This year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report finds that the demand for reliable, accurate news sources increased but publishers face increasing economic pressure. Eva Bognar, Senior Program Officer and Researcher of the CEU Democracy Institute’s Center for Media, Data and Society wrote the chapter on Hungary.

The report provides evidence that some news organizations have benefitted from a desire for reliable information over the last year – in terms of higher reach, higher trust and more subscribers. But the pandemic has also accelerated shifts to digital, social and mobile environments putting further economic pressure on publishers worldwide. Overall, still only a minority are prepared to pay for online news while younger generations continue to rely on new, convenient ways to access news that are proving hard to monetize.

The 10th edition of the Digital News Report, which is based on an online survey of 92,000 people in 46 media markets, representing the views of more than half the world’s population and including India, Indonesia, Thailand, Nigeria, Colombia and Peru for the first time.

Telex, one of the most influential news portals in Hungary has published a detailed summary of the report, focusing on the Hungarian chapter, and quoting Eva Bognar who said: “It is not only the international organizations that find media situation in Hungary problematic. Based on answers from the Hungarian public, trust in news is low in international perspective, 30 per cent, while in Finland 65% of respondents trust the news.” You may read the article (in Hungarian) here.

The most trusted Hungarian news source, HVG also published a summary, you may read it (also in Hungarian) here. You can also read the summary of the 24, the news portal with the largest audience in Hungary here, watch an interview with Eva Bognar in ATV (also in Hungarian) here, the Euronews story on the report (also in Hungarian) here, or watch how the prime time news program of RTL Klub, the bulletin with the largest audience in Hungary covered the story here. 

Learn more about report here.