According to the study by PwC, commisisoned by RT, a full 86% of survey respondents said they accessed national news video and stories multiple times weekly, compared to 78% in 2005. And, nearly half of those surveyed now comment on or share clips and articles at least monthly, indicating a very high level of engagement with news.

Further, 79% of all respondents said their demand for different perspectives has increased over the past ten years, with cross-border news users accessing 4.1 news sources per month, compared to 2.5 a decade ago.

Reduced distribution costs driven by the increased use of the Internet, particularly Web-enabled mobile devices, has made it much easier for people to access news sources that come from outside their own country. Coupled with a globalised world encouraging a rise in both the supply of, and demand for, news – and in particular, for cross-border news, the result has been both growing audiences for traditional cross-border news organisations and successful entrances by new providers.

The monthly use of cross-border news – at 66% of all respondents – is prevalent in all markets, but particularly emerging ones. The most popular sources of cross-border news are from the US (44%) and UK (30%), but the fastest-growing ones – albeit from a relatively low base – are the Middle East (305%), Asia (258%) and Russia (225%).

Cross-border news users are generally younger – 43% of users are under 35, compared to 37% of non-cross-border news users in this age group. And while mobility – general travel and increase in emigration for work- plays a part, the key drivers of their behaviour are the increased availability of cross-border news and a desire to understand different perspectives on major news events.

“This was a fascinating project,” Sam Tomlinson, PwC partner. “We all knew cross-border news is growing, but were still surprised by its popularity and how clearly it’s being driven by increased availability and by a very real desire for different perspectives on major news events.”