Nearly half (48%) of Black American news viewers said that the news media does a poor or average job portraying the Black community, according to the latest Horowitz report FOCUS Black: State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Consumer Engagement 2023. The study also finds substantial room for improvement when it comes to how communities of color, in general, are portrayed, the number of Black reporters on air, and the on-air diversity overall of the news they consume:
The new Horowitz study explores the impact of diversity in advertising and media content on brand perceptions among Black consumers. Nearly seven in 10 (69%) Black Americans surveyed say that it has a positive impact on their perception of brands when ads include diverse people, lifestyles, and cultures.
Importance of Multicultural Media Sources…
Moreover, the study underscores the continued importance and value of multicultural media sources, even as the media industry continues to consolidate. Six in 10 (60%) Black consumers say that when brands support Black-owned and/or Black-targeted media, it has a positive impact on their buying decisions. Similarly, Horowitz’s FOCUS Latinx: State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Consumer Engagement 2023 study, released last month, found that over half (53%) of Hispanic/Latinx audiences appreciate when brands show their support of Hispanic/Latinx media by investing in advertising on those platforms.
“Representation has always been important for Black audiences from an inclusion standpoint,” notes Adriana Waterston, EVP and Insights & Strategy Lead for Horowitz Research, a division of M/A/R/C Research. “Now that the news media has become so polarized and the negative impact of what news brands say and show about different communities has become so evident, consumers are demanding that the news media be accountable for how it represents Black Americans, as well how it represents people from other marginalized communities.”
JADE Score: Guidance for Local News Managers
In response to the need to provide news media organizations with the tools to improve the quantity and caliber of their on-air diversity, Horowitz Research developed the JADE™ Score (Journalism Audit for Diversity and Equity), an innovative proprietary audit tool that provides guidance for local news station managers, news directors, and journalists to shape their daily decisions around what stories are told on the news and how they are being told. Just this week, Quirk’s Media – the industry’s most respected provider of content, events, and resources for marketing researchers – announced that Horowitz is a finalist for the Marketing Research and Insights Excellence Award in the Nonprofit/Social Enterprise Research category for its JADE™ Score Methodology.
The full FOCUS Black: State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Consumer Engagement 2023 report explores different segments of Black consumers and their attitudes towards hot-button topics to help media companies, advertisers, advertising/marketing agencies, and PR companies make smart decisions about Black marketing and outreach. The survey was published in August 2023 among 555 Black adults 18+. Data have been weighted to ensure that the results are representative of the overall Black U.S. population. The report is available in the total market, FOCUS Latinx, FOCUS Black, and FOCUS Asian editions.
CONTACT:
For more information about the FOCUS Black: State of Media, Entertainment & Tech: Consumer Engagement 2023 report or any other Horowitz syndicated study, visit https://www.horowitzresearch.com/syndicated-research/reports/. To schedule an interview with an analyst, request specific data, or find out more about the JADE™ Score methodology, please contact nicolec@horowitzresearch.com at 347-738-1574.
About Horowitz Research, division of M/A/R/C Research
Horowitz Research is a leading provider of consumer market research specializing in consumers and their relationships to media, content, and technology with a particular expertise in cultural insights among America’s Black, Latinx, Asian, LGBTQIA+, and Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. The company offers a full suite of à la carte syndicated reports as well as custom quantitative and qualitative consumer research for companies ranging from small start-ups to Fortune 500. M/A/R/C Research, a Texas-based research and insights firm, recently acquired Horowitz Research. For more information, visit www.horowitzresearch.com.
Pew Research Center: How Blacks Americans Engage in Local News
The Pew Research Center recently published a new analysis examining specifically how Black Americans engage with local news.
This analysis, based on a survey of 4,742 Black adults conducted from Feb. 22 to March 5, 2023, finds that 41% of Black adults say they extremely or fairly often get news and information from local news outlets, slightly higher than the shares who say the same about national news outlets (35%), social media sites (35%), or friends, family and acquaintances (33%).
Additional findings include:
Older Black adults are much more likely than younger people to hear news about their local community. Just over a third of Black Americans (36%) say they see or hear news coverage about their local community extremely or very often, while an additional 39% say they sometimes encounter local news. Additionally, Black adults ages 65 and older are twice as likely as those under 30 to see news coverage about their local community extremely or fairly often (46% vs. 23%).
Black Americans tend to express more positive views toward local news coverage. About half (48%) of Black adults say they have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the accuracy of news and information from local news outlets. This is slightly higher than the 44% who say the same about national news outlets and much higher than other sources of information such as friends and family (35%) or social media sites (18%). Additionally, among Black adults who see or hear news about their local community at least sometimes, 44% say that, on the whole, coverage of their community is very or somewhat fair – compared with just 12% who say it is very or somewhat unfair.
Most Black Americans say local journalists in their area are mostly in touch with their community. Black Americans are more likely to say local journalists are mostly in touch (58%) rather than out of touch (38%) with their local community. Those who say journalists in their area are mostly in touch with their local community are much more likely to see local coverage as very or somewhat fair.
Black Americans who feel connected to their community are more likely to consume local news – and to view it positively. Among those who say they feel extremely or very attached to their community, about half (52%) say they see or hear news coverage about their local community at least fairly often. That is twice the share among those who are not too or not at all attached to their local area (26%). Additionally, those who more frequently get news from local outlets are generally more inclined to say local news coverage is fair and that local journalists are in touch with their community.
Read the full analysis here: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/10/31/how-black-americans-engage-with-local-news/
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This report was funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Follow us on social media or subscribe to the Briefing, a weekly digest from Pew Research
