The contest between giving audiences what they like and what they need has been waged for as long as we’ve had mass-circulation newspapers. Research published last week suggests it’s time to put our money on the latter.
The latest global Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute at Oxford University not only surveyed where people get their news and how much they trust it but also what they expect it to provide.
Too much of our current news output is driven by emotional triggers – prompts that induce people to read, listen or watch almost in spite of themselves. Death, crime, and misfortune add little to our ability to function in society, but they are surefire ways to get our attention.
Or they were in the past.
It is clear from the Reuters report that in an information saturated digital environment, too much competition for attention means button-pushing will not drawn people to news outlets any longer. Internationally, only about a fifth of the online community identify news outlets as their sources of news. More are turning to short videos for ‘news’ and much of that isn’t being produced by news outlets but by online commentators and a new breed called ‘creators’. And, apart from that, interest in news generally is still on a downward trend.
However, the Digital News Report 2024 also points to what may be the salvation for news media if they have the sense to embrace it and to find new ways to reach their audiences.
The institute used a model of audience research, originally employed by the BBC, that measures needs rather than likes. It surveyed users on eight indicators under four headings of knowledge, understanding, feeling, and doing:
- Update
- Education
- Perspective
- Assistance
- Engagement
- Inspiration
- Connection
- Diversion
Unsurprisingly, the greatest need from news media was to update (72 per cent) but, significantly, it was closely followed by the need for news to educate (67 per cent) and to give perspective (62 per cent). Around 60 per cent also wanted news media to help them and keep them engaged with issues, two factors that were closely related. Around half needed the news for inspiration or connection. Less than half need the news for diversion.
The update role will continue to be core business for news media but cannot be relied upon to bring audiences to homepages. Much of this updating is spread through social media. It is in the more demanding functions that news media may secure their future.
But how well do they meet needs now? Continue reading “Why and how journalism can have a strong future”