Richard Fletcher

@richardfletcher.bsky.social

4.7K followers 570 following 100 posts

Director of Research + Deputy Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford. Fellow of Green Templeton College. Lead researcher of the Digital News Report. www.richardfletcher.me

Videos

Communication & Media Studies 27%

History 17%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 2d

🤖 | NEW REPORT: Where do AI tools like ChatGPT get their news from? How biased are they towards certain outlets? And how transparent are they about commercial relationships with publishers?

Our new IPPR report answers those questions.

Read here: www.ippr.org/articles/ais...

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Andrew K Przybylski

Michael Scharkow @mscharkow.bsky.social · 8d

Short announcement before the data get too old: ccsmainz.github.io/platformnews/. With 571 news outlets on TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram across 46 countries, matching the @reutersinstitute.bsky.social DNR. Computational analyses on topics, platformization, diversity, etc. Feedback welcome.

Richard Fletcher @richardfletcher.bsky.social · 17d

According to our Digital News Report data (collected by YouGov), 12% used X for news "in the last week" in 2025. We don't ask about people's most important outlet/social network for news.

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...

United Kingdom

The UK is characterised by well-established public service and commercial news providers which have historically dominated both on broadcast and in print and are also the biggest brands online. Digita...

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Linards Udris

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · 20d

Publishers expect traffic from search to fall by 43% in the next 3 years. This is one of the findings of our new report on media trends. Authored by Nic Newman, it's based on a survey of 280 media leaders.
Full report
buff.ly/Dh2JIuT
7 findings in thread

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

rasmuskleis.bsky.social @rasmuskleis.bsky.social · 23d

The digital news media environment does not only reproduce old class structures. It reinforces them

That is the key finding in new paper led by @antoniskalog.bsky.social analyzing social inequalities in offline and online news use across 6 countries over 10 years www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Antonis Kalogeropoulos @antoniskalog.bsky.social · 24d

In a new article with @richardfletcher.bsky.social and @rasmuskleis.bsky.social, we examine inequalities in news use in high-choice digital media environments. Drawing on ten years of survey data from six countries in Europe and the US, we compare offline and online news consumption patterns.🧵

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 26d

The author of a viral Reddit thread alleging fraud at a food delivery company tried to back up his claim by sending me AI-generated documents. Today I'm publishing those documents in the hopes that it helps other reporter see what we're up against in the age of AI www.platformer.news/fake-uber-ea...

The whistleblower, for his part, worked to amp up the pressure. He told me he had shared the document with other reporters, putting me into a competitive crunch. He asked when I thought I would publish. I asked him if he could point me to any current or former coworkers of his who could help me understand the document better. “Not really,” he said.

By this point, alarm bells were starting to ring. I wondered if the employee badge the whistleblower had shared with me might have been AI-generated. While AI systems are notoriously unreliable at identifying their own outputs, Google Gemini can detect SynthID watermarks embedded in images that it produces. I uploaded the badge to Gemini and asked if Gemini had made it. “Most or all of this image was edited or generated with Google AI,” it said.

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Brian Keegan, Roman Senninger

Sung Kim @sungkim.bsky.social · 28d

I guess StackOverflow is done.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Tom Shakespeare, Richard Fletcher , and 3 more Steve Peers, Tom Shakespeare, Richard Fletcher, Elizabeth Stokoe, Kelly Smith, Katrina Navickas

Rhodri Marsden @rhodri.biz · Dec 24

Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...

Donate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri Marsden

Unbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing. What is it? Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025

www.gofundme.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Tom Shakespeare , and 5 more Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Tom Shakespeare, Richard Fletcher, Kelly Smith, Michael H. Whitworth, Katrina Navickas, Judith Jesch

Rhodri Marsden @rhodri.biz · Dec 24

This is the 15th year of #DuvetKnowItsChristmas, which is preposterous. Rules: if you find yourself dealing with unusual / claustrophobic / gaudy sleeping arrangements this Christmas Eve, share a picture with the world. Use the hashtag (with capitalisation) and cc me if you can be bothered.

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Andreas Jungherr

Felix M. Simon @felixsimon.bsky.social · Dec 5

My Nieman Lab prediction for 2026: The AI bubble may pop but people’s use of AI for information won’t and it's better if we start taking this seriously.

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Oxford Internet Institute @oii.ox.ac.uk · Dec 4

Can chatting with AI sway your political beliefs?

A new joint study from the Oxford Internet Institute and AI Security Institute (AISI) offers unprecedented insights into how conversational AI can exert influence over people’s political beliefs.

Read more: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/...

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Waqas Ejaz @waqasejaz.bsky.social · Dec 4

New OCJN report with @mitalilive.bsky.social & @richardfletcher.bsky.social out today tracking climate news consumption across 🇧🇷 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇳 🇯🇵 🇵🇰 🇬🇧 🇺🇸.

Last year we found a y-o-y decline in climate news use only in 🇺🇸. Worryingly, it’s now spread to 5/8 countries.

What’s going on? A thread 🧵

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Dec 4

1️⃣ The use of climate news is in decline in France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US.

It is stable in Brazil, India, and Pakistan. Declines in climate news use are driven by two overlapping trends: reduced climate news access via TV, and reduced use by people over 45.

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Dec 4

Our new report out today by @waqasejaz.bsky.social, @mitalilive.bsky.social and @richardfletcher.bsky.social looks at how audiences in 🇧🇷 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇳 🇯🇵 🇵🇰 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 consume news and information about climate change.

💻 Report: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/climate-chan...
🧵 Some key findings below.

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · Dec 2

We found that a clear majority of journalists (62%) think that AI represents a large or very large threat to journalism, whereas only a small minority (15%) say it’s a large or very large opportunity. www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/jour...

