Younger demographic should be in RTE's sights if it's to survive

GROWING up in front of a television set, there were two catch cries in our house; ‘the news’ and ‘cartoons’.

The latter were a welcome respite for the young ones, a much appreciated alternative to the serious stuff.

From Tom and Jerry to The Flintstones, cartoons were great fun and a reliable way of placating a truculent child. The news, on the other hand, was for our parents.

Instead of today’s hourly bulletins and lots of choice when it comes to sources of news consumption, RTÉ was the only source, more or less revered going back to the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

I recall awful scenes on the news from the north as the Troubles raged. As a kid, I was scared of Ian Paisley and would regularly say that for as long as he was alive, there would never be peace in the north. He had bogeyman status in my world. I thought he was the most unreasonable, cross and miserable piece of work to ever grace the screen of our TV. Who knew that he’d cosy up to Martin McGuinness in his later years, mollified and easier to take?

These days, I catch the news whenever it suits me, on the go via my phone, in front of a laptop or TV. What used to be that sacred time – 9pm for the RTÉ news – is no longer loaded with significance.

As kids, we had to keep quiet while the likes of Charles Mitchell (I’m really ageing myself here) recounted the day’s news with immense gravity. Or, as we saw it, he droned on about tedious adult stuff like politics.

God, it was so boring for kids.

With maturity comes a desire to keep abreast of the news. But worryingly, according to the 2023 Digital News Report from Reuters, which surveys people from all over the world, the proportion of news consumers that avoid news remains close to all-time highs at 36% across markets.

There are those who try to periodically avoid all sources of news and then there are people trying to specifically restrict their news usage at particular times or for certain topics. 

That’s not exactly going to keep the public informed of all that’s happening in the world, both at home and abroad.

And who can blame folk for wanting to keep the news at a distance? Because it’s nearly always bad; whether it’s the latest update on climate change, the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, the lack of affordable housing in this country – oh, and the story that keeps on giving - RTÉ’s flagrant and wasteful spending of taxpayers’ money.

Irish people are still interested in the news, according to the report. But that’s on the decline. Just over half (52%) of those surveyed said they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ interested in news – a drop from 70% in 2021. But that year’s figure was unusually high given the enormous interest in Covid. We lapped up the statistics and instructions on how to live from the media.

Some 69% of Irish people aged 65-plus said they are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ interested in news. However, our young folk do not share this curiosity. In 2016, 53% of 18-24 year olds said they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ interested in news. This year, that figure has dropped dramatically to just 28%.

Social media is the source of news for 39% of young people. Hardly reliable, you might say.

Irish people are increasingly worried about fake news, misinformation and disinformation. Developments in AI make it more difficult to distinguish between what’s real and what is fabricated. But there’s reasonably welcome news for traditional news producers in this country. When it comes to trusting the news most of the time, 47% go along with that.

Obviously, the survey was carried out before the scandalous revelations from RTÉ. It found that the national broadcaster was the most trusted service at 71%.

What would be the response of people surveyed today?

RTÉ has a lot of work to do to win back the public’s trust. Some say it’s a busted flush. But it’s too big to fail. However, while clearly it speaks to an older demographic, surely RTÉ should be trying to win over young people – tomorrow’s potential audience?

News avoiders, who tend to be young, are more likely to say they’re interested in positive or solutions-based journalism and less interested in the news of the day.

It’s an area RTÉ could well tap into, looking at stories that affect the younger demographic such as housing and alternatives to the traditional heavily mortgaged semi-d.

There’s a wealth of stories out there that would appeal to the 18-24 demographic. RTÉ needs to be more engaged and farseeing if it’s to grow audiences of the future.