News brands are helping a divided but “cautiously optimistic” public to understand our shared national experiences, Newsworks’ research and insight director Denise Turner told the Future Finders Breakfast on Wednesday.
With 74% agreeing that people have forgotten how to listen to each other, news brand readership is helping us to define and test our values. We read on average six titles a month and when it comes to news sources, 75% say that they make a big effort to find and understand different points of view.
Meanwhile, two thirds say they read multiple news sources to get a better-rounded view of the big issues.
The need to understand and listen to other people goes beyond our news reading habits, too. For under-35s, community has even more important over the pandemic, speaking to more people on their streets at the end of 2020 than at the start.
So if the public want to understand other people better, what does that mean for the media industry? People want to listen and to be listened to and brands and advertisers need to get stuck into the conversation. We shouldn’t assume what people want, but instead speak a bit less and listen a bit more.
Get the full report from our ‘Come Together’ research here.
