Most Indians who consume news online like to watch, not read | Data Premium
The Hindu
Reuters Institute Digital News Report finds shift in online news consumption in India; search engines, mobile news aggregators favoured. In Scandinavia, traditional news brands remain popular, while in Asia, Latin America, Africa, social media is main gateway to news. In Asia-Pacific, local portals like Naver, Yahoo! dominate. In India, trust in news remains stagnant at 38%.
The 2023 Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute published recently indicates a shift among online news consumers in India, who are increasingly turning to search engines and mobile news aggregators as their main source of news, thus moving away from websites of traditional outlets. The report underscores that among Indians who engage with news online, the majority favour watching or listening over reading the news.
In Scandinavian countries, well-established news brands continue to enjoy robust direct engagement with consumers for online news. In these markets, people still widely use social media platforms, but mainly for other activities rather than news consumption. In stark contrast, in regions such as Asia, Latin America, and Africa, social media reigns supreme as the main gateway to news, making traditional news outlets increasingly reliant on third-party traffic for audience reach.
Additionally, in specific Asia-Pacific markets such as Japan and Korea, local portals such as Naver and Yahoo! remain the dominant channels for news access. Meanwhile, in India and Indonesia, the role of mobile news aggregators as primary news sources is on the rise.
Chart 1 | The chart plots responses to the question, “Which of these was the main way in which you came across news in the last week: Mostly direct, mostly social, mostly aggregated?”
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In countries with a strong tradition of reading, such as Finland and the United Kingdom, approximately 80% of respondents still favour reading news online. Conversely, in India and Thailand, around 40% of people said they prefer to watch news online. Even more dramatically, over half (52%) of the respondents in the Philippines favour video news consumption.
Chart 2 | The chart plots responses to the question, “In thinking about your online habits around news and current affairs, which of the following statements applies best to you: Prefer to read, prefer to watch, prefer to listen?”
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