Digital News Report: Australia

Digital News Report: Australia 2023

PAYING FOR ONLINE NEWS GROWS AS AUSTRALIANS SEEK OUT QUALITY NEWS SOURCES, BUT GAPS BETWEEN AUDIENCE SEGMENTS CONTINUE TO GROW

There is good news for the industry this year. The number of people paying for online news continues to grow, placing Australia among the top countries globally. One in five Australians pay for online news and those who already pay are increasing the number of their subscriptions. The top reason consumers pay is to gain access to higher quality news than they find with free sources.

This year’s data confirms Australians’ desire for high quality and trustworthy news while they struggle with the overwhelming volume of information and misinformation. Recognition of the role that algorithms play in filtering the news appears to be high. Consumers are sceptical of news curation enabled by algorithms, but they are also unsure about journalists and editors selecting the news for them. Many are also worried about missing out on important information due to the personalisation of news in online environments.

What Australian news consumers do want is positive news, watchdog journalism, and news stories that suggest solutions. For paying news consumers these are particularly important priorities.

There is still a large proportion of Australians who say they avoid news, and there has been a drop in the overall level of interest in news. Almost one in three news avoiders say they are checking news less often or scrolling past it when they see it.

These attitudes are reflected in the continued decline in news consumption, particular among women. The fall in news interest and consumption has been larger among women than men, resulting in a widening gender gap. This year, Australia has the widest gender gap globally in news consumption. The trust gender gap is also widening.

Heavy news consumption has declined (48%, -4). Women’s interest in news is at a record low of 43% (-16 since 2017).
Women’s news access falls the most (41%, -11), Australia now has the widest gender gap (19pp) in news consumption internationally.
High interest in news in Australia has fallen to 53% (-11 since 2017).
The use of Instagram (26%, +6) and TikTok (17%, +4) for news continues to rise among Gen Z.
80% of Australians say they have been affected somewhat or a great deal by changes to cost-of-living. Those affected by cost-of-living are more likely to cancel news subscriptions.
More Australians are paying for online news (22%, +4). 41% (+13) of those with high education pay for online news.
Those who think publicly funded media are important are twice as likely to pay for news (32%) than those who don’t (15%).

For more information, please read the final report.

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About

This report is part of a long-running international survey coordinated by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, an international research centre in the comparative study of journalism based at Oxford University. The Digital News Report delivers comparative data on media usage in 46 countries and across 6 continents.

The News and Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra is the Australian partner institute and author of the Digital News Report: Australia. This is the ninth annual DNR: Australia.

Cite the report as:

Park, S., McGuinness, K., Fisher, C., Lee, J., McCallum, K., Cai, X., Chatskin, M., Mardjianto, L. & Yao, P. (2023). Digital News Report: Australia 2023. Canberra: News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra.

Digital News Report: Australia