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Research / Insights on current and emerging industry topics

People think reader interest should drive content for social and traditional media

May 20, 2016 | By Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN@michellemanafy

Thirty-one percent of registered voters said “reader interest” should determine what news stories show up on social media platforms, while 11% say editors should pick what’s visible to users. It is interesting to note that consumers have similar views when it comes to what they want from traditional media outlets according to a poll conducted by Morning Consult.

Only 15% think editors should pick what gets covered at traditional media outlets while 26% believe that reader interest should be the top driver of news at traditional media outlets.

However, the results differ when it comes to what respondents think goes on behind the scenes at both traditional media outlets and social media companies. More than a third of those polled think that traditional outlets primarily use editor judgment to determine coverage, while 23% think social media companies do the same. Only 13% think traditional outlets use reader interest dictate coverage and 20% believe that is the case at social media platforms.

Morning Consult also explored how people feel about social sites controlling what they see as well as their perception of the government’s role in monitoring social media as a distribution platform. The poll was conducted from May 13-15, 2016, among a national sample of 2000 registered voters.

MorningConsultSM

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