Highlights: 2019 State of Technology in Global Newsrooms

Journalists are increasingly turning to digital technology to help address daunting challenges such as the spread of misinformation and the increasing attacks on reporters, according to the International Center for Journalists’ latest survey on the State of Technology in Global Newsrooms.

The survey updates and expands on ICFJ’s pioneering 2017 study, which found that journalists were struggling to keep pace with the digital revolution. In these difficult times for the news media, our 2019 study reveals a marked increase in the adoption of digital technology by journalists over the past two years.

Check out the executive summary and the full report.

Global Tech Survey 2019: support
Global Tech Survey 2019: responses

 

We analyzed responses from eight global regions

 
Global Tech Survey 2019: map
 
 

Urgent Challenges

As they face increased attacks online, journalists are doing more to protect themselves. More than two-thirds of journalists and newsrooms use cybersecurity today -- nearly a 50% increase since 2017. The rise in secure communications is largely driven by encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.

Global Tech Survey 2019: secure communications
Global Tech Survey 2019: security tools

 

In North America, the percentage of newsrooms that take security measures has doubled over the last two years. It is now second only to Europe in embracing cybersecurity.

Global Tech Survey 2019: most likely to secure communications

 

Global Tech Survey 2019: More than half of journalists use fact-checking tools

News managers and journalists are taking steps to combat misinformation.

 

Global Tech Survey 2019: one third of orgs have fact-checkers
Global Tech Survey 2019: use of social media verification has grown

 

Still, news managers are more likely than journalists to believe that misinformation is a major problem for the industry.

Global Tech Survey 2019: more news managers than journalists concerned about misinformatin

 

Newsrooms are taking measures to build trust -- though not all regions share the same level of concern. North America is one of the least worried.

Global Tech Survey 2019: top measures to build trust
Global Tech Survey 2019: NAM & Africa least concerned about building audience trust

 

The Organizations

Global Tech Survey 2019: hybrid orgs on the rise

More and more traditional newsrooms now use digital formats.

 

Global Tech Survey 2019: greater mix of digital formats to distribute content

These hybrid newsrooms are using a wider array of digital formats to disseminate their content.

 

Global Tech Survey 2019: digital-only newsroom growth has stalled

The outlook for digital-only news outlets is not as encouraging. Digital-only newsroom growth is flat or down everywhere except in East/Southeast Asia, suggesting that fewer online startups are launching.

 

Global Tech Survey 2019: Most newsrooms are small

Most newsrooms are small. More than half of news outlets around the world have ten or fewer full-time employees. Digital-only organizations are the smallest, with 75% employing up to ten full-time staff members.

 

Global Tech Survey 2019: only smaller newsrooms are hiring more staff

Newsroom staff cuts continue. Thirty-six percent of managers say they laid off employees in 2019, compared with 31% in 2017. While larger news organizations have scaled back, smaller ones are adding staff.

 

The Tools

Journalists are increasingly using data in their daily work.

Global Tech Survey 2019: data-driven journalism is more common today
Global Tech Survey 2019: more journalists than managers think data journalism has positive impact

 

Instant messaging is among the most popular tools in most of the world for engaging audiences, with one clear exception: North America.

JOURNALISTS’ USE OF MESSAGING APPS TO ENGAGE AUDIENCES HAS SPIKED SINCE 2017 – EVEN SURPASSING TWITTER
NORTH AMERICAN  JOURNALISTS ARE THE LEAST LIKELY TO ENGAGE AUDIENCES ON MESSAGING APPS

 

Most respondents believe digital tools have transformed every aspect of their work for the better, but journalists are less certain than their managers about the effects of social media.

MORE THAN TWO-THIRDS OF NEWS PROFESSIONALS BELIEVE DIGITAL TECH IMPROVES THEIR WORK
JOURNALISTS ARE  3x MORE LIKELY THAN NEWS MANAGERS  TO SAY THAT  SOCIAL MEDIA HAS MADE NEWS  QUALITY WORSE

 

The People

JUST 4% OF NEWSROOM STAFF ARE TECH PROFESSIONALS

Technical experts are still few and far between in newsrooms.

