Online outlets have become the main source of news for Irish people for the first time ever in the country, overtaking newspapers, tv, radio or social media.
That’s according to the ‘Digital News Report 2024 – Ireland’, compiled by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism based in Oxford, UK and sponsored by Coimisiún na Meán.
The research also reveals that almost two thirds (61%) of people in Ireland use short form online news video weekly, significantly ahead of other countries in Europe such as the UK, France and Germany.
According to the survey, 46% of people in Ireland would not consider paying a monthly subscription for news content.
Reuters researchers said that the cost and purpose of public service media (PSM) have been debated across the nation this year while a payments scandal at Raidió Teilifis Éireann (RTÉ) has unfolded.
The scandal began in July 2023 when the Grant Thornton accountancy firm uncovered that secret payments had been made by the former management to boost the pay of a “star presenter”.
This and further revelations have meant that RTÉ has scarcely been off the front pages of the newspapers and online media outlets, according to the report.
The previous director-general, Dee Forbes, stands accused of a number of breaches of corporate governance and these decisions have been scrutinised regularly on live television by the media committee of the Irish Government.
The Reuters report added that media analysts, politicians, and the public have subsequently questioned the very necessity of PSM in a changing digital landscape.
In terms of consumption though, RTÉ News still tops the chart for the most used news source in the categories of ‘TV, radio, and print’ and ‘online’ and retains very high trust levels.
More disturbing for RTÉ, however, is the fact that the number of TV licence fees bought last year fell by 13%, a drop of over 123,000 compared to 2022, the research stated.
This has resulted in a loss of almost €22 million. A proposed government bailout of RTÉ is now contingent on cost-cutting. So far RTÉ has announced plans for salary caps and 400 redundancies.
Online
The report indicates that the worth of Ireland’s newspaper market is set to see a decline of about €91 million over the next three years.
According to a PwC report (November 2023), newspaper publishers will see an increase in revenues from digital media by 2027, but this upturn will not make up for the expected decline in print sales.
One case outlined in the report is that of Mediahuis.
The chief executive of Mediahuis Ireland, Peter Vandermeersch, publisher of titles including The Irish Independent, announced 50 job cuts while repeating his mantra that the news industry is shifting from print to digital under a plan known as ‘Digital-only 2030’.
This will involve an eventual disappearance of printed newspapers from Monday to Friday.
According to the Reuters research, 17% of Irish people pay for online news.
After a slight Covid-19 bump, TV continues its long-term decline as a news source while print has been hit even harder with use now well under half the level of 2015.
The most popular device to get news on is smartphone, followed by computer and then tablets.
In terms of trust, the reports shows that the highest level of trust is in brands such as RTÉ News despite its challenges, Irish Times and local or regional media outlets.
The highest percentages of distrust are for outlets such as Irish Daily Mirror and Irish Daily Mail.