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Some segments of the media sphere have held up fairly well under the coronavirus pandemic. Well documented are the demands for either more information or more distraction. Demand, however, is driven by more than utility.
That 2020 was a watershed year for the media sphere - and everything else - is already a bit of a cliché. Researchers have stepped up to help us through this dilemma. Their findings are, at once, enlightening and annoying. But they always are.
German media consumers were significantly more confident in media offerings; 56% over 43% in 2019, according to the University of Mainz social scientists. And general distrust in media fell to 16% from 28% one year on. A majority (63%) were generally satisfied with the information presented by media outlets on the coronavirus while 40% said there was too much. Just 15% agreed that “media works hand-in-hand with politicians to manipulate public opinion,” down from 23% year on year. (See more about media in Germany here)
The confidence of media users is highly determined by the specific sub-sector. Nearly three-quarters (70%) trust public broadcasters and over half (56%) trust national daily newspapers. After that there is a considerable gap. Less than a quarter (23%) trust private TV channels, followed by alternative news portals (14%) and, then, tabloids at the bottom (7%). More than half (53%) do not consider news on social media trustworthy. “In times of great uncertainty, the established media are an important factor that people are (again) turning to,” noted the authors. The Institute for Journalism at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has reported attitudes toward media in Germany since 2008. (See more about Media and the Virus here)
Separately, TV measurement aggregator Glance, formerly known as Eurodata TV Worldwide, reported a 6 minute per day increase in screen time globally in 2020 over 2019 with wide differences regionally, noted Variety (April 12). Europeans increased their average daily TV consumption 15 minutes per day to 3 hours 54 minutes. Viewing in Latin America increased by 10 minutes per day. North Americans, however, cut back by 8 minutes per day to 3 hours 32 minutes. (See more about media measurement here)
"In a context of a global pandemic and repeated lockdowns, television has gathered more viewers, eager to learn live and to follow the speeches of their leaders all over the planet,” offered Glance director Frédéric Vaulpré in a presentation at MipTV. In three quarters of the 91 countries surveyed television consumption rose. “Even” young people 18 to 25 years - the smartphone generation - increased their TV time by 2 minutes per day.
Cooperation among States is great boost for those high level meetings. Synergies are better for the press release than discord, usually. When the subject turns to media, those national leaders often unite in singular purpose.
The Turkic Council meeting this past weekend (April 10) in Baku, Azerbaijan sharply focused on the Azeri-Armenian conflict that rose to a six-week war last November in the Nagorno-Karabakh region before Russian Federation president Vladimir V. Putin commanded it stop. Press agencies and state broadcasters of the Council members toured bombed out ruins, dutifully issuing statements and photographs. “By ending the occupation here, we made peace permanent,” said Turkey’s communications director Fahrettin Altun, quoted by Turkish state Anadolu press agency (April 11). In the subsequent meetings he emphasized the importance of “fighting for the truth.” (See more about disinformation here)
Between photo-ops, information ministers and related officials met to discuss media cooperation. An Action Plan was pitched to “strengthening joint activities to inform about events taking place in the Turkic-speaking countries.” This could include films and documentaries about history and culture, training programs and exchanges. Participants made clear their displeasure with international organizations like UNESCO.
“One of the decisions we have come to is that it’s necessary to create a Media Coordination Committee," said Azeri foreign policy advisor Hikmat Hajiyev, quoted by Azeri news portal Trend.az (April 10). he said. "In this direction, the work should be carried out similar to that one within the relevant committees in other areas. We are also thinking about the concept of media forums. If business forums are held between the countries, then direct ties should be established in the field of media as well.” (See more about media development here)
The Turkic Council member States include Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Hungary is an official observer, represented by State Secretary for Security Policy Peter Sztaray. Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) 2020 Press Freedom Index ranks Azerbaijan 168th, Kazakhstan 157th, Kyrgyzstan 82nd, Turkey 154th, Uzbekistan 156th and Hungary 89th.
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