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Media Use, Media Consumption

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Decolonising Approaches to Users and Audiences in the Global South: Context, Theory and Method

Tarik Sabry, Winston Mano, Andrea Medrado (eds.)

London: Routledge (2026), xvii, 334 pp.

"Including original essays and contemporary case studies spanning Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, this book provides a nuanced double critique of both local and West‑centric approaches, pushing back against historically extractive audience research logics that have marginalised globa ... more

Mapping Information Environments for Marginalised Communities in Central and Eastern Africa

Minority Rights Group

Canal France International (CFI); Advancing Global Innovation and Learning Effectively to Build Resilience in Independent Media (AGILE) (2025), 50 pp.

"1. In rural areas, word of mouth is often the only information system that works: In the DRC, over 80% of media outlets are clustered in the capital Kinshasa, leaving vast rural areas effectively without coverage. Ethnic minority groups such as the Batwa and Bambuti rated the relevance of the infor ... mation they receive at 0.5 out of 3, considering it to be "never relevant”. In these communities, access to information depends less on digital innovation than on trusted local networks: local leaders, women’s groups, grassroots organisations. These systems re resilient, but they are not infallible - information shared informally can be incomplete, delayed, or distorted before it reaches its intended audience. AGILE will support more accessible and inclusive information by working with trusted local intermediaries, community networks, and communication channels that already form the backbone of information access for marginalised communities. 2. Radio is still the backbone of information access – and it is under threat: In Uganda, 87% of respondents reported having a working radio at home. In Zambia, around 60% of the population listens to radio daily. In the DRC, more than 4,000 radio stations serve communities across the country. In a region where digital access remains unequal, radio is not a legacy medium - it is the primary information lifeline for millions. But this ecosystem is now under severe pressure. Following the cut to US foreign aid in 2025, community radio stations, that relied primarily on this funding source, face an uncertain future. Where community radio disappears, so does the locally rooted, trusted voice that keeps misinformation in check and civic life alive. AGILE will work with community radios, local organisations, and trusted community networks to help information reach people in more accessible and relevant ways. 3. Language is the most underestimated barrier, and communities have a clear ask: When asked what would most improve the information they receive, communities across all four countries gave a consistent answer: Translate it into our languages, and simplify it. Language is the decisive and most consistently underestimated barrier to information access. Official communications, media broadcasts, and humanitarian messages are routinely produced in dominant administrative languages that large parts of the population do not fully understand. Even where people speak the dominant language, technical jargon and bureaucratic phrasing can produce near-total incomprehension. On average, marginalised community members report understanding the language used in information only “sometimes”. In the DRC, ethnic minorities rate their comprehension between “rarely” and “sometimes”. In Tanzania, Hadzabe and Akie communities whose languages are oral and rarely represented in any media, rate their comprehension at the bottom of the scale. In contrast, Zambia is the only country where ethnic minorities rated their language comprehension as "often" adequate, a direct result of community radio broadcasting in multiple local languages. Respondents described asking their school-going children to explain official broadcasts, or depending on religious leaders or NGO staff to interpret messages. As information passes through multiple intermediaries, it can be delayed, simplified, or distorted - sometimes significantly - before reaching the people who need it. AGILE will prioritise multilingual, audio-first, and simplified content production across all activities co-designed with community radios, women's groups, and disability organisations to ensure that the needs of different communities are better reflected. 4. When information doesn't reflect communities' realities, they stop trusting it - or stop receiving it altogether: Accuracy is necessary but not sufficient. Communities are more likely to engage with - and trust - information when it reflects their realities and responds to their everyday concerns. When it doesn't, they disengage. Women across all four countries described a consistent pattern: stories about gender issues may be factually correct, but they "fail to reflect women's lived realities, rendering them irrelevant”. In the DRC, women's comprehension of information is rated as “rarely” adequate - not because they cannot understand the language, but because the content does not speak to their lives. The pattern is even sharper for some ethnic minorities. Maasai respondents described appearing in the media “rarely on their own terms” - their way of life consistently framed as a problem to be solved, rather than a legitimate system with its own logic and history. Several communities reported being exposed to derogatory language and hate speech in the way they are described in media. For people with disabilities, the exclusion takes a different form: the near-total absence of accessible formats. Across all four countries, sign language, braille, and audio-adapted content remain the exception rather than the rule. Information that cannot be accessed cannot be trusted - or used. AGILE will work more closely with marginalised communities to ensure their perspectives, experiences, and ways of understanding information are reflected in media and communication efforts. 5. Inclusive reporting already exists but journalists still face major barriers: Across all four countries, many journalists and media professionals recognise the importance of more inclusive, community-focused reporting. The mapping found this awareness to be widespread - the gap is not one of knowledge or intent, but of resources and conditions. Putting inclusive reporting into practice remains difficult. Covering remote communities takes time and money that most newsrooms do not have. Editorial priorities favour urban, mainstream audiences. In Zambia, several journalists described stories about marginalised communities as regularly sidelined because they are considered “unprofitable”. In the DRC and Tanzania, political and legal pressures further narrow the space for sensitive reporting. The result is a gap between what journalists know needs to happen, and what the system allows them to do. AGILE will support media professionals, community radios, and local organisations to strengthen inclusive reporting practices, improve community engagement, and produce information that is more accessible, relevant, and responsive to the needs of marginalised communities." (https://cfi.fr/en/news/5-things-we-learned-about-access-information-underserved-communities-central-and-eastern-africa) more

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Fighting Misinformation: A Critical Look at Disinformation in Indonesia

London: BBC Media Action (2025), 10 pp.

