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CNA can boast of two accolades following the release of the Reuters 2022 Digital News Report on June 15.

The Mediacorp news network is both the most widely-used online news site in Singapore, as well as the most trusted media outlet in the country.

Weekly online use

According to the study, CNA has the highest weekly online use, with 46 per cent of respondents engaging with CNA online at least once a week.

31 per cent of respondents also used CNA at least three days per week, the highest of all the media outlets in Singapore.

Mothership took the second place spot, with the same weekly use number as CNA, with one per cent less for respondents who use it three days a week.

The online news component of the Straits Times (ST) finished in third place at 40 per cent, and four per cent behind CNA for respondents using it three days a week.

The placement of the top five media outlets for online use remained unchanged from 2021, with Yahoo! News in fourth and Today in fifth. However, AsiaOne climbed up the rankings from eighth to sixth, edging out STOMP and CNN.

However, ST ranked first in offline use, which covers TV, radio and print.

Brand trust

CNA also took the top spot for brand trust, although trust in Singapore news in general dipped after it had risen during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study said:

"Trust in the news in Singapore dipped slightly this year to 43 per cent, after Covid-inspired increases in 2021. Mediacorp’s round-the-clock news network Channel News Asia (CNA) remains the most trusted traditional news brand, followed by Mediacorp’s free TV English channel and the newspaper The Straits Times."

ST recorded the same level of trust in Mediacorp's Channel 5 News TV station, and two per cent less than CNA.

Another MediaCorp TV station, Channel 8 News, came in at fourth place while BBC News rounded out the top five.

Yahoo! News and CNN's brand trust score dropped by four and five per cent respectively, as compared to 2021. Mothership's brand trust came in at 53 per cent, which was unchanged from 2021.

However, the study noted that the responses were taken around the end of January and the beginning of February 2022, which was before Mothership's press accreditation was suspended by the government for prematurely publishing an infographic with information related to the 2022 Budget Statement.

Mothership's press accreditation will be reinstated in August 2022.

Changing news habits

The study also noted that Singaporeans continue to obtain their news from online sources, "including heavy use of a wide range of different social networks and messaging apps."

While consumption of TV news has remained relatively stable, at 48 per cent, print has dropped to 23 per cent, half of what it was in 2017.

Mothership's Managing Editor Martino Tan said in a statement:

"2022 has been a difficult year for many news organisations around the world. It has been especially challenging for Mothership following the temporary suspension of our press accreditation.

We are deeply encouraged by the Reuters Institute’s report, and are immensely grateful to our audiences and partners for their support, especially in these past months.

We are mindful that the health and success of a media outlet is not solely defined by its reach and accessibility. My team and I are determined to strengthen our efforts towards becoming a more trusted and enduring media brand, and hope to work more closely with our peers in the industry to add meaningfully to the media ecosystem."

You can check out the 2022 study here, and the 2021 edition here.

Top image from Unsplash.