News brands’ extensive reach needs more nuanced terminology to truly understand it, writes research and insight director Heather Dansie in The Media Leader
The column came as a reaction to Ofcom’s latest ‘Media Nations’ report, which found only 34% of Brits over 16 read news brands in print and online nowadays.
“While I find these results disappointing, looking at the methodology, I’m not surprised”, writes Dansie.
She asks readers what comes to mind if they were asked the question Ofcom posed to its survey respondents: “Which of the following platforms do you use for news nowadays?”
Probably print, but do digital or audio count? Then there’s content, she adds. Is sports news ‘news’? Showbiz stories? Food? Culture? It’s not clear what’s meant and there’s no context to help.
“The reality is that news brands reflect a wealth of journalism on a range of platforms”, Dansie explains.
“The joint industry currency PAMCo has a very carefully constructed questionnaire, including a face-to-face element. It also includes online passive usage data collected by Ipsos iris — essential for accurately reflecting real behaviour in a way recall alone can’t.”
Based on the latest PAMCo data, 80% of UK adults (44 million) read news brands monthly, 67% (37 million) read weekly and 41% (22 million) read on a daily basis.
Dansie also highlighted the importance of moving beyond recall in Newsworks’ ‘Youth’ study last year.
When asked upfront where they get their news from, only 16% of young people said ‘news brands’. However, after investigating Ipsos iris data, this number soared to 72%.
She concludes: “I love an Ofcom report — however, it would be remiss of me not to challenge these reach figures. As our industry joint industry currency, Pamco remains the best source of measurement for news readership.”
Read Heather Dansie’s full comment piece for The Media Leader.
