How todays voters get their political news Polls conducted on - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Polls conducted on behalf of the London Press Club and Society of Editors

How today’s voters get their political news

Today’s voters still favour traditional news sources

Which of the following do you tend to get political news from, either in printed or online format, very regularly?

2 Base: All GB adults (1,601); All Opinion Formers (721) Note: Chart shows top 10 responses based on general public data, plus the Evening Standard and The Metro 60 16 15 13 13 8 8 6 5 5 3 86 54 14 16 20 18 19 22 6 32 22 BBC News Guardian Facebook Daily Mail Sky News HuffPo Twitter Telegraph The Metro The Times Evening Standard General public Opinion Formers

45%

• f the general public tend to get

their political news from a newspaper/magazine (92% of Opinion Formers)

However, younger voters are turning towards newer digital sources

Which of the following do you tend to get political news from, either in printed or online format, very regularly?

3 Base: All GB adults (1,601); 18-24 year olds (186) Note: Chart shows top 10 responses based on 18-24 year old data, plus the Metro and Evening Standard 60 16 15 13 8 13 13 8 6 4 5 3 64 26 23 20 16 14 14 11 8 8 5 1 BBC News Guardian Facebook Buzzfeed Twitter Daily Mail Sky News HuffPo Telegraph The Sun The Metro Evening Standard All GB 18-24

42%

• f 18-24 year olds tend to get

their political news from a new digital source (vs. 18% of people aged 25+)

Overall, traditional news sources are seen as more important and more influential than social media

Thinking back to the General Election earlier this year, how important were each of the following in helping you choose who to vote for or in confirming your choice of who to vote for? / And how much influence, if any, do you think each of the following had in helping you choose who to vote for or in confirming your choice of who to vote for?

4 Base: All GB adults (1,601); All Opinion Formers (721) Note: Chart shows % saying that each source was important (“very important” plus “reasonably important”) and influential (“a great deal of influence” plus “a substantial amount of influence” plus “some influence”). 37 24 23 21 20 18 42 32 32 32 25 26

Television Family members Newspapers, magazines Friends & colleagues Radio Social media

Important Influential

General public

53 47 45 26 23 18 59 53 54 38 35 27

Newspapers, magazines Radio Television Friends & colleagues Family members Social media

Important Influential

Opinion Formers

But, it’s the other way round for younger voters

Thinking back to the General Election earlier this year, how important were each of the following in helping you choose who to vote for or in confirming your choice of who to vote for? / And how much influence, if any, do you think each of the following had in helping you choose who to vote for or in confirming your choice of who to vote for?

5 Base: All GB adults (1,601); 18-24 year olds (186) Note: Chart shows % saying that each source was important (“very important” plus “reasonably important”) and influential (“a great deal of influence” plus “a substantial amount of influence” plus “some influence”).

50%

• f 18-24 year olds think social

media is influential; 39% think it is important*

In comparison, just 15% of 18-24 year olds say that newspapers are important in helping them to decide who to vote for and 28% say that newspapers have at least some influence in helping them choose who to vote for

*Amongst the total sample, just 18% think social media is important and 16% think it is influential.

Around one in five voters and Opinion Formers think the media influenced the outcome of the election

In general, how would you describe the performance of the media over the course of the 2017 General Election?

6 Base: All GB adults (1,601); All Opinion Formers (721) 7 9 20 4 7 16 Accurately reported the facts Fair and balanced Influenced the outcome

BBC

15% 20% 26% 45% 14% 29%

The Sun

7% 8% 2% 1% 2% 1%

Daily Mail

7% 12% 3% 2% 2% 2%

Twitter

5% 14% 3% 2% 2% 1%

Facebook

8% 18% 4% 1% 1% 1%

Both traditional and social media are thought to have an impact on the election

To what extent, if at all, do you either agree or disagree with the following statements?

7 Base: All GB adults (1,601); 18-24 year olds (186) Note: Chart shows % saying that each source was important (“very important” plus “reasonably important”) and influential (“a great deal of influence” plus “a substantial amount of influence” plus “some influence”).

32 44 48 58 24 20 21 17 28 16 15 10 15 21 15 15

The role of newspapers in general elections and their influence on the outcome is greatly overstated Without social media the election result would have been quite different The role of newspapers in general elections has a significant impact on the outcome The advent of the digital age has diminished the influence of newspapers Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Don't know

% of 18-24s agreeing 63% 45% 58% 34%

But endorsement of political parties is not necessarily seen as a good thing

To what extent, if at all, do you either agree or disagree with the following statements?

8 Base: All GB adults (1,601) Note: Chart shows % saying that each source was important (“very important” plus “reasonably important”) and influential (“a great deal of influence” plus “a substantial amount of influence” plus “some influence”).

23 43 32 26 20 12 26 19

Publications endorsing a political party at a General Election gives more transparency of the press When publications endorse a political party in the General Election this is damaging for democracy Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Don't know

9 Base: All GB adults (1,601); All Opinion Formers (721) 35 33 24 21 19 15 7 6 4 4 3 5 7 6 4 5 4 4 4 3 3 4 Daily Mail The Sun Daily Mirror Guardian Telegraph The Times Evening Standard The FT The Economist New Statesman The Metro Yes Yes, but can't remember for which party

General public

80 75 70 68 65 51 39 37 24 23 8 3 2 5 4 3 6 5 4 7 5 3 Daily Mail Telegraph Guardian The Sun Daily Mirror The Times Evening Standard New Statesman The FT The Economist The Metro

Opinion Formers

Voters and Opinion Formers alike are most likely to recall the Daily Mail supporting a political party

Thinking about the following news publications, do you recall any of them coming out in support of a particular political party?

1 1 1 12 16 15 16 16 18 20 20 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 5

Daily Mirror (n=469) Evening Standard (n=278) The Times (n=367) Telegraph (n=540) FT (n=176) The Sun (n=491) Guardian (n=504) Daily Mail (n=577) 10 Base: All GB adults and Opinion Formers who could recall each paper coming out in support of a particular party (base sizes vary and are shown on the chart)

For both voters and Opinion Formers, newspapers primarily confirm their choice of party rather than changing that choice

And when it became clear which party the publication supported, which of the following, if any, did it make you feel? 1 4 2 13 13 14 15 14 20 17 24 3 4 3 4 2 2 5 3

Telegraph (n=314) Evening Standard (n=109) Daily Mirror (n=417) FT (n=99) The Times (n=237) Daily Mail (n=597) The Sun (n=557) Guardian (n=356)

Made me switch which party I was going to vote for Made me more likely to vote for the party I was going to vote for Made me less likely to vote for the party I was going to vote for

% saying the paper made a difference 27% 24% 22% 20% 20% 17% 17% 16% % saying the paper made a difference 26% 22% 22% 20% 19% 18% 18% 14%

Opinion Formers General Public

Polls conducted on behalf of the London Press Club and Society of Editors

How today’s voters get their political news