Media fragmentation, or media and content consumption across different platforms, is here to stay. In its latest Digital News Report, Reuters revealed that two-thirds of the citizens in 47 markets across six continents view a short news video, which lasts less than a few minutes, at least once a week. 87% of the online population in Thailand access these short-form news weekly, with half admitting to doing this daily.
This edition of Muse explores media fragmentation in action and how this is affecting the media industry.
Where do people pay attention online?
One major challenge of the shift to video networks with a younger demographic is that journalists and news organisations often get overshadowed by news creators and other influencers, even when it comes to news.
Similar to previous iterations, the latest findings show that mainstream media lead conversations on X and Facebook, with 53% and 39% of people respectively, paying the most attention to mainstream media for news.
However, traditional media struggles to attract attention on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, where alternative sources and personalities, including online influencers and celebrities, are often more prominent.
User needs through the lens of news consumers
Across 47 markets, up to 65% of people value news that keeps them informed about current affairs and engaged with social issues (the need for knowledge) and news that educates and offers different perspectives (the need for understanding).
By contrast, less than half of respondents consider content that diverts readers important, partly because of its abundance in the media.
From a local perspective, Thailand-related results are similar to those of their global peers. The findings reveal that Thais prefer news that satisfies their need for knowledge and understanding.
The new gateways to news
Notably, across all markets, search and aggregators, when combined (33%), are a more significant gateway to news than social media (29%) and direct access to news websites (22%).
Reuters’ analysis of preferred news gateways over the past six years shows that search and aggregators have been remarkably consistent while social media has grown continuously. By contrast, direct access has declined.
However, there are significant differences across countries. In Thailand, 59% of people use social media as their primary news gateway, while 26% rely on search engines and aggregators. In contrast, people in Finland and several EU nations prefer direct access to news websites.
Given the fragmented audiences and different preferences of news platforms, PR practitioners should stay informed of the impacts on their media partners and reconsider their outreach strategies. Continue reading our next blog for recommended PR tactics in the age of media fragmentation.