"A clear indicator of Uganda's digital divide is that, even in 2023, radio remained both the primary and most trusted source of information in the country. This is why we, at TRAC FM, leverage radio and toll-free SMS technology to serve the increasingly isolated public spheres across Uganda's distri
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cts. By posing multiple-choice poll questions on the radio, we provide people with a platform to voice their opinions on matters of public importance, and to hear how others, sometimes hundreds of kilmetres away, have responded. Here are some of the views we received from our radio listeners this year: 1. 64% of 18,000 polled citizens are uninformed about their rights, More than half of these individuals actively sought information but were unable to find it. 2. 60% of 18,000 polled citizens prioritise healthcare, education, and basic needs over political and wome's rights. 3. Tow-thirds of 4,000 respondents observed that accidental teenage pregnancies often lead to forced children marriages. However, Uganda's policy apporach assumes the reverse: that forced child marriages lead to teenage pregnancies." (Page 36)
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"• Engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows. This is particularly the case in the United States where polling overlapped with the first few weeks of the new Trum
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p administration. Social media news use was sharply up (+6pp) but there was no ‘Trump bump’ for traditional sources.
• Personalities and influencers are, in some countries, playing a significant role in shaping public debates. One-fifth (22%) of our United States sample says they came across news or commentary from popular podcaster Joe Rogan in the week after the inauguration, including a disproportionate number of young men. In France, young news creator Hugo Travers (HugoDécrypte) reaches 22% of under-35s with content distributed mainly via YouTube and TikTok. Young influencers also play a significant role in many Asian countries, including Thailand.
• News use across online platforms continues to fragment, with six online networks now reaching more than 10% weekly with news content, compared with just two a decade ago. Around a third of our global sample use Facebook (36%) and YouTube (30%) for news each week. Instagram (19%) and WhatsApp (19%) are used by around a fifth, while TikTok (16%) remains ahead of X at 12%.
• Data show that usage of X for news is stable or increasing across many markets, with the biggest uplift in the United States (+8pp), Australia (+6pp), and Poland (+6pp). Since Elon Musk took over the network in 2022 many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently. Rival networks like Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon are making little impact globally, with reach of 2% or less for news.
• Changing platform strategies mean that video continues to grow in importance as a source of news. Across all markets the proportion consuming social video has grown from 52% in 2020 to 65% in 2025 and any video from 67% to 75%. In the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, and India more people now say they prefer to watch the news rather than read it, further encouraging the shift to personality-led news creators.
• Our survey also shows the importance of news podcasting in reaching younger, better-educated audiences. The United States has among the highest proportion (15%) accessing one or more podcasts in the last week, with many of these now filmed and distributed via video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. By contrast, many northern European podcast markets remain dominated by public broadcasters or big legacy media companies and have been slower to adopt video versions.
• TikTok is the fastest growing social and video network, adding a further 4pp across markets for news and reaching 49% of our online sample in Thailand (+10pp) and 40% in Malaysia (+9pp). But at the same time people in those markets see the network as one of the biggest threats when it comes to false or misleading information, along with Facebook.
• Overall, over half our sample (58%) say they remain concerned about their ability to tell what is true from what is false when it comes to news online, a similar proportion to last year. Concern is highest in Africa (73%) and the United States (73%), with lowest levels in Western Europe (46%).
