Nieuwsconsumptie in een digitaal tijdperk

In recent years, the Dutch media landscape changed drastically. Mobile devices and mobile internet made their entry, and people became increasingly accustomed to have access to information at any time, any place. But do people use these mobile devices to ‘consume’ news? This thesis is about news consumption in the digital era, and gives insight in the media which people use to consume their news. The thesis also shows which media people find valuable for news in the form of headlines, and news in the form of background information. The factors which possibly play a part in the process of choosing a news medium, are also discussed. In this thesis, the results of different age groups are compared. For this thesis, a quantitative research and a qualitative research were conducted. In the quantitative research, 537 Dutch people in the age of 14 to 65 were interviewed in an online survey. The results of the survey give insight in the media people use and the media people find valuable to consume their news. It also gives insight in the time people spend on the consumption of news, and the degree to which people find news consumption important. For the qualitative research, 12 Dutch people in the age of 14 to 34 and 45 to 65 years old, were interviewed. The interviews give insight in the motivation of people; which media do they use to consume their news, and why do they use these media? What makes certain media valuable? And which factors affect the choice for a certain medium the most? The results show that people find the consumption of news important; 43 percent of the respondents of the quantitative research spend thirty minutes to two hours per day on news consumption. For news in the form of headlines and background information, people use the same media. The television remains the most used and most valuable news medium, although the role of the internet increases. When studying the most used media top-10, it is visible that people in the age of 14 to 24 already find the computer a more valuable news medium than the television; for them, the television comes second. In the older age groups, its visa versa. Especially the youngest age groups consume a large part of their news on the internet; something which possibly indicates a shift. Yet, Dutch people remain quite traditional; next to the television, the newspaper and the radio are often used and deemed valuable. New media, like the smartphone and the tablet, are barely used to consume news. The people who use new mobile devices the most, are young adults. For people in the age of 14 to 34, the factor ‘time’ contributes most to the choice for a news medium; daily activities are highly influential to this decision, and decide not only which medium they use, but also if they consume news at all. For 45 to 65 year olds, both factors ‘time’ and ‘space’ play an important role.