generally newspaper brands are getting native right. A recent AOP study showed that native ads widen the purchase funnel by 29% and increase clicks by 31%. Of course it is vital to clearly label native ad content, as was discussed at this year’s Guardian Changing Media Summit.
The Digital News Report also says that in the UK 6% of people paid for online news in the last year, although a rise in publishers signing up users to on-going subscriptions is reported.
Additionally, the survey notes a reluctance for people to consider paying for news in the future. This is clearly a challenge, although models such as Sky, Netflix and Spotify suggest it is not insurmountable. Give people the right content in the right context and they will value it enormously.
As City media analyst Lorna Tilbian of Numis recently said: “Digital encompasses a number of non-mutually exclusive business models such as online advertising, paid content/subscription/pay-per-view, enterprise, user data/market research and licensing content and technology.
“We are already seeing some excellent examples of innovation in these areas from within the industry and publishers should continue to pursue these initiatives. These will ensure that newspapers – a vital component in preserving communities, upholding democracy and keeping power in check – will not only survive, but prosper.”
At present there are a variety of approaches but one thing all CEOs assert is the importance of journalism and that great writing and content drive demand. Combine this with the fact that newsbrands provide content for people when they want it, where they want it and however they want it, regardless of platform, it sounds like a bright future to me.