News media delivers record readership as news brands reach 18.2m Australians

Australian news media brands have delivered record readership of 18.2m, reaching more than nine out of 10 Australians (96%), the highest since the inception of emmaTM (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) in 2013.

The uptick in readership has been fuelled by Australians seeking reliable and trusted news and information during CV-19 with digital consumption of news media the key driver. Across measured digital platforms, news media reached 17.2 million Australians, representing 91% of the population aged 14+, a 10% audience increase compared to the previous period (Dec 19). Despite the pandemic, print audiences continued to reach 12.7 million, or two in three Australians (67%).

NewsMediaWorks CEO Peter Miller said: “Trusted news and information has never been more important to Australians and this is reflected by the dramatic increase in news media consumption. Misinformation has been rife during the pandemic, but these figures demonstrate that Australians know to turn to the trusted medium of news media when accuracy and trust are critical.

SOURCES: emma, Survey conducted by Ipsos Connect, People 14+, 12 months ending March 2020. Print Readership is all based on average last four weeks, including Community and Class B Regional titles which were based on Average Issue Readership through to the end of June 2019. Digital new media readership is based on the last four weeks soft calibrated to DCR.

News media is defined as member companies of NewsMediaWorks, including Nine, News Corp Australia, Seven West Media’s West Australian Newspapers, The Guardian and The Saturday Paper. ADTRUST; AdTrust Wave 3 research IPSOS Connect November 2018: Online questionnaire: n= 2503 Australians aged 18+ Nationally representative.