The 2014 Digital News Report uncovered an increasing use of smartphones as a preferred platform for news consumption. Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter lead the way…
Smartphones are becoming the preferred platform for news consumption.
By Layla Ilchi
Reuters Institute’s 2014 Digital News Report is the latest study to show an increase in the use of smartphones for news consumption. Especially among younger users, smartphones are proving to be a convenient way to access news, more so than traditional media outlets like newspapers or television.
The study covered 10 countries: UK, U.S., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Denmark, and Finland.
The largest increases were seen in Italy and Brazil, which experienced increases of 11 to 12 percent, respectively, since 2013. Other countries, such as the U.S., experienced smaller increases of three to four percent in smartphone usage for news.
The study showed that the web’s big three social networks, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter continue to be the preferred news sources.
WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app, has emerged as a serious news source by becoming a platform to instantly send news internationally. In Spain, for example, 26% of WhatsApp users use the app for news. WhatsApp, founded in 2009, has a current user base of more than 500 million monthly active users — delivering more than 10 billion messages each day.
Digital media has also served as a platform for individual reporters to rival traditional news brands by gaining consumer loyalty and respect. “This [trend] is partly encouraged by the nature of social media, which is driven by strong personalities,” said David Levy, the Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. “We see that in some countries like Spain, France, and the U.S., the reporter is driving around as much trust as the brand itself.”
For more information, watch the video below.
Read the full Reuters Institute 2014 Digital News Report here.
