Following the news: Twitter and current affairs
Earlier this month a new international study unearthed fascinating insights into the changing ways we consume news. Now, in a two-part special, one of the report’s authors looks in-depth at the findings to reveal how Twitter is impacting newsbrands.
In recent years, Twitter has started to play an increasing role in news – from being a source for journalists, to providing the public with a way to comment on and interact with unfolding events.
Our recent research for the Reuters Institute of Journalism explored the relationship between Twitter, consumers and the news. Overall, we found that the majority of people on Twitter follow some form of news account – be it a newsbrand, breaking news account or journalist.
A large number of them follow all three. Of these three types of account, journalists are the most popular, suggesting people appreciate the opportunity to get closer to those who make and comment on the news.
Over two articles I will look at Twitter, newsbrands and journalists and how they interact when it comes to breaking news and developing stories. This first piece will examine the types of news accounts followed by the UK Twitter population.
Data from the Digital News Report 2014 confirms the importance of Twitter as a network for finding, spreading and discussing the news. Just under a quarter (24%) of our UK sample use Twitter each week and 12% have it as a news source, making the UK one of the biggest news markets on Twitter (behind only Spain on 21%).
These data also show that UK Twitter users are significantly more likely to check what’s new (or click and read a news story than users of other social networks like Facebook).
YouGov’s additional analysis tracking actual usage across a representative sample of Twitter users suggests that 64% of people on Twitter in the UK (c. 5.4 million) get news through one or more type of ‘news account’.
2.6 million follow a journalist, 2.2 million follow at least one breaking news account, and 1.9 million follow at least one general newsbrand. Among those who follow news on Twitter we found that:
– 48% follow a journalist
– Two in five (40%) follow a breaking news account
– Just over one in three (35%) follow a general newsbrand
However, it is a complex picture with lots of bleeding between the three groups. The Venn diagram below shows how the followers of different type of ‘news’ accounts overlap. Interestingly, the highest number on the chart is at its centre, with almost three in ten (29%) of those who follow at least one of these types of accounts actually following all three.
It is worth remembering that while all of these different types of accounts ostensibly perform different functions (breaking news feeds for events as they happen, journalists for analysis, and general newsbrands for promoting deeper reporting and driving engagement), the lines are often blurred.
BBC business correspondent Robert Peston, for example, frequently uses his account to break stories as well as to promote wider coverage and engage with his followers.
Source: YouGov social media analysis tool (SoMA)
Given the position of journalists as both breakers and analysts of news, it is not surprising that so many people follow them. Twitter has provided a unique way for users to get closer to journalists and 45% of those following at least one type of news account (c. 29% of all Twitter users) follow a journalist and one in five (22%) have a journalist as their only type of news content on the site.
It is clear from our analysis that while a lot of people follow both journalists and at least one type of news feed (either general or breaking), the demographic profile of these groups is slightly different.
Twitter users overall are evenly split by gender but are skewed towards younger people than the overall UK population. While all of the groups we analysed are older than typical Twitter users, it is particularly noticeable among those who follow journalists.
Additionally, journalist followers are more male while those who follow general newsbrands and breaking news accounts have a much broader appeal.
Behind the averages there are significant differences when we analyse specific accounts. Most (60%) of Times columnist Caitlin Moran’s following is female and the vast majority (70%) are aged 25-44 years old. By comparison, Jon Snow from Channel 4 News has a more male skewed audience (58%) with a slightly older audience profile.
There are also important differences in the make-up of journalist and news organisations’ Twitter accounts. On average, people who follow journalists follow seven journalists. Those who follow news organisations follow just three current affairs outlets and those who follow breaking news accounts follow two on average.
However, there are more accounts run by journalists than by news organisations. As a result, in total we see larger followings for news accounts than journalists; for instance, BBC Breaking has 9.45 million followers, the Guardian has 2.11 million followers compared to just 491,000 for the most-followed journalist (Caitlin Moran) in our list. (All figures here are worldwide, not just in the UK.)
Our research also shows that through searches and retweets from others, Twitter users are exposed to accounts and tweets in their time-line that they wouldn’t normally see.
Over two-thirds (68%) of people in our data have interacted with a journalist or media organisation that they don’t follow, through either a reply, favourite, or retweet. As a result, the influence of journalists and news organisations is more significant than the numbers around followers suggest
Online is opening up many more sources of news for consumers and some are making the most of this through sites like Twitter. However, in the cases we analysed it is clear that its reputation as a news source depends on the active participation of newsbrands, journalists and breaking news accounts.
Journalists have a particular affinity with Twitter as they can show personality, share more details about their work and interact with followers.
News organisations are less interactive and tend to operate more in broadcast mode – often linking through to further information and analysis. However, social media is not all about interactivity and the importance of trusted information sources remains paramount – even on Twitter.
Next time I will examine how two specific stories unfolded on Twitter through newsbrands, journalists, and breaking news accounts.
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Shaun Austin is director of media research at YouGov
Additional research by Hayley Millard and Arthur Blair.
This is an edited version of an essay that originally appeared in the 2014 Reuters Institute Digital News Report.