Two years since the new crown epidemic ravaged the world, people's reading habits have quietly changed.
In late 2021, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University released its 2021 Digital News Report, based on data research and online surveys across six continents and 46 markets.
In his foreword, lead contributor Nick Newman writes, "The crisis, along with embargo measures and other restrictions, has further accelerated the decline of the paper media, leaving some once-proud outlets facing financial difficulties."
At the same time, "the crisis also taught us how important accurate and trustworthy information is at a time when lives are at stake. In many countries, readers' interest has thus shifted from social and independent media to the mainstream media brands they trust - although these trends are not yet global."
The findings of the 2021 Digital News Report reveal some intriguing changes in people's news reading habits in the wake of the epidemic.
For example, attitudes toward reading the news have polarized in the wake of the epidemic - with some people paying close attention to the news and others increasingly not wanting to read it. After President Biden took office, Americans' interest in the news declined severely, especially among the segment of the population whose views lean to the right.
Finland has the highest overall trust in the news of all the countries surveyed, with 65 percent of people surveyed saying they trust the news, while the U.S. has the lowest percentage, at 29 percent.
One of the reasons for the serious downward trend in paper media in almost all countries is that the closure of cities has affected door-to-door delivery. This has further accelerated the transition of news to all-digital.
Seventy-four percent of respondents said they prefer news that reflects the views of all sides before they can decide for themselves which side to believe. But a number of younger respondents believe that there are situations where news should not be "unbiased," such as on topics related to social justice.
Concerns about disinformation are a global phenomenon, especially in countries where social media is used more often. In Brazil, for example, 82 percent of respondents expressed concern about the prevalence of disinformation. In almost all countries surveyed, Facebook is seen as the main channel for spreading false information. WhatsApp is also widely perceived as problematic in Brazil and Indonesia.
Mainstream media and their journalists are widely followed on Facebook and Twitter, but their influence is still far less than that of "opinion leaders" and netizens on social media - TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
Under the epidemic, there has been a significant increase in the percentage of people paying for online news in some wealthy Western countries, but overall, the percentage of people willing to pay to watch news online remains low.
Among the countries surveyed, the highest percentage of those willing to pay is Norway at 45%, followed by Sweden (30%), the United States (21%), Finland (20%), the Netherlands (17%) and Switzerland (17%). The developed countries with a lower percentage of willingness to pay are France (11%), Germany (9%) and the UK (8%).
The majority of paid readers only pay to read one or two "national brand" media, confirming the logic that "winners eat most of the market". Only in Norway and the U.S. do nearly half of paid readers follow a "1+1" model: a subscription to a mainstream media outlet plus a local or specialty outlet.
But unlike their older counterparts who are used to reading news on media apps and websites, the 18-24 year olds of "Generation Z" prefer social media, news aggregation apps or mobile push.
It is also interesting to note that news aggregation apps are more popular in Asian countries than in the West. In India, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand, there are news aggregation apps that are quite influential in their countries, such as Daily Hunt, Smart News, Naver and Line Today.
Overall, smartphone access to news has reached 73% worldwide, the fastest growth in years, and reliance on smartphones was particularly high during the epidemic.
Access to news via "voice media," i.e., podcasts, is still growing, but has slowed compared to last year, partly due to travel restrictions resulting from the epidemic, which have affected podcast production. As for podcast platforms, there is a growing preference for Spotify, which is overtaking the traditional podcast monopolies of Apple and Google Podcasts.
Another important finding is that the epidemic has fueled the return of TV news.
Digital News Report 2021 surveys over the past nine years have shown that online news has replaced TV news as the most frequently used news source for most people.
The new crown epidemic has partially reversed this trend - but of course the change may only be temporary.
In the U.K., the April 2020 survey showed that 20% of respondents switched their favorite news source from online news to television, and in Argentina that share also reached 19%, with an average of 12% in the other countries surveyed.
In the U.K., Prime Minister Johnson's March 2020 televised address asking Britons to "stay home" during the crunch of the pandemic was watched by 27 million people in real time, making it one of the most-watched television programs in British television history. 30%. Data from the European Broadcasters' Association (EBU) also show that daily TV viewing in mainland Europe rose by 14% in the early days of the epidemic.
The situation was slightly different in the United States, mainly because the country did not have a nationally respected television channel. Then-President Trump's press conferences, for example, were covered from a very different angle by CNN and Fox. Some stations even refused to broadcast the president's press conferences live because he often gave epidemic prevention advice that defied medical and scientific common sense. Overall, ratings for U.S. television news have not risen significantly.
Beyond the news, people's book reading habits have been changed by the epidemic.
The World English Editing website (GlobalEnglish Editing) has released the World Reading Habits 2020 report.
Worldwide, 35 percent of people have increased their reading because of the New Crown epidemic. Of the 22 countries surveyed, Indians read the most, at 10.42 hours per week. The Chinese also read quite a bit, coming in second only to India and Thailand at 8 hours per week.
At the same time, the closure of a large number of schools, libraries and bookstores during the new crown epidemic led to a significant drop in paper book sales and a significant increase in the reading of e-books and audiobooks as a result.
The report shows that the number of e-books and audiobooks read worldwide increased by an average of 14%. Spain ranked first with a 20 percent increase, followed by China (17 percent), and Italy and South Africa tied for third, both with 15 percent increases.
The closure of schools, which forced many families to educate their children at home themselves, led to a surge in sales of learning books and children's books.
Adult reading preferences also changed during the epidemic, with a significant increase in the reading of classic books on "epidemic" topics and medical science books.
For many people, the most essential part of their personal book lists during a time of city closures and quarantines was fiction. The report shows that one-third of these people who read fiction during the epidemic read romance, romance-related novels, and a significant percentage were male readers.
Very likely, for people struggling through a long and difficult epidemic, love was the best solace and hope.
