• by Ray Schultz , June 14, 2023

U.S. readers are above the world average in their willingness to pay for online news, judging the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023.   

Of U.S. consumers polled, 21% have paid for news in the last year, versus a worldwide average of 17%.  

This is happening as consumption of traditional media like TV and print has continued to fall in most markets.

The gap has not been made up by online and social. And 48% are very or extremely interested in news, down from 63% in 2017. 

U.S. consumers cite the following reasons for paying for online news:

• Better quality or distinctive content—65% 
• Help fund good journalism—38% 
• Identification with brand/journalists—37%
• Games, puzzles, and non-news features—25% 

The median number of subscriptions in the U.S. is two.  

Among U.S. subscribers, 56% have an average of two subscriptions, often a combination of national and local papers. Secondary subscriptions include such political and cultural titles as the New Yorker and the Atlantic, and personal passion publications like The Athletic. 

In addition, there is growing levels of payment for platform-based products like Apple News + (18% of U.S. subscribers).

Within the U.S., 38% have kept the same number of subscriptions in the last year. But 28% have cancelled and 28% have renegotiated price. And 25% have taken out additional subscriptions. 

In a trend largely confined to the U.S., 8% pay for a newsletter written by an individual journalist or influencer and 5% pay for a podcaster or YouTuber.  

Reuters surveyed 2,081 U.S. consumers from February to March 2023.