"Across markets, only around a fifth of respondents (22%) now say they prefer to start their news journeys with a website or app – that’s down 10 percentage points since 2018. Publishers in a few smaller Northern European markets have managed to buck this trend, but younger groups everywhere are
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showing a weaker connection with news brands’ own websites and apps than previous cohorts – preferring to access news via side-door routes such as social media, search, or mobile aggregators.
• Facebook remains one of the most-used social networks overall, but its influence on journalism is declining as it shifts its focus away from news. It also faces new challenges from established networks such as YouTube and vibrant youth-focused networks such as TikTok. The Chinese-owned social network reaches 44% of 18–24s across markets and 20% for news. It is growing fastest in parts of Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America.
• When it comes to news, audiences say they pay more attention to celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities than journalists in networks like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. This contrasts sharply with Facebook and Twitter, where news media and journalists are still central to the conversation.
• Much of the public is sceptical of the algorithms used to select what they see via search engines, social media, and other platforms. Less than a third (30%) say that having stories selected for me on the basis of previous consumption is a good way to get news, 6 percentage points lower than when we last asked the question in 2016. Despite this, on average, users still slightly prefer news selected this way to that chosen by editors or journalists (27%), suggesting that worries about algorithms are part of a wider concern about news and how it is selected.
• Despite hopes that the internet could widen democratic debate, we find fewer people are now participating in online news than in the recent past. Aggregated across markets, only around a fifth (22%) are now active participators, with around half (47%) not participating in news at all. In the UK and United States, the proportion of active participators has fallen by more than 10 percentage points since 2016. Across countries we find that this group tends to be male, better educated, and more partisan in their political vie ws.
• Trust in the news has fallen, across markets, by a further 2 percentage points in the last year, reversing in many countries the gains made at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. On average, four in ten of our total sample (40%) say they trust most news most of the time. Finland remains the country with the highest levels of overall trust (69%), while Greece (19%) has the lowest after a year characterised by heated arguments about press freedom and the independence of the media." (Summary, page 10)
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"The main objectives of the study were: to assess the perceptions of vowed religious people towards social media; to explore the uses to which vowed religious people put social media; to find out the experiences of vowed religious people regarding their social media utilization. The study employed m
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ixed method – explanatory sequential research design. Data was collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews, and analyzed through descriptive and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that, although 98.4% of the respondents had embraced social media use, only 49.2% were open to using social media for evangelization. However, there is a willingness and with sensitization, they can maximally utilize social media for evangelization. It was also evident that, the positive experiences on social media outweigh the negative ones, hence, social media is a viable channel for evangelization. The study recommended that vowed religious people be sensitized to embrace social media for evangelization purposes. The study also recommended that the Catholic Church should periodically train religious people on the ethical use of social media platforms." (Abstract)
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"The survey data show that most Zimbabweans treasure a media that is free from the shackles of government interference and that acts as a watchdog over government, investigating and reporting on its mistakes and corruption. Despite this dominant preference, only a minority think the country currentl
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y has a free media, suggesting that citizens want the government to do more to ensure that journalists can deliver on their mandate freely and safely. Majorities also endorse the right of ordinary citizens and the media to access various types of government information, including budgets and expenditures for local government, bids and contracts, and salary information for teachers and local government officials. As for where Zimbabweans obtain their news, radio still rules the roost among news sources, though social media is challenging its dominance among young, urban, and educated citizens." (Conclusion)
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"In den vergangenen Jahren wurde vermehrt darüber diskutiert, ob und in welchem Ausmaß das Vertrauen der Bürgerinnen und Bürger in mediale Berichterstattungen abgenommen hat. Begriffe wie „Lügenpresse“, grassierende Falschinformationen und die von vielen Beobachtern festgestellte gesellscha
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ftliche Polarisierung verleiten zu dem Schluss, dass das Vertrauen in die etablierten Medien gesunken sein müsse. Aber lässt sich dies auch empirisch feststellen? Die Mainzer Langzeitstudie zum Medienvertrauen hat über mehrere Jahre hinweg Daten erhoben und ausgewertet. Ihre Ergebnisse und Schlüsse zeichnen erstmals ein systematisches, auf repräsentativen Meinungsumfragen basierendes Stimmungsbild zur Einstellung der deutschen Bevölkerung zum Mediensystem und zur Berichterstattung für die Jahre 2015 bis 2020. Die Autorinnen und Autoren belassen es nicht bei der Darstellung der Forschungsergebnisse, sondern leiten daraus Vorschläge ab, wie das Medienvertrauen künftig gestärkt beziehungsweise zurückgewonnen werden kann." (Verlagsinformation)
