From the time news media formats were invented – from cave paintings to social media – there has been dissatisfaction with what people see and read.

Activists have also often seen the media as the most significant part of the problem of politics. In January 1965 Malcom X – anticipating the impact of the Murdoch and other media – said: “If you are not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

But now it seems the whole world– not just Malcolm X – is re-appraising their media usage.

The 2024 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism demonstrates the extent of this contemporary dissatisfaction. In Northern Europe Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden 69%, 57%, 55% and 50% respectively trust most news most of the time. But they are outliers.

In contrast in Canada and the US only 39% and 32% respectively trust most news most of the time.

The US ratings are among the lowest in the whole world with only Greece, Argentina, Morocco, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, South Korea and France fairing worse.

A majority of respondents in the Netherlands, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa trust most news most of the time. Astonishingly they are joined by Thailand and Hong Kong (the latter up 16%) where media controls are extraordinarily strict. Perhaps the respondents don’t want to risk saying the wrong thing even in a market research questionnaire.

Africa scores well with a majority trusting media most of the time in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. This is in marked contrast to Australia where only 40% of respondents trust the media – a rating that is 3% less than last year’s survey revealed – behind Singapore, Japan and India and better only than Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea. Ratings in all the countries surveyed in Eastern Europe and Latin America were below 50%.

The report suggests these low scores can be partly linked to high levels of polarisation and divisive debates over politics and culture.

A significant number also say they have seen false or misleading information in the past week – on subjects from politics, to COVID, to cost of living and economics, the Israel-Palestine conflict, Ukraine War, climate change, immigration and other health issues.

Perhaps the biggest threat to the news media is that many people are just avoiding the media altogether with 39% saying they often or sometimes avoid the news. Countries with significant numbers saying they are worn out by the news are France, Brazil, Spain, Canada, USA, Germany, South Africa, UK Denmark and Japan – the last seeing the smallest increase in despair. The report says: “Since we started tracking these issues, usage of smartphones has increased, and has the number of notifications sent from apps of all kinds perhaps contributing to the sense that the news has become hard to escape.”

Those who haven’t opted out are concerned about what is real and what is fake when it comes to online news. 59% of all markets say they are concerned about what is real and what is fake on the internet.  72% of the US sample are concerned, 70% in the UK, 81% in South Africa and 58% in India. Topics which most provoke this response are politics, health information and news about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

The Reuters Institute has also introduced a new dimension into its research by asking users of specific online platforms how easy or difficult it is to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy content. Tik Tok is worst with 27% saying they struggle to identify what is real and what is not.

For those in the media hoping paying for online news might be help in the current crisis it is facing there is much bad news. In the UK only 8% paid for any online new, 13% in Germany, 22% in the US, 13% in Germany and 21% in Australia. The most successful – via subscription, membership, donation or one off payment – are the Nordic countries which get an average of 27% paying users. Norway is the stand out success with 40% paying for online news.

There are also – as always – significant differences in various age groups interaction with media. The report singles out the UK where only a quarter of people aged 18-24 went direct to a news website or app in the week of the survey. 34% of those were in the 25 to 34 age group compared with 51% of the 35 and over.

There is also increasing audience fragmentation. A decade ago there were just two online platforms but now there are six networks reaching at least 10% each of respondents. You Tube is the market leader followed by WhatsApp, TikTok and Twitter (now X) is dead last with 10%.

…and a final comment on the media from Mark Twain: If you don’t read newspapers you are uninformed. If you do read them you are misinformed. Mark Twain