People trust Google for their news more than the actual news outlets. Wait, what? Yes. For the second year in a row, research shows that Google beats traditional news media sources when it comes to consumers’ trust (63% versus 58%). Overall, online media outlets are gaining trust, coming closer to traditional media. What do these numbers tell us if we think of the future of journalism and the news media industry? Let’s find out.
The Lack of Trust in Mainstream Media
Reuters Institute published a report last year on the state of journalism, including the reading habits of users. Probably the worst news of the research concerns traditional print media, which ranks at the bottom or close to the bottom for four key attributes – accuracy & reliability, bringing new stories to the reader, analysis, and speed – across not only different countries, but also in the critical <35 age group.
While the very low willingness to pay for news may seem worrying, a lot of people still state that online and social are their primary source for news. The rise of tools such as ad blocking software puts further pressure on publisher to deliver access to news while at the same time maintain a sustainable online advertising driven business model. So: either readers pay – or allow ads to be shown. Because online and social continue to grow as a go-to source for news.
The trend of reading news on mobile is rising, mainly due to social networks, especially considering that, via mobile, news is largely read through mobile browsers. Typically, these browsers are integrated into social network apps, or the social networks themselves – and less so through the apps of the news outlets, according to the Reuters survey.
The Rise of Social Media
While traditional outlets still play a viable role in telling the whole story, social media is changing the way news is consumed, distributed and shared, especially Twitter for breaking news situations. At Crowdynews we believe social media will become even more important for news discovery, news consumption, news sharing and commenting on news.
Recent Crowdynews research showed us that 49.52% of the respondents use social media to discover or read the news. 39.81% told us that including relevant social media content from multiple sources to articles it improves the readability of the article enormously. Also 1/3 said it improves the credibility of the content as well when you include relevant social media content from multiple sources to your articles.
At Crowdynews, we not only want to provide you with the tools to include meaningful social media content next to your own content, but also help you understand the true value of social media in this changing media landscape. We have the knowledge and skills to help you do this. Do you want to start incorporating social media into your website and drive more revenue at the same time?