Half of UK adults still get their news from newspaper brands; BBC One most important - Ofcom

Half of all UK adults still get their news from newspaper brands according to a new survey by regulator Ofcom.

49% of 4,691 UK adults questioned in Ofcom’s annual survey of UK news consumption habits get their news from newspaper brands (print, website and app).

49% also said they use social media for news, up 44% from the previous year.

Overall, Television still remains the most used platform for news among UK adults, despite a slight drop from 79 to 75% in the past year.

BBC One is the most-used news source at 58%, followed by ITV on 40% and Facebook at 35%.

BBC One was classed as the "most important" source of news at 24%, followed by ITV on 11% and Facebook at 8%.

More people are also using Twitter (16%, an increase of 2%), Whatsapp (14%, up 4) and Instagram (9% to 13%) for news.

But social media overall was still rated lower than any of the other main news sources on Trust, with just 38% of those who regularly use it for news saying it provides a trustworthy source. Of the main social media platforms, Facebook was the least trusted by its users with 35% calling it trustworthy, with 39% for Facebook owned Instagram, 42% for Snapchat and 43% Twitter.

This compared to a Trust rating of 82% for magazines, 71% TV, 67% for radio, 66% for print newspapers and 58% for other internet sources, including news websites.

22% of people said social media was likely to be their first port of call for Breaking News stories, and only slightly less popular for Celebrity at 21%, 19% for Headline News and 17% for Local News. The number of social media users getting news directly from newsbrands on each platform was down across the board however, with only Snapchat seeing an increase (up from 60% to 64%).

Less than half of people who get news on Facebook get it directly from news organisations (47%), while the number accessing it through friends and family on the platform increased to 35%. But those who do access news from newsbrands on Facebook are now more likely to engage with it, with the number clicking on posts jumping from 47% to 62% and the number looking at the comments section growing from 33% to 45%.

For local news, there has been an increase in the use of social media (16% to 21%) and of newspapers’ websites or apps (9% to 11%).

TV remains the most popular platform for accessing local news, although the number of people who watch regional BBC broadcasts has gone down from 48% to 42%.

Top 20 Most Used News Sources 2019 - Ofcom:

1 BBC One
2 ITV/UTV/STV
3 Facebook
4 BBC website/app
5 BBC News channel
6 Sky News channel
7 Google Search
8 Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday
9 Channel 4
10 Twitter
11 Whatsapp
12 Instagram
13 BBC Radio 2
14 Guardian/Observer
15 Sun/Sun on Sunday
16 BBC Two
17 Channel 5
18 BBC Radio 4
19 BBC Radio 1
20 Metro

Moggy wrote:I am surprised that the numbers are still that high for newspapers, I can't remember the last time I even read one.

OrangeRKN wrote:

Moggy wrote:I am surprised that the numbers are still that high for newspapers, I can't remember the last time I even read one.

This is including their websites, I'd hazard you read a Guardian article pretty recently

OrangeRKN wrote:I'm the same, Guardian articles just get shared a lot

Dual wrote:How is WhatsApp a news source?

Dual wrote:How is WhatsApp a news source?

Moggy wrote:

Dual wrote:How is WhatsApp a news source?

Remember that photo I sent to you over WhatsApp? You know, the one where Denster, Karl and Photek are frolicking in the meadow?

That’s news mate, horrific but slightly sexy news.

Knoyleo wrote:

Dual wrote:How is WhatsApp a news source?

That's what always baffles me about these surveys. WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, they're not sources of news, they're places where people share links to news sources.

OrangeRKN wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Dual wrote:How is WhatsApp a news source?

That's what always baffles me about these surveys. WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, they're not sources of news, they're places where people share links to news sources.

They're both. Plenty of people read the headline without clicking through to the link on those posts, and there are people posting Original News Content there too.

I mean Twitter is often the source of US political news...

Jenuall wrote:I think twitter gets a pass on this, and maybe Facebook and instagram to a lesser extent. But WhatsApp is entirely just a private messaging service - nobody is writing and sharing original "news" content on that platform!

OrangeRKN wrote:

Jenuall wrote:I think twitter gets a pass on this, and maybe Facebook and instagram to a lesser extent. But WhatsApp is entirely just a private messaging service - nobody is writing and sharing original "news" content on that platform!

Unfortunately they are

false rumours spread on WhatsApp

OrangeRKN wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

Dual wrote:How is WhatsApp a news source?

That's what always baffles me about these surveys. WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, they're not sources of news, they're places where people share links to news sources.

They're both. Plenty of people read the headline without clicking through to the link on those posts, and there are people posting Original News Content there too.

I mean Twitter is often the source of US political news...