Australians among world's biggest online news consumers

Amid increasing media fragmentation and a drift from traditional news sources, it seems Australians, especially younger people, are happy to pay for news they trust.. A global study shows Australia among the top nations embracing paid online news, with many citing concerns over disinformation as a key reason.. Almost one-in-four Australians, 23 per cent, pay for online news of any description, placing it third among 48 surveyed nations in the latest Reuters-backed Digital News Report, released on Tuesday..

Of those that do pay, 35 per cent, pay for at least one non-traditional digital-only news source, which is the highest rate in the world.. Younger Australians are driving take-up of new media entrants, with almost half, 47 per cent, of Australians under 35 now paying for digital-only news subscriptions.. "This should be a wake-up call to mainstream media," Sora Park, the director of the University of Canberra's News and Media Research Centre, told AAP..

"Young people, although they are very engaged, it's not always mainstream media they're turning to .... they want news that's easier to understand and relatable." Jason Koutsoukis, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper and enlisted by report authors to comment on its findings, said this was "undeniably good news".. "New entrants, specialist publications, and independent journalists are finding paying audiences here in a way that is not matched in most comparable markets," he said..

Mr Koutsoukis also said the findings showed the value Australians placed on news, even during cost-of-living challenges.. "In the United States, the proportion paying for online news dropped seven percentage points in a single year, down to just 13 per cent," he said.. "Australia, by contrast, barely moved..

"That kind of resilience, in this kind of economic environment, is worth noticing." The interest of 18 to 24-year-olds in news has risen since 2023, growing from 35 per cent to 47 per cent, with young people more likely to be interested in politics.. The report, co-ordinated by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, is the largest international comparative survey of news audiences and habits.. The Australian partner, the University of Canberra, relies on online questionnaires conducted by YouGov..

The report gives several reasons to pay for digital news - to read exclusive stories, to avoid advertising, as a safeguard against misinformation, and to keep news free for others who could not afford to pay.. In other headline report findings, social media is on the cusp of the most used news source in Australia, leaping to be just one percentage point behind television.. More than half of Australians - 56 per cent - find their news on social media compared to 57 per cent on television  The findings paint a grim picture for fans of print..

Two in every five Australians who once relied on newspapers now no longer do so, while three in every five people under 25 have never read a newspaper.. Australian Associated Press.