 

WOMEN HOLD HALF OR MORE OF NEWSROOM MANAGEMENT ROLES IN 4 OF THE 8 REGIONS SURVEYED

In some parts of the world, women are making significant headway. They hold about half of the management positions in Eurasia/former USSR (62%), North America (56%), Europe (51%), and Latin America (49%).

 

NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE ARE THE ONLY REGIONS WHERE WOMEN OUTNUMBER MEN IN THE NEWSROOM

Women also represent approximately half of newsroom employees in three out of eight regions -- though gender diversity continues to be a problem, particularly in the Middle East/North Africa and South Asia.

 

While journalists face little job security, newsrooms in most regions (except North America) are having a tough time finding and retaining employees.

HIRING AND RETAINING JOURNALISTS IS A MAJOR CHALLENGE EVERYWHERE EXCEPT NORTH AMERICA
FREELANCING HAS BECOME MORE PREVALENT AS MORE JOURNALISTS LOSE THEIR JOBS

 

The Beats

Government & politics is the most popular news beat, but approximately one-third of journalists cover education, health, the economy and the environment. North American journalists, however, cover non-political beats less often than others.

WHILE GOVERNMENT & POLITICS IS THE DOMINANT BEAT, OTHERS ARE GRABBING ATTENTION
NORTH AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ARE THE LEAST LIKELY TO REPORT ON EDUCATION AND THE ECONOMY

 

NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF JOURNALISTS DO INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

Investigative journalism is also among the top beats for reporters.

 

SMALLER NEWSROOMS ARE TWICE AS LIKELY TO REPORT ON LOCAL/ COMMUNITY NEWS AS LARGER OUTLETS

While the vast majority of newsrooms report on a combination of local, national, and international events, just a few exclusively cover local and community news. Most are small outlets.

 

Training

Journalists want more advanced and intensive training than they are receiving.

JOURNALISTS DEMAND MORE TRAINING THAN WHAT NEWSROOMS OFFER
JOURNALISTS WANT INTENSIVE TRAINING WHILE NEWSROOMS OFFER SHORT CLASSES

 

Metrics and Analytics

Surprisingly, newsroom managers aren’t as obsessed with key metrics such as pageviews as they were two years ago.

USE OF ALMOST EVERY METRIC – EVEN PAGEVIEWS – HAS DECREASED IN NEWSROOMS  SINCE 2017
NEWS MANAGERS ARE USING ANALYTICS LESS; JOURNALISTS ARE USING THEM MORE

 

NEWSROOMS USE ANALYTICS MORE TO TRACK PERFORMANCE OF INDIVIDUAL JOURNALISTS’ ARTICLES

When they do consult metrics for data analytics, more than one-third of news managers use them to track the work of their journalists.

 

The Business

Advertising is no longer the largest revenue source for most news outlets, as they diversify their funding sources. Non-profits have a more balanced revenue portfolio than for-profits-- though non-profits also rely heavily on digital display advertising.

ADVERTISING IS NOT THE LARGEST REVENUE STREAM FOR A MAJORITY OF NEWSROOMS
NON-PROFIT NEWS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE A MORE BALANCED REVENUE STREAM

 

FORTY PERCENT OF NEWS MANAGERS BELIEVE DATA JOURNALISM HELPS INCREASE REVENUE

News managers say most digital tools help to boost revenue, but some tools do a better job than others.

 

The Future

KEY REVENUE SOURCES FOR NEWSROOMS IN THE UPCOMING YEAR

ICFJ asked managers to identify important revenue streams in the coming year. At 27%, online subscriptions/memberships are expected to be extremely promising--even though only 4% of news organizations say it is currently their most important funding source.

 

EUROPEAN MEDIA ANTICIPATE  HAVING THE GREATEST DIVERSITY IN REVENUE STREAMS

Globally, newsrooms expect a greater diversity of revenue sources, but some regions more than others.