A Synopsis Of Significant Digital Media Findings In 2020

Here's A Brief Summary Of The Most Important Digital Media Findings For 2020


The coronavirus epidemic has dramatically increased news consumption for mainstream media across all the countries in which we conducted our surveys prior to and after the pandemic began to take effect. Television news and online sources have both witnessed significant increases. Television is now their primary source of news, which is temporarily a relief from a trend of decreasing news consumption. Lockdowns have made it difficult to release newspapers printed on paper. This has increased the trend towards a digital future. However, the use of online and social media has significantly increased across the globe. WhatsApp has seen the greatest growth , with an increase of about ten percentage points in certain countries. Additionally, more than half (51%) of the people surveyed utilized an online, either closed or open group to exchange information, or participate in a local support group.

In April 2020, the level of trust was fairly high in all nations with regard to the news coverage about COVID-19. It was in line with the national government and significantly more than individuals in politics. The level of trust in the coverage of COVID-19 by media was doubled for messaging services, social networks and video platforms. The global concern about misinformation continues to rise due to the wider data set we have collected since January. The global concern about misinformation remains high even before the coronavirus outbreak. More than half of our world-wide sample of respondents said that they are concerned about what information is being disseminated online regarding the news. While domestic politicians are most often cited as the source of misinformation , those who identify themselves as right-wing, such as in the United States, are more likely to not blame the media. Facebook is seen almost everywhere as the most important channel for disseminating incorrect facts. WhatsApp is however more responsible in countries like Brazil and Malaysia.

Our survey in January across the world revealed that less than four-in-10 (38%) of respondents said they trust most news most often. This represents a decrease by four percentage points over the year before. Just 46 percent of respondents were able to trust the news they have used. Particularly, political polarisation and a growing sense of uncertainty have undermined trust among public broadcasters. They are losing supporters from both the right-wing as well as the left. Our survey found that 60% of respondents still prefer news that is impartial in their viewpoints, while only 28 percent prefer news that bolsters or supports their opinions. The number of partisans has risen in the United States since we last asked this question in 2013, however, even in this country, a quiet majority is looking for news that at the very least attempts to be impartial.

The majority of people would prefer news media to report falsified statements from politicians as they adapt to new communication styles (52 percent) People are more hesitant to use political ads on search platforms or on social media than with those shown on TV. In reality, the majority of people (58 percent) prefer to have platforms that block advertisements that might contain false claims. There have been significant increases in the amount of money paid for online news across a variety of countries, such as the United States 20% (+4) and Norway 42 percent (+8) however, there are less significant increases in a variety of other markets. It is important to remember that nearly all countries do not pay for information online, even though some publishers have reported a "coronavirus bump".

In the end, the most important element for subscribers is the quality and uniqueness of the information. Subscribers believe they receive more information. However, many people are satisfied with news that they can access for free. We also see a high percentage of non-subscribers (45 percent in the USA and 50% here in the UK) who claim that they are not able to convince to pay. Higher levels of payment are observed in countries like Norway and the United States in which there is an increase in the number of subscribers. A third to half of subscriptions are given to national brands in countries like Norway, the USA and Norway. This suggests that there are still winners and winners and losers. However, in both countries an increasing number of customers are purchasing more than one subscription, often by adding a local or specialized publication. For radio Unirea FM 107,2 MHz A Romanian commercial radio station. The station has an agenda that is focused on 60% news from all areas and 40% music. The main elements that are appealing to the audience are news programs that come from the county as well as special programs, in addition to talk shows. They are attracted to news, contests, and interviews. They also love cultural shows, debates and music.

Local newspapers and their websites are still the best source of information on an area or town in the majority of countries. They are accessed by the majority of people (44%) weekly. However, we discovered that Facebook and the other social media websites are now being used by around three-quarters (31%) of people who use local news and information. This is putting more pressure on businesses and their business models. Access to news continues to expand. All over the world there is a small gap in the number of people who (28 percent) prefer starting their news experiences via an app or website. Generation Z, a group of 18-24-year-olds, prefers to use social networks to access news instead of apps and websites. News consumption on Instagram has nearly doubled across all age groups since the year 2018 and is set to surpass Twitter in the coming year.

To stop the rise of multiple platforms publishers are looking to establish direct connections to consumers via email or mobile alerts. In the United States one in five (21 percent) use a news email weekly, and for almost half of those, it's the primary method for accessing news. Northern European countries are slower to embrace news channels via email. In Finland just 10% of those who use email news use it. While the use of podcasts has grown significantly in the past year, coronavirus locking downs may have temporarily reversed it. The majority of countries (50 percent) agreed that podcasts provide greater depth and understanding than other forms of media. Spotify is the most popular podcasting site in a range of countries and has overtaken Apple's podcast app.

Although nearly seven out of ten (69%) are in agreement that climate change poses a serious threat in the near future, a substantial majority of Americans, Sweden, Australia and Australia disagree. This group is more right-leaning and, in most cases, older. The younger groups get most of their climate change information from social media, and by following activists like Greta Thunberg. Smart speakers with voice activation such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home continue to grow rapidly. Use for any purpose has risen from 14% to 19 percent in the UK as well as from 7% to 12% in Germany, and 9% to 13 percent in South Korea. We find that news use is low across all countries, despite this.