News

Consumer confidence is rising amid gloomy economic news – here’s what that means and why it matters

Consumer confidence is rising amid gloomy economic news – here’s what that means and why it matters: Photomika-com/Shutterstock People’s confidence in the UK’s economic outlook improved towards the end of 2023, despite continuing to battle a cost-of-living crisis. Although it has strengthened over the year to December, “consumer sentiment” as this confidence is called, is …

Four tips for a healthy news diet in 2024, from an expert in media psychology

Four tips for a healthy news diet in 2024, from an expert in media psychology: DimaBerlin/Shutterstock The start of the new year brings inevitable pressure to start fresh, with new hobbies, exercise regimes and healthy diets. But there is one diet you may not have thought of improving this year: your media and news consumption. …

Four good news climate stories from 2023

Four good news climate stories from 2023: We don’t want to give you the wrong idea: things are bad. Antarctic ice sheets are melting, the fossil fuel lobby was everywhere at the COP talks, and even solutions like electric cars have their problems. And that just covers the past few weeks of this newsletter. But …

As Lachlan Murdoch takes over from his father he may need to reset News Corp’s relations with Donald Trump

As Lachlan Murdoch takes over from his father he may need to reset News Corp’s relations with Donald Trump: As Rupert Murdoch hands over the reins of News Corp and Fox to his son Lachlan, there is an opportunity to rebuild the relationship between the family’s media empire and former US president Donald Trump. This …

Should the media tell you when they use AI to report the news? What consumers should know

Should the media tell you when they use AI to report the news? What consumers should know: Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the media landscape, both for news organisations and consumers. Applications such as ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing AI are creating new possibilities to assist in writing and researching the news, but these also raise …

Community radio: young South Africans are helping shape the news through social media

Community radio: young South Africans are helping shape the news through social media: The number of South African internet users has nearly doubled in the past decade. One 2023 study of 45 developed countries suggests that South Africans even lead the world when it comes to the amount of time spent in front of screens, …

People experiencing news fatigue are less likely to be voters

People experiencing news fatigue are less likely to be voters: Shutterstock/Shyntartanya In a comprehensive analysis of news consumption across the globe, a recent report by Reuters concluded that “interest in news continues to decline, fuelling disengagement and selective news avoidance”. In the 46 countries surveyed in the report, public interest in news has dropped significantly …

Israel-Gaza conflict: when social media fakes are rampant, news verification is vital

Israel-Gaza conflict: when social media fakes are rampant, news verification is vital: As news of Palestinian militant group Hamas launching a deadly attack on Israel and Israel’s threat of retaliation began to filter across news networks and social media platforms, a wave of misinformation and fake videos rose alongside. In a “tech-first” society, it is …

Local journalism: why a tiny news operation could inspire a different approach and is attracting big name support

Local journalism: why a tiny news operation could inspire a different approach and is attracting big name support: It started as a one-person operation, funded by personal savings and based in a bedroom, with a mission to provide a new format for local news in Manchester, and now The Mill is attracting £350,000 of funding …

Edwardian local press invented the ‘middlebrow’ with a lively mix of local news, reviews and fiction

Edwardian local press invented the ‘middlebrow’ with a lively mix of local news, reviews and fiction: Our First Tiff by Robert Walker Macbeth (1878). Walker Art Gallery As the provincial press has declined in Britain, so too has local arts and cultural criticism. In the 19th and early 20th century, regional newspapers regularly published reviews …

Mobile money in Ghana isn’t all good news: customers are paying a hefty price

Mobile money in Ghana isn’t all good news: customers are paying a hefty price: Mobile operators also offer money sending and receiving services Wikimedia Commons/Flickr Fintechs, notably mobile money, have transformed banking and finance in developing and emerging economies in Africa and beyond. Financial technology (better known as fintech) is used to describe new technology …