• When it comes to underlying sources of false or misleading information, online influencers and personalities are seen as the biggest threat worldwide (47%), along with national politicians (47%). Concern about influencers is highest in African countries such as Nigeria (58%) and Kenya (59%), while politicians are considered the biggest threat in the United States (57%), Spain (57%), and much of Eastern Europe." (Executive summary, page 10-11)
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"This article provides an original and timely contribution to current cutting-edge methodological debates by discussing the ongoing need to ensure communities in zones which are inaccessible through war, conflict or disease still have a voice and are not side-lined. As seen during Covid-19, traditio
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nal methods of gaining opinions from these communities, such as face-to-face interviews and focus groups, may be restricted and even impossible. Instead, remote methods using WhatsApp provide many additional benefits, providing qualitative and quantitative data (not always simultaneously provided by surveys or interviews), and allowing voice and text messages to be used. This article draws out the generic implications for the methodology using the substantive findings of a study conducted in the Sahel in 2019–20. Whilst also providing ‘how to’ discussions on this novel approach, the article critically reflects on the advantages and disadvantages of using WhatsApp as it relates to conducting social research in general." (Abstract)
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"Redaktionen müssen angesichts einer zunehmend fragmentierten Publikumsbeziehung neue Wege finden, ihre Rezipierenden an sich zu binden. Eine in diesem Kontext oftmals diskutierte Strategie ist die des Audience- Engagements. Im Rahmen einer Fallstudie untersucht dieser Beitrag Chancen und Herausfor
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derung der redaktionellen Umsetzung von Audience-Engagement anhand eines Projekts einer öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalt. In der qualitativen Analyse zeigen sich klare Chancen des Audience-Engagements: der Aufbau von Legitimität, Relevanzgewinn, Repräsentation, neue Finanzierungsmöglichkeiten sowie Vertrauensbildung und Beziehungspflege. Zugleich zeigen sich jedoch auch einige Herausforderungen, die es bei der Planung und Umsetzung derartiger Projekte zu berücksichtigen gilt: Der hohe Organisations- und Koordinationsaufwand, redaktionelle Selbstverpflichtung, Themen- und Formatauswahl, Erwartungsmanagement sowie ethische und datenschutzrechtliche Aspekte stellen sich als Erfolgsfaktoren für die Durchführung von Audience-Engagement-Projekten heraus. Daraus lassen sich diverse Implikationen für die Umsetzung von Audience-Engagement-Projekten ableiten – zentral wird insbesondere die Institutionalisierung sein. Die Ergebnisse bieten sowohl für die Forschung als auch für die journalistische Praxis vielfältige Anknüpfungspunkte." (Abstract)
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"This study examines the authoritarian conditioning of political expression on social media in three Chinese societiesby analyzing three parallel surveys comprising 6942 respondents from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Results demonstrate that the use of social media to gather political infor
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mation triggers politically expressive use of social media and indirectly predicts offline non-institutionalized political participation. Individuals’ authoritarian orientation, however, moderates such indirect effects. Only people who demonstrate low or moderate adherence to authoritarian value systems exemplify this mediation model. Those with high levels of authoritarian orientation are not exemplary. Furthermore, the extent to which social media use interacts with authoritarian orientation to build a relationship with political participation presents two different patterns across three Chinese societies. The moderated mediating effect described here exists in Hong Kong and Taiwan but not in mainland China. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings." (Abstract)
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"This study explores how and why young people engage with MTV Shuga, a popular mass media campaign in South Africa, to understand what makes effective HIV edutainment. Young MTV Shuga viewers from the Eastern Cape, South Africa and their parents participated in remote individual interviews and focus
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groups in 2020. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using a thematic iterative approach. Young participants engaged with MTV Shuga for relatable, tolerant and complex stories about young people navigating HIV and relationships. These stories, which made viewers aware of sexual health services, inspired young people to reflect on how they might engage with different sexual health scenarios. MTV Shuga initiated conversations among peers, partners and some families about HIV that made them feel supported and equipped to tackle problems in their own lives. Complex, relatable, non-judgemental and youth-centred storylines can make HIV edutainment engaging to youth audiences. This approach allows space for reflection and inspires discussion and debate, turning young people from passive recipients of HIV messaging to active decision-makers. Television-based interventions can disseminate resources and knowledge into communities, however, watching them with parents can expose young people to judgement. HIV edutainment should therefore be available through different mediums so young people can engage in tolerant environments." (Abstract)
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"This book outlines how African language media is affected by politics, technology, culture, and the economy and how this media is creatively produced and appropriated by audiences across cultures and contexts. African language media can be considered as a tool for communication, socialization, and
