Society welcomes latest PAMCo figures showing more readers of quality journalism
By the Editor
The Society of Editors has welcomed the publication of research that shows that quality UK journalism is being read by more people than ever before.
The latest data released by The Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo) reveals that an extra 3.2 million daily readers compared to a year ago (2019 v 2018).
Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray said this was strong evidence that the public had trust in the mainstream media, and in particular the print press at both a national and local level.
“This trust has never been more important than at this time of crisis and there is evidence that more and more people are turning to established news brands to find out the truth surrounding the current global crisis,” said Murray.
“When lives are at stake and analysis of news and information is critical, the public are showing that they cannot trust the fake news and disinformation that permeates through social media. For all its detractors, the mainstream media remains the rock bed of trusted communication in this country.”
The latest data released by PAMCo shows that the daily audience number across the press industry – which includes national and numerous regional news brands – now totals 34 million readers, which is growth of 10% year-on-year.
National news brands’ combined audience (print and digital) now sit at 46 million people a month and 27 million daily readers.
The report’s numbers also show that digital monthly readership has surpassed 40 million across the UK’s national news brands, overtaking Google’s number for first time.
On a daily basis national online readership now reaches 20 million people, demonstrating growth of nearly three million compared to the previous year.
In January the Advertising Association/WARC expenditure report reveal that advertising revenue across national news brands rose by 0.4% year-on-year to £234 million, in the third quarter of 2019. Encouragingly, that was the second consecutive quarter of growth for the national news industry.
Tracy De Groose, Executive Chair of Newsworks, said: “Against a backdrop of Brexit, climate change and the current coronavirus pandemic, we are living in unprecedented and anxious times and the news industry is playing a vital role in people’s lives by providing information and advice they can rely on. Amid a growing awareness of the pervasiveness of fake news and misinformation the nation’s appetite for trusted news is at an all-time high.”
The Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo), is the governing body which oversees audience measurement for the published media industry.
- Bill Heaney, editor/publisher of The Dumbarton Democrat is an emeritus member of the Society of Editors.