Alfonso Vara Miguel is a tenured professor of journalism at the Faculty of Communication (FCOM) of the University of Navarrawhere he teaches economics and economics journalism, as well as accounting and finance in the Master in Corporate Reputation (MERC). He is also a member of the Center for Internet Studies and Digital Life and co-author of the Spanish edition of the report Digital News Report. This project, developed in collaboration with the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford Universityaddresses the information consumption habits of citizens in 46 countriesincluding Spain. For this reason, PROA Communication discusses with the teacher and researcher the main conclusions of its latest edition, recently published.
How did the Digital News Report initiative of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford come about, what is its purpose and what role does the University of Navarra play in the project?
Twelve years ago, the Reuters Institute at Oxford University began a project that seeks to investigate how citizens in some countries are changing their news consumption habits. Although the questions are general in scope, the focus was on news consumption in digital habits. Just 10 years ago, the School of Communication of the University of Navarra joined the project as an academic partner.
In the 2023 edition there have been no major methodological changes, but 46 different markets have been reached. This makes it the largest and most exhaustive study in terms of the number of people surveyed. For our part, we at the University of Navarra participated in the elaboration and design of the type of questions and in the scientific exploitation of the data. In addition, we propose new questions that may be of particular interest for Spain and we carry out a more specific analysis of the main trends we observe at national level. This explains why we share two aspects of the report: a general one that shows global data and another one specific to Spain, which we prepare from the University.
Data from the latest edition of the Digital News Report reflect a dynamic and fragmented panorama of information consumption, but with consolidating trends. In this edition, the report starts with three indicators that summarise the way in which Spaniards interact with the news: interest in information, degree of credibility in the news, and critical perception of journalism. What findings of the report would you highlight in these three indicators?
Firstly, distrust continues to grow at a faster rate than in other countries analysed: 40% of Spaniards do not trust the media, compared to 33% who do. Secondly, disinterest in the news is also increasing: 5 years ago, more than 80% of those surveyed were interested in the news, but this percentage has gradually fallen by 30 points to 50%. And finally, in this edition we have included a couple of questions related to the public perception of journalism. Specifically, we asked whether they regularly hear criticism of the sector: around 58% had heard it in their family environment and, of course, in the political sphere.
From these three broad brushstrokes, we conclude that there is a large group of citizens who have decided to reduce their news consumption or avoid news, deliberately deciding not to be informed (around 30%) out of exhaustion, but also out of mistrust. This seems to us problematic in terms of democratic quality: a disinterested citizenry that does not pay attention to public affairs is unprotected against manipulation and polarisation, and the fake news. It is also true that this does not cover everyone: there are citizens who have opted for other information channels.
With respect to these new information channels, a positive aspect reflected in the report is that part of the audiences -particularly the new generations- are opting to seek and select alternative forms of information, through formats and channels other than the traditional ones. This is the case of the rise of podcasts in Spain, which are extremely popular (45%). What do you think is the reason for this difference between Spain and other countries?
In the study we did not ask why people listen to podcasts, but we think it is because it is a format that is very much in line with the kind of listening that people are looking for in today's lifestyle: it is mobile and convenient listening, which can be played at any time and is not necessarily tied to current affairs. Moreover, it is a format that is done in a very natural and simple way: many of the podcasts are not professional and are not linked to big journalistic brands. However, because they are specialists in a particular subject (science, technology, economics and business, lifestyle, etc.) they are becoming very popular. In fact, the category of strictly informative podcasts is only the third one: it is not the most listened to.
The report also looks at the habits and attitudes of Spaniards towards economic information. What aspects have caught your attention?
In this year's edition, we decided to include the impact of inflation and the rising cost of living, as we found that citizens in many countries were concerned about this in the survey. We then asked about their main sources of information and whether they understood economic information.
In the case of Spain, the main source of economic information is the general media: 39% go there. In second place, 32% ask their family and friends as sources of economic information. In third place is a source that surprised us: experts with an independent public profile (26%). Lastly, there is the specialised economic media. Moreover, in line with the lack of interest mentioned above, 18% of Spaniards never pay attention to economic news.
In any case, there are differences by age and socio-economic profile: higher-income citizens tend to get more information from specialised media and younger citizens tend to rely more on friends and family.
Finally, and taking into account this scenario of information consumption reflected in the Digital News Report, what recommendations would you give to companies and organisations that proactively seek to ensure that their news events and messages effectively reach the Spanish population?
The first thing to be clear about is that there is no single audience. There are even audience segments that, depending on the moment, behave differently. Therefore, good market research is essential to understand the information needs of each of these population groups.
Secondly, a lot of attention has been paid to mistrust, but an earlier problem is emerging with force: disinterest. In this sense, I believe that the media have to win the battle, and to do so they have to know better what is happening so that a high percentage of citizens are choosing not to be informed: whether it is a problem of tiredness, mistrust, emotional exhaustion in the face of the accumulation of negative news (pandemic, etc.), or whether it is a problem of the media, Ukraine war, highly polarised elections, etc.). That is why it is essential for the media to regain their interest as a step towards trust, and that means knowing all their audiences inside out. For example, 18-year-olds do not consume news in the same way as we would. In fact, the very concept of news for them is possibly different from ours: we associate it with a traditional support or medium, while for them, content that has something to do with current affairs can be news, regardless of whether it is published by a professional or a medium. A tiktoker that talks about football transfers can be perceived as news. On the other hand, with regard to trust, there is a positive element, and that is that it increases with their own consumption: they trust the media they regularly consult more. We call this the "third person effect". Related to this aspect, we also see that there is a higher percentage of credibility towards those media and brands that they consume more.
In any case, we believe that recovering this trust and credibility is a task that not only corresponds to the media, but also to institutions, organisations, companies and other actors in society. For this, there is nothing better than good quality journalism and respect for the journalistic profession. But we understand that the economic situation of media companies is detrimental to this and is not ideal.