Newspapers And Digital News As Popular As Each Other, Ofcom Finds

Accessing mobile apps and news on the web has, for the first time, caught up with the popularity of physical newspapers, new research by the UK’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) has found. Furthermore, about 41% of people say they now access news on websites and apps, compared to 32% in 2013.

Around four out of ten people say they read newspapers to keep up with the latest stories with the figure remaining unchanged year on year, Ofcom’s News Consumption in the UK report indicates. The study also found that using websites or apps for news has overtaken radio, with only 36% of listeners using it for news.

An impressive 60% of people aged 16 to 24 are consuming news on the internet and through apps this year, while last year the figure stood at 44%. About 45% of people in this age group also indicated that websites or apps were their most important sources for news; up from 30% in 2013.

TV still remains the top media channel people rely upon, with 75% receiving their news from this channel in 2014. However, the number has dropped slightly from 2013 when the figure stood at 78%.

It is younger people aged 16-24 who are making digital news more popular. With the increased use of mobile devices and tablets among this age bracket compared to those aged 55 or older, people in this age group are ten times more likely to consume news on a mobile device and twice as likely to access news via a tablet, the study found.