On Jan. 9 Dr. David Levy, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, held a presentation on the state of news in the U.S. and the U.K.
The panel took place on the second floor of the Anna and John J. Sie International Relations Complex with around 30 students and DU community members in attendance and palpable energy.
The presentation focused on various facets of media consumption, including statistics from the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017. This report surveyed 70,000 people in 36 markets in 5 continents. The topics of his presentation included: comparing media systems, production and funding, changing consumption patterns and paying for news.
Levy explained that trust and consumption patterns of news in the U.S. and the U.K. have changed dramatically in the past few years. For example, according to the Reuters report, the morning after the Brexit referendum media consumers had a new thirst for information which subsequently increased the U.K.’s trust rating seven percent. In 2017, the U.S. news industry witnessed a seven percent increase of paying for news because of the presidential election; however, 38 percent of Americans currently trust news media and 53 percent trust the sources they use.
According to the Reuters report, consumers remain skeptical of news, especially on popular social media sites such as Facebook. Twenty-four percent of people globally believe social media does a good job of distinguishing fact from fiction and 40 percent believe that news media does a good job separating fact from fiction. Additionally, many choose not to consume media at all. Twenty-nine percent of the population regularly avoids the news either because they believe it impacts their mood, is unreliable or there is nothing they can do to change its outcome. In the U.S., 38 percent trust news media and 53 percent trust the sources they use.
Levy argued that perhaps a more polarized portrayal of news in the U.S. could be causing distrust and apathy. He showed the audience a scatter plot depicting the number of news sources that are left-leaning or right-leaning in both the U.S. and the U.K. According to the Reuters report most news sources in the U.S. have a liberal point of view. Yahoo News remains unbiased and Fox News is the only conservative news source. In the U.K. there is an almost even number of left-leaning and right-leaning sources.
Levy also addressed that, according to the Reuters report, print companies worldwide invest the most in professional journalism. However, social media consumption is currently 51 percent and 41 percent in the U.K. Portugal, Sweden and Austria’s consumption has decreased. Overall, social media use is increasing exponentially in the U.S. but decreasing elsewhere.
To conclude, Levy said, “Overall, trust has decreased and polarization further complicates the issue. News media is valued more than social media for separating fact from fiction. There is an opportunity for news organizations to build on this to create valuable experiences for people. There are news entrants everywhere, global competition and revenues have increased, especially social and mobile media sources. There has been a major revisal of trust, payments, and tech adaptations. Traditional print based media system models don’t hold anymore.”
In addition to his role as director at the Reuters institute for the Study of Journalism, Dr. Levy has served as the manager of BBC London and continues to write about public policy in Britain and Wales.
