NDM case study: How has news changed?

1) What are the most popular platforms for audiences to access news and how has this changed in recent years?

Television is by far the most-used platform for news, with 67% of UK adults saying they use TV as a source of news. The number of people who use the internet or apps for news has remained the same since 2014. Newspapers are used by three in ten, which represents a decrease of nine percentage points since 2014 and 2013 (when 40% of UK adults said they used newspapers for news). There has also been a decrease in those that say they use radio as a source of news (from 36% in 2014 to 32% in 2015). One in ten of adults say they don’t follow news, compared to 5% in 2014 and 7% in 2013. 

2) How do different age demographics access news in the UK?

Those aged 55+ are more likely than those aged 16-24 to use TV, newspapers and radio for news consumption, while the opposite is true for the internet/ apps. Around half (51%) of people aged 16-24 use TV for news, compared to 86% of those aged 55+. A similar pattern can be seen for consumption of news through newspapers (21% of 16-24s vs. 44% aged 55+) and through radio (23% vs. 37%). Conversely, consumption of news online through any device is considerably higher for those aged 16-24 (59%) than for over-55s (23%). 

3) Does socio-economic status change attitudes to news?

People in the AB socio-economic group are more likely than those in the DE socio-economic group to consume news on any of the four main platforms: TV (71% vs 67%), the internet (50% vs. 29%), newspapers (38% vs. 26%) and radio (46% vs. 23%).

4) How many different sources of news are used on average? How does differ between different groups?

Of the four main platforms, three in ten (31%) respondents use only one platform for news, with just under two in ten (19%) using only the TV alone, 11% using only the internet, 3% using radio alone, and 2% using only newspapers. The use of TV alone is more pronounced among over-55s (26%) and those in the DE socio-economic group (28%) than among 16-24s (13%) and those in the AB socio-economic group (14%). One in five (20%) people aged 16-24 report that they only use the internet for news, compared to just 2% of those aged 55+.

5) How has news consumption through television changed in recent years?

The average number of sources that people use for news has remained consistent year on year Looking within each platform at the different sources of news people might use, the number of people who use just one source remained at a similar level to 2014; 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).

6) How much has news consumption through newspapers declined since 2005?According to NRS figures, the reach of national newspapers has declined considerably in the past ten years, with reach among adults falling by 27 percentage points since 2005 (from 72.4% of all adults in 2005 to 45.4% in 2015).

7) How does newspaper reach differ by age group?

Reach of national newspapers varies by age group: 29.3% of 15-24s are print newspaper readers, compared to 67.9% of over-65s. 

8) Which are the most popular newspapers and websites in the UK? 

The Daily Mail is the most widely-read news title in the UK, with around 5.5 million users. The Sun follows with 5.2 million users, compared to 5.8 million in 2014. Looking at readership levels of print-only newspapers, The Sun was the most popular (with just under 5.2 million users vs. 3.5 million for the Daily Mail). Conversely, looking at readership for websites only, the Daily Mail had 1.8 million users, while The Sun had 0.06 million. The Sun’s lower online readership could be explained by its paywall, whereas the Daily Mail offers its website content free of charge. 

9) How does online news consumption differ for age, gender and socio-economic status?

Four in ten (41%) UK adults say they use the internet for news. Six in ten (59%) UK adults aged 16-24 say they use the internet or apps for news, compared to just under a quarter (23%) of those aged 55+. Over half (53%) of those in the ABC1 socio-economic group use online sources for news, compared to a third (32%) of those in the C2DE socio-economic group. Men are more likely than women to say they use internet for news (45% vs. 37%). 

10) What percentage of people use social media to access news? How does this differ by age and socio-economic status?

Looking at the specific devices that UK adults use to access news via the internet, a quarter (25%) of UK adults say they access news on a mobile phone, up by four percentage points since 2014. This compares to 20% who say they use a computer, laptop or netbook to access news (down by four percentage points since 2014) and 13% use a tablet for news (the same as in 2014). Two in five (42%) 16-24s say they use a mobile phone to access news, compared to 8% of over-55s.

11) What percentage of users only use social media sites for their news?
Ten per cent of online news users use only social media sites for news.

12) What are the most popular online sites for news?
Over half (56%) of online news users said they used the BBC website or app, compared to 59% in 2014. Facebook was the second most popular response, up by 12 percentage points since 2014 (from 17% to 29%). This was followed by the Google search engine (15%) and the Sky News website or app (14%).

13) What percentage of 16-24 year olds access news mostly from social media?
16% of those aged 16-24  

14) How do audiences find stories online? 
30% of those who used social media for news said they ‘mostly’ accessed their news stories through social media posts, compared to 38% who said they ‘mostly’ accessed them directly from the websites/apps of news organisations. A further three in ten (31%) said they accessed them equally on social media posts and on news organisations’ websites or apps.

New/digital media: audience and institution

15) What are the benefits for audiences from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry?
They have information available at all times via their mobile phones and the internet through the use of social media/apps. News comes from newspaper online sites, feeds, blogs, and news organisations websites such as BBC News who also supply podcasts.
 
16) What are the benefits for institutions from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry?They have more platforms to distribute their products which can be linked to provide a multimedia product line

17) What are the downsides for audiences as a result of new and digital media in news?
Downsides for audiences are that some of this content that may appear to be free won’t be for much longer

18) What are the downsides for institutions as a result of new and digital media in news?
The main problem for institutions is how to generate serious money out of digital content.



Who has benefited most from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry - audiences or institutions?

To begin with, It is clear that almost everyone is trying to use new and digital media to the fullest, whether or not if its on apps on their phones or live podcasts on their phones. Institutions have benefited from the changes in new and digital media in many ways. They have brought a lot to the news industry. Now that there is internet, it is being used for many things. For example, you can watch the news on the website its comes from, or on youtube. Furthermore, you can read newspapers on websites and listen to the news on the radio which you could have always done. Also, you can access news headlines or stories on your phone by downloading the apps from newspapers or new or by simply going online. For example, Daily mail app or BBC news app. Additionally, institutions such as Google have gained so much monopoly power over the past few years and they have gained even larger coverage and a better reputation within the industry without realising the drawbacks of their institutions growth. On the other hand, I think that the audiences have benefited more than the institutions. This is because they can access news articles on their phone, laptop, computer, tablets and ipads. Its portable everywhere. Also, the can access the magazines articles, watch the news on their websites or on youtube, they can read and search anything anywhere. If they just read a newspaper they would have to pay a small amount, they would have to make sure that they get the right issue, they will have to make sure that they get the issue everyday and that means going to the shops or making sure that they get delivered home. Instead, they can do this at home via the internet which is easier for them. This helps them as its more efficient and quick. The media industry has obviously evolved a lot since everything has moved onto being electronically done, but focusing on a more narrow industry it is easy to understand that the e-media industry rather than the print has definitely witnessed the benefits more. Due to more free and easily accessed apps and news pages online, there has definitely been a decline in the newspaper industry which would have lead to more job loses and closures for newspaper.