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community that defines the various identities of indigenous people in Africa. This book shows how vernacular media outlets including radio and television, as well as native formats such as festivals, rituals and dance, can be used to influence all facets of local peoples' experience and understanding of community. The book also explores the relationship between African language media sources and contemporary issues including the digitalization conundrum, peace and conflict resolution, identity formation, hate speech and fake news. Furthermore, it shows how local media can be used for development communication purposes during health and environmental crises. The book includes cases studies demonstrating the uses, experiences and activities related to various forms of media available in African languages." (Publisher description)
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"In contrast to the top-down approach newsrooms have traditionally deployed, Community-Centered Journalism offers a more people-cen tered approach focused on meeting the demonstrable needs and priorities of communities. Instead of newsrooms assuming they know what information people need, they gathe
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r this knowledge through a comprehensive process incorporating deep listening and collaboration, as well as ongoing engagement and feedback. Andrea Wenzel of Temple University, a leading proponent of Community-Centered Journalism, describes this as “journalism produced with and for communities.” Through these efforts, journalists seek to actively build trust and credibility by producing news and information that is relevant and beneficial to the daily lives of the communities they are working with. Although the methods used to deliver these goals may be different, this activity is in line with what the American Press Institute notes is a core purpose of journalism: “To provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.” Establishing and meeting community information needs takes time. But an inclusive process is fundamental to under standing the stories and issues that matter to communities, and in determining how to best tackle them. That might include building relationships with communities and local partners (such as non-profits, government agencies, busi nesses and libraries). It also means meeting people where they are (e.g., language, delivery format, etc.) to maximize impact." (Pages 10-11)
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"Fact-checking has been identified as a significant journalistic tool in the fight against disinformation. Relevant studies have focused on its emergence as a movement within journalism aiming at renewing the profession, as well as its effectiveness in challenging disinformation, especially during e
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lections. However, little has been said about how audiences themselves understand factchecking and employ it in their daily consumption of news. In this article, we answer these questions by drawing upon two sets of data. The first consists of fourteen focus group discussions in the UK, which included 52 participants, and were conducted online between April and May 2021. The second consists of two qualitative surveys that explored news consumers’ understandings of fact-checking and their evaluations of current fact-checking practices of UK media during the same period. We conclude that the use of fact-checking remains largely peripheral, and its influence is minimal in people’s news consumption. However, there is an appetite for more fact-checking in television news, as a way of holding politicians into account and helping the public better understand politics. In this context, we argue, if factchecking is to play an important role in political discourse, it should become a regular part of broadcast journalism." (Abstract)
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"Esta investigación tiene como objetivo determinar indicadores clave para evaluar la capacidad de transparencia, autorregulación y participación de los usuarios, las tres dimensiones de la accountability. Se adoptó un triple punto de partida metodológico: revisión sistemática de literatura so
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bre indicadores de accountability y sus características, un mapeo de medios de referencia con indicadores de accountability, y evaluación de medios. Se obtuvo un sistema de 11 indicadores clave para medir y establecer comparaciones entre sitios web de medios de comunicación y determinar si satisfacen las tres dimensiones clave de la rendición de cuentas y los elementos asociados. Dicho sistema puede ser aplicado en múltiples escenarios para fomentar un periodismo de calidad." (Resumen)
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"The Russian state-funded international broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today) has attracted much attention as a purveyor of Russian propaganda. To date, most studies of RT have focused on its broadcast, website, and social media content, with little research on its audiences. Through a data-driven
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application of network science and other computational methods, we address this gap to provide insight into the demographics and interests of RT’s Twitter followers, as well as how they engage with RT. Building upon recent studies of Russian state-sponsored media, we report three main results. First, we find that most of RT’s Twitter followers only very rarely engage with its content and tend to be exposed to RT’s content alongside other mainstream news channels. This indicates that RT is not a central part of their online news media environment. Second, using probabilistic computational methods, we show that followers of RT are slightly more likely to be older and male than average Twitter users, and they are far more likely to be bots. Third, we identify thirty-five distinct audience segments, which vary in terms of their nationality, languages, and interests. This audience segmentation reveals the considerable heterogeneity of RT’s Twitter followers. Accordingly, we conclude that generalizations about RT’s audience based on analyses of RT’s media content, or on vocal minorities among its wider audiences, are unhelpful and limit our understanding of RT and its appeal to international audiences." (Abstract)
