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The Changing World of News: Qualitative Research

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The Changing World of News: Qualitative Research The Changing World of News: Qualitative Research 13 July 2018 The Changing World of News: Qualitative Research Contents 1. Overview of key findings ........................................................................................................................ 1 2. Background, objectives and methodology ............................................................................................. 4 2.1. Background to the study ............................................................................................................ 4 2.2. A note on qualitative analysis ..................................................................................................... 4 2.3. Research objectives.................................................................................................................... 4 2.4. Methodology and approach to the research .............................................................................. 4 2.5. Overview of participants ............................................................................................................ 5 2.6. Guide to the report .................................................................................................................... 8 3. Why people engage with the news ......................................................................................................... 9 3.1. Summary .................................................................................................................................... 9 3.2. A broad definition of ‘the news’ ................................................................................................... 9 3.3. The role of news in our lives ..................................................................................................... 11 3.4. Fundamental needs driving news engagement ........................................................................ 15 3.4.1. Aware and alert ...................................................................................................... 15 3.4.2. Stimulated and emotionally engaged ..................................................................... 15 3.4.3. Comprehension ........................................................................................................ 15 4. How we engage with the news ............................................................................................................. 17 4.1. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 17 4.2. Factors shaping news engagement .......................................................................................... 17 4.2.1. The spectrum of engagement ................................................................................. 17 4.2.2. News habits and routines ........................................................................................ 18 4.2.3. Influence of social factors in shaping news engagement ....................................... 21 4.3. How engagement is changing .................................................................................................. 24 4.3.1. The impact of changes in technology ..................................................................... 24 4.3.2. Technological innovation driving long term change ................................................ 24 4.3.3. Passive versus active consumption of the news ..................................................... 25 5. How sources are selected – why people go to different sources ......................................................... 28 5.1. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 28 5.2. The drivers of selection of sources ........................................................................................... 28 5.3. The role of platform and interface shaping choice ................................................................... 29 5.4. The role of brand in driving preferences ................................................................................... 30 5.5. How quality criteria drive preferences ...................................................................................... 31 5.6. Expectations of quality by genre ............................................................................................... 32 5.7. Multiple sources for different purposes ..................................................................................... 37 6. Overview of online and social media ................................................................................................... 39 6.1. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 39 6.2. Impact of online ........................................................................................................................ 39 6.3. Social media and news ............................................................................................................. 40 7. Audience challenges in processing the news ....................................................................................... 42 7.1. News overload and complexity ................................................................................................. 42 7.1.1. A busy news ecosystem .......................................................................................... 42 7.2. Lack of trust and perceptions of bias ........................................................................................ 46 The Changing World of News: Qualitative Research 7.2.1. A wider crisis in trust .............................................................................................. 46 7.2.2. Trust and bias in the news ...................................................................................... 47 7.3. Negativity, fatigue and a distorting lens .................................................................................... 50 7.4. Issues specific to online and social media ............................................................................... 54 7.5. Comparisons across platforms ................................................................................................. 55 7.6. The potential for conformation bias to dominate ...................................................................... 55 8. Concluding thoughts ............................................................................................................................. 57 9. Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 58 9.1. Discussion Guide ...................................................................................................................... 58 The Changing World of News: Qualitative Research 1. Overview of key findings Qualitative research exploring why participants used different news sources was carried out between January and March 2018 with 96 participants across the UK using a combination of online pre-tasking and group discussions. More details on the background and methodology can be found in section 2. Outlined below is a brief overview of the key findings from the research. Why participants engaged with the news Participants saw the category of ‘news’ as broader than just direct, formal, journalistic sources and included comedy and satire, word of mouth, documentaries, and even ‘selfie news’ in their definition. Fundamentally, participants engaged with the news to satisfy their curiosity and help them understand what was going on in the world that they felt part of, whether local or global. In terms of its role in participants’ lives, news was seen as having greatest impact primarily in personal and social terms, and for some at a societal level as well. The personal role of news was a mixture of practical (need to know) information and stories about broader issues which may impact participants directly. Socially, news was an important source of interaction and inclusion, and widely discussed in person or via social media. Participants did not want to feel ignorant or left out of the news conversation. Whilst news was also seen to be playing an important societal role in holding authorities and others to account, many participants took longer to realise this, and questioned how well the news was fulfilling its role in the democratic process, particularly in the light of the EU referendum experience. At its most functional participants needed the news to make them aware of, and alert to, what was going on in their world at any given time. Participants also looked to be emotionally stimulated and entertained by the news. There could be a tension between the more functional, and more emotional needs that the news served, and participants recognised that news sources were required to strike a balance between them. As a minimum, participants needed the news to inform them of what has happened ‘the what’, a relatively straight forward and factual accounting of the news. Many participants were also interested in understanding ‘the why’ from the news, which drove a need for more in-depth, explanatory analysis and interpretation. A final core need for some participants was understanding ‘the so what?’ of the news, primarily in terms of the implications of the news for themselves,
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