"The research reveals that while digital platforms dominate Indonesia’s information environment, TV remains highly popular and more trusted than social media or the internet as a source of information. Trust in international media is notably low, while trust is higher in local outlets. Audience se ... more

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Batswana support press freedom and media’s watchdog role

Mogopodi Lekorwe, Wilford Molefe, Kefentse P. Malele

Afrobarometer (2025), 12 pp.

"Three-fourths (74%) of Batswana say they are gsomewhat freeh or gcompletely freeh to say what they think, although 24% disagree. The share who feel free to speak their minds is up by 6 percentage points since 2022 (68%) but remains below the historic high of 93% in 2008. Botswana ranks abov ... more

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Zimbabweans support media’s watchdog role, split on whether there is press freedom

Asafika Mpako, Simangele Moyo-Nyede

Afrobarometer (2025), 11 pp.

"Recent Afrobarometer survey findings show that fully two-thirds of Zimbabweans think the media should act as a watchdog over the government, investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption. A similar proportion value media freedom and reject the notion that the government should b ... more

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Exploring news gratifications across age groups: A European study in 23 countries

Mónica Recalde, Alfonso Vara-Miguel, Jorge del Río Pérez, Cristina Sánchez-Blanco

European Journal of Communication, volume 40, issue 1 (2025), pp. 70-86

"Research on motivations for news consumption has primarily focused on uses and gratifications (U&G) from both conventional and new media. However, there is a gap regarding age perspectives in this field. This study aims to address this gap by examining whether differences and similarities exist in ... more

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Au Togo, la radio résiste encore à la croissance des médias sociaux comme source d’information

Victor Emmanuel Ekwa Bebe III

Afrobarometer (2025), 9 pp.

"Selon la récente enquête Afrobarometer, la radio, média classique, demeure néanmoins en tête des sources d’information au Togo. La majorité des citoyens s’y informent régulièrement, loin devant les réseaux sociaux, la télévision et la presse écrite. Cependant, les usages évoluent : ... more

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Understanding Mis- and Disinformation in Nepal

BBC Media Action (2025), 10 pp.

"Social media dominates daily internet use, while use of traditional media is declining: overall, 7 in 10 Nepalis use the internet daily, with Facebook and YouTube being the most used platforms (63% daily usage for both). Among those with internet access, 80% are heavy users of social media, i.e., ... they go on social media platforms at least once a day. Only 40% use the internet for purposes beyond social media, such as online search and emails. Internet users are using TV and radio less. Only 24% watch TV daily and 19% listen to the radio daily. Sharing information is an emotionally driven and socially performative behaviour: content is often shared not for its accuracy, but for its emotional impact, shock value, or social appeal. People are motivated by a desire to entertain, impress, provoke, or find hope, making them less likely to question the credibility of what they share. Drawing on qualitative data, we identified segments of the Nepali population who differ by how they share information: • Exaggeration Sharers: This group will often amplify exaggerated claims in order to gain visibility. They will often share contents that may elicit emotional responses, such as crime and violence. When sharing it, they may add their own take on the issue to exaggerate it further. • Show-off Enthusiasts: Similar to Exaggeration Sharers, they choose to share content that makes them look important, ‘wanting to impress others’ and ‘seek praise’. This is particularly true when sharing may reach people they respect. • Controversy Seekers: This group seeks out explicit content such as the commonly highlighted Bhojpuri songs (typically mentioned in Madhesh), as well as celebrity scandals. Contents often shared by this group tend to have a negative tonality, including topics like ethnic and religious scuffles. • Bystanders: This group tends to use social media by watching and listening without interacting or sharing. However, they enjoy novel content (particularly religious and political content) that may become a topic of discussion within their social network. • Naïve Consumers: This group focuses their attention on content that seeks to give hope in the face of challenges such as unemployment and economic difficulties. However, they tend to be less aware of, or concerned with, implications of online sharing and privacy issues, indicating lower digital and media literacy." (Pages 3-4) more

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Putting ‘filter bubble’ effects to the test: Evidence on the polarizing impact of ideology-based news recommendation from two experiments in Germany and the U.S.

