October 12, 2024 • 7 mins
More and more Kiwis appear to be avoiding the news in droves.
According to a new study, 60 percent of New Zealanders have admitted to avoiding the news - citing lack of trust or the way it negatively impacts their mood.
Victoria University's Dr Alex Beattie, the lead author behind the study, says people's appetite for the news has decreased in recent years amid a surge in negative headlines.
"The pandemic, the number of wars, crises - and I think that's having a cumulative effect. There's also the perceived quality - or lack of quality - to the news, there's a perception of bias."
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News TALKSEDB as.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I mentioned before, a new study release this morning shows
New Zealanders are avoiding news. According to the research, sixty
percent of kiwis admit to avoiding news, which is one
of the highest reported rates in the world. Lead author
of the study is doctor Alex Beattie, and he joins me.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Now, Hi Alex, Hi, Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Were you surprised by the findings? Is it higher than
you expected?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yes, or any time where your country comes out top.
I think you are a little surprised, So yeah, I
was to be honest a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
What reasons were given for avoiding news?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Well, the number one reason why kiwis avoid the news
is because of how the news makes them feel. I depressed,
and that's probably because of the number of events that
have been going on in the last few years, the pandemic,
the number of wars crises, and I think that's having
an accumbulative effect. There's also the perceived quality or lack
of quality to the news, So there's a perception of bias,
(01:09):
growing mistrust towards the media, and some people simply think
that the media doesn't really offer any utility in their
day to day lives.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Okay, do we have any pre COVID figures that we
compare these ones too, just out of curiosity.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Unfortunately not in New Zealand, but I believe so internationally,
and I think the pandemic it is wide. The acknowledge
that it's had an effect on people's sort of appetite
for the news.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Made a bit of a dent in terms of demographic
Are there trends on who was more likely to avoid
the news.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, a little bit. So we asked questions around gender, age,
and political beliefs, and we found that women are more
likely to avoid the news than men, and that's perhaps
because of some sort of outdated but lingering gender norms
around the news is for men and isn't for women.
Of course we know that's not true these days, but
those norms can sort of linger and then people with
(02:01):
more center are more right wing sorry beliefs, then left
wing were more likely to distrust the news as well.
Or people whose views go off to the ends of
the spectrum are also more likely to avoid the news,
and that's because their views are less likely to be
represented in the mainstream news.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Maybe women are just busy just throwing that out there.
Talk to me a little bit about the political views.
Tell me a little bit more about the.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Impact that had well. So it's likely that we have
increased polarization in society. People it's hard to talk to
each other on the other side, on the other side
of the political spectrum, people left wing goos are becoming
more left wing, people with right wing views are becoming
more right wing. And what we found is that those
people with more left wing or more right wing than say,
(02:49):
center views are more likely to avoid the news. And
that's because simply their views aren't maybe being represented their viewpoints,
they're not being seen in the news, so to speak.
So that's a key reason why those audiences are turning
away and going to alternative platforms, YouTube channels where they
can get perspectives that maybe reinforce their views.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And it's probably a good time to ask, then when
you look at the when we talk about sixty percent
of kiwis admit to avoiding the new avoiding news, what
news are we talking about?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yes, great points, I mean we tend to be talking
about the mainstream news or traditional news newspapers, online news websites,
t television, the six o'clock news in comparison to say
social media where more and more audiences again their news.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So obviously somebody who's in the business of news this
is concerning. Do you think it's concerning?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, yes and no. I think on one level, perhaps
we can turn this into a positive. You know, in
the last couple of decades, we've had an unprecedented amount
of news. There's simply so much that you can consume now,
not just New Zealand media organizations, but international websites or
social media, and so this is perhaps just a natural response.
People are saying, enough, I need to take a break
(04:04):
from the sheer volume of information. And maybe, as kiwis,
we're quite good at that. You know, think about where
we live. We live in the South Pacific. We're a
small island nation, and maybe we're quite good. It's creating
space for ourself taking a break, and we should actually
celebrate that. So in that sense, it's maybe less of
a problem. But at the same time, you know, we
should the media should look at the results and think, hmm,
(04:25):
maybe we do need to change things slightly and think
about the ways we cover certain issues that are turning
our audiences away, such as you know, clickbait or lots
of opinions. That's coming through in the data as well.
