World view UK, US & Brazil Need to know Increased scepticism and awareness of self care are shaping how young people think about news in three different countries, qual commissioned by the Reuters Institute has found. By Katie McQuater In 1981, French sociologist Jean Baudrillard wrote: We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning. The information economy has exploded since the advent of social media. No longer are audiences solely reliant on traditional news sources such as newspapers and TV the media landscape has become fragmented, with multiple potential sources of information, from TikTok to podcasts. Whether this influx of information has resulted in less meaning is up for debate, and worthy of its own analysis. What is clear, however, is that within this busy media environment once you factor in the rise of misinformation, growing awareness of wellbeing and a recognition of the need for finely tuned critical thinking you have patterns of news consumption that look quite different from how they did a few years ago, particularly for younger people. For the past decade, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford has run an annual quantitative study to track how people consume news in 46 markets across six continents. Among younger news audiences (aged 18-30), the survey has, in recent years, found greater reliance on social media, with young people identifying less with and feeling less loyal to news brands compared with older age groups. Broadly driven by the internet, there has been a flattening and fragmentation of the 37% of both 18-24s and 2534s across all markets said they trust most news most of the time, compared with 47% of those 55 and older brand landscape of how young people consume news, says Konrad Collao, founder at Craft, which worked with the Reuters Institute to conduct qualitative research into young peoples attitudes to news in the UK, the US and Brazil. Crafts report found that young people didnt necessarily place more trust or value in mainstream brands, valuing different tonal approaches to news depending on the subject. For example, while TikTok has grown in popularity, young people still value mainstream brands for communicating serious issues. Collao notes: What young people value are different tones when the Queen dies, you want Huw Edwards telling you that, you dont want a TikToker. Thats not to say TikTok and its ilk cant be relied upon the research found that young people are getting credible news from alternative sources but rather that socially native news brands tend to allow for more conversational approaches. Researchers also noticed a distinction between the news, a narrow understanding of politics and public affairs, and news simply something that has happened. For Kirsten Eddy, postdoctoral research fellow in digital news at the Reuters Institute, this was clearly illustrated through the qual, with participants discussing a wide range of topics considered to be news from an episode of Big Brother to a gaming release. Younger audiences have a much different understanding of what news entails there is an incredibly broad understanding of what news is and that really influences what they consume, and when and why they consume it, in ways that have serious implications for many news brands around the world, says Eddy. Sense of permacrisis The institutes most recent quantitative survey found longer-term falls in interest in news across age groups and markets particularly younger audiences, who increasingly choose to avoid news. Around four in 10 under-35s often or sometimes avoid the news, compared with a third of those aged 35 and older. Across the three countries studied for the research, there was evidence of people opting to avoid the news often to guard mental wellbeing. Collao explains: It is not that one group is Source: Reuters Digital News report 2022 10 Impact ISSUE 40 2022_pp10-11 WV Brazil.indd 10 13/12/2022 11:08