Traditional media sources such as television and print are becoming less important while digital and social media have become more widely used in Asia, according to this year's annual Reuters Institute digital news report.

The international study reports news attitudes and consumption around the world.

It also found that the trust in media is dipping with Malaysia and South Korea showing the lowest levels.

In Hong Kong, a series of street protests triggered by a government extradition bill captured media attention, with growth online via social media use in particular. Encrypted messaging service WhatsApp is used by 84% overall and 50% for news (+9). Usage of YouTube and Instagram for news was also up.

The months-long anti-extradition protests appeared to have influenced overall trust (-16) as well as the trust in individual brands. Television and radio broadcasters continue to be most trusted but online brand Stand News gained significant attention and approval for its coverage. In early 2019 it was the second least trusted outlet. A year later it has become the sixth most trusted.

Japan’s traditional forms of media such as TV and print have declined rapidly over the last seven years. Newspaper readership has almost halved. Japanese engage with online news primarily through aggregators like Yahoo! News. They also tend to use social networks less, and have taken longer to fully embrace smartphones.

Fewer than four in ten (37%) trust the news in Japan – a fall of around ten percentage points in the last five years. Public broadcaster NHK remains the most trusted news brand while popular magazines (Weekly Shincho, Weekly Bunshun) which have a reputation for gossip and sensationalism are least trusted – along with some digital-born brands.

In South Korea, audiences for traditional TV news have started to dip, partly due to more competition from long- and short-form video online. YouTube is being increasingly used for news (+7) and this partly explains the surge in social media use. Readership of newspapers is significantly down since 2016 and is likely to be hit further in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Trust in the news in the country is consistently amongst the lowest in the survey, though confidence in individual news brands is much higher. TV news brands such as JTBC, MBC, and YTN tend to be trusted most, with popular newspapers least trusted in general – even if they are often better trusted by those that use the brands regularly.

Taiwan’s traditional media sources such as television and print are becoming less important while digital and social media have become more widely used. Yahoo! News remains the most popular online (45% weekly reach) aggregating multiple providers. Taiwanese love their smartphones, which are used by three-quarters (74%) of our survey sample for news.

Trust in news is down four percentage points and remains one of the lowest in our survey – with Taiwanese frequently exposed to misinformation through both mainstream and social media. Public service television is the most trusted in our survey, though not competitive in terms of audience. Networks with strong links to the mainland tend to be trusted less.

The report tracks a change in habits away from reading to online video and audio consumption.

“For many years bandwidth and technical limitations meant online news was largely restricted to text and pictures. But now, in most parts of the world, it is possible to seamlessly watch news videos or listen to on-demand audio as well. But what do consumers prefer? Reading text is convenient, but can be difficult on small smartphone screens, and a desire to get away from screens may be one factor driving the current boom in audio listening, according to research (Newman 2018).

“We find that, on average, across all countries, people still prefer reading news online, but a significant proportion now say they prefer to watch, with around one in ten preferring to listen. Parts of the world with strong reading traditions such as Northern Europe are most keen on text (54%), while our sample of Asian and American markets is more equally split. The Philippines and Hong Kong are two markets where a majority say they prefer to watch news online rather than read (55% and 52% respectively). Across markets we also find that people with lower levels of education are more likely to want to watch online news, compared with the better educated– a finding which reflects traditional offline preferences around television and print.”

According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a return to trusted traditional responsible news sources such as radio, tv and print as people, seek reliable information about the fast changing nature of the pandemic, while there has been a decline in trust for online news sources.

“Over the last nine years, our data have shown online news overtaking television as the most frequently used source of news in many of the countries covered by our online survey. At the same time, printed newspapers have continued to decline while social media have levelled off after a sharp rise.

“The coronavirus crisis has significantly, though almost certainly temporarily, changed that picture. Television news has seen an uplift in all six countries where we polled in January and April 2020. Taking Germany as an example, a 12-point decline in reach for TV news was partially reversed as many people turned to trusted sources of news including public service media.

“Weekly TV news consumption rose by an average of five percentage points across all six countries. But it is worth noting that social media were also substantially up (+5) as more people used these networks for finding and sharing news in combination with television and online sites. By contrast, the lockdowns hit the reach of print newspapers and magazines with a six-point drop in Spain, not helped by difficulties in distributing physical copies.”

Overall the April 2020 survey found the news media were considered to have done a good job in helping ordinary people understand the extent of the crisis (60%), and also in making clear what people can do personally to mitigate the impact (65%). Though some media have in the past been accused of sensationalising stories, on this occasion only a third (32%) think that the media have exaggerated the severity of the situation, though concern was higher in the United States (38%) and Argentina (41%), and amongst those that distrust the media already.

The report notes a return to trust in reliable people and institutions during the pandemic, away from “populist politicians.”

“in terms of trust for information about coronavirus, national news organisations score relatively well, behind doctors and health organisations but ahead of individual politicians and ordinary people. In recent years some populist politicians in particular have taken to undermining the media but this coronavirus pandemic has been a reminder that even weakened media play a critical role in informing populations and shaping opinion.”

Subscribe to daily flash briefing podcast on these platforms: Acast, Apple iTunes Podcasts, Podtail, Spotify, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, or wherever you get your podcasts.