Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption
Media structure is rapidly steering towards digital formats and distribution. Meanwhile, many Western societies have ageing populations, where older adults are less digitally active than the population at large. This, combined with the fact that the news media are crucial in providing information an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Nordicom Review |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0021 |
| _version_ | 1797758664160837632 |
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| author | Bergström Annika |
| author_facet | Bergström Annika |
| author_sort | Bergström Annika |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Media structure is rapidly steering towards digital formats and distribution. Meanwhile, many Western societies have ageing populations, where older adults are less digitally active than the population at large. This, combined with the fact that the news media are crucial in providing information and fostering engagement and cohesion, means that the news consumption of older adults deserves scholarly attention. Based on national representative surveys, this article analyses the use of traditional and digital news among people aged 66 to 85 between 2014 and 2018. The findings show that the overall reading of newspapers is decreasing among pensioners of all ages, whereas radio and television news both have rather stable audience shares. Despite the overall decline of newspaper reading, the reading of digital newspapers is becoming more common, and digital newspapers seem, to some extent, to have replaced printed newspapers. Concerning factors explaining digital news consumption among the 65+ group, general Internet habits, sex, and political interest are shown to be the most important. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T18:32:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cfddab01eddd47368b225b3d2087e2df |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2001-5119 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T18:32:21Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordicom Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-cfddab01eddd47368b225b3d2087e2df2023-08-02T08:15:13ZengSciendoNordicom Review2001-51192020-12-0141216317710.2478/nor-2020-0021Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumptionBergström Annika0Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg, SwedenMedia structure is rapidly steering towards digital formats and distribution. Meanwhile, many Western societies have ageing populations, where older adults are less digitally active than the population at large. This, combined with the fact that the news media are crucial in providing information and fostering engagement and cohesion, means that the news consumption of older adults deserves scholarly attention. Based on national representative surveys, this article analyses the use of traditional and digital news among people aged 66 to 85 between 2014 and 2018. The findings show that the overall reading of newspapers is decreasing among pensioners of all ages, whereas radio and television news both have rather stable audience shares. Despite the overall decline of newspaper reading, the reading of digital newspapers is becoming more common, and digital newspapers seem, to some extent, to have replaced printed newspapers. Concerning factors explaining digital news consumption among the 65+ group, general Internet habits, sex, and political interest are shown to be the most important.https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0021news consumptionolder adultsrepresentative surveyreplacementcomplementarity |
| spellingShingle | Bergström Annika Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption Nordicom Review news consumption older adults representative survey replacement complementarity |
| title | Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption |
| title_full | Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption |
| title_fullStr | Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption |
| title_short | Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption |
| title_sort | exploring digital divides in older adults news consumption |
| topic | news consumption older adults representative survey replacement complementarity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0021 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bergstromannika exploringdigitaldividesinolderadultsnewsconsumption |