People don't like just opinions. They want more, you know,
fat based reporting as well.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
It's interesting you mentioned the clickbait because you know, the
media is under intense commercial pressure and that does lead
to things like the clickbait headlines. It's a fine line, there,
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well the irony here is, you know, the efforts of
our media to retain or attract audiences using clickbait, using
you know, toot takes and you know, edgy opinions. That's
what's also driving people away. And so I really feel
for our media because they're operating in a hyper commercial environment.
And is it fair that we ask us them to
(05:13):
compete with these information giants like Facebook and Google. Where
the audiences have gone? I don't know. I don't think so.
So I think something has to change. But the question
is how, And that's the million dollar question.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
What has been seen in other countries, alex Are they
seeing similar things?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Well? The interesting thing in other countries with high rates
of news of avoidance Bulgaria and Greece, art there is
they have different reasons for high rates of news audience.
They've got high degrees of political instability or lower perceived
press freedom, so there's sort of more easily identifiable issues.
Perhaps you could say, whereas New Zealand we have a
relative stable political system, we have perceived high degree of
(05:51):
press freedom. So it's these other reasons that we have
to think about, such as perhaps where we are in
the world, we're far away from lots of world issues.
But also I think the intense commercial pressure that our
media is under.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Do you think the public's lass sight of how vital
the role of the media is.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Perhaps I think that the pandemic was a fascinating case
study of the fourth estates where the media did a
fantastic job at times holding a very popular government to accounts,
and when when the government is popular, the media's role
is less popular. They're doing a thankless task. So I
think there was a slight change there. And then people,
(06:30):
you know, when they tuned into the daily briefings, they
got a bit sick of it, They got a bit
of sick of all the information, and they you know,
rethought their relationship to the media. So some people decreased
their media use. Well, others conversely may increase it. So
I do think it was a bit of a watershed moment.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, hey, Alex, in the findings, did it show anything
that the media could do to win these people back?
Is there any action that could or needs to be taken?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I wish I would said that that that we did it.
I mean, we need to do more research and ask
more people. We need to ask more questions. And I
do think it's worth emphasizing that there are some fantastic
journalists out there in our country that are doing amazing work.
They're rethinking their relationship to the audiences. They're rethinking the format.
Can they make it more appealing to the social media
short form, focusing on more positivity, carrying more perspectives. It's
(07:17):
some amazing work out there. It's just really hard in
this really commercial environment.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Alex, really nice to talk to you this morning. Thank
you so much. That was doctor Alex Spetti, who is
the lead author of a new study released this morning
that shows New Zealanders are avoiding the news.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News TALKSZB from nine am Sunday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News TALKSEDB as.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I mentioned before, a new study release this morning shows
New Zealanders are avoiding news. According to the research, sixty
percent of kiwis admit to avoiding news, which is one
of the highest reported rates in the world. Lead author
of the study is doctor Alex Beattie, and he joins me.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Now, Hi Alex, Hi, Francesca.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Were you surprised by the findings? Is it higher than
you expected?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yes, or any time where your country comes out top.
I think you are a little surprised, So yeah, I
was to be honest a little bit.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
What reasons were given for avoiding news?
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Well, the number one reason why kiwis avoid the news
is because of how the news makes them feel. I depressed,
and that's probably because of the number of events that
have been going on in the last few years, the pandemic,
the number of wars crises, and I think that's having
an accumbulative effect. There's also the perceived quality or lack
of quality to the news, So there's a perception of bias,
(01:09):
growing mistrust towards the media, and some people simply think
that the media doesn't really offer any utility in their
day to day lives.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Okay, do we have any pre COVID figures that we
compare these ones too, just out of curiosity.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Unfortunately not in New Zealand, but I believe so internationally,
and I think the pandemic it is wide. The acknowledge
that it's had an effect on people's sort of appetite
for the news.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Made a bit of a dent in terms of demographic
Are there trends on who was more likely to avoid
the news.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yes, a little bit. So we asked questions around gender, age,
and political beliefs, and we found that women are more
likely to avoid the news than men, and that's perhaps
because of some sort of outdated but lingering gender norms
around the news is for men and isn't for women.
Of course we know that's not true these days, but
those norms can sort of linger and then people with
(02:01):
more center are more right wing sorry beliefs, then left
wing were more likely to distrust the news as well.
Or people whose views go off to the ends of
the spectrum are also more likely to avoid the news,
and that's because their views are less likely to be
represented in the mainstream news.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Maybe women are just busy just throwing that out there.
Talk to me a little bit about the political views.