Katharina Ludwig, Philipp Müller, Nevena Nikolajevic, Alexander Grote

Information, Communication & Society (2025), 20 pp.

"Algorithmic news recommender systems (NRS) are present in many digital platforms. A decade after Eli Pariser introduced the infamous ‘filter bubble’ hypothesis, empirical evidence challenges the assumption that recommendation algorithms predominantly create homogeneous opinion environments. Stu ... more

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Understanding News Avoidance in Social Media: A Systematic Literature Review

Annapurna Sharma, Mahesh Kumar Meena

Religion and Social Communication, volume 23, issue 2 (2025), pp. 375-398

"In the age of digital media, news avoidance behaviour is continually increasing. This behaviour has brought new challenges for society and democracy. Research on news avoidance has recently experienced a surge, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are many uncertainties ... more

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Ugandans support free media that holds government accountable

Jane Mercy Muthoni Kamunyi

Afrobarometer (2025), 10 pp.

"Findings from the Afrobarometer Round 9 survey (2022) show that a strong majority of Ugandans supported media freedom and believed the media should play a watchdog role by investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption. Most citizens said the public should have access to governme ... more

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Mediennutzung und Nachrichtenvermeidung in Krisenzeiten

Uli Gleich

Media Perspektiven, issue 4 (2025), 11 pp.

"Die Vielzahl von Informationen und Nachrichten, die täglich über unterschiedlichste Kanäle verbreitet werden, können für Nutzerinnen und Nutzer eine Herausforderung darstellen. Nachrichtenvermeidung (News Avoidance) kann die Folge sein. Wie der Reuters Digital News Report 2024 zeigt, ist das I ... more

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Hooked on the Feed: An Analysis of How Facebook, TikTok, and X Shape Information Consumption in Eastern Europe

Marius Dragomir, Adrian Anton, Eva Bognar et al.

London: Thomson Foundation; Media Journalism Research Center (MJRC) (2025), 69 pp.

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Even before wartime restrictions, Sudan media faced weak public backing for press freedom

Caroline Nakayiza, Doreen Okisai

Afrobarometer (2025), 12 pp.

"This dispatch looks at Sudanese citizens’ attitudes regarding media freedom as of late 2022, i.e. during the period between the military coup and the beginning of the civil war. Afrobarometer survey findings show that Sudanese were divided both in their support for media freedom and in their asse ... more

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Journalists, Social Media and News Consumption

Ukrainian Analytical Digest, issue 16 (2025), 32 pp.

"This issue focuses on journalism and social media in Ukraine. The first two articles examine the safety of journalists in Ukraine during the war based on the Worlds of Journalism Study and assess how the security situation during the war influences the practice of ‘patriotic journalism.’ The fo ... more

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The podcast as the centre of young Colombians’ information consumption in the digital sonosphere

Andrés Barrios-Rubio

Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, volume 23, issue 1 (2025), pp. 59-81

"The relationship between the sound industry and its audience is influenced by the widespread use of smartphones as the primary means of accessing the internet. This has led to a transformation in media logics, particularly among young people in Colombia, as they adapt to an evolving ecosystem that ... more

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Basotho support media’s watchdog role, but many doubt that their media is free

Asafika Mpako, Stephen Ndoma

Afrobarometer (2025), 9 pp.

"According to the 2024 Afrobarometer survey, strong majorities of Basotho value media freedom and say the media should act as a watchdog over the government, constantly investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption. But on whether media freedom exists in practice in their country ... more

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Info-Monitor 2025

Berlin: Die Medienanstalten (2025), 80 pp.

"Der Info-Monitor der Medienanstalten dokumentiert, wo und wie sich die Bevölkerung in Deutschland zum aktuellen Zeitgeschehen informiert. Nutzung: Der Bedarf in der Bevölkerung an Informationen zum aktuellen Zeitgeschehen ist groß. Mehr als 90 Prozent interessieren sich für aktuelle Themen und ... more

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Determinants of institutional trust in sub-Saharan Africa: Does media exposure matter?

Nabilatou A. O. Bouraïma, Mamadou Abdoulaye Diallo, Sylvain Hekponhoue

Afrobarometer (2025), 35 pp.

"As the main channel for information about institutions and their performance, the media have the potential to influence citizens' perceptions of them. In recent decades, the media environment has undergone significant change, making different types of information readily available. At the same time ... more

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Klassisches Radio ist gut in der Region verankert: Ergebnisse und Methodik der ma 2025 Audio I

Karin Gattringer, Sabine Jaeger

Media Perspektiven, issue 9 (2025), 10 pp.

"Knapp 93 Prozent der deutschsprachigen Bevölkerung ab 14 Jahren hören der ma 2025 Audio I zufolge regelmäßig Audioangebote. Fast drei Viertel schalten täglich mindestens ein Radioprogramm ein und dies über vier Stunden lang. Der Radiomarkt fragmentiert weiter – die Anzahl der genannten Send ... more