Almost Half of the Irish People Rely on Mainstream Media: According to a significant report on digital media, nearly half of the Irish citizens turn to traditional media for advice on personal finances or the economy as a whole.
The backdrop of the Reuters Digital News Report Ireland is a continuing cost-of-living crisis and the European conflict.
Eighty-three per cent of individuals in Ireland reported being “severely affected” by the rising cost of living.
According to Colleen Murrell, a professor of journalism at DCU, the number of individuals subscribing to the news in Ireland has decreased by only 1%.
This year’s survey included a section on personal finances and the expense of living.
It was discovered that the majority of Irish individuals (46%) prefer mainstream media for advice on personal finance or the economy.
The report also found that Ireland’s trust in the news has declined marginally this year, but is still “reasonably healthy” in comparison to other nations.
Only 31 per cent of young Irish males say they trust “most news, most of the time” according to the report.
Coimisin na Meán, Ireland’s new media regulatory commission, will formally release the report this morning.
The annual report is the largest ongoing comparative study of news consumption in the world, and it includes analysis of international and Irish trends in the online news audience, trust in news sources, and paying for news.
The Irish data is gathered via a survey of 2,035 individuals. Every year, fundamental questions are asked about which media people use, which publications they subscribe to, and how they observe, listen to, or read the news.
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Almost Half of the Irish People Rely on Mainstream Media for Personal Finance Information
Since last year, overall trust in the news has decreased by 5 percentage points to 41 percent, but compared to other countries, this figure is “reasonably healthy,” according to Professor Murrell.
Prof. Murrell, however, stated that this year’s results are somewhat of a “reality check,” as interest in the news has decreased significantly since the pandemic.
“Some metrics that we always consider have decreased slightly. “For instance, news interest has declined from a Covid high of 70% in 2021 to 52% this year,” she said.
“However, Ireland continues to outpace the markets with which it is compared, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe.
“More worrisome is the fact that young people (aged 18-24) are only 28% interested in the news, whereas in 2016 this age group was 53% interested in the news.
32 percent of the population’s primary news sources are television and online news sites.
Prof. Murrell added, “Social media as a category is considerably behind at 20%, with radio at 11% and printed newspapers at 5%.”
Social media (39%) and the Internet (31%), followed by television (18%), radio (5%) and printed publications (5%) are the primary sources of news for young people aged 18 to 24.
The report also found that smartphones are still the most popular way for people to access news at 67 percent, and that podcasts on specialised topics are the most popular among Irish consumers at 18 percent, followed by news at 13 percent.
The majority of individuals still use their phones to access the news.
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