It’s been a turbulent year for the news media industry. Covid-19 was an asymmetrical crisis – a lot of media were devastated by the pandemic, while others had their best years ever (especially due to a boom in reader revenue).

Few places are as “asymmetrical” as Europe. To lean into the cliché, it’s a continent of great contrasts. Internal discrepancies within Europe often outdoing those between other parts of the planet.

The Fix picked out 5 important data sets from the latest Reuters Digital News Report that shed a light on the state of the European media landscape in 2021.

Payments are up, but only in a few (northern) places

One of the most positive pieces of news for the media – people are actually ready to pay for news. Well, in some places.

Despite an upsurge in reader payments in many Northern European (surprise entry Poland, likely a reaction to govt bullying of media), there's a lot of room for improvement. Looking at you – France, UK, Spain and Italy? pic.twitter.com/YoVmKMQ2AZ
— The Fix Media (@TheFixMedia) June 23, 2021

Norway continues to be the world’s superpower when it comes to paying for media with a whooping 45% (up 3 percentage points vs. 2020). Sweden, at 30% (up 3 ppts, too), comes in second. It is followed by Switzerland (17%, up 4 ppts) and the Netherlands (17%, up 3 ppts).

?Proportion concerned about the financial state of news organisations pic.twitter.com/fsqv4vvmQQ
— The Fix Media (@TheFixMedia) June 23, 2021

?Proportion that listened to a podcast in the last month pic.twitter.com/LT4kHM3CQz
— The Fix Media (@TheFixMedia) June 23, 2021

Poland fares surprisingly well among the middle-income group, where government bullying of media has rallied support. But many richer economies are worryingly behind. Neither France nor the UK fares particularly, as do the South European economies.

More from The Fix: In France, an investigative journalism startup beats the odds

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5 maps on the state of European digital news media in 2021