A recent global analysis of media trends reveals significant public discomfort regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in reporting. Furthermore, the report highlights that news avoidance and fatigue have reached record levels worldwide, posing serious challenges to news organizations.
Concerns Over AI Integration in News
Amid the rapid evolution of AI technology, surveys indicate that the public views the use of AI in journalism with suspicion. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s Digital News Report, launched in Asia on June 21, surveyed populations in 47 countries, including the US, Britain, and Mexico, to assess consumer attitudes toward AI’s role in news consumption.
The findings show that only 36 per cent of respondents feel comfortable consuming news produced by humans with the assistance of AI. Comfort levels drop significantly when the content is generated predominantly by AI, with just 19 per cent of those surveyed expressing confidence in news that has received only human oversight.
The report advises newsrooms to proceed cautiously as publishers integrate AI tools. It suggests that while AI helps boost efficiency and personalize content, public trust requires that human journalists remain central to the process. According to the study, there is greater acceptance for using AI in support roles—such as transcription and translation—rather than allowing it to replace journalists entirely.
“As publishers rapidly adopt AI to make their businesses more efficient and to personalise content, our research suggests they need to proceed with caution, as the public generally wants humans in the driving seat at all times,” the report stated.
Challenges in Modern News Consumption
The report also documented a sharp increase in news avoidance, finding that approximately 39 per cent of respondents reported selectively avoiding news sometimes or often. This figure marks a 10 percentage point increase since 2019 and represents the highest recorded rate of news avoidance since the report began in 2012.
Potential contributors to this fatigue include the increased use of smartphones, the constant stream of push notifications from various applications, and algorithmic feeds provided by online platforms.
Financial challenges are also evident, as only 17 per cent of people surveyed from a basket of 20 wealthier nations reported paying for any online news within the past year. The report suggested that the prospects for gaining new subscribers remain limited due to a sustained reluctance to pay, which is linked to the abundance of free information sources and low public interest.
Furthermore, news consumption is becoming fragmented. The shift toward video-based networks—including TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram—is noticeable. Usage statistics show that YouTube is accessed for news by nearly 31 per cent of global audiences weekly, while WhatsApp is used by around 21 per cent. TikTok has risen to 13 per cent, surpassing Twitter (now X) at 10 per cent for the first time.
Misinformation and Trust Levels
Concerns surrounding fake news climbed by 3 percentage points, reaching 59 per cent. Key areas of worry regarding false or misleading content included politics, economics, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the war in Ukraine. When determining the trustworthiness of content online, respondents cited TikTok and X as platforms where concerns were highest compared to other networks.
Overall trust in news remained stable at 40 per cent, though this figure is 4 percentage points lower than the peak recorded during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Local Trends in Singapore
In Singapore, the findings showed continued high trust in established media organizations. Overall trust in the news increased to 47 per cent in 2024, up from 45 per cent in 2023. The Straits Times (ST) and CNA were identified as the most trusted brands by audiences, with 73 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively.
Regarding reach, ST maintained the highest offline reach at 36 per cent, followed by CNA at 33 per cent, and Channel 5 at 25 per cent. For weekly online reach, Mothership and CNA were tied at 46 per cent, with the ST website at 41 per cent.
In terms of news access methods, online and social media remained the dominant channels, used by 82 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively. Traditional methods saw declines, with TV at 46 per cent and print at 13 per cent. Notably, most surveyed participants were not paying for news.
Professor Edson C. Tandoc Jr., who co-authored the Digital News Report’s country page on Singapore, noted that readers tend to trust content if it originates from established media brands. He stated: “Whether it’s generated by AI or not, we find that people trust the story if it’s by one of the legacy brands like ST or CNA,” adding that Singaporeans maintain high trust in the mainstream media due to its close regulation by the Government, making the organization itself the primary factor in trust, regardless of whether the content is human- or AI-authored.
The Reuters Institute conducted this report by polling 94,943 adults across the globe in January and February. This sample included 2,013 individuals residing in Singapore.
