Study: news deprivation is a threat to Swiss democracy

The number of "news-deprived people" - those who consume little or no news, and if they do, it is mainly via social media - has increased in Switzerland. Keystone-SDA

Fewer people in Switzerland are getting their daily information from traditional news media. Since 2009, the proportion of "news-deprived" people has almost doubled. Researchers at the University of Zurich say this as a fundamental problem for democracy.

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The proportion of news-deprived people – those who consume little or no news, and if they do, it is mainly via social media – has increased by 0.7 percentage points compared to the previous year, according to this year’s “Yearbook Quality of the Media” published by the Research Centre for the Public Sphere and Society (Fög) at the University of Zurich. According to the study, 46.4% of the Swiss population now belong to this group: an all-time high.

In the study published on Monday, the researchers also concluded that this large group of news deprived people has significantly less knowledge about both political and social issues than the rest of the population. Within this large group, the news deprived who consume no news whatsoever have the lowest level of knowledge. 

Social media is not enough

In a knowledge quiz, news-deprived respondents answered an average of 6.6 out of 16 political questions correctly. Of the eight news questions, they knew the answer to an average of 3.5. Those subgroups that consume news exclusively or predominantly via social media performed slightly better.

The Fög researchers also observed patterns in other factors relevant to democracy. For example, news-deprived people trust politics and the media less, participate less in the political process and feel less connected to democratic society. However, the researchers did not conclude that these results indicate a general rejection of democratic values.

AI profits from journalism

As part of the annual study, the Fög also analysed for the first time the data used by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots such as ChatGPT or Perplexity to answer questions on current topics. It concluded that at least two-thirds of the sources identified come from journalistic media. In some cases, media that block access to chatbots were also cited.

AI thus represents both an opportunity and a threat for journalism, the researchers say. It is noted that 87% of media professionals use AI tools for support. At the same time, “AI providers benefit greatly from journalistic content – without media houses receiving any compensation for this”, Fög director Mark Eisenegger said in a press statement.

The study also confirmed other long-term media trends. Although journalistic quality remained stable compared to the previous year, there were long-term declines in categorisation performance and geographical diversity. The financial situation of media organisations also remains tense, despite the fact that the public’s willingness to pay for online news has risen by five percentage points – the first time in four years.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

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