OUR WEBINAR
Navigating the 'infodemic': Key findings from our new report on how people access news about coronavirus
The report. Our webinar was based on a report published this week looking at news consumption trends across six countries to see how people are keeping informed about coronavirus. It was based on a survey which asked over 8,000 people in the US, the UK, Germany, South Korea, Spain and Argentina questions about their recent news habits, preferred sources of information, trust in different institutions as well as their factual understanding of the epidemic.
Key findings.
- News use is up in all six countries, with most using social media, search engines, video sites and messaging applications.
- People with lower levels of formal education are much less likely to use news organisations for news about coronavirus; instead they rely more on social media and messaging applications.
- Young people in Argentina, South Korea, Spain, and the US are much more likely to rely on social media. In Germany, the UK, and the US, they rely more on messaging applications.
- A majority rate news organisations as relatively trustworthy. Apart from in Spain and the United States most people rate their national government as trustworthy.
- For every source, platform and country, a minority say they have come across a lot or a great deal of false or misleading information around coronavirus.
- Most people in each country say that the news media have helped them understand the crisis. Around a third say the news media have exaggerated the pandemic.
- In all countries apart from Argentina and Spain, use of news organisations as an information source is related to a statistically significant increase in knowledge about coronavirus.
🖥 Read the web version or PDF of the report
🎥 Watch the webinar
📁 See the slides
The report was published as part of the Misinformation, Science and the Media project between the Reuters Institute, the Oxford Internet Institute and the Oxford Martin School. It was written by Rasmus Nielsen, Richard Fletcher, Nic Newman, Scott Brennen and Philip Howard.
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