Ofcom: UK news consumption report 2019

Ofcom has published its 'UK News Consumption 2019 Report', looking at how adults and older children in the UK access news content via television, radio, print, social media, other internet sources and magazines.

The survey found that while television remains the most popular way for people to get their news, its use has declined since last year, from 79% to 75% of adults. Meanwhile, social media use for news has increased from 44% to 49%.

Other findings include:

After television, the internet was the second most popular platform for news in 2019, accessed by 66% of adults, followed by radio (43%). More than a third of adults (38%) read traditional print newspapers for news, but this percentage increases to 49% when print newspapers are combined with newspaper websites and apps.

BBC One remains the most popular news source, although usage has fallen since last year, from 62% to 58%.

After BBC One, ITV (40%) and Facebook (35%) were the most frequently used news sources.

While Facebook usage for news remained stable, more people are using Twitter (16%, up from 14% last year), WhatsApp (14%, up from 10%) and Instagram (13%, up from 9%).

The magazine is rated better than any other news source for quality, accuracy, credibility and impartiality.

Social media platforms tend to be rated the least favorable on these measures. For example, only 37% of news readers who use social media believe it is impartial, compared to 78% of magazine users, 62% of television users, 61% of radio users and 58% of print newspaper users.

Six in ten children aged 12-15 are interested in the news, and three-quarters of children in this age group read, watch or listen to the news at least once a week.

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