All Sections

View and post jobs in journalism
  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Comment/Analysis
  • Editor's Pick
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Broadcast Journalism
    • Digital Journalism
    • Magazines
    • Media Law
    • National Newspapers
    • People
      • Appointments
      • Obituaries
    • Regional Newspapers
  • Press Gazette Podcast
  • British Journalism Awards
  • Press Gazette Email Newsletter

In the news

  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • RSS
Close
[mashshare]
Skip to content
  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • RSS
All sections

Search

Search pressgazette.co.uk

Close

Press Gazette

Subscribe to our email newsletter Journalism email newsletter
  • News
  • Comment
  • Data
  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Marketing
  • Awards
  • Jobs

Menu

  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Interviews
  • National Newspapers
  • Regional Newspapers
  • Digital Journalism
  • Broadcast Journalism
  • Media Law
  • Magazines
  • Wires and Agencies
  • Obituaries
  • News
  • Comment/Analysis
  • Jobs
  • British Journalism Awards

In the news

  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
Close
News ad network chief says Google’s algorithms mean local publishers are 'feeling the squeeze'
Sunday Times takes on first ever journalism apprentice
September 7, 2017
  • Digital Journalism
  •    
  • News
  •    
  • Social media
  •    

News websites account for nearly half of all social media 'engagements' with UK content, analysis shows

By Freddy Mayhew Twitter

Share this

  • Tweet
  • Share 0
  • Reddit
Comments
0

The top 100 UK news websites accounted for nearly half of all “engagements” with UK content on social media over the year to the end of July, according to industry analysis of Newswhip data.

Up to 47 per cent of shares, likes and retweets in the UK across Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest sourced content from the top-performing UK news websites, as compiled by Newswhip, over the 12 months.

Timeline

  • November 10, 2020

    How Google spent €150m winning friends among big media in Europe

  • October 9, 2020

    Google's $1bn for news: Why publishers should beware tech giants bearing gifts

  • October 6, 2020

    Nine in ten UK local newspaper editors want action against Duopoly

The remaining content included entertainment, social posts and videos not deemed to be news according to the News Media Association (NMA) which carried out the analysis.

The data, which covers from 1 August 2016 to 31 July 2017, also shows that eight out of the top ten most-shared UK websites on social media were news websites.

The figures show the importance of news content in engaging social media users as Facebook and other web giants face increasing pressure from the news media industry to pay more back to publishers with whom they compete for advertising.

Last year the UK’s digital advertising market grew by 17.3 per cent to £10.3bn – but nearly all (94 per cent) of the extra money went to the likes of Google and Facebook.

The pair, together known as the Duopoly, are forecast to take more than 70 per cent of all the money spent in the UK on digital advertising by 2020.

Press Gazette’s own Duopoly campaign has called for the web giants to cut a fairer deal for news publishers.

NMA chairman Ashley Highfield said: “Newsbrands contribute enormous value to social networks by investing in agenda-setting and highly trusted journalism that people want to read and share with their friends. It is essential that this contribution is recognised.

“News media publishers are not currently appropriately rewarded for their investment in news and that imbalance must be rectified if the journalism which consumers and social media giants rely on is to have a sustainable future.”

In addition to regional and national news media brands, NewsWhip’s list of most shared UK websites includes sites such as the BBC, Youtube, Goal.com, Sky, Buzzfeed, Mashable, Ladbible, Unilad, Chelsea FC and ITV.

David Dinsmore, vice chairman of the NMA, added: “Journalism is at the heart of the social debate, whether it be breaking the story, verifying the story or, later, commenting on the story.

Yet none of the growth in ad revenues is coming back to the publishers who invest billions across the globe in that content creation.

“News publishers are seeking a fair reward for the considerable value they add to the digital ecosystem.”

Picture: Reuters/Thomas White

SIGN UP HERE FOR

MEDIA MONITOR

Press Gazette's weekly email providing strategic insight into the future of the media

Subscribe

Related Stories

  • Gender pay gap figures in full: Conde Nast, Telegraph and Economist groups among worst offenders for pay disparity in UK media
  • Mail Online is most popular English-language publisher on Facebook with 26m 'interactions' in July, according to study
  • Johnston Press closures mean more than 300 UK local newspapers have gone in last ten years
  • Study: 28% of journalists unable to carry out job without social media

Explore these topics

  • Duopoly
  • Facebook
  • NMA
Browse, search and add journalism jobs
Comments
No comments to display

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More content

Post a job on Press Gazette

Most Popular

  1. Sunday Times exposure of crime boss David Hunt shows that sometimes big media is needed to expose big wrongs
  2. Cash for conspiracies: How David Icke, 'alternative' media and tech giants make money from coronavirus conspiracies
  3. Former Sunday Mirror editor Bridget Rowe is among at least 20 UK journalists killed by coronavirus
  4. cookies Enter Sandbox: How Google is building an internet without cookies - and why publishers are concerned
  5. most popular newspapers UK UK national newspaper ABCs: Mail on Sunday reports smallest circulation decline in 2020

Latest Jobs

  • Global Witness logo investigative journalist job Investigation Officer (Forests), Global Witness
  • Editor in Chief, Scottish Sun
  • Features Producer, Economist Radio
Sunday Times takes on first ever journalism apprentice

© copyright 2021 Press Gazette Ltd. Made in Taiwan.