Initial Surge in News Use Around Coronavirus in the UK has been Followed by Significant Increase in News Avoidance

Abstract

In this RISJ Factsheet we examine news avoidance during the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. This is the third in a series of ten factsheets based on an ongoing online panel survey of a representative sample of the UK population, fielded from 7 May to 13 May 2020. We find that: (i) there has been a significant increase in news avoidance, with 22% saying they often or always actively try to avoid the news (up from 15% in mid-April), (ii) women (26%) are more likely to avoid news than men (18%), compounding existing gender inequalities in news use, (iii) the vast majority of those who always or often avoid news (86%), say they are trying to avoid COVID-19 news at least some of the time, with most primarily worried about the effect it has on their mood (66%).