‘OLD NEWS, YOUNG VIEWS’ HOW UK NEWS PROVIDERS ENGAGE YOUNG ADULT AUDIENCES (AGED 16-34) ON DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. by LEON HAWTHORNE A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of MA BY RESEARCH. Department of Film & Creative Writing School of English, Drama and Creative Studies College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham June 2020 ii University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. iii Abstract This thesis examines the changing patterns of news consumption by young adults in the United Kingdom, aged 16 to 34 years old, and the editorial responses to this by leading television news broadcasters. It begins with a comprehensive review of the most recent literature on incidental news exposure, personalisation, echo chambers and filter bubbles; combining this with analyses of key reports by industry and governmental sources. It proposes a new taxonomy of news consumption behaviours, and a new visual taxonomy of news using the RGB (red, green, blue) colour spectrum. Senior editors at ITV News, Channel 4 News, 5 News and Sky News were interviewed to provide insights into current digital strategies. The broadcasters’ feedback to a questionnaire were studied for empirical evidence on audience behaviour, editorial decision making, and positioning within the aforementioned conceptual frameworks. This thesis concludes with a negation of the view that emerging news consumption patterns are problematic for political engagement. Instead it finds bold solutions within the industry’s best practices and the literature for how broadcasters could reform their organisational structures to better serve young adult audiences. iv Acknowledgements My primary thanks go to my academic supervisors Dr Richard Langley and Professor W. Scott Lucas for their invaluable guidance, support, challenge and critique during this journey. A special thanks to the Editors and/or Heads of Digital at ITV News, Channel 4 News, 5 News and Sky News for giving up generously their time and resources to assist me with my research; especially at a time when their in-trays were dominated by Brexit and the 2019 General Election. I would like to thank Merete Østergaard and Henrik Petersen at the Danish School of Media & Journalism (‘DMJX’), for offering me — in 2018 — the opportunity to teach Cross-Media to undergraduates, based on my industry experience. Given three decades had elapsed since I had last stepped foot inside a university, this was a leap of faith, ultimately which re-ignited my enthusiasm for academic research. Thanks also to my students at DMJX for providing fresh insights into the mindset and behaviours of Generation Z. Thanks to the University of Birmingham for offering me this degree course, by distance learning. I would not have begun this endeavour were it not for this mode of study, for which the university stands out as a beacon of pedagogical innovation compared to other Russell Group universities. And finally, my love and thanks to my 6-year old son Milo, who daily provides me with the motivation to be a daddy, in whom he can be proud. v Table of Contents Chapter 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Introduction -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 1.0 Research Rationale ---------------------------------------------------------------1 1.0.1 Social context ---------------------------------------------------------------2 1.0.2 Theoretical context ---------------------------------------------------------3 1.0.3 Methodology of field research -------------------------------------------5 1.0.4 Perspective ------------------------------------------------------------------6 1.1 Structure of thesis -----------------------------------------------------------------7 Chapter 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9 Demographics and psychographics of 16-34 year old news consumers -----9 2.0 UK adults aged 16-34 years old -----------------------------------------------9 2.1 Digital Natives in an age of participation ------------------------------------12 2.2 News psychographics of 16-34s -----------------------------------------------15 2.3 Summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------23 Chapter 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25 How do 16-34s get their news? ---------------------------------------------------------25 3.0 A definition of news ---------------------------------------------------------------25 3.1 A definition of social media ------------------------------------------------------34 3.2 Which social media platform? --------------------------------------------------38 3.3 Social media use of children aged 5-16 years old ------------------------41 3.4 Which social media platforms are used for news? ------------------------44 3.5 How do users access news on social media? -----------------------------46 3.6 Other online sources of news --------------------------------------------------47 3.7 Specific news websites and apps used --------------------------------------48 3.8 Gateways to news -----------------------------------------------------------------49 vi 3.9 Single most important media for news ---------------------------------------50 3.10 News consumption by children aged 11-16 years old ------------------52 3.11 Summary ---------------------------------------------------------------------------54 3.12 Brief conclusions arising from industry data ------------------------------54 Chapter 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------57 Incidental News Exposure ----------------------------------------------------------------57 4.0 Incidental news exposure -------------------------------------------------------57 4.1 Intentionality ------------------------------------------------------------------------59 4.2 Information overload --------------------------------------------------------------61 4.3 Digital Divide ------------------------------------------------------------------------63 4.4 Engagement ------------------------------------------------------------------------65 4.5 Engagement decisions of social media users and Kümpel -------------68 4.5.1 Perceived characteristics of the news provider ---------------------69 4.5.2 Personal characteristics and traits of the news receiver ---------71 4.5.3 Characteristics of the news recommendation -----------------------72 4.5.4 Characteristics of the news content -----------------------------------72 4.5.5 Characteristics of the news curator ------------------------------------74 4.6 Opinion leaders and opinion followers ---------------------------------------74 4.7 Summary of incidental exposure ----------------------------------------------77 4.8 Conclusion on incidental exposure -------------------------------------------79 Chapter 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------83 Personalisation, Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers ------------------------------83 5.0 ‘The Daily Me’ ----------------------------------------------------------------------83 5.1 What is an algorithm? ------------------------------------------------------------85 5.2 Facebook’s 2018 algorithm change ------------------------------------------87 5.3 Netflix's artwork personalisation -----------------------------------------------88 5.4 The filter bubble --------------------------------------------------------------------93 5.5 Trust in the algorithm -------------------------------------------------------------96 5.6 Emotional contagion --------------------------------------------------------------98 vii 5.7 Issue salience ----------------------------------------------------------------------100 5.8 The echo chamber ----------------------------------------------------------------101 5.9 Online users consuming contrary views -------------------------------------104 5.10 Ideological Segregation --------------------------------------------------------107 5.11 Cross-cutting exposure ---------------------------------------------------------109 5.12 Self-selection and polarisation -----------------------------------------------110 5.13 Summary of personalisation --------------------------------------------------113 5.14 Conclusion on personalisation -----------------------------------------------117 Chapter 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------124 How have news providers responded to changing habits of young adults? -124 6.0 Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------124 6.1 BBC News: non-participation ---------------------------------------------------124 6.1 Methodology ------------------------------------------------------------------------125 6.2 A brief overview of the Questionnaire ----------------------------------------127 6.3 A brief