This essay reminds us of the diverse ways in which different generations consume and think about their news media. The analysis covers three core areas:

• people’s motivations for following news in general;
• the devices, platforms, and sources people use for news, including whether these vary according to the different types of news accessed;
• a particular focus on online news consumption and which types of format are used and for which reasons.

I focus on the UK picture, but make some indicative comparisons across other countries – France, Germany, Spain, Japan, and the US – to see whether the differential use of news platforms by age follows a similar pattern.

It is important to note, as indicated elsewhere in this report, that respondents to this survey are online users, and as such findings which relate to ‘offline’ consumption are likely to be under-represented.

Motivations for following news

We asked respondents about the reasons they had for following news, and the first chart shows their agreement with a range of possible reasons. While eight in ten of those aged 65+ say that following news is part of their daily routine, only two-thirds of 18–35s choose this response. However, twice as many younger people as older people are likely to follow news as a ‘good way to pass the time’ – half of 18–24s (49%) say this compared to one in five (22%) of those aged 65+. This is likely to relate particularly to smartphone or out of home news consumption, perhaps fitting this into their daily routines while travelling.

We asked respondents about the reasons they had for following news, and the first chart shows their agreement with a range of possible reasons. While eight in ten of those aged 65+ say that following news is part of their daily routine, only two-thirds of 18–35s choose this response. However, twice as many younger people as older people are likely to follow news as a ‘good way to pass the time’ – half of 18–24s (49%) say this compared to one in five (22%) of those aged 65+. This is likely to relate particularly to smartphone or out of home news consumption, perhaps fitting this into their daily routines while travelling.

Platforms and sources used for news

Given these varying motivations, which platforms and sources do different age groups use for news? Is consumption by platform polarised by age, and does this become more or less stark when it is nuanced by particular factors, for example when seeking speed of coverage, or accurate and reliable news?

Thus television remains considerably ahead of other platforms for both initial reporting of a news event, and then further information and explanation, when the overall UK sample is considered. However, this pattern belies considerable differences by age group.

As the next chart shows, there is considerable variation in terms of the overall platforms used for news by age group, as well as their ‘main’ source. Young people are far less likely than older people to see TV as their main source of news – just 12% compared to 56% of those aged 65+. Three-quarters of 18–24s say online is their main source, compared to 15% of the 65+ age group.

However, as with ‘any’ news source, online forms of traditional news media remain popular for 18–24s – 28% nominate online broadcast news sources, and 20% online newspapers, as their main source. Social media are the main source for 18% of this age group, compared to 1% of those aged 65+.

It is interesting to compare findings relating to the single main source of news across countries, to see the extent to which this UK picture of considerable variation by age group is replicated. It is noteworthy that, as shown in the next chart, young people in the UK are considerably less likely than other countries to nominate TV as their main source. Young online users in Japan are most likely (41%), closely followed by those in France (39%). The use of the press as a main source for news is relatively low in all these countries, although older people in Japan and Germany are comparatively more likely to nominate the press as their main source, along with the UK.

We asked respondents which sources they found best for different attributes of news coverage, including speed of coverage and accuracy and reliability (see chart).

At an overall level, TV and online are broadly equal in terms of being seen as best for breaking news, although this again masks considerable differences by age group. Interestingly, 25–34s are less similar to the responses of 18–24s than we saw previously, suggesting that the habit of using TV as the default place to go for breaking news is either more ingrained in this age group or that their lifestage habits mean that TV is more accessible to them.

Younger people are much more likely to use social media for breaking news when compared with older groups – though they also use mainstream media websites.

For accuracy and reliability, again TV is more popular among those aged 65+, and online is more popular for 18–24s. Online broadcast sources are favoured by 18–24s, with 29% nominating them as their best means of getting accurate and reliable news, 13% online newspapers, and only 5% social media.

Thus, it appears that, for the time being at least, social media are being used selectively by younger people. It seems to be a useful source of breaking news but not to be relied on in terms of its accuracy.

Online news consumption habits

The next chart sets out how general use, use for news, and preference for devices for online news shifts across age groups. While tablets are used by similar proportions of each age group, it is the preferred device for news for three times as many older people as younger people. And the smartphone is the preferred device for news for four times as many younger people as those aged 65+. Such clear preferences are likely to be an outcome of the different lifestyle patterns of these two age groups, with the smartphone being particularly useful for access out of the home. Indeed, when asked where they access news, 43% of 18–24s say they do so when out and about or travelling, compared to 20% of those aged 65+.

The most common way to access online news is directly via the URL or specific app, as shown next. Use of social media to come across news is considerably higher for younger age groups than it is for those aged 65+, with almost three times more 18–24s saying they come across news this way than those aged 65+. It appears that social media as a news source remains additive for this age group – they also find news in the other ways listed, at a similar if not greater extent than older age groups.

Turning to the content of what people access online, the next chart shows the different formats that people can get their news in. As we can see, younger people are using a wider range of types of content – one in five say they follow live pages, compared to one in ten aged 65+, and one quarter look at top 10 lists, compared with 4% of those aged 65+. They are also more likely to read a news blog (16% vs 7%), and much more likely to look at a news graphic (15% vs 2%). That said, these elements appear again to be largely additive to the core means of consumption – which are reading news stories and looking at headlines.

Summary

This analysis confirms that there are stark differences between younger and older age groups, and underlines the fact that all-user figures mask some very real divergence in responses. The motivations for news consumption cited by different age groups shows that while younger age groups still feel purposive about news consumption, they do so to a lesser extent than those aged over 65.

For the most part, those aged 25–34 show more similarity with 18–24s than with older age groups, but there are areas where this is less likely to be the case – particularly around the choice of using TV as a main or most important source for news, where 25–34s are more likely to nominate TV and less likely to nominate online than 18–24s. This could be due to their changing life circumstances and consequent media habits, or that this group have a residual connection to TV that is less clear among 18–24s. Subsequent waves of this survey will be able to give more indication as to which is the case.

The devices used for news show that young people have a strong affinity with and use of their smartphone for news, while older people are more likely to use their tablet. This has implications for the versioning of content on such devices, and the differing expectations from practitioners about the available time, background context, and likely attention given to online news.

Finally, younger people’s use of social media is interwoven with their news consumption. It is used a key source, and provides ‘bump into’ content. But young people don’t use it for accurate and reliable news. As such, it is still largely additive as a source, with young people continuing to use other sources, and particularly ‘traditional’ online brands such as broadcast and press titles.