People of color, older folx and high school grads do!
We recently saw a revealing report from the Pew Research Center that shows that people of color, older adults and people with high school degrees or less are the most reliable consumers of local media. Black and Hispanic readers/viewers/listeners consume local news at much higher rates than whites, who make up only about a quarter of those following local news "very closely."
Looking at how these groups get their local news, TV broadcasts win among white, Black and Hispanic news consumers, while online sources outpace TV among folks under 50 and those with at least some college education. Most age groups that consume local news online are actually getting it from media outlet websites rather than on social media – those under 30 are about evenly split between media outlet sites and social media.
So what does this mean for you? If you're one of our clients seeking to reach communities of color and younger voters, we think there are some takeaways here. Earned media is a reliable way to reach a third of all adults, but especially the 46% Black and 34% Hispanic consumers of local media. Even in 2019, TV rules among most of our audiences, with Black viewers being particularly loyal. And even Millennial and Gen Z voters/activists will likely see mainstream media stories on their phones, linked via social media.
The key to successful communications these days is to have a multi-pronged approach – but it's always good to see what the data can tell us about audiences and targeting. So go forth and pitch local reporters!