Seventy-two per cent of UK internet users access UK national newspaper brands across platforms weekly, the third annual Reuters Institute of Journalism Digital News Report 2014 has found.
Co-sponsored by Newsworks which analysed the UK data, the report found that digital and print newspapers are the top two commercial news sources in the UK for 18-24s, and digital newspaper readers own more devices and are more active on social media.
The research found that more 18-24 year olds read newspapers in some format than watch TV news and, while most are most likely to read newspaper brands digitally, printed newspapers remain significant with 43 per cent reading a paper weekly.
The proportion of newspaper readers accessing newspaper content on tablets is up to 15 per cent and is 16 per cent on smartphones, while 84 per cent remain print readers, the research found.
Additionally, the more digital devices owned by a person, the more likely they are to have accessed a newspaper brand in the past week – those with one device have a 37 per cent likelihood, which rises to 65 per cent for those with three or more devices.
When it comes to social media, multi-platform newspaper brand readers are an active and engaged demographic, making up 56 per cent of all people sharing news on social networks and 55 per cent of all people commenting on stories.
Digital newspaper readers are 67 per cent more likely than the average internet user to use Twitter for news.
Nic Newman, digital strategists, author of the report and research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, said: “News is becoming more mobile, more social and more digital, but news brands and their journalists remain a trusted source of information and a key driver of conversation.”
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