Tell me a little bit more about the.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Impact that had well. So it's likely that we have
increased polarization in society. People it's hard to talk to
each other on the other side, on the other side
of the political spectrum, people left wing goos are becoming
more left wing, people with right wing views are becoming
more right wing. And what we found is that those
people with more left wing or more right wing than say,
(02:49):
center views are more likely to avoid the news. And
that's because simply their views aren't maybe being represented their viewpoints,
they're not being seen in the news, so to speak.
So that's a key reason why those audiences are turning
away and going to alternative platforms, YouTube channels where they
can get perspectives that maybe reinforce their views.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
And it's probably a good time to ask, then when
you look at the when we talk about sixty percent
of kiwis admit to avoiding the new avoiding news, what
news are we talking about?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yes, great points, I mean we tend to be talking
about the mainstream news or traditional news newspapers, online news websites,
t television, the six o'clock news in comparison to say
social media where more and more audiences again their news.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So obviously somebody who's in the business of news this
is concerning. Do you think it's concerning?
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, yes and no. I think on one level, perhaps
we can turn this into a positive. You know, in
the last couple of decades, we've had an unprecedented amount
of news. There's simply so much that you can consume now,
not just New Zealand media organizations, but international websites or
social media, and so this is perhaps just a natural response.
People are saying, enough, I need to take a break
(04:04):
from the sheer volume of information. And maybe, as kiwis,
we're quite good at that. You know, think about where
we live. We live in the South Pacific. We're a
small island nation, and maybe we're quite good. It's creating
space for ourself taking a break, and we should actually
celebrate that. So in that sense, it's maybe less of
a problem. But at the same time, you know, we
should the media should look at the results and think, hmm,
(04:25):
maybe we do need to change things slightly and think
about the ways we cover certain issues that are turning
our audiences away, such as you know, clickbait or lots
of opinions. That's coming through in the data as well.
People don't like just opinions. They want more, you know,
fat based reporting as well.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
It's interesting you mentioned the clickbait because you know, the
media is under intense commercial pressure and that does lead
to things like the clickbait headlines. It's a fine line, there,
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well the irony here is, you know, the efforts of
our media to retain or attract audiences using clickbait, using
you know, toot takes and you know, edgy opinions. That's
what's also driving people away. And so I really feel
for our media because they're operating in a hyper commercial environment.
And is it fair that we ask us them to
(05:13):
compete with these information giants like Facebook and Google. Where
the audiences have gone? I don't know. I don't think so.
So I think something has to change. But the question
is how, And that's the million dollar question.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
What has been seen in other countries, alex Are they
seeing similar things?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Well? The interesting thing in other countries with high rates
of news of avoidance Bulgaria and Greece, art there is
they have different reasons for high rates of news audience.
They've got high degrees of political instability or lower perceived
press freedom, so there's sort of more easily identifiable issues.
Perhaps you could say, whereas New Zealand we have a
relative stable political system, we have perceived high degree of
(05:51):
press freedom. So it's these other reasons that we have
to think about, such as perhaps where we are in
the world, we're far away from lots of world issues.
But also I think the intense commercial pressure that our
media is under.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Do you think the public's lass sight of how vital
the role of the media is.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Perhaps I think that the pandemic was a fascinating case
study of the fourth estates where the media did a
fantastic job at times holding a very popular government to accounts,
and when when the government is popular, the media's role
is less popular. They're doing a thankless task. So I
think there was a slight change there. And then people,
(06:30):
you know, when they tuned into the daily briefings, they
got a bit sick of it, They got a bit
of sick of all the information, and they you know,
rethought their relationship to the media. So some people decreased
their media use. Well, others conversely may increase it. So
I do think it was a bit of a watershed moment.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, hey, Alex, in the findings, did it show anything
that the media could do to win these people back?
Is there any action that could or needs to be taken?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I wish I would said that that that we did it.
I mean, we need to do more research and ask
more people. We need to ask more questions. And I
do think it's worth emphasizing that there are some fantastic
journalists out there in our country that are doing amazing work.
They're rethinking their relationship to the audiences. They're rethinking the format.
Can they make it more appealing to the social media
short form, focusing on more positivity, carrying more perspectives. It's
(07:17):
some amazing work out there. It's just really hard in
this really commercial environment.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Alex, really nice to talk to you this morning. Thank
you so much. That was doctor Alex Spetti, who is
the lead author of a new study released this morning
that shows New Zealanders are avoiding the news.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News TALKSZB from nine am Sunday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio,
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