#EUReporter more influential and trusted than The Guardian, Der Spiegel and Le Monde

The annual survey of which are the most-read or watched media and social media for news on EU issues – and which are viewed as the most influential – was unveiled in the ComRes/Burson-Marsteller 2017 EU Media Survey on What Influences the Influencers.

Burson-Marsteller CEO Karen Massin and ComRes Associate Director Meghan Oliver outlined the preferred EU news sources and social media channels used by Brussels policy-makers and opinion formers, and how these compare in influencing their decisions.

The survey invited respondents to identify the EU and national media that they most often read or watch, the social media they most frequently use and to assess the influence that these sources and channels have on their day-to-day work

EU Reporter polled significantly as an influencer at 9%, between Linked In (12%) and Instagram (7%).

“The main takeaway for EU Reporter is that when it comes to EU news, the survey shows that EU Reporter is more influential (and trusted) than national titles such as The Guardian, Der Spiegel and Le Monde.

"EU Reporter received more votes than all three of these titles,” said Burson-Marsteller Communications Managing Director Dennis Abbot.

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“In general, media that specialise in coverage of EU news, large or small, out-perform national titles among decision-makers and other influencers in Brussels” he said. “It's clear that policy-makers want to hear the news from source and not through a national filter.”

EU Reporter was particularly popular as a trusted source of news and information amongst MEPs and other politicians on both main online news and social media.

Regarding social media usage, EU influencers are most likely to say they use Facebook. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) say that use it at least once a week, followed by Twitter and YouTube (both 53 percent), LinkedIn (37 percent) and Instagram (17 percent).

The data highlights that MEPs in particular favour Facebook, with nine in ten (93%) saying they use the network at least once a week. POLITICO and the BBC are the most-read or watched media by policy-makers and opinion formers in Brussels – and readerships of both have increased since the previous EU media survey, published in January 2016.

Nearly two-thirds of Brussels influencers say they read POLITICO at least once a week.  More than half say the same about the BBC.

Nearly half of respondents read the Financial Times and The Economist. Euronews, which was not covered in the previous survey, is watched or read by more than a third of policy-makers and opinion formers

Speaking at the launch of the survey, Karen Massin commented: “The European Union has been at the heart of major political developments and tumultuous change in the past year so it is not a surprise to see significant increases in readership among EU news outlets. The surge in social media use by Influencers, particularly via YouTube and LinkedIn, is another striking finding. The results underline that to make your voice heard in the Brussels conversation, you need to think integrated and engage with both the media and social media.”

ComRes Associate Director Meghan Oliver added: "It was great to partner again with Burson-Marsteller Brussels to understand media influence on Brussels influencers. It is interesting to note that readership across many titles increased this year. At the same time, consumption does not necessarily correlate with influence – readership alone doesn’t guarantee cut-through with influencers."

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