Decline in print media

OFCOM REPORT

How do UK adults generally get their news? 

• UK adults generally use TV [75% -2018] and social media [49% -2018] to consume news.

What do you notice about the changing way adults are getting their news?

• The mediums being used are not changing in terms of hierarchy [TV is still the dominant medium, with social media following closely] however the decrease of consumption of BBC news sources is stark [62% -> 58%]. The use of social media is also heavily dependent on demographics with gender, race and age all playing a part in influencing where the general public get their news. 

What do you notice about newspapers and how has it changed since 2018?

• It has seen a 2% decline. 

What audience demographic groups (e.g. age, social class) are most and least likely to read newspapers?

• The most likely to read printed newspapers are ABC1 White Men aged 65 and over whilst the least are 16-24 year old, ethnic minorities around the C2D class. 

What newspaper brands can you find in the list of most popular news sources across platforms?

• The Guardian, The Sun, Daily Mail/Mail Online, Metro

How has the circulation of national newspapers decreased between 2010 and 2018?

• There has been an overall decrease of 11.5% whilst national newspapers saw a decrease of around 5% showing a significant decline within the industry. This could be down to the closure of significant titles such as 'News Of The World' and 'The Independent' 

What are the most-used newspaper titles?

• The Daily Mail, The Sun and Metro are the top 3 most used newspaper titles. 

What are the most popular titles when print and online figures are combined?

• The Daily Mail still tops the figures, followed by the Guardian and the Sun. 

How does the i compare to the Daily Mail?

• The 'I' pulls in a far smaller percentage of the market [5%] and is one of the lowest used combined titles in comparison to the Daily Mail's [36%] dominant role within the industry. However, the 'I' has consistent figures and is not seeing any decline nor gain.

What is the breakdown of the Daily Mail audience and the i audience? What differences do you notice?

• The Daily Mail audience is majority Females with a diverse demographic reach in terms of ethnicity and class whilst the 'I' has a far less distinguished target audience as majority of their statistics are the same suggesting that they have a less targeted reach when it comes to readership. The Daily Mail does have a broad readership however it is mainly White Women aged between 16-65.

Read section 7 of the report: news consumption via social media (pages 40-52). Pick out three statistics from this section that you think are interesting and explain why.

• Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter have seen a rise of 1-7%
• Facebook saw a decline of 3%
• 41% mostly get news from Social Media posts
• These are interesting to me as the less regulated the medium, and the growing dependency on social media for news makes audiences potentially more susceptible to 'fake news' and adheres to the idea of living in a 'post truth' world as people are no longer consuming news for information but instead consuming the interwoven ideologies and forcing themselves into an echochamber that eliminates external knowledge and news stories for those which are created for commercial or attention purposes. 

What statements for Daily Mail readers tend to agree with?

• Daily Mail readers tend to agree that the newspaper is accurate, trustworthy and accessible however they don't feel as if it is impartial or deeply analytical. 

Factsheet - The death of print media

What has happened to print media in the last 30 years?

• Print media was one of the main sources for information however it has seen a steady decline since the introduction of television. 

Why is the Independent newspaper such a good case study for the decline in print media?

• It has recently 'died' in printed form, due to its lack of political bias or circumstantial influence it couldn't compete with more biased texts within the industry.

What was the Independent newspaper famous for?

• Their 'unorthodox and campaigning' front pages'

What did the then-owner of the Independent, Evgeny Lebedev, say about the newspaper's digital-only future?

• He said it was a 'bold transition' and that the 'newspaper industry is changing and that change is being driven by readers' 

How do online newspapers make money?

• Advertising and Traffic allows newspapers to monetise their digital format.

What did the Independent's longest-serving editor Simon Kelner warn regarding the switch to digital?

• He said that it would be 'difficult to replicate' the infamous radicalism and liberal of the print edition as being impartial and capturing the iconoclastic feel of the paper is near impossible to do in digital form.  

What is the concern with fake news? What does 'post-truth' refer to?

• Online news sites are easy to set up, and the format is easy to replicate, which means people can create and perpetuate inaccurate news stories and misinformation to sell certain stories and ideologies. Post-Truth refers to the current contemporary climate where the truth is no longer linear nor 'true' but rather 'true enough' 

What is your view on the decline in print media? Should news be free? Is it a concern that established media brands such as the Independent can no longer afford to exist as a printed newspaper

• I think that news should be regulated and free to access. I understand the decline is powered by the economical struggle of print media and in particular the rise of free-to-access news sites without regulation however the risks of this becoming normalised could be societally detrimental as the spread of misinformation challenges the mediated hierarchy, introduces new audience formats and degrades classic careers in exchange for access and 'click bait' however I do think that the print media does have tradition and trust on it's side which could ensure that the decline is steady but not fatalistic.