Richard Fletcher
@richardfletcher.bsky.social
Director of Research + Deputy Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford. Fellow of Green Templeton College. Lead researcher of the Digital News Report. www.richardfletcher.me
🚨New Science Advances🚨 Untrustworthy sources on Facebook and Instagram in 2020: Concentrated exposure but no attitudinal effects www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... -Exposure very low but highly concentrated -Reducing exposure by ~70% for months had no measurable effects *even among frequent consumers*
Traditional sources have seen a significant decline in news use in recent years. This chapter from @richardfletcher.bsky.social looks at the reasons behind this disengagement, which are different for newspapers, TV and radio news Click to read buff.ly/cDt240f
The different reasons why television, newspapers, and radio are losing their news audiences
Almost all markets we cover in the Digital News Report survey have seen a decline in the use of offline news sources in the last decade. Printed newspapers, radio, and television have all experienced…
buff.ly
The last moments of Radio 4 Long Wave this morning. More about the switch off here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Long Wave radio era set to end with Droitwich switch-off
But campaigners want the LW masts in Worcestershire to be given listed status.
bbc.co.uk
Al Ryan@alryanradio.bsky.social · last mo.The end of an era - After almost a century we said goodbye this morning to our great companion of the airwaves Radio 4 198 LW. I shall miss her warmth and crackle. Here’s the final sign off at the end of #theshippingforecast before she fell silent… ❤️
My chapter in this year's @reutersinstitute.bsky.social Digital News Report looks at the different reasons why the news audiences for radio, TV, and newspapers are shrinking.
Reuters Institute@reutersinstitute.bsky.social · last mo.Traditional sources have seen a significant decline in news use in recent years. This chapter from @richardfletcher.bsky.social looks at the reasons behind this disengagement, which are different for newspapers, TV and radio news Click to read reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...
New data on the efficacy of the Australia social media ban are worse than I thought. A new study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports that over 85% of teens under 16 are still using social media. The 'friction' introduced by the ban seems very minimal. www.bmj.com/content/393/...
Nearly half of @reutersinstitute.bsky.social DNR respondents say they prefer getting news from sources that don’t have a particular point of view. But can public demand for impartial news survive platforms and polarization? Read my chapter here: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...
🚨 Our Digital News Report 2026 is out! Authored by Jim Egan, Craig T. Robertson, Amy Ross Arguedas, Nic Newman, Rasmus Nielsen, Mitali Mukherjee and Richard Fletcher, it is based on 100K interviews in 48 markets Full report reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news... 7 findings in thread
We will publish the 2026 Reuters Institute Digital News Report next week. Details here: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/digital...
The Digital News Report 2026 will be published on Tuesday 16 June
This year’s report covers 48 markets and features a new interactive allowing users to compare figures from across countries and demographics.
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk
Interview research from 🇲🇽🇺🇸🇬🇧finds concerns over AI-generated misinfo drive "indexical discounting" eroding realism heuristic, many want systemic remedies. @richardfletcher.bsky.social presents work led by @felixsimon.bsky.social @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social at #ICA26 Preprint osf.io/preprints/so...
Call me old fashioned, but I think that multiple choice survey items designed to measure someone’s knowledge of an area should contain 1 unambiguously correct answer and 3 unambiguously wrong ones – not 3 that are sort of right and 1 that’s mostly likely to be the one the researchers picked.
Our article "Ritual Reinforcement: Habit, Emotion, and Identity as Attributes of Trust in News", led by the brilliant @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social, won the 2025 Bob Franklin Journal Article Award. Thanks to Amy for her outstanding work (as usual) leading this! www.tandfonline.com/journals/rjo...
2025 Bob Franklin Journal Article Award
Explore the article collection: 2025 Bob Franklin Journal Article Award. Published in Journalism Studies.
tandfonline.com
When the value of an activity comes from peer participation, bans only work if enough peers comply. Research suggests this isn't happening with the new Australian social media ban, from Bursztyn, Duckworth, Jiménez-Durán, Leonard, Milojević, Roth, and Sunstein www.nber.org/papers/w35162
🎙Today we published a new report authored by Nic Newman exploring the changing nature of news podcasting. It looks at the shift from narrative to conversational podcasts, what's driving a pivot to video, monetisation and more. Find it here: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/changing-sha...
