The 8:05

Where do you get your news?

Headshot of Michael Armini
by

At a meeting last Thursday with colleagues from the College of Engineering we discussed the importance of publicizing research. As I’ve discussed in prior editions of the 8:05, for many audiences—especially academics—a university’s reputation is directly tied to the size and impact of its research enterprise. 

As part of this discussion, we debated the value of getting faculty on TV. I admitted my longstanding view that TV appearances, although cool, don’t actually build the brand much because of their evanescent nature. I’d rather land a solid hit in The New York Times or Wall Street Journal. (While those may seem like “print” publications, today they count as “digital news channels,” which is important to note because of their share-ability.) 

The next morning, Ed Gavaghan, one of our stellar media relations specialists, sent me some new data on news consumption in the UK and the US. A few key points for us to keep in mind: 

According to a longitudinal study in the UK, broadcast TV is still an adequate medium to deliver news, but is increasingly chasing users who get their news on digital devices. The majority of news is now consumed digitally, mainly through social media channels, news aggregators, or news websites such as FT.com. Broadcast has been in decline the last few years—it received a bounce during the pandemic and the US presidential election, but this is counter to the long-term trend. (Not surprisingly, according to the data, those over 65 watch broadcast TV much more than those under 65). 

Here in the US, some new research by Pew shows that the percentage of people who “often” or “sometimes” get their news from digital devices is at 84 percent in 2021 vs. 68 percent for TV. I’ll admit that I was surprised to see the relatively low radio consumption here, but I think markets with strong public radio affiliates (often university towns) are probably the exception. 

Multiple bar graphs with the header News Consumption across platforms. Digital Devices: 2020 - Never 7%, Rarely 7%, Sometimes 26%, Often 60%. 2021 - Never 8%, Rarely 8%, Sometimes 33%, Often 51%. 2022 - Never 8%, Rarely 10%, Sometimes 33%, Often 49%. 2023 - Never 6%, Rarely 8%, Sometimes 29%, Often 56%. 2024 - Never 6%, Rarely 8%, Sometimes 29%, Often 57%. Television: 2020 - Never 11%, Rarely 20%, Sometimes 28%, Often 40%. 2021 - Never 12%, Rarely 20%, Sometimes 32%, Often 36%. 2022 - Never 14%, Rarely 21%, Sometimes 32%, Often 36%. 2022 - Never 14%, Rarely 21%, Sometimes 33%, Often 31%. 2023 - Never 15%, Rarely 22%, Sometimes 30%, Often 32%. 2024 - Never 14%, Rarely 22%, Sometimes 31%, Often 33%. Radio: 2020 - Never 21%, Rarely 28%, Sometimes 34%, Often 16%. 2021 - Never 22%, Rarely 27%, Sometimes 36%, Often 15%. 2022 - Never 24%, Rarely 29%, Sometimes 34%, Often 13%. 2023 - Never 23%, Rarely 25%, Sometimes 35%, Often 16%. 2024 - Never 29%, Rarely 29%, Sometimes 31%, Often 11%. Print publication: 2020 - Never 29%, Rarely 39%, Sometimes 22%, Often 10%. 2021 - Never 32%, Rarely 33%, Sometimes 24%, Often 10%. 2022 - Never 33%, Rarely 34%, Sometimes 25%, Often 8%. 2023 - Never 30%, Rarely 33%, Sometimes 28%, Often 9%. 2024 - Never 37%, Rarely 37%, Sometimes 19%, Often 6%.

The bottom line is that we should focus in all of the above. It’s not either/or. During the height of the pandemic, we had strong presence on TV, including President Aoun’s prime-time appearance on CNN, and Professor Alex Vespignani’s many national and global TV interviews. But, as time goes by, it seems clear that digital news platforms—often consumed on smartphones—is where the action (and the eyeballs) will be. 

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