Journalists may see AI as a threat to the industry, but they’re using it anyway

Although AI use is now widespread among U.K. journalists, they still see it as much more of a threat than an opportunity.

www.niemanlab.org

Richard Fletcher @richardfletcher.bsky.social · Nov 27

We have a new @reutersinstitute.bsky.social report based on a survey of how journalists use AI.

Most journalists are now using AI in their work, but they’re pretty pessimistic about what it means for journalism.

Details in the post below.

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Nov 27

We just published a new report on how UK journalists are adopting AI in their work
Authored by @neilthurman.bsky.social @sinatk.bsky.social & @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it's based on a survey conducted in 2024

Read in full
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/ai-adoption-...
10 findings in thread

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Neil Thurman

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Nov 27

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · Nov 27

Gulf between AI journalism hype and concerns at the coalface revealed: Far from freeing journalists from 'churnalism' AI could be enabling it, survey suggests pressgazette.co.uk/news/gulf-be...

Gulf between AI journalism hype and concerns at the coalface revealed

AI does not appear to have freed journalist's from mundane tasks as promised.

pressgazette.co.uk

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Charlie Beckett

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · Nov 13

300 cyclists were stopped for riding without lights in the dark and were given temporary lights to get them home safely, as part of Oxfordshire County Council's (OCC) Vision Zero event on Broad St. at the weekend. The event aimed to provide road safety advice for the most vulnerable road users.

Andy Ford, Road Safety Manager at Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service (Oxfordshire County Council)

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Nov 12

NEW on our website

@rasmuskleis.bsky.social chaired a commission tasked by the Danish gov to design a system of direct media subsidies. In this piece he explains how they conceived their proposal and what other countries could learn from it
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/taxes-n...

From taxes to news: How Denmark is rethinking public funding for private publishers

The Nordic country is creating a model to decide which outlets should receive subsidies, how and on what basis. Rasmus Nielsen explains how it could work.

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Anne Schulz

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Nov 10

As the BBC faces fresh scrutiny, what does our research say about it?

Here's an updated version of a piece by @rasmuskleis.bsky.social @annisch.bsky.social @richardfletcher.bsky.social and Craig T. Robertson originally published in 2020

📱 Full piece here buff.ly/iLaMzHa
🧵 4 findings in thread

Reposted by Will Jennings, Richard Fletcher, Alessandro Nai

Waqas Ejaz @waqasejaz.bsky.social · Oct 31

New Paper Alert 🧵📣

There is a growing concern that the negative valence in climate stories paralyses consumers & perhaps even prevents them from taking pro-environmental actions.

However, we found that climate anxiety is a robust and universal driver of pro-climate behavioral intentions.👇

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Alberto Acerbi, Dean Eckles , and 1 more Richard Fletcher, Alberto Acerbi, Dean Eckles, Anne Schulz

rasmuskleis.bsky.social @rasmuskleis.bsky.social · Oct 31

What if people appreciate having an abundance of content and communication, more than they feel overloaded by it?

@annisch.bsky.social et al decided to have a look. Their results? "We found that appreciation for abundance was about twice as common as overload".

Paper: journalqd.org/article/view...

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Oct 30

Did you miss the launch event of our report on news creators and influencers?

Here's a summary by our own Gretel Kahn, which includes four takeaways and many insights from our speakers Emilio Doménech, Akash Banerjee and Mosheh Oinounou
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/summary...

‘Building a very different kind of trust’: Four things we learnt at the launch of our report on news creators

More than 1,600 people signed up for our event, featuring Mosheh Oinounou from the US, Akash Banerjee from India and Emilio Doménech from Spain.

reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk

Reposted by Will Jennings, Richard Fletcher, Erika Franklin Fowler

Sarah Scott Scire @sarahscire.com · Oct 28

“There is a set of populous countries, generally where traditional media are under pressure and social media use is high, where news creators are having a significant impact"

@hanaatameez.bsky.social wrote up a fascinating @reutersinstitute.bsky.social report www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/news...

These countries include US Brazil South Africa India Nigeria Kenya Thailand and Indonesia.

Richard Fletcher @richardfletcher.bsky.social · Oct 28

Our new report on news influencers and creators is out.

It contains:

- 5 key findings (see link)
- Top 15 most mentioned news influencers and creators by survey respondents in 24 countries
- A typology of different content types (and examples of individuals that primarily produce each)

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Oct 28

We've just published the most comprehensive study of news creators to date covering 24 countries. Authored by Nic Newman @amyrossarguedas.bsky.social @mitalilive.bsky.social @richardfletcher.bsky.social, it identifies the most mentioned in each country

📱Report buff.ly/bL6y8Hj
🧵6 findings in thread

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Jacob Montgomery, Scott L. Althaus , and 3 more Richard Fletcher, Jacob Montgomery, Scott L. Althaus, Linards Udris, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Anita Gohdes

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · Oct 28

Reposted by Richard Fletcher, Stephen Cushion

Imke Henkel @imkehenkel.bsky.social · Oct 27

📢 It's out: The new @worldsofjournalism.bsky.social report

➡️rich data from 3rd wave of WJS study
➡️ survey of more than 32,350 journalists across 75 countries
➡️ perspectives from diverse media systems, political regimes, and cultural contexts

Free download
www.worldsofjournalism.org/reports-wjs3/

Reposted by Richard Fletcher

International Communication Association @icahdq.bsky.social · Oct 24

The results of the ICA Elections are in! 🎉 Congratulations to all newly elected individuals! A huge thank-you to all candidates and voters who participated—your engagement and support strengthen our community. 🔗 buff.ly/EVrbDcR

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news