Stunning footage from a beautiful #MayDay 🌅 🎬 Instagram | UmairAtOxford
Back to one of my regular moans about democracy measurement - present bias. According to VDEM the UK's 'level of liberal democracy' is now lower than any time since 1945 - a period of time in which business owners and graduates had multiple votes and during which the Troubles occurred. WRONG.
South landscaping at the Radcliffe Observatory is now complete 🌿 A new shared space at the heart of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, made possible by the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation. Work continues on Phase 1, including a new East Wing entrance and step-free access.
One of my favorites paper got published 🤓 It covers a lot of ground and it’s the best summary of my views on misinformation and what to do about it. Give it a read :) 🔓 osf.io/preprints/ps... 👉 doi.org/10.1177/1461...
The lawn outside the Radcliffe Camera had a trim today 🌱 No, it’s not AI. Designed and carefully cut by James from our University Parks Estates team. 📷 Instagram | Jimigk13
QR code link to the preprint on the final slide is an impressive level of organisation! You can read 'Between Concern and Epistemic Vigilance' here osf.io/preprints/so...
We now have Felix Simon presenting three-country research with @reutersinstitute.bsky.social colleagues on how audiences react to AI-generated misinformation, and the strategies they use to mitigate risks. Interesting use of deliberative interviews to see how people reflect on example cases.
Good morning #PSA26 :-) We're about to kick off with a panel on Mapping the Misinformation Crisis, with papers on disinformation and misinformation
ICYMI: our report on younger news audiences was published yesterday. Key findings in the thread below.
Reuters Institute@reutersinstitute.bsky.social · 4mo agoToday we published a report on younger news audiences. Authored by Craig T. Robertson, @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social @mitalilive.bsky.social and @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it's based on DNR and other surveys Full report reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/understandin... Seven findings in thread
New report on young audiences out today with Craig T. Robertson, @mitalilive.bsky.social, and @richardfletcher.bsky.social, based on over a decade of Reuters Institute research. Key findings and links to the report in this thread.
Reuters Institute@reutersinstitute.bsky.social · 4mo agoToday we published a report on younger news audiences. Authored by Craig T. Robertson, @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social @mitalilive.bsky.social and @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it's based on DNR and other surveys Full report reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/understandin... Seven findings in thread
Today we published a report on younger news audiences. Authored by Craig T. Robertson, @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social @mitalilive.bsky.social and @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it's based on DNR and other surveys Full report reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/understandin... Seven findings in thread
Yesterday, I hosted a panel on AI and Society as part of the Reuters Institute’s conference on AI and news. We had a fab cast with Natali Helberger (UvA), Max Kasy (Oxford), Keegan McBride (TBI) and Carina Prunkl (Inria & Oxford), and an impossibly large set of questions.
A historic moment for local journalism in the UK: direct state funding is finally happening. I’m especially glad to see: - up to £12m going to local media through a new fund; - my research for @publicinterestnews.org.uk cited along the way. pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/r...
New UK state funding of up to £12m for local media
The Government will pay up to £12m funding to local media outlets over the next two years to support innovation and help fill "news deserts".
pressgazette.co.uk
To mark the start of our campaign to Save the UPP we recreated a photo from the early days of the cinema. Thanks to everyone who braved the wind to join us, including our young supporters from East Oxford Primary School and @anneliesedodds MP. Sign our petition: www.change.org/p/save-the-u...
Today we launch our Save the UPP campaign to persuade our landlord Oriel College to let us stay where we belong. Please sign our petition here: ✏️ www.change.org/p/save-the-u... Thanks very much to BBC South Today for telling our story: 👀 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #BBCsouthnews @bbcoxford
Campaign launched to save Oxford's oldest cinema
Ultimate Picture Palace needs a longer lease to fund renovations but there are no plans to extend it.
bbc.co.uk
The sky is not falling; high-quality platforms (Prolific, Verasight, CR Connect) have low rates of apparent bots. osf.io/preprints/ps... But also not zero; vigilance is very much needed!