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"En el primer capítulo se expone cómo se están dando las dinámicas de participación ciudadana en la TV abierta. El segundo capítulo ahonda en la caracterización de los controlantes de los operadores de TV abierta. El tercer capítulo expone las tendencias en materia de pluralismo de los progr
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amas informativos y de opinión y el cuarto capítulo presenta los hallazgos obtenidos con la aplicación del instrumento para determinar tipologías, factores y niveles de riesgo, tanto en el pluralismo informativo como en la independencia de los medios, que fue desarrollado mediante talleres focales y acompañamiento del equipo consultor, en los cuales participaron expertos, académicos y periodistas, además de miembros de la autoridad regulatoria." (Introducción, página 4)
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"While social media offer an unprecedented opportunity for orchestrating large-scale communication campaigns, it is often difficult to track audience responses on various digital platforms over time and to ascertain if their engagement is aligned with the original intention. In this article, we shar
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e a promising solution—the purposive embedding and tracking of unique content elements as “markers” using text analytics techniques. Four markers were introduced in an Indian melodramatic television serial, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon (I, A Woman, Can Achieve Anything), which was part of a larger transmedia edutainment initiative in India to promote sanitation, family planning, and gender equality. These markers served as anchors for audience engagement with the originally intended messaging embedded in the narratives as well as for program monitoring and evaluation. We applied various web-based tools to systematically track marker-related engagement on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube across eight months. We also conducted semantic network analysis to better understand how marker-related social media comments evolved over time. Our investigation of using markers for digital engagement and narrative exchange in MKBKSH makes an important and timely methodological contribution to the scholarship and praxis of social and behavior change communication." (Abstract)
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"The aim of this article is to show to what extent alternative audio media can be built online, not only by amateurs but also as a combination of the energy and involvement of professional journalists and the community of listeners who are ready to support them [...] The podcast Raport o stanie swia
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ta and two Internet radio stations, Radio Nowy Swiat and Radio 357 from Poland, which are analysed in this article, were born in an act of protest against the negative changes in public service broadcasting, which became a propaganda tool. They are financed by listeners via the crowdfunding platform Patronite and do not broadcast advertising. A framework for analysing their functioning is devised using, in particular, theories of the public sphere and of alternative media. The study is based on content analysis of the call-in broadcasts disseminated for the first anniversary of the stations, Radio Nowy Swiat (April 16 and July 9, 2022) and Radio 357 (January 5, 2022). Pre-structured interviews with the patrons of Raport o stanie swiata are also used. Websites and social media accounts of these initiatives, as well as press coverage and data gathered by the National Broadcasting Council in relation to Polish Radio, are analysed as well. The research found that all three initiatives Raport o stanie swiata, Radio Nowy Swiat and Radio 357, despite being started by professionals, share some of the characteristics of alternative media and can significantly change the model of audio production, financing and consumption routines in Poland." (Abstract)
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"This study examined (a) what message variations characterize news articles that fact-check (mis)information (N¼914) and (b) how those message features shape audience engagement with the articles. The study content-analyzed fact-checking coverage from major news outlets in South Korea using both ma
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nual and computerized coding, focusing on three categories of message characteristics: source transparency, contextual information, and vividness. The content-analysis data were examined in relation to behavioral data of audience engagement (“like” and “angry” reactions, shares, and comments) on Naver News, the most popular news portal in South Korea. Using statistics and official reports as evidence and specifying when the claim at hand was made facilitated audience engagement behaviors. News articles triggered more audience comments when they (a) mentioned the importance of fact-checking the claim under scrutiny, and (b) conveyed negative content. Findings are discussed in light of the empirical and practical implications of the current efforts to fight “fake news” by news media." (Abstract)
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"Aufbauend auf dem sozialpsychologischen Konzept der sozialen Unterstützung haben wir das KASI-Prinzip entwickelt. Es stellt Redaktionen drei Stile der Empowerment-Moderation zur Verfügung: den kognitiven Stil (K), den affektiven Stil (A) und den sozial-integrativen Stil (SI). Die Stile unterschei
