BBC WORLD NEWS RESEARCH REVEALS THAT 7 OUT OF 10 PEOPLE ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WORLD EVENTS THAN EVER BEFORE

Media Brief

Mumbai, June 10, 2015

India tops global poll for increased concern about global issues (84%) and use of global news coverage for making decision about how to protect family (58%)

Study also shows that more than three quarters of Indians feel that news from other parts of the world is more relevant to them now than in the past

Terrorism, the environment and health are biggest issues for Indians. Over two thirds in India say they discuss international news with friends and family. More than half of Indians have turned to social media to read more about news stories

BBC World News today announced the findings of a new global survey* into changing attitudes towards international affairs. The study showed that in India, 84% of people are more concerned about world events now than they have ever been before. The figure was the highest of all countries surveyed and well above the global average of 69%.

On average, in the countries polled, the main areas of concern were news stories about terrorism (70%), war/conflict (59%), health (55%) and the environment (52%). Terrorism was the main concern in five of the eight countries, including India, where 71% of people surveyed saying it is something they are concerned about. People from India were more likely than any of the other nations polled to be concerned about the environment (62%). Health (63%), corruption (60%) and human rights (52%) also scored strongly in the country. Only 1% of respondents in India said they were not concerned about any global news stories.

Nearly two thirds of respondents globally (64%) said that news stories from other parts of the world felt more relevant to them than they had in the past. In India this rose to more than three quarters (76%).

Globally, the study suggests that global news plays an important role in making people feel informed about what’s going on in the world (68%) and understanding it (62%). It shows that Indians feel particularly strongly about the importance of global news, with figures considerably higher than the global average – 73% and 70% respectively.

Globalisation is driving interest and behavioural change, with more than half of those surveyed globally saying that they pay more attention to global news (55%) and that they discuss international news with friends and family as a result of seeing global news stories (58%). Again, India polled higher with 69% saying they had spoken to friends and family about a global news story, considerably higher than the all market average.

Across all markets, around a third of people (36%) use global news coverage to make decisions about how to protect their family but, in India, this rose to more than half (58%), which was more than any other country surveyed. Globally, around a quarter (28%) find it useful for making financial choices but almost half (46%) of Indians use it for this purpose.

Globally, over a quarter (26%) said that they have given advice to others as a result of seeing coverage of global stories but the figure was almost double (51%) in India.

52% of Indians said they have turned to social media to read about news stories, compared to a global average of just 38%.

Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News Ltd, which owns BBC World News and BBC.com/news, 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.

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Rujuta Deshmukh

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Email: rdeshmukh@perfectrelations.com