Trend · rank 29 of 250

Decline of independent journalism

Falling advertising revenue and political pressure are closing or capturing newsrooms, leaving nations with less original reporting, fewer trusted sources when facts are contested and weaker scrutiny of institutions.

Information & InfluenceInformation & trustinformationinstitutionspolitics

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
29of 250
Sensitivity
12.5rank 67
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
65.0rank 14
Eigenvector
66.0
Betweenness
18.3
Links
22trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
39.3

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Share of attention
0.04%rank 233 of 250 · a year earlier 0.04%
Now
93
Over a year
−4%Steady
Over three years
0%
Peak
23628 Apr 2024
Sources
Bothagreement 0.51
Coverage
6languages · 34 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (6 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English70%111+14%
German16%87−10%
Chinese8%86−7%
Spanish3%92+6%
Arabic2%80+3%
Portuguese1%116+22%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

The 12 highest of 34 nations with a reading. All countries (CSV).

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English97−4%+6%+1%
EuropeGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in German80−28%−2%−24%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Chinese84−18%−8%−24%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country86−33%+5%−21%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Arabic80−41%+3%−32%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese92−25%+9%−6%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese105−4%+8%+5%
CanadaGoogle65−45%−10%−9%
FranceGoogle66−21%−8%−50%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German73−32%−20%−29%
IndiaGoogle86−33%+5%−21%
IndonesiaGoogle37−44%−37%−67%
ItalyGoogle50−47%+19%−56%
JapanGoogle102−26%+41%+14%
MexicoGoogle65−62%+26%−17%
United KingdomGoogle113−16%+96%+12%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English101+4%+7%−3%

Share of attention by region

GINC Share of Attention: this trend's share of all the public attention the trends in the list draw, worldwide and in each region, week by week (a 4-week average). Each place is read from the Wikipedia languages mostly read there and Google searching in its countries; where a place's language is shared with others, as English is, Google stands alone.

PlaceShare, last 13 weeksRank thereA year earlierRead from
World0.04%233 of 2500.04%Wikipedia reading in all 28 languages, and Google searching worldwide
Asia Pacific0.04%228 of 2500.06%Wikipedia reading in the region's own languages, not English; Google searching in 15 countries, not China
Europe0.06%213 of 2500.07%German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch and Swedish reading; Google searching in 10 countries, the UK among them
Africa0.01%244 of 2500.01%Google searching in 7 countries; Afrikaans and Swahili reading reaches too few trends to count
South America0.12%175 of 2500.09%Spanish and Portuguese reading, Spanish also read in Spain; Google searching in 5 countries
North America0.01%244 of 2490.01%Google searching in the United States, Canada and Mexico; English reading cannot be split by country
Oceania0.00%245 of 2490.01%Google searching in Australia and New Zealand; English reading cannot be split by country
United States0.01%241 of 2490.01%Google searching; English reading cannot be split by country
United Kingdom0.00%245 of 2490.00%Google searching; English reading cannot be split by country
India0.01%233 of 2490.00%Google searching; Hindi, Bengali and Tamil reading reaches too few trends to count, and English cannot be split by country
China···Wikipedia and Google are blocked in China; no open source counts reading there
Russia···Not read here. Russian reading, which is also done across the former Soviet states; Google's figures for Russia cannot be bought
Japan0.03%228 of 2500.04%Japanese reading and Google searching
Germany0.18%133 of 2500.19%German reading and Google searching
France0.04%220 of 2500.04%French reading, also done in Africa and Canada, and Google searching
Italy0.04%202 of 2500.04%Italian reading and Google searching
South Korea0.04%216 of 2500.04%Korean reading and Google searching
Indonesia0.02%203 of 2500.04%Google searching; Indonesian reading reaches too few trends to count
Brazil0.18%125 of 2500.07%Portuguese reading and Google searching
Türkiye0.00%219 of 2500.00%Google searching; Turkish reading reaches too few trends to count

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
4 · HighA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
2 · LowA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
2 · LowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
1 · Very lowA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
1 · Very lowA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
5 · Very highErosion of rights & civic freedomsState capacity & governance14
5 · Very highElection integrity & interferenceInformation & trust57
4 · HighExecutive overreach & emergency powersState capacity & governance4
4 · HighPublic communication in crisisInformation & trust10
4 · HighMisinformation & disinformationInformation & trust30
4 · HighConspiracy movements & science denialInformation & trust68
4 · HighForeign information manipulationInformation & trust91
4 · HighPlatform power over public discourseInformation & trust99
4 · HighCensorship & surveillanceInformation & trust103
4 · HighAI-mediated information accessInformation & trust118
3 · ModerateState capacity & deliveryState capacity & governance1
3 · ModerateRule of law & judicial independenceState capacity & governance3
3 · ModerateCorruption & state captureState capacity & governance5
3 · ModeratePolarisation & populismState capacity & governance15
3 · ModerateCitizen participation & deliberative democracyState capacity & governance60
3 · ModerateOpen-source intelligence & transparencyInformation & trust79
3 · ModerateSynthetic media & deepfakesInformation & trust87
3 · ModerateMedia provenance & authenticationInformation & trust100
3 · ModerateReligious & identity nationalismInformation & trust122
3 · ModerateDiaspora politics & transnational repressionInformation & trust176
3 · ModerateOnline harms & safetyInformation & trust202