A study carried out by the largest media regulatory group in the UK has revealed statistic showing that adults are increasingly moving away from traditional newspapers in favor of apps and online alternatives. Are we looking at the end of the printed periodical as we know it?
Are we looking at the end of the traditional newspaper as we know it? If a new study carried out on our friends across the pond is anything to go by, the answer is…yes!
The UK has a world-famous affinity with early morning newspapers, which admittedly in the form of tabloids are more fairy-tale comics than they are accounts of real-world events. But whatever it is the readers are after, it’s become clear following a survey that for the first time ever, more Brits are using websites and apps to access their chosen new sources than those sticking with traditional newspapers.
According to the UK’s Office of Communications – aka Ofcom – the 40% of people that use newspapers to bone-up on the latest stories have been overtaken by the 41% that use technology and gadgets to do the same. The daily habits of over 2,700 were taken into account for the study, which reached the conclusion that despite technology having largely saturated the UK market, it still has a long way to go in encouraging folk to break with tradition.
Still, the 41% noted this year was a pretty steep hike from the 32% of last year, suggesting that the coming years will see an even bigger shift away from print in favor of digital news. As for the primary trigger for the surge, the agency behind the reports suggests that it can be largely attributed to the consumptions habits of 16 to 24-years-old – over 60% of whom now use online media sources and apps for accessing news and similar content.
Interestingly however, the most popular form of news of all still remains that of the standard television news broadcast. Having fallen only 3% since last year, it came out that over 75% of those taking part in the study favored TV news over all other kinds.
“The rise in digital news is driven by increased mobile and tablet use among younger people (16-24),” read the reports.
“They are ten times more likely than those aged 55 and over to access news on a mobile (40% versus 4%) and twice as likely via a tablet (15% versus 7%)”.