Local News Topics People Care Most About
In my last blog, I addressed who was and who wasn’t live streaming local news. However, we know that local news is still very important. So let’s look at who is interested in news on a local level and why.
On April 25th, CivicScience launched the following question, “On a local level, are you interested in …” with six different options as yes/no questions, all of which collected over 2,000 responses each over approximately a 3-day period.
For my purposes today, I will look into only those who answered “yes.” The results may surprise you. Here we go… (results are weighted to U.S adults)
On a local level, are you interested in…
….Breaking news, such as crimes and fires?
Of all of the questions, this one elicited the highest “yes” response (64% answered “yes”/36% answered “no”). So to all those constantly promoting “Breaking News” or “You heard it here first,” congrats, the branding works.
So for the “yes” responses:
- 56% are women
- 72% are 35+ (now before you think most of that must be over 55, think again. The bigger portion of that 72% are in the 35-54 age bracket at 38%)
- 59% make over $50K
- 49% have a college degree
- 44% live in the suburbs
- 38% don’t have children (35% are parents and only 27% are grandparents)
…Regular daily updates such as weather, traffic, etc.?
Overall, 54% said “yes,” regular daily updates are important to them, and 46% said “no.” So just over half of the people watch the news for information that can impact their clothing choices and the route they decide to take to work.
Who are the people that feel this is important:
- 57% are women
- 54% are over the age of 35
- 58% have household incomes over $50K
- 50% have a college degree
- 45% live in the suburbs
- 38% don’t have children (38% are parents and only 24% are grandparents)
Now moving on to the things that are NOT interesting to people.
On a local level, are you interested in…
…Sports news?
69% say “NO.” Perhaps there are so many places they can get the exact sport or team news they desire, local coverage of sports is not worth it to them.
…Lifestyle, entertainment, and events news?
A whopping 70% say “NO.” Again, maybe most of this is covered through personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.
…Local Politics
BIG “NO” at 71%. People are just not interested in local politics which is interesting because this is directly related to taxes, schools, roads, and pretty much everything else that impacts our community.
In summary: The two big reasons people are interested in news on a local level are for breaking news, like crimes and fires, and daily traffic and weather updates . Most of those interested are women over the age of 35 that have a college degree, have household incomes over $50,000, and live in the suburbs.