In 2024, 69% of Swiss people use television, the written press or the radio at least once a week for information, compared to 88% in 2016. Digital sources of information (news sites and social media) are also less used: 74% in 2024 compared to 82% in 2016.
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“Exhausted by the amount of news”
In 2016, 59% of people surveyed in Switzerland said they were very interested in the news. They will only be 48% in 2024. More than a third of Swiss people (36%) say they “sometimes” or even “actively” avoid the news. The majority of those who avoid the news say they “feel exhausted by the amount of news,” according to fög.
In Switzerland, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook remain the main platforms for using news, notes the fög. TikTok and Instagram continue to grow in importance. According to the study, 78% of those surveyed say they get information from videos at least once a week. The most popular videos are short two-minute formats.
Confidence has declined
In total, 41% of those surveyed trust the majority of news media, a value slightly higher than the international average. However, confidence has declined over the past three years, according to fög. Respondents trust information from the SRF and RTS the most, regardless of their own political views.
In Switzerland, the willingness to pay for information has stagnated for three years, notes the fög. Only 17% of those surveyed said they had paid for online news in 2023. Among those who paid, around a third said they spent a maximum of 10 francs per month for the main online subscription.
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57% do not want to pay
A third of those surveyed who do not pay for online news consider “a few francs a month” to be “a fair price” that they would be willing to pay and 57% would spend nothing at all. “For the media industry, attracting new paying consumers and generating sufficiently high revenues through online subscriptions therefore remains a big challenge,” concludes Linards Udris, deputy research director at fög.
Since 2012, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, produced by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, has annually documented different aspects of media usage based on a representative survey of the population of several countries. In Switzerland, the survey is carried out in partnership with fög. The fög national report is a supplement to the Digital News Report.
The global report: the triumph of videos on platforms
A YouTuber cited more than traditional newspapers: the 2024 edition of a global reference report on media confirms on Monday the explosion of video as a source of information among young people. “Video is becoming an even more important source of online information, particularly among young people,” underlines the report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, attached to the English University of Oxford.
Published on Monday, the annual document on digital information is based on online surveys conducted by the company YouGov among 95,000 people in 47 countries. Building on the momentum of recent years, it shows that two thirds of respondents worldwide watch at least one short video (a few minutes) on a news topic every week.
72% of videos viewed on platforms
Problem for traditional media: almost three quarters (72%) of this video consumption takes place on social platforms and networks, compared to only 22% on their sites, which raises questions about their ability to earn money.
Like last year, we observe a dichotomy between the networks. On Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), with an aging audience, traditional media continue to be dominant, even if these networks tend to give less and less space to information.
But on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, for younger audiences, information is sought from content creators and influencers more than from traditional media and journalists.
Hugo Décrypte: an SME of 25 people
The report particularly highlights the case of Frenchman Hugo Décrypte (nickname of Hugo Travers, 27), whose media brand employs 25 people. “With 2.6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and 5.7 million on TikTok, he has become a major source of information for young French people,” notes the report. “In our survey, it was cited more than The world, Le Figaro And Release gathered,” continues the study, emphasizing that Hugo Décrypte subscribers “are 27 years old on average, or around 20 years younger than the audience of many information brands.”
The study cites similar cases in other countries, such as the British Jack Kelly or the American Vitus Spehar. “Consumers are embracing video because it is easy to access and offers a wide variety of content. But many traditional media remain anchored in a text culture and are struggling to adapt,” comments lead author Nic Newman.
