- Primary source is a news survey commissioned by Ofcom
- metrics on television viewing from BARB
- newspaper readership figures from the National Readership Survey
- online consumption metrics from UKOM/comScore
- Television - most popular
- Apps/internet
- Newspaper
- Radio - least popular
3) How do different age demographics access news in the UK?
- 9 in 10 adults in the UK say that they follow the news
- 67% of adults use television as a source of news
- Those aged 55+ are more likely to watch news on television, newspapers and radio than those aged 16-24
- around 51% of 16-24 year olds use TV for news; around 86% of 55+ use TV for news
- 21% 16-24 year olds use newspapers; 44% of 55+ use newspapers
- 23% 16-24 year olds radio; 37% 55+ radio
- 59% 16-24 year olds news online; 23% over 55 news online
4) Does socio-economic status change attitudes to news? If so, how?
- People in AB socio-economic group more likely than those in DE socio-economic group to consume news on any of the 4 platforms
- TV = 71% AB; 67% DE
- Internet = 50% AB; 29% DE
- Newspaper = 38% AB; 26% DE
- Radio = 46% AB; 23% DE
5) How many different sources of news are used on average? How does differ between different groups?
- Number of sources people use has remained the same year on year
- 44% of TV users said they used just one source (42% in 2014) compared with 43% of internet users (45% in 2014), 34% for newspapers (35% in 2014) and 60% for radio (62% in 2014)
- 71% of those who consume news use no more than three providers and 30% use only one provider
- 48% of UK adults watch BBC One News; 27% use ITV
- BBC Website/app is third most used source - 23%
- Most used radio stations are BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 2 both at 8%
- Most used newspapers are The Sun and The Daily Mail both at 6%
6) How has news consumption through television changed in recent years?
- BARB figures shows that in 2014 each adult watched 108 hours of national and international news - decrease of 7 hours since 2013
- News on the BBC main channels and BBC News accounted for 77% of all viewing
- 16-24 each watched just 25 hours of news on television in 2014; 189 hours 55+
- 16-24 18% on ITV; 12.5% for 55+
- Channel 4 = 16-24 5.8% and for 55+ 2.3%
- BBC one most used = 72% of adults
- ITV second most used = 41% of adults
- BBC News Channel third most = 20% of adults
7) How much has news consumption through newspapers declined since 2005?
- Reach of newspapers has decreased more than 27% since 2005
- 72.4% in 2005 would have used newspapers and in 2015 45.4% use newspapers
- When print and online readership combined The Daily Mail most widely read with 5.5million users; The Sun = 5.2million
- Ofcom survey - newspapers; The Sun 20%, The Daily Mail 19%, The Daily Mirror 13%
8) How does newspaper reach differ by age group?
- 16-34 year olds more likely to read The Sun = 27% - The Metro 25%
- 55+ 15% say they read The Sun - The Metro 5%
- Older readers are more likely to read The Daily Mail 27%; 16-34 year olds = 14%
9) Which are the most popular newspapers and websites in the UK? What do you know about those newspapers' political viewpoints?
- Most popular newspaper is The Sun 20% of UK adults; it is a tabloid newspaper that supports the Labour party
- The Daily Mail 5.5 million users combined with print and online - right wing tabloid newspaper, supporting the conservative party
10) How does online news consumption differ for age, gender and socio-economic status?
- 59% of 16-24 year olds use internet or apps for news; 23% of 55+
- ABC1 53% use internet or apps compared to 32% C2DE
- Men 45%; women 37%
- 25% of UK adults say they access news via phone
- 20% of UK adults use laptop/netbook
- 13% of UK adults use a tablet
- 42% of 16-24 year olds access news via phone
- 8% of 55+ access news via phone
11) What percentage of people use social media to access news? How does this differ by age and socio-economic status?
- 61% of 16-24 year olds access news through social media
- 26% of 55+ use social media to access news
12) What percentage of users only use social media sites for their news?
- 43% of users use social media sites for their news
13) What are the most popular online sites for news?
- 56% use BBC website or app compared to 59% in 2014
- 29% use Facebook compared to 17% in 2014
- 15% use the Google search engine
- 14% use Sky news website or app
14) What percentage of 16-24 year olds access news mostly from social media?
- 43% of 16-24 year olds access news mostly from social media
15) How do audiences find stories online? Do you follow links or go to the homepage of the news provider?
- The most popular way is to go on the app 36%
- 28% go from a link from a friend on social media or website links
- 27% use URL and search for website directly
- 26% use the aggregator of online news such as Google
16) What are the benefits for audiences from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry?
51% of 16-24 year olds use a website or an app to access their news showing the importance of new and digital media on younger audiences in particular as elder audiences 53% said they use a TV channel to access their news. The benefits of having websites and apps to access news is the accessibility and readily available sources; you are able to access a greater variety of sources from different online providers, making it easier and quicker for audiences.
17) What are the benefits for institutions from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry?
New institutions are able to be formed and to incorporate news sources into their apps, for example Snapchat now has a news source function which allows the amount of users to increase due to the fact that users are able to use Snapchat and be updated with news stories simultaneously. Advertising is also a benefit for institutions as the amount of advertising on websites has increased due to data mining and cookies, therefore advertising suits the individual using the news source.
18) What are the downsides for audiences as a result of new and digital media in news?
