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AFTER A LITTLE less than five years in existence TheJournal.ie is now the most frequently read online-only news publication in Ireland.
The finding was delivered in the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report for 2015. While the Reuters Digital Report is an annual event, this is the first year in which the uptake of Irish digital media has been put under the microscope.
RTE and the Irish Independent Online are currently numbers one and two in terms of weekly usage for online news by those surveyed with 31% and 28% of user share respectively.
TheJournal.ie and Irish Times online are joined in third place with 23%.
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TheJournal.ie is the only online-only news source to achieve a place in the top three.
“This year we find more compelling evidence about the central role being played by smartphones and a sharp increase in the use of social media for finding, sharing, and discussing the news,” said Dr David Levy, director of the Reuters Institute.
We see significant growth in the use of online video and new visual formats and track the global rise of Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post, companies that have become masters at creating and distributing content in a social and mobile world.
Other Irish-specific findings from within the report suggest that online and mobile media are becoming more and more important in terms of how Irish people consume their news:
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Facebook is the most popular social network in Ireland and is seen as playing a central role in protest campaigns here, the movement against the introduction of the water charges being a case in point, while Irish journalists are among the heaviest Twitter users in the world.
Just 7% of the Irish surveyed are paying for online news. Finland has the highest such penetration with 14%.
46% of Irish readers have trust in the news with which they are provided (placed 6th of the 12 countries considered). 71% of Irish readers have interest in the news.
The country with the most trust in the news with which they are provided is Finland with 68% saying they trusted their news sources. The US had the lowest percentage, with just 32% saying they trusted their news providers
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49% of the Irish who were surveyed said they now use social media as a source of news.
Surprisingly the worst performing country from this point of view is traditional tech powerhouse Japan with just 21%. Brazil has the greatest uptake in social media as a news source with 64%.
31% of the Irish people surveyed now see online portals as the most accurate source of news, second only to TV (37%).
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Across the range of countries surveyed, trust in news sources rises with age – the greatest level of trust being seen among the over-55s.
73% of those aged 55+ have bought a print newspaper in the past week. The figure is just 24% for those aged under 35.
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News about Ireland and international news are the most dominant interests among readers in Ireland. Business/finance and news about the economy are also subjects that stimulate news-consumers here to a large extent.
43% of Irish news-users are now mainly digital users, with 23% sticking to traditional broadcast and print forms of media.
Video is still being used very differently in the different countries surveyed. In Ireland, video is seen as most useful from an analytical, bite-size point of view.
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Meanwhile, the intensely participatory nature of online news (sharing, commenting etc) is clearly reflected in the study’s findings. Ireland has an 80% participation level when it comes to the news in 2015.
Likewise, some 25% of users polled said they actively comment on news stories as they develop.
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All findings reported here are presented in Reuters’ Digital News Report for 2015.
The data presented the results from a comprehensive online questionnaire into news consumption in 12 different countries by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
Some 1,501 Irish people filled out the questionnaire behind the report’s findings in February 2014.
The report itself has been published annually since 2012.
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The journal owe a lot to the people of the comments section.
Yes I agree.. I think The Journal should give a big gigantic award to the best contributor.. Congrats Journal…
Sinead I so I agree
I just sent my address
Imagine how big you could be if you could spell!
It’s like goldie and bronzey
This growth in popularity is a sad indictment of where news reporting is heading. There is little room for analysis and alternative points of view and even less room for genuine investigation. Important issues that need attention don’t get it while useless and uninformative polls and lists dominate the site.
It’s also disheartening to see how weak The Journal is when it comes to constructive criticism of the government and how it pathetically went running when Denis O’Brien postured.
Well said Niall Waters. This is really an entertainment site as opposed to a news site. Still, it entertains.
Basically yeah, this is where I read a bit of fluff news and see what the contributors think.
I get my real news from the Beeb to be honest
Comment section is 100% the reason why. Most other online sites have comment sections, but non as good as this from what I’ve seen. Sure it’s plagued with trolls at the best of times but everyone online is these days. But a congrats is due to all the strange(I say that lovingly) people who decided to spill their brains on here, keep up the good work!
Jaysus, my poor grammar and typo count on that would be worthy of an article on here! Just goes to show how excited I was for you guys while I typed yeah…that should pass.
Congratz!….now……
…..if you could stop brown nosing your political heroes and letting your personal political allegiances influence your writing you just might kick RTE and the Indo off the top spot. Remember real reporters are supposed to be impartial.
Yeah, too much Sinn Fein brown nosing going on altogether.
I just come hear to proof read the articles.
And to contribute irony to the world apparently
More than Alanis Morrissette at any rate.
Good site,mainly copy and paste journo’s but well put together.Get even one decent investigative journalist in there and you’ll be really flying.
When you republish stories from other outlets, does it still count as someone reading “The Journal” even though the actual content comes from other outlets?
And you’re here because…..?
You are aware that all major newspapers syndicate content and always have, right?
“With great power comes great responsibility”
Voltaire
Thought that was Spiderman’s uncle
Congrats to you … and to us. A lively mix of info, debate and some spanners ;-)
There isn’t much competition to be fair.
