Inequalities in Offline and Online News Media Environments Across Six Countries: The Role of Social Class and Interest in News

Abstract

In this article, we present a comparative analysis of inequalities in online and offline news media systems across a strategic sample of six countries. Using survey data from 10 annual Digital News Report surveys (2015–2024), we compare inequalities in news use in traditional offline and online news media environments over time among internet users. Our results show that: (1) across all countries in our sample, the online news environment is more unequal than offline in terms of the number of news sources used, (2) a substantial share of the online sample does not access any news online, and (3) that education is a key driver of these inequalities. In most instances across ten annual surveys in six countries, education is a significantly stronger predictor of online news use over offline news use across all countries. However, (4) we find a mixed picture regarding the role of interest in news in fuelling inequalities. Although the ability to access news online benefits many people, these findings suggest that the ongoing shift towards more online news environments could widen the gaps between the information rich and the information poor and reinforce longstanding social inequalities in news consumption.