People see the media as subject to undue political influence
last edited: Sun, 07 Aug 2022 04:56:40 -0400
(...) But most news media continue to struggle in an unforgiving winner-takes-most online environment, where the bulk of audience attention and advertising spending goes to digital platforms, and where many new voices – ranging from creators and influencers to activists and politicians – are carving out their own place, competing head-on with journalists for attention.
And at a more basic level, while many of the most commercially successful news media primarily serve audiences that are, crudely put, like me – affluent, highly educated, privileged, in many countries predominantly male, middle-aged, and white – our findings this year document that the connection between journalism and much of the public is fraying.
Despite the huge difference independent professional journalism can make in helping people understand the world beyond personal experience, we find declining interest in the news, lower trust – after a positive bump last year – as well as a growth in active news avoidance amongst some groups. Large numbers of people see the media as subject to undue political influence, and only a small minority believe most news organisations put what’s best for society ahead of their own commercial interest. (...)
(...) many respondents saying news has a negative effect on their mood. A significant proportion of younger and less educated people say they avoid news because it can be hard to follow or understand – suggesting that the news media could do much more to simplify language and better explain or contextualise complex stories. (...)
Digital News Report 2022 (Mon Jun 20 16:31:56 2022).
The most comprehensive study of news consumption, based on a YouGov survey of over 93,000 online news consumers in 46 markets.
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