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"In a reality that combines the virtual with the physical and in a context of information saturation, there are consumers who are more critical, demanding, and less loyal. In this context, it is timely to know the new habits of the Centennials, so as to understand their behaviors and consumption tre
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nds, aligning future communication strategies to their personality and interests. The Centennials or Generation Z are digital natives, concerned with technology, and complex to understand (Alonso-López; Terol-Bolinches, 2020). Generation Z –analyzed in this study– is composed of those born between 2000 and 2008, which corresponds to the youth currently between 14 and 22 years old (Vilanova; Ortega, 2017; Hernández; Andrade-del-Cid, 2020). The main objective of this research is to determine the patterns of consumption and online behavior exhibited by this generation in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Panama, with a focus on the characteristics of communication processes, online consumption patterns, and the cultural traits they possess. To achieve this, a mixed method is proposed consisting of a Twitter conversation analysis, survey application (n=550), in-depth interviews (n=36), and focus groups (n=2); all of which have been applied in the four selected countries. The main conclusions are that the preferred content of Centennials is humor (75%), with Instagram and TikTok being the most used networks. For they, the most important thing is to take care of their image and 40% are not interested in technological topics. Furthermore, cultural characteristics are shared among countries; however, language is the main difference between countries." (Abstract)
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"[...] While Facebook and YouTube are the most preferred platforms for content consumption, Facebook stands as a less trusted platform among the audience (ranks 4th). Audiences prioritize quality entertainment, current information, reliable reporting, and educational value content, while content cre
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ators mostly cover topics like politics, business, and social issues.
Ethiopian users spend 2 to 4 hours daily on digital media, mainly accessed through smartphones. Online misinformation is widespread, and platforms like Telegram, websites, and YouTube are more trusted. Connectivity challenges, high staff-turnover, and limited advertising opportunities hinder content production and distribution. Digital media outlets engage with audiences through various platforms, targeting youth with a higher proportion of male users. Editorial systems, physical infrastructure, and revenue models vary among digital media outlets.
The study recommends that media organizations enhance digital literacy and fact-checking skills, diversify revenue streams, utilize digital storytelling tools, and access training programs. It suggests that government institutions streamline administrative procedures and provide incentives for digital innovation. Media development organizations are encouraged to offer capacity-building programs, provide financial and technical support, and collaborate on media literacy initiatives and fact-checking platforms. Acting on these recommendations could help mitigate challenges related to content production, verification, revenue generation, media literacy, and collaboration." (Executive summary)
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"This report provides an assessment of the media landscape in Jordan from the perspective of its audiences. Based on audience research, it examines the key issues emerging around media usage, trust, content, and literacy. It is based on data that was collected throughout June and July 2023; the medi
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a landscape may have changed since the war in Gaza began." (Abstract)
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"Fifty-four percent of EU citizens reported being “often” or “very often” unsure whether a piece of information they saw on the internet in recent months was true. Only 4 % reported never being unsure of information they saw. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported consciously encounteri
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ng disinformation, while only ten percent said they did not encounter any disinformation at all. Respondents with a university-level degree are more likely to report being unsure and encountering disinformation than respondents with no formal education. Younger respondents tend to feel unsure less often than older respondents, but these young people also report encountering disinformation more often. Respondents in Spain and Italy show a comparatively higher frequency of uncertainty and reported encounters with disinformation, while respondents in the Netherlands show the lowest values in both cases [...] The study allows us to infer the following four recommendations for action: (1) establish an effective system for monitoring disinformation both in Germany and across Europe; (2) raise public awareness about the issue of disinformation; (3) promote media literacy among people of all age groups; (4) ensure consistent and transparent content creation on digital platforms." (Key findings, page 4-5)
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"Die KiKA-Landkartenstudie untersuchte die Mediennutzung von Drei- bis 13-Jährigen. Hierfür wurden die Kinder selbst sowie deren Erziehungsberechtigte befragt. Das lineare Fernsehen ist für diese Altersgruppe die wichtigste Nutzungsform für Bewegtbild, vor YouTube und Streamingdiensten. Als Lieb
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lingsformate werden solche genannt, die die Kinder aus dem Fernsehen kennen. Der Anteil der Kinder, die ausschließlich digitale Bewegtbildinhalte nutzen, liegt unter 1 Prozent. Das lineare Fernsehen gehört also nach wie vor in das breite Portfolio der Mediennutzung von Kindern. Im Hinblick auf die Nutzungsfrequenz und die Ausspielwege (linear, digital und hybrid) wurden fünf KiKA-Nutzungstypen segmentiert. Diese ermöglichen weitere Analysen und Distributionsentscheidungen." (Kurz und knapp, Seite 1)
