How and Why People Consume News: Studying News Use and Its Enablers in Context of Media Repertoires

Abstract

In today's complex digitized media landscape, understanding how people interact with news is crucial. This study aims to provide a deeper understanding of people’s news use patterns by studying them in the context of their media repertoires. Specifically, we analyze whether news use occupies a prominent (i.e., the dominance of news within one’s overall media use) and/or diverse (i.e., encompassing a wide range of platforms, devices, and sources) role within people’s media repertoires. We also explore which personal or contextual factors enable or hinder the prominence and diversity of news use. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we conducted a survey (n = 2309) and interviews (n = 46) to identify different media repertoires, news use patterns and news use enablers. We found six media repertoires, two of which were primarily news-oriented (News Omnivores and Traditionalists), and two of which demonstrated diverse news use (News Omnivores and Multimedia Masters). Moreover, nine categories of news use enablers were identified, which help explain the role of news use within a media repertoire. This study provides insights into the interplay of news use and broader media routines and highlights the importance of considering media repertoires to better understand audience engagement with news.