Like last year we asked all our respondents to select their five most important types of news. Once again we see significant country-based variation.
Regional news is most important in Germany, reflecting the way the media and politics have traditionally been structured. Local news matters more in a vast country like the United States where city newspapers and local TV stations have become a core part of the media diet.
Americans show most interest in economic news along with the Japanese. The British, Finns, and Brazilians show least interest in political news. Italians and Spanish are interested in arts and culture news while our sample from urban Brazil is deeply interested in health and education, as well as science and technology.
Interest in types of news by country
Scroll data area to see more
| UK | Germany | Spain | Italy | France | Denmark | Finland | USA | Urban Brazil | Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News about the country | 71% | 67% | 63% | 59% | 64% | 67% | 76% | 57% | 66% | 52% |
| International news | 49% | 64% | 45% | 49% | 52% | 63% | 55% | 39% | 41% | 43% |
| Local news about my town or city | 46% | 47% | 42% | 45% | 37% | 40% | 48% | 57% | 47% | 31% |
| News about my region | 38% | 51% | 42% | 38% | 41% | 26% | 47% | 31% | 12% | 33% |
| Business and financial news | 21% | 17% | 13% | 15% | 15% | 21% | 12% | 20% | 29% | 26% |
| News about the economy | 39% | 29% | 38% | 33% | 27% | 35% | 31% | 46% | 34% | 44% |
| Entertainment and celebrity news | 17% | 15% | 14% | 13% | 13% | 12% | 16% | 15% | 22% | 24% |
| Fun/weird news | 15% | 14% | 18% | 21% | 22% | 18% | 14% | 16% | 15% | 28% |
| Health and education news | 28% | 30% | 37% | 38% | 31% | 29% | 27% | 28% | 57% | 30% |
| Arts and culture news | 12% | 9% | 19% | 24% | 15% | 15% | 14% | 10% | 27% | 15% |
| Sports news | 29% | 28% | 35% | 29% | 25% | 27% | 27% | 20% | 30% | 28% |
| News about the country’s politics | 37% | 51% | 40% | 54% | 45% | 59% | 30% | 46% | 37% | 52% |
| Science and technology news | 25% | 27% | 33% | 35% | 28% | 31% | 31% | 28% | 43% | 26% |
Q2: Which of the following types of news is most important to you? Please choose up to five.
Base: All markets 2014 – UK: 2082; Germany: 2063; Spain: 2017; Italy: 2010; France: 1946; Denmark: 2036; Finland: 1520; USA: 2197; Urban Brazil: 1015; Japan: 1973
Looking at an aggregated view of our entire sample of almost 19,000 people we can see that many news topics are heavily gender specific – and these are universal across countries. Men prefer sports news by a margin of almost three to one compared to women but for celebrity news it is the other way round. Men are more interested in business news; women access more education, health, and local news.
Gender differences across different types of news – all countries
Q2. Which of the following types of news is most important to you? Please choose up to five Base All 2014 – 18858
Weird news
This year we introduced a new category of ‘fun or weird’ news. In many countries there has traditionally been an amusing item at the end of a news bulletin or included prominently within a print newspaper but in the digital age this type of news has blossomed, encouraged by sharing of fun pictures and videos through social media sites.
Unlike entertainment and celebrity news, which is mainly driven by women under 35, fun/weird news is appreciated by both men and women. Around a quarter (24%) of 18–24 males and a third of 18–24 women (36%) said it was one of their five most important types of news.
Fun news compared by age and gender – all countries
Q2. Which of the following types of news is most important to you? Please choose up to five. Showing fun/weird news Base All – 18858
Celebrity news compared by age and gender – all countries
Q2. Which of the following types of news is most important to you? Please choose up to five. Showing celebrity news Base All – 18858
There is a strong correlation between these groups and socially driven sites like Buzzfeed and Upworthy where such material is often originated or shared. These new sites have pioneered new formats of fun news including lists, animated gifs (fun moving pictures), and games. By contrast, popular newspapers and their websites (in the UK) have mainly continued to satisfy interest for more straightforward entertainment and celebrity news, although they too have been experimenting with new formats.