Summary - The Dutch and the News
Use of news media via old and new channels
Original title: Nederlanders en nieuws
For a long time, the television and newspapers were the most prominent news sources in the Netherlands, but digitalisation and the rise of new media have caused major shifts in the media landscape. Based on a time use survey focusing on media (Media:Tijd 2015), the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) carries out research on how much the Dutch follow the news, which channels they use for this, and what differences can be observed between different sections of the population. The results show that traditional news media (watching the news on television at the time of broadcast, reading, printed newspapers, listening to news radio) are still used by many Dutch people, but that use of online news media (deferred watching of news programmes, reading digital newspapers, viewing news websites/apps) is growing in popularity. The distinction between users of traditional and online news is found to be related to a number of background characteristics, such as sex, age and education level. In addition to these demographic characteristics, this study also finds a relationship between use of online news media and affinity with technology and digital skills.