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den sich in ihrer Zielsetzung und in ihrer Ansprache der Nutzenden: Der kognitive Stil zielt mittels seiner sachlichen Ansprache darauf ab, einen inhaltlichen Mehrwert in Online-Diskussionen zu schaffen, zum Beispiel durch zusätzliche Informationen, Argumente und Perspektiven. Der affektive Stil kann durch seine empathische Ansprache das Selbstwertgefühl der Nutzerinnen und Nutzer steigern, sie dazu motivieren, persönliche Erfahrungen zu teilen und ihre Emotionen und Empathie zu fördern. Der sozial-integrative Stil schließlich will durch seine gemeinschaftsorientierte Ansprache den Austausch der Nutzenden untereinander fördern, ihren Zusammenhalt stärken und für eine angenehme Grundstimmung in der Community sorgen. Alle Stile können, je nach individueller Zielsetzung von Redaktionen, einzeln oder gemeinsam im laufenden Moderationsbetrieb eingesetzt werden." (Seite 5)
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"Public service journalism draws its legitimacy from a strong connection with the public. The EBU News Report 2021-22 highlights how today’s public service media organisations go about building and strengthening this connection while dealing with a variety of challenges. In three parts and 16 case
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studies it discusses, first, the political and economic pressures under which public service media are operating, second, new and innovative ways of connecting with audiences, and third, approaches newsroom leaders can take to tackle challenges they encounter in their daily operations. The report is solution-oriented and provides ideas on how to move forward. It is based on more than 40 interviews with media leaders, experts, and academics from the public service media community and beyond and draws on the latest research." (Executive summary)
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"Audience research remains a fractured discipline and this continues to hinder its development into a fully-fledged academic field. There are many reasons for this – historic, philosophical, structural, epistemological and methodological – that are discussed in the course of this essay. However,
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one of the benefits of the dispersed nature of the discipline is its flexibility and freedom: audience research is a broad church, attracting a largely itinerant congregation of diverse scholars and practitioners who benefit from the lack of constraints presented by more established disciplines and from the opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange. On the other hand, the lack of a scholarly home leaves the discipline vulnerable to charges of amorphism, which in turn hamper its structural evolution. Drawing on an existing body of empirical and theoretical work, this essay argues that the concept of engagement offers a promising paradigm to underpin and inform the maturation of audience research. Following a critical review of competing definitions and application of notions of audience engagement, the essay deconstructs the concept of engagement before reconstructing it to propose a robust and workable new paradigm for audience research." (Abstract)
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"The value of online user comments is a much-debated issue. In journalism, the newly arising possibility for readers and viewers to easily and instantaneously share their views on journalistic output was welcomed at first. Compared to the conventional letter to the editor it represented a democratiz
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ed form of audience feedback. News organizations increased their presence in the social web and gained more and more experience with user comments. Over time, however, discontent towards the quality of online user comments seemed to grow. But what is the responsibility of journalism in this respect? How do news organizations use the social web? How do they handle online user comments? To what extent do they tap the dialogical potential of the social web for facilitating exchange and understanding between different viewpoints? This study pursues these questions by investigating the case of Germany’s international public service broadcaster Deutsche Welle with its explicit dialogical mandate. It provides an in-depth examination of a transition period in which the news organization is grappling with its self-conception as a serious news provider in the casual social web environment, in which social media editors struggle for recognition from their established colleagues, and in which “stepping back and letting the discussion unfold on its own” serves as a strategy to avoid censorship accusations from users. Based on a specially developed analytical grid the study offers a democracy-theoretical evaluation of the user comments and their handling by Deutsche Welle." (Back cover)
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"Community radio in Mali and Niger represents important hubs through which organized groups (such as listening clubs or associations) access information and participate in broadcasting through active and formalized channels. Drawing on radio listener focus groups conducted in Mali and Niger between
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2018 and 2020, this article discusses the importance, to community radio, of ‘loud’ participation (formalized spaces) and ‘quiet’ participation (informal discussion spaces) amongst audiences. We argue that these ‘quiet’ forms of participation are important as they reinforce and support existing networks of solidarity in the community. Community radio stations rarely ‘hear’ listener participation via these informal spaces of discussion – which are more closely associated with women – but they are nonetheless crucial, yet overlooked, alternative forms of audience participation." (Abstract)
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