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"Four Forces That Lead To Polarization: 1. Economic Anxieties: Economic optimism is collapsing around the world, with 24 of 28 countries seeing all-time lows in the number of people who think their families will be better off in five years. 2. Institutional Imbalance: Business is now the sole instit
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ution seen as competent and ethical; government is viewed as unethical and incompetent. Business is under pressure to step into the void left by government. 3. Mass-Class Divide: People in the top quartile of income live in a different trust reality than those in the bottom quartile, with 20+ point gaps in Thailand, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. 4. The Battle for Truth: A shared media environment has given way to echo chambers, making it harder to collaboratively solve problems. Media is not trusted, with especially low trust in social media." (Page 4)
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"This study examines to what extent Arab audiences are willing to support these strategies, and what factors influence their willingness to pay (WTP) for online news, using a survey of 530 adults. The study found most of the public is not willing to pay for online newspapers, but are willing to pay
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for entertainment services. Most of them are not subscribing to printed or online newspapers. They do not have a real intent to help the newspapers in their digital transformation. Most of the public did not experience the paywall yet. Age and income influence the likelihood of paying for online news and to a lesser extent, gender and education. Age and income were predictors for WTP for entertainment services. Age and education were predictors for using online sources." (Abstract)
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"To illustrate the dynamics of the digital information ecosystem and how disinformation is seeded within this environment, Rappler explored cascades around the following themes: war on drugs, attacks against the press, and messaging around Martial Law and authoritarian rule. The themes were selected
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based on prevailing issues that have confronted the Philippines and the Duterte administration over the past 6 years. These are findings of the study specific to the Philippine context: Already addicted to social media, Filipinos became more deeply immersed in the internet due to the pandemic; [...] At least 1 in every 3 Filipino internet users is new to digital, is potentially unfamiliar with how it works, and vulnerable to disinformation and online manipulation techniques [...] News organizations are still among the most followed information sources online. But they are increasingly drowned in social media noise [...] Trustworthiness is the primary consideration in following groups, pages, and channels on social media. But entertainment value and agreeableness are also major considerations, making audiences vulnerable to sources that deceptively use celebrity content to build online following [...] Majority (78%) of survey respondents say they can distinguish between real news and “fake news,” but focus group discussions (FGDs) reveal that some believed previously debunked claims [...] There are similarities between disinformation in the Philippines and the “Firehose of Falsehood” Russian propaganda model ..." (Executive summary, pages 7-12)
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"Existing research on factors informing public perceptions of expert trustworthiness was largely conducted during stable periods and in longestablished Western liberal democracies. This article asks whether the same factors apply during a major health crisis and in relatively new democracies. Drawin
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g on 120 interviews and diaries conducted during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Serbia, we identify two additional factors not acknowledged in existing research, namely personal contact with experts and experts’ independence from political elites. We also examine how different factors interact and show how distrust of experts can lead to exposure to online misinformation." (Abstract)
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"In the midst of heated debates surrounding the veracity and honesty of communication, scholarly attention has turned to the conceptualization of mis- and disinformation on the supply-side of (political) communication. Yet, we lack systematic research on the conceptualization of perceived mis- and d
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isinformation on the demand-side. Original survey data collected in ten European countries (N = 6,643) shows that news consumers distinguish general misinformation from disinformation. Yet, the high correlation between the two dimensions indicates that disinformation perceptions may be regarded as a sub-type of misinformation perceptions in which intentional deception is a core element. This paper aims to make a contribution to the misinformation and media credibility literature by proposing a first conceptualization of perceived untruthfulness corresponding to increasing levels of cynicism and skepticism toward the factual status and honesty of information." (Abstract)
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"Die folgenden Handlungsbedarfe und Empfehlungen aus dem MDG-Trendmonitor 2020/21 wurden auf ihre Gültigkeit im aktualisierten Sinus-Milieumodell überprüft und angepasst. Dabei zeigt sich: Das grundlegende Spannungsfeld zwischen milieuspezifischer Affinität (insbes. in den traditionellen Milieus
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) bzw. Distanz (insbes. in den postmodernen Milieus) zu Religion, Kirche und Glaube bildet sich auch im aktualisierten Milieumodell ab. Auch auf Basis der neuen Sinus-Milieus zeigt die Milieuanalyse des MDG-Trendmonitors 2020/21, dass die katholische Kirche ihrem Anspruch, Volkskirche zu sein, nicht gerecht wird: Sie erreicht nicht alle sozialen Milieus bzw. kann nur wenige Lebenswelten nachhaltig an sich binden. Die neu vorgelegte Analyse macht deutlich, wo die gesellschaftlichen Milieus im Spektrum von kirchennah bis kirchendistanziert verortet werden können und welche spezifischen Brücken und Barrieren im Zugang zu Kirche bestehen." (Empfehlungen, Seite 68)
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