Congratulations! A little bit of everything!
Meh. Who cares…. ;)
It’s a shame when it comes to DOB you refuse to allow comments. Not very independent of you and shows a lack of journalistic integrity. Still continue congratulating yourselves.
News ?
I used to be on here a lot more but I have a pain in my ring with my comments being deleted because I slag off the government / Irish water ETC
Well done. Great bunch mostly. It’s a pity ye select which stories are open for comments though.. A little unfair..
Congrats one & all. Keep up the good work.
Fair play the journal.. Just hope it stays independent and doesn’t become biased towards government and anti certain parties for no reason. Credit to the people posting comments as well. Sparks a lively debate at times :)
It’s already pretty biased towards the government! Hugh is just in loves with Enda! It’s a bit sickening at times! Then the anti SF articles are the complete opposite! Quite rarely impartial perspectives! Watch Hugh interview Enda Kenny and then Gerry Adams and and see the difference in questioning! He shows his political allegiance as clear as day!
It’s about the comments for me, might as well just be a headline most of the time, the articles are mostly like a Facebook feed with the dreaded listicles, ’22 Times You’ve Seen THIS List On The Internet Today’ #YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT or ‘Look what happened to this guy after he ate a RAW giraffe’. Maybe once every 3 months there’s an exclusive, but they’re always safe. And while the proofing was hitting laughable levels a year ago it’s just become the norm on every article to see grammatical and syntax errors even in headlines and sub-headings, The Journal need to invest some time in Quality Control, having to read and then re-read sentences again because they make no sense or words are repeated back to back is frustrating, which brings me back to my point, straight to the comments!
As a journal commentator, I must express my disgust at this. [-----REDACTED------]. I also feel compelled to ask what Enda is doing about this disgrace, and must make mention of Denis O’Brien also for some reason which I’m not quite clear on myself. Also, there are not enough animated gifs in this article which I blame the New World Order and possibly the CIA for. Finally, I want to wrap this up saying something warm and fuzzy so I’m in with a chance of top comment prize this Saturday. Outrageous!
Good news. The posters who comment on the articles are driving the surge in popularity and the competition from other online sources is pretty flat.
I rarely actually read the articles, I’m just here for the muppets constantly arguing over nonsense!
@stephen B
Oh no you don’t!
I can share 5 links to Wikipedia that proves I’m write and far superior to you.
I see your 5 Wiki links and raise you 3 anonymous blog posts.
Scroll down a little to DOB article, no comments section? Slippery slope, pride comes before a fall
Well done you. I spend hours reading the Journal. Happy for you guys congrats.
The journal is all about the comments, I speed read the articles to get to the comments where the real wit, humour,zeitgeist and craziness reside. The articles are the 30 euro cheap Thai massage, the comments are the happy ending!
Ps. Have some balls ‘re deleting comments that may not share your gentle sensibilities.
Never read it myself is it any good
Ye guys are beginning to slack on print media!!
Yeah I found 6% a bit shocking.
I print out your articles and then read them, so sorry, you’ve lost your claim to fame.
Congratulations to all at The Journal – I was surprised to see RTE.ie at the top of the list though… Independent.ie and IrishTimes.ie, sure, but the RTE online offering seems weak in comparison (& the Indo has been copying The Journal).
Congrats lads :)
Waterford whispers Should Give You a run for your money,
self praise is no praise
“Yep, and I still don’t know what your business model is, giving away the news for free and all that?”
They are waiting for citizen Kane O’Slime to make them an offer they cant refuse.!
Then a blanket of absolute censorship will descend over the land..
Just like it has always been.
By the way, congrats on your continuing success.!
Long may you thrive.
You were on the up but lost a lot of credibility with your censorship of the /dennis O’Brien affair. It was a shame
Well done to all the team at The Journal – the future is yours. As Bertie would say: “a lot done more to do”.
I come for the trolling, stay for the train wrecks
sadly i read the headlines and scroll down to the comments straight away.
i have this app purely for entertainment value.
Yep, and I still don’t know what your business model is, giving away the news for free and all that?
I just downloaded it, that’s why
Well done!! I love the comments section although the censoring could be toned down a bit!!! I would also like to mention the fact that any article mentioning DOB is left with no comment section I feel this is a major downfall for a site like this who obviously set out to allow free speech but one if the most controversial subjects and we are silenced such a shame!
I was trying to think of a reason why I keep coming back to this site and it dawned on me when I glanced at the from the web section. That dog does look like Harrison Ford.
Finland has the highest percentage of people willing to pay for online news. They also have the highest percentage of people who trust their news source. This tells me that if you’re stupid enough to pay for a news service then you’re stupid enough to consider it trustworthy.
I wouldn’t have written that if this site wasn’t free. Good thing or a bad thing? Hmmm? I’m off to make some more tea.
I recommend ye release a print edition!
Well done keep up the good work its my first port of call every morning with my expresso
I’m sure there’s one person with multiple accounts who trolls the comments section.
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