We do not know how reliable and trustworthy news sources are. BBC News was rated highly for trustworthiness, reliability and accuracy. Although online news sources allow users to access a range of opinions, the accuracy is also questionable as anyone is able to post sources; can you ever trust everything online? The accessibility and ease of getting the information makes audiences not question whether it is of a high quality, however due to anyone being able to post anything on the internet, the reliability is questionable unless directly from a trusty source such as BBC news. This therefore has a downside as audiences are not able to trust everything they see online.
19) What are the downsides for institutions as a result of new and digital media in news?
The print platform is unquestionably in decline and the broadcast platform is now suffering too, therefore institutions have to find ways to keep them updated, therefore are now going online or updating the look or feel of their broadcasting. The downside of the print media in decline is the fact that no one will be buying newspapers anymore, therefore institutions will suffer as they won't make any money from advertising as no one reads a newspaper due to the accessibility through mobile phones and tablets. Broadcast; television is being less watched by the younger generation, however the news channels such as BBC one according to Ofcom reports are still being watched by over half of UK adults, showing promise for the channel for a couple more years at least; however BBC have already had BBC 3 go online, showing that the platform is suffering.
20) Who has benefited most from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry - audiences or institutions?
Social media has enabled both audiences and institutions to benefit through this new and digital media. In journalism, newsgathering is much easier to get as journalists are able to gather more news from different online sources and from other journalists, therefore could better the report as material could be better. The audience engagement is able to be suited to the different audiences across the media platforms through this as institutions are able to include a range of sources within their reports to create a more accurate and further developed new story. Through social media, institutions are also able to see what audiences like about their stories and what they can change to improve; it allows their stories to go viral in a quick amount of time due to the efficiency of social media. Institutions make money from their websites through selling advertising space, therefore the amount of money that they can make from being online is vast as the more popular the website the more advertising it would get and therefore make more revenue. Institutions therefore benefit from the changes in new digital media due to the increase of advertising.Social media also allows institutions to have accounts on a variety of websites to make it easier for audiences to engage with the institution from different websites and apps, for example BBC News not only has an app and a website but they also have a Twitter/Facebook and Instagram page which allows younger audiences to benefit from this as they are able to keep up to date with news stories and be exposed to the same institution through different online sources. This therefore helps both audiences and institutions; in terms of audiences the variety of different sources they are exposed to would range, allowing them to access a variety of ideologies. Convergence culture benefits audiences as they are able to keep updated through their phone devices and tablets - convergence means that all digital media can be accessed from one place at the same cost through their broadband or through phone contracts. Overall the impact that social media has had on audiences makes it easier for them to access a variety of ideologies; dominant and alternative.
Furthermore, the idea of citizen journalism also benefits audiences as they are able to democratise the media and make it free from traditional gatekeepers. Blogs and forums also allow audiences to post news stories for others to see. The advantages of citizen journalism are that the quality of journalism would be more raw and authentic than that from a large institution such as Sky News as their news stories would go through an editing process, whereby selected information is shown to audiences. This idea of manipulation is an issue that does not benefit audiences however benefits an institution to reveal what they want as they can manipulate their news stories to suit them. The benefit of citizen journalism is the fact that the sources are authentic, there is of course still the issue of manipulation, however this is not a huge case as most would want to reveal the events live. This therefore links to social media again as citizen journalism is most likely seen on social networking sites and on Periscope or YouTube. The fact that someone is able to post a video directly and instantly online for several to see benefits other audiences as they are able to be exposed to news events that are happening live even before journalists have covered the story. This is a disadvantage for institutions as they would need to reveal a clear story of the events due to information already being revealed by other sources. It also poses a problem as if an audience member has already seen coverage of the story from a citizen journalist video then they are less likely to go onto a news channel or website to get more coverage of the events.
Overall, I think that audiences have benefited more so from changes in new digital media due to the fact that audiences are able to choose the source of news that they use. Although audiences may be exposed to a variety of ideologies through different news sources on social media or through website links, the power is still held by the audience member as they have the option to consume that media source.
Furthermore, the idea of citizen journalism also benefits audiences as they are able to democratise the media and make it free from traditional gatekeepers. Blogs and forums also allow audiences to post news stories for others to see. The advantages of citizen journalism are that the quality of journalism would be more raw and authentic than that from a large institution such as Sky News as their news stories would go through an editing process, whereby selected information is shown to audiences. This idea of manipulation is an issue that does not benefit audiences however benefits an institution to reveal what they want as they can manipulate their news stories to suit them. The benefit of citizen journalism is the fact that the sources are authentic, there is of course still the issue of manipulation, however this is not a huge case as most would want to reveal the events live. This therefore links to social media again as citizen journalism is most likely seen on social networking sites and on Periscope or YouTube. The fact that someone is able to post a video directly and instantly online for several to see benefits other audiences as they are able to be exposed to news events that are happening live even before journalists have covered the story. This is a disadvantage for institutions as they would need to reveal a clear story of the events due to information already being revealed by other sources. It also poses a problem as if an audience member has already seen coverage of the story from a citizen journalist video then they are less likely to go onto a news channel or website to get more coverage of the events.
Overall, I think that audiences have benefited more so from changes in new digital media due to the fact that audiences are able to choose the source of news that they use. Although audiences may be exposed to a variety of ideologies through different news sources on social media or through website links, the power is still held by the audience member as they have the option to consume that media source.
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