3 days ago
Watch: 5 key takeaways from Reuters news study
The annual Reuters Digital News Report for Ireland 2025 shows that 5% of Irish people say they are getting their news from AI chatbots.
This is one of the most eye-catching figures revealed in the annual report published today, and it offers a fascinating, if sobering, snapshot of media consumption.
What is your 'level of interest' in news?
The report shows that 56%, more than half the adult population in Ireland, is "extremely" or "very interested" in news.
This figure, which is up 3 points from last year, is heartening for Irish newsrooms when compared to our neighbours in the UK (39%), and (51%) in the US.
However, when we flick back ten years, to the report in 2015, the level of interest in news was 71% amongst adults.
The report also notes wider trends over the years that show that engagement with news is clearly on shifting terrain.
Rónán Ó Domhnaill, from Coimisiún na Meán, said that "what we are looking at is a gradual but managed decline in the amount of trust and interest in news".
Who do you trust?
At a time when fake news and misinformation are constant themes in newsrooms when faced with newsgathering and verification challenges, editors will be reassured that trust levels are solid.
When asked about trusted sources of news, RTÉ News came out on top, at (72%), with local radio news in total clocking up (72%) trust levels too.
They are followed by the Irish Times, with 70%, with the same percentage for the BBC, levels of 68% for the Irish Independent, and 66% for Newstalk, Today FM and Sky News.
At a time when there are endless options available for people to consume their news, and when questionable content bleeds through our online world, these figures will bolster those who argue that resources should continue to be channelled to trusted news-gathering sources.
For newspapers, there was good news for local papers as, at 71%, they emerge as the most trusted source, however Dave O'Connell, editor of the Connacht Tribune, said "it's great to have these trust levels," but "with the good news with trust level, it's not so great news in relation to sales". He asked "how do we leverage this trust into surviving as an industry?".
For Dr Eileen Culloty from DCU who was involved in the research for this report, she said that the figures show that "local media enjoys strong public trust" however, in tune with Dave O'Connell she added, "trust alone doesn't pay salaries or sustain newsrooms so the big challenge is to convert trust into viable careers in local journalism so that local media can continue informing communities".
Mr O'Connell pointed to Coimisiún na Meán, saying that their support with schemes such as the recent local journalism and court reporting schemes were vital to plug the gap between the cost of providing quality news coverage and funding. He believes that the need for external funding is key in this area.
Are you worried about fake news?
All age groups shows concern about fake information online with 68% of respondents saying that deciding what is 'real' and what is 'fake' is a factor in their consumption of news.
This figure will be considered a strong mandate for journalists to continue to be vigilant in their news-gathering and verification processes.
In an era when everyone can go 'live' on their phones to an audience, these figures will be seen as demonstrating the resilience and importance of verified content for news providers.
The standards for good quality, well-researched journalism is important to Irish people and this figure from across the age groups reinforces that work.
Will you pay for news?
The report said that one in five people, 20%, are now paying for subscriptions for their news content.
Casting an eye back to 2015, a decade ago, the figure for digital news subscriptions stood at 7% and the only national news title that had moved behind a paywall then was The Irish Sun which was followed by a 'soft paywall' from the Irish Times.
Scroll on ten years and the levels of subscription have moved on, with Irish Independent publisher Mediahuis recently celebrating reaching 100,000 paid subscribers this year.
Samantha McCaughren from Mediahuis spoke at the launch of the report today and she said that "what we did 20 years ago, we don't do now".
Ms McCaughren explained that their processes have moved on and that "when we think about a story, we think about all the angles. Is there a podcast element, a video element, can our journalists talk to each other about a story? We have completely changed how we look at stories," she told RTÉ News.
This describes the approach that any vibrant newsroom has to adopt now to stay relevant. Multi-platform approaches to a story is considered the norm now, but with shrinking resources across newsrooms, the perennial question remains - how do you monetise your content and stay on top of the financial demands of managing a multi-platform model?
As more and more content goes behind paywalls, this report will offer some comfort as it seems that Irish people are more willing to pay for content so the juggling act of balancing commercial realities with the quality news content gathering continues across news organisations.
The Reuters Digital News Report finds that 5% of people are turning to chatbots for their content.
This one line in a report of thousands of words was for many, the break-out news line.
The figure emerged in response to the question "which platforms you have used in the last week as a source of news" and it was the first time that this digital platform had emerged and is a new entry into the charts.
Top of the choices was television with 58% saying that this was a platform they turned to. That same figure also said they turned to online news.
Meanwhile, 47% of Irish people said social media was a source, while radio was a news source for 36%.
This figure has been pointed to as a sure sign of the resilience of this platform with the Irish people's long celebrated affinity with radio continuing to power where audio offerings have changed significantly in recent years.
Back ten years ago in 2015, the reach for 'traditional' newspapers was 69%. That has declined significantly with 20% of respondents in this report saying they went to printed newspapers for their information.
Down the bottom are the two entries from the digital platforms with 12% saying podcasts provided them with news and the eye catching 5% stating that AI chatbots was a source.
The figure may have just snuck into the bottom of the list but it is a figure that is sure to rise over the coming years.
The figure just above it too is worthy of note as 12% point to podcasts as a platform they use for news sourcing. This figure is higher than the UK (7%) and USA (15%).
When we consider that 19% of people said that they were either "very" or "somewhat" comfortable with the use of AI for news with some human oversight and the under 35s almost twice as comfortable when considering the same measure, it is clear that digital platforms will continue to steer future developments in newsrooms.
Ms McCaughren discussed the pivotal role that podcasts play in the Mediahuis newsroom now with a full time team of 16 people working on their podcast content.
From daily news, to sport to crime, the appetite for podcasts is clearly growing and is yet another new frontier that this report tracks.
This evening I asked an AI chatbot for a short one line summary of this report, and it offered the following words of wisdom: "Irish audiences remain highly engaged and trusting in news at 56%, and strong local radio/newspaper trust levels at 72% but they are cautious about AI."
Humble. Cautious for now, but when next year's report is published, checking the figure for use of AI chatbots as a source will be one of the first things I will watch out for.
