News media reaching 92% of Australians

News media continues to appeal to Australians with 16.8 million people, or 92%, reading news media in print or on digital devices in August.

According to the latest emma data, consumption of news media on digital devices continued to strengthen with 13.3m Australians, 73%, accessing news, information and entertainment content on smartphones, tablets, PCs and laptops.

Newspaper readership remained stable, with 13.6m people, 75% of the population, reading a newspaper in August. Metropolitan newspapers were read by 11.3m people, 62% of the population, while regional and community newspapers were read by 7.5m people.

In the 12 months to August 2016, The Sydney Morning Herald had the highest cross-platform reach of 6.33m readers across web, mobile and newspaper. News Corp’s The Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun followed, reaching 4.47m and 4.22m readers, respectively.

NewsMediaWorks CEO Mark Hollands said the quality, influential journalism that news media provides continued to engage consumers across all platforms, with significant crossover in readers’ usage of platforms.

“The fact that people choose various platforms to consume news media shows that it remains an integral part of their lives and lifestyles and demonstrates why news media is an powerful medium for advertisers to connect with our audiences,” he said.

“Three in five readers, or 60%, say they get news from both digital and print sources, well ahead of the number of readers who rely solely on print, at 21%, or digital, at 19%.

“The news media sector continues to be strong, stable and resilient across all platforms. Our industry dominates the national agenda with its influential journalism and large and engaged audiences.”