Newspapers build loyal audiences with quality journalism

7 Jun 2017

As the shift to reader-based revenue continues, the global newspaper industry is increasingly building loyal audiences around its high-quality journalism. Key findings from the Wan-Ifra's annual World Press Trends survey were presented at the 69th World News Media Congress and 24th World Editors Forum in Durban, South Africa.

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The data from more than 70 countries, accounts for more than 90% of the global industry’s value and is provided by dozens of national newspaper and news media associations, with additional information coming from global suppliers: Zenith, Ipsos, PwC and Chartbeat.

In its 2017 World Press Trends study, Wan-Ifra estimates that 56% of newspapers’ overall revenue came from circulation sales (print and digital) in 2016. “The shift from advertising to reader-based revenue is reshaping the fundamentals of our industry,” said Wan-Ifra CEO Vincent Peyrègne. “We have entered a pivotal moment and more than ever our focus needs to be on our audience and producing high-quality, engaging journalism.”

Trust is the new currency

Interestingly, this trend continues to emerge at a time when survey after survey reveals that people around the world are not only losing their trust in media, but societal institutions in general. “The decline in trust is the biggest risk we face as an industry, and all our efforts must be with the aim of getting it back. We used to trade in attention. However, trust is our new currency. Any decline in trust erodes the foundation of our business: credible, first-rate journalism.”

Audience-centric era

A fundamental shift in the newspaper business model took place two years ago, when reader revenue became the biggest source of revenue for news publishers. Global digital circulation revenues grew by 28% from 2015 to 2016, and a full 300% from 2012 to 2016, with the trend expected to continue. Despite that, total global newspaper revenues fell 2.1% in 2016 from a year earlier, and are down 7.8% over the last five years.

Advertising revenues continue to decline in most markets, although there are notable exceptions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and rates of decline vary greatly between different markets.

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