Where do people get their news?
   Over time, the main sources of news have changed with the advent 
   of new technologies.
   Up until the 1950s, the main sources of news were newspapers, 
   radio broadcasts and, for cinemagoers, short filmed news 
   programmes such as those made by Pathé News.
   From the 1950s more and more people had televisions in their 
   homes, and this added another source of news — though initially 
   this was only from the BBC.
   With the advent and growth of social media, the way people 
   consume news has changed.
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   Where do people get their news?
   However, people still use a range of sources for access to news 
   stories, and more traditional sources are still relevant.
   A recent (2019) Ofcom report found that BBC One remains the most-
   used destination for news.
   In 2019, TV remained the most popular source of news, used by 
   three-quarters of the population, though its usage was in decline 
   compared to earlier years.
   The Ofcom Report also noted the increase in the proportion of people 
   using social media platforms as a source of news.
   Discussion point
   What are some of the (a) advantages and (b) disadvantages of using social 
   media platforms as a source of news?
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   Where do people get their news?
   The Ofcom report also looked at issues such as quality, 
   accuracy, trustworthiness and impartiality in new sources, and 
   found that these were of varying degrees of importance among 
   users of different platforms.
   Discussion point
   What reasons might there be for the differences in importance 
   described above?
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   The impact of Covid-19
   March 2020 saw the start of lockdown measures as a response to the 
   Covid-19 pandemic. There was a huge increase in people working from 
   home or temporarily out of employment (‘furloughed’) and access to 
   news became increasingly important.
   In late March Ofcom commenced a weekly online survey of about 
   2,000 people, and also reported findings from other datasets such as 
   those from BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) and 
   comScore (a media research and analytics company).
   There was an increase in online viewing during the major lockdown 
   period, but this started to decline as lockdown measures were eased.
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   The impact of Covid-19
   There is the danger of misinformation with any news source, and the 
   pandemic proved to be a fertile ground for the spread of misleading 
   claims and other types of ‘fake news’.
   The Ofcom research survey asked questions about misinformation — 
   including the frequency with which people were seeing it, what types 
   of misinformation they encountered (from a given list), what they tend 
   to do as a result, and whether they think it should be shared on social 
   media.
   Discussion point
   What kinds of problems might there be in asking people such 
   questions about misinformation?
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