The UK public are “news obsessed” with nearly half (49%) of UK adults admitting to checking the news in bed, and 6% checking the news after sex according to a new report by Tickaroo, a live blogging solution that’s revolutionising the way media companies report live news.
Habits like “doom scrolling” have become the go-to practice when it comes to news consumption, with over four fifths (83%) of Brits saying they check the news daily. What’s more, 60% check the news more than once a day and for seven in ten (70%) of UK adults, receiving live breaking news is important, with it being most important to those aged 35-54 (74%). Interestingly, 3% of Brits never check the news.
For topics, politics was the number one choice as it was favoured by 58% of respondents with over a third (37%) predicting that World War 3 will be the biggest news story of the year, while 14% think we are in for another COVID variant.
Despite the public’s keen interest in current affairs, a significant portion (38%) of Brits distrust the media. The research report also found a generational split in terms of trust in media as scepticism was found to be more prevalent among younger ages. While two thirds (65%) of those aged 55 and over trust the news, only 56% of those aged 18-34 said the same.
The mobile phone is now the most common place (38%) news readers are going to consume the news, followed by the TV (26%) and computers (26%). There is a clear age divide in preferences of device, with those aged 55 and over saying they consume the news most through the TV (39%), compared to only 16% who say their phone.
Commenting on the survey findings, Tickaroo’s CEO and Co-founder, Naomi Owusu, said: “News consumption habits have changed significantly over the last two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with consumers engaging in unhealthy habits such as doom scrolling in bed. The act of endlessly scrolling for news, good or bad, can cause people to spend hours at a time in front of their screens. Consumers can still read the news – but instead look to live blogging journalism to provide concise and engaging news content on topics they are interested in, promoting healthier habits when it comes to consuming news.”
The survey of 2,000 adults in the UK was completed by market research firm Opinium Research on behalf of Tickaroo. Tickaroo’s software solution “Live Blog” is targeted toward media houses, larger companies, and professional sports reporters. Over 72,000 journalists rely on its digital publishing software, which is available as a native app and web application.
