A Summary Of Principal Digital Media Findings For 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has seen an increase in the consumption of news in mainstream media in all countries in which we've conducted our surveys. Both television news and online sources have seen significant growth. Television has emerged as the primary source of news for many, offering temporary relief from the ongoing decline. Lockdowns have made it hard to distribute printed newspapers. This has accelerated the transition to an electronic future. But, many countries have seen a significant rise in the usage of social media and internet. WhatsApp was the most popular, with the largest increase in all of the countries, with an increase of around ten percentage points in some countries. In other countries, more than half of those who were surveyed (51 percent) used some kind of open or closed online group to connect, share information or participate in local support networks.
As of April 2020 confidence in the media's coverage of COVID-19 was fairly high in every country, and at the same level as the national government and much higher than for specific politicians. The level of trust in media coverage of COVID-19 was doubled for messaging services as well as social media and video platforms. The general concern over misinformation is still high, according to the larger dataset we collected in January. More than half of our global sample was concerned about the online news prior to the coronavirus epidemics. Politicians in the United States are the most often cited source of misinformation, though in some countries - including the United States - people who identify themselves as conservatives are more likely to blame the media - part of an 'pick-your-side' mentality.
Facebook is thought to be the most effective channel for spreading false information almost everywhere but WhatsApp is believed to be more accountable in some parts of the Global South such as Brazil as well as Malaysia.
We found that less than four percent of people believe in news more frequently than they trust in our January survey around the globe. This is an increase of 4 percentage point from 2019. The news they consume is trusted by less than half of those surveyed (46%) Particularly, broadcasters who have lost support from left - and right-leaning political partisans appear to be in danger due to the rising political conflict. Our survey shows 60 percent of viewers still favor news that doesn't have a particular viewpoint and just 28 percent prefer news that reinforces or shares their opinions. Although partisanship preferences have been increasing in the United States since 2013, but this survey still shows that most Americans want news that is at least objective.
52 percent of respondents prefer that news outlets expose false claims made by politicians (29 percent) instead of ignoring the claims. People are less comfortable using political advertisements via search platforms or social media than with those on TV. Actually, the majority of people (58%) prefer having platforms that block advertisements that may contain false statements. We have seen significant rises in online journalism's payment rates in many countries, including the United States (+14) and Norway (42 percent + 8). However, there has been a lesser increase in the various markets. It is crucial to remember that online news is accessible to the majority of people from all nations. Some publishers might have been notified of a 'coronavirus' increase.
The content's uniqueness and quality is what they consider to be the most important. Subscribers think they're getting more information. However, the majority of people are perfectly content with the news they can access for free . In addition, we find a high percentage of non-subscribers (40 percent in the USA and 50% in the UK) who claim that there is nothing they can do to convince them to pay. If you pay more (e.g. In countries with greater levels of payment (e.g. Norway and the USA) there is a third to half of subscriptions are sold directly to a handful big national brands. This indicates that there is still the winner-takes-all model. In both countries, a substantial percentage of subscribers are adding more than one subscription to their existing one. For radio Alba A Romanian commercial radio station. They offer an agenda that is focused on 60 percent news from all regions and 40% music. The current programming includes news programming from the region, specialty shows, and talk show programming. These people are interested both in news, contests and interviews. However, they also like cultural shows such as debates, entertainment, and musical performances.
Four in ten (44%) of the weekly news reports about a given nation are produced by local newspapers. However, we have found that Facebook and other social media sites are currently used by nearly one-third (31 percent) for local information and news, which puts further pressure on companies as well as their business models. News access is becoming more popular. Only 28 percent of all people prefer beginning their journeys to read news on a website or an app. Generation Z (those between 18-24) prefer social media to websites and apps. They are a weaker relationship to websites and apps, and are twice as likely to be more inclined to read news via these platforms. Instagram news use has grown by more than 50 percent for all age groups and is predicted to surpass Twitter within the next few years.
To combat the shift to different platforms, publishers are looking to build direct connections with their customers via mobile and email alerts. One-in-five Americans (21%) reads their news messages every week. More than half who do so utilize it as their primary way to access information. Northern European nations were slow to adopt news email channels. Finland has only 10% who use email news. However, podcasts have seen an increase in popularity over the past year - coronavirus locks may have temporarily reversed this trend. In all 50 countries, half of the respondents (50 percent) said that podcasts provide more depth and comprehension of information in comparison to other media. Spotify is now the leading podcast destination in many countries, outdoing Apple's podcast app.
Seven out of 10 (69%) believe that climate change is a serious issue. However, in the United States and Australia, a substantial minority do not agree. They tend to be right-leaning and older. The younger groups can access many climate change news through social media, and also by following activists like Greta Thunberg. Amazon Echo and Google Home are both smart speakers that can be controlled by voice. devices, are growing rapidly. In the UK, usage for all purposes has increased from 14%-19 percentage to 19 percent, Germany from 7%-12% and South Korea from 9%-13%. Despite these increases yet, news consumption remains low in all markets.