A new survey shows how news sites and newsletters are read by Europe’s decisionmakers, with the BBC losing its influence post-Brexit.

Global communications company BCW says email newsletters and online news sites were most favoured, both with 79 per cent, while social media comes in at a significant 51 per cent.

The bi-annual survey polled members of the European Parliament, EU-institution staff and “opinion leaders”. 

Back in the top spot is Politico, with Reuters moving to second place, having jumped ten per cent in influence since 2020. Professional colleagues and personal contacts influence nine out of ten decision-makers, who use LinkedIn “at least once a week”.

These are followed by: New York Times (45%), LinkedIn (44%), Wall Street Journal (40%), Agence Europe (38%), The Brussels Times (32%), Dow Jones (29%), Facebook (26%), The Parliament Magazine (25%), YouTube (22%), Instagram (18%), Contexte (15%), Mlex (11%), TikTok (6%).

The survey shows Politico has replaced the Financial Times as the most influential new source for decision-makers, while Reuters has gained ten per cent since 2020 to become the second most influential news source.

The BBC's influence has dropped by 13 percentage points since 2020, “potentially owing to the impact of Brexit on the British media’s influence in EU circles”.

One in five EU decision-makers use WhatsApp “frequently” (at least once a week), with 64 per cent favouring Twitter (down from 69 per cent), with LinkedIn as “the big climber” with 57 per cent, up eight per cent from 2020.

The question about how decision-makers usually access the news and information they need to make informed decisions was new for 2022. Overwhelming favourites were email newsletters (79%) and online news sites (79%), followed by social media (51%). At the lower end of the spectrum, few decision-makers said they accessed news and information through news aggregators such as Google News (13%). One in three said they accessed EU news through podcasts (30%). Some 94% of respondents said their professional colleagues influence their decisions, up four percentage points since 2020.

Savanta ComRes interviewed 213 EU decision-makers – made up of 16 MEPs, 81 EU institution staff and 116 Brussels “opinion formers” – online between April 7 and July 25.