Covid-19 has prompted boom for TV news, dip in media trust worldwide and surge in misinformation - 2020 Digital News Report By Freddy Mayhew Twitter SHARE THIS https://pressgazette.co.uk/covid-19-has-prompted-boom-for-tv-news-dip-in-media-trust-worldwide-and-surge-in-misinformation-2020-digital-news-report/
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The coronavirus crisis has seen a resurgence in people turning to TV for their news, temporarily bucking the trend of longer-term decline in the face of online news sources.
People have been increasingly turning to trusted news sources during the pandemic, with TV viewing figures booming â along with traffic to news websites â as viewers tune in for the latest updates on the virus.
In the UK, just over half (55%) of respondents to this yearâs Digital News Report said they used TV as a source of news in January, compared to more than three-quarters (77%) for online, including social media.
Both these figures rose in April, when the survey was carried out again, under lockdown, with TV climbing to 71% and online up slightly to 79%.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism carried out its main survey of 40 countries in January/February, with sample sizes of about 2,000 adults each, for the annual report.
Then in April it carried out a separate survey to understand the impact of the pandemic on media consumption, covering just six nations: UK, USA, Germany, Spain, Argentina and South Korea, with sample sizes of about 2,000 for the UK and Germany and about 1,000 for the others.
Among the under-35s surveyed in April, more than half (57%) said they had used TV as a source of news in the last week â a rise of 25 percentage points on January â compared to 61% for social media, up 9%.
âTrust haloâ may be short-lived The report said: âOverall our April 2020 survey found the news media were considered to have done a good job in helping ordinary people understand the extent of the crisis (60%), and also in making clear what people can do personally to mitigate the impact (65%).â
Across the six countries surveyed for the report in April, 59% of respondents rated news organisations as trustworthy on Covid-19, on a par with national governments and behind scientists, doctors, and health organisations.
By contrast, just 26% said the same of social media and 24% of messaging apps, which both ranked lowest on trust.
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