Future of news organisations uncertain due to surge in smartphones, social media: Study

The increasing use of smartphones as the leading device for accessing online news and the growing influence of social media could end up putting the financial future of news organisations worldwide in jeopardy, according to a think tank.

Many news outlets are struggling to profit from smartphone content with more people discovering news through search engines and social media rather than the front page of a news website, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism said yesterday.

Online advertising revenues are declining with smartphone users, who spend half of the time on their devices reading news, becoming increasingly frustrated by advertisements and so-called sponsored content, the RISJ said in its annual Digital News Report.

"Most people like news and use news, but they don't want to pay for it, don't want to see advertising around it, and don't want to see it mixed up with sponsored content," said RISJ director of Research Rasmus Kleis Nielsen.