PEOPLE ARE WATCHING news on TV and consuming news online far more since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic than they were before.

That’s according to a survey from Amárach on behalf of DHR Communications of 1,607 people across the country. 

The survey said that 58% of adults are tuning into news more often than before, with 63% those aged 35-44 reporting tuning in more. While 29% of people saying they’re tuning in the same amount as before, 14% say they’re tuning into news less since the crisis began. 

The first confirmed case of Covid-19 in Ireland was on 29 February.

Cases steadily rose in subsequent weeks leading to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announcing the decision to shut down schools and colleges on 12 March. In the weeks that followed, more stringent were introduced and the first lifting of these has only begun this week. 

In early March, TheJournal.ie began its project to debunk misinformation related to Covid-19 that was being spread across social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter and also through WhatsApp.

We’ve been fact-checking dubious claims surrounding the pandemic for the past two months – from the army on red alert in March to lists of when businesses could re-open in April. It has also included debunking the claim that researchers “invented” the coronavirus in 2015 to showing why Leo Varadkar hadn’t been tweeting about the Houseparty app. 

The data from DHR/Amárach shows that 38% of adults say they’ve been using WhatsApp more as a source of news since the onset of the crisis. This is higher than the number who say they use Facebook (13%) and Twitter (13%) more for news now. 

For online news, 46% of adults say they use such sources more for news now while 42% say they use it the same and 5% say they’ve been using it less. For newspapers, 27% of people say they’re using them more as a source of news now while 44% say they’re using it the same. 

Television has seen a slightly bigger surge with 47% of people are using it more as a source of news during the Covid-19 crisis, while 39% of people are using it the same amount.

When it comes to radio, 17% of people are turning to their local stations more for news while 23% are doing the same for national radio. 

While most people haven’t changed the media channels where they get their news (79%), 21% of people have changed which news source they consult since the start of the crisis.