Covid-19 boosts news media consumption but hits revenue

Diversity of the Swiss media coverage continues to suffer according to the Annual Yearbook of the fög institute. Keystone/Franco Greco

The economic situation of the Swiss media has worsened despite an increase in news consumption, according to an annual study.

“The marketing budgets have been reduced drastically and the willingness to pay for the use of online media remains low,” the authors of the latest edition of the Media Quality Yearbook say.

In a bid to improve the situation the experts are calling for new pay-wall models and political moves to finance media products.

The annual studyExternal link by the Zurich-based Research Centre for the Public Sphere and Society also found that 44% of consumers say they trust in traditional media, while the rate for social media is only 19%.

The wide-ranging study also noted that 37% of mainly young people are not interested in news information unless it focuses on a specific topic they can relate too directly, including climate change or gender discrimination.

The experts found that the same content on political issues is shared by an increasing number of Swiss media and they say there is an increasing lack of context when it comes to reporting on science issues.

“As in previous years, the diversity in reporting has suffered most. The range of topics and the geographical spectrum covered by the media is shrinking,” the authors say in a press releaseExternal link.

In July, the same institute published a preliminary survey on the quality of reporting about the Covid-19 pandemic in Switzerland. For details see below: