<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>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.</p>
</abstract>

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.

Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption

Department of Journalism, Media and Communication

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Exploring digital divides in older adults\u2019 news consumption"}

Media structure is rapidly steering towards digital formats and distribution. Meanwhile, many Western societies have ageing populations, where older adults are...

Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption

Published Online: Dec 01, 2020

Page range: 163 - 177

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0021

Keywords
news consumption, older adults, representative survey, replacement, complementarity

© 2020 Annika Bergström, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Exploring digital divides in older adults’ news consumption

Published Online: Dec 01, 2020

Page range: 163 - 177

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2020-0021

Keywordsnews consumption, older adults, representative survey, replacement, complementarity

© 2020 Annika Bergström, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
news consumption, older adults, representative survey, replacement, complementarity