Oxford study says people actively avoiding ‘depressing’ news
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People are switching off the news says a report by the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford. And they are doing it to avoid stories like wars and pandemic news the study has revealed, June 14.
The Oxford University Institute revealed its report had been released on Twitter, saying: “Our Digital News Report 2023 is out today! 46 markets 93,000+ respondents Cross-national analysis.”
Our Digital News Report 2023 is out today!
???? 46 markets
???? 93,000+ respondents
???? Cross-national analysis from @nicnewman @richrdfletcher @kirstenaeddy Craig T. Robertson @rasmus_kleis & our partners????Explore now https://t.co/eQzzgPVWbh
???? Findings in thread #DNR23 pic.twitter.com/oisL2zLpYf— Reuters Institute (@risj_oxford) June 13, 2023
The report says that the UK is switching off the news in droves, with only 43 per cent of people ‘extremely interested’ in the news, below the global average of 48 per cent. Also, the worldwide figure for people ‘actively avoiding’ news is 36 per cent.
According to the BBC, one of the authors of the paper said that readers: “continue to selectively avoid important stories such as the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis as they cut back on depressing news and look to protect their mental health”.
The rise of social media has also provided alternative sources of news and information, with many people of younger generations turning to Facebook and TikTok amongst many other platforms for their news.
The curated content available online means that social media users through algorithmic data tend to see types of news that appeal to them, reflecting their interests and searches. It also means their consumption of news can be quite polarised, reinforcing particular belief sets.
Rasmus Neilsen from the Reuters Institute said of younger news consumers: “They have little interest in many conventional news offers oriented towards older generations’ habits, interests, and values, and instead embrace the more personality-based, participatory, and personalised options offered by social media, often looking beyond legacy platforms to new entrants.”
The report also highlighted that people have become warier of the truth behind the news they are hearing, with two per cent less trust in news sources than last year’s report suggested.
The Reuters Institute report concludes that mainstream news sources are struggling with only a few clear leaders in that field. A lot of platforms are struggling to get readers to pay attention, never mind paying for their output.
It appears that the delivery of news will have to change to keep people engaged but this in the long run will hopefully nature a new and trusting relationship between the news outlets and their changing readership.
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