Hong Kong/London − BBC World News announced the findings of a new global survey into changing attitudes towards international affairs. The global study showed that an average 69% of people are more concerned about world events now than they have ever been before. In Hong Kong, this figure rose slightly to 73%, with more than two thirds (67%) of those polled in the territory agreeing that news stories from other parts of the world are more relevant to them now than ever before.
On average, of the countries polled, the main areas of concern were news stories about terrorism (70%), war/conflict (59%), health (55%) and the environment (52%). Hong Kong had different concerns – respondents had the strongest response to health (71%), followed by the global economy (64%) and terrorism (63%).
Globalisation is driving interest and behavioural change, with more than half of those surveyed globally (55%) saying that they pay more attention to global news than they have in the past and that they discuss international news with friends and family (58%).
The study revealed that global news plays an important role in making people feel informed about it. 69% of respondents in Hong Kong say global events play an important role in feeling informed, as well as in aiding the understanding of the world they live in (69%). However, while 60% pay more attention to global news stories as a result of seeing them, respondents from Hong Kong are more passive when it comes to conversation; they are 8% less likely than the global average to speak to family and friends about global news stories (51% Hong Kong vs 58% globally).
Overall, more than a third of people (36%) use global news to make decisions about how to protect their family and more than a quarter (28%) find it useful for making financial choices – a figure that rises to 38% in Hong Kong. A similar proportion globally (26%) said that they have given advice to others as a result of seeing coverage of global stories and 38% of people said they have turned to social media to read about news stories.
Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News Ltd, said, “These results show the increasing impact and relevance of news events to people across the world. At a time when many news providers are cutting their international coverage and opinion and propaganda are being touted as fact, audiences want to cut through the noise in search of information they can use to inform their understanding and decisions. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, access to accurate, impartial news, whether on TV, radio, online or social media, is more important than ever.”
Recent figures show that figures for the BBC’s international news services have grown across all three of its platforms – TV, radio and online have grown over the past year. BBC Global News Ltd’s audience has grown to 105 million with BBC World News TV’s up by 12 per cent, and bbc.com/news growing by 16 per cent. For the first time, television (148m) overtook radio (133m) as the most popular platform for BBC international news. The BBC World Service’s audience has increased by 10 per cent and now stands at 210m, with the biggest boost coming from new World Service TV news bulletins in languages other than English.
