Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart argue on “The Rest is Politics” agreed that the press have enough news stories from outside the UK. Find Out Now asked 2,213 UK adults if they think global news stories are under-reported in the media.

Key points

• Overall, 20.8% agree that there aren’t enough international news stories Vs. 25.3% who disagree. However, a plurality (32.4%) appear not to have an opinion on Britain’s exposure to international news. 
• Remain voters want more international news (1.8% Net Agree) Vs. Leave voters (15.7% Net Disagree).
• Most (70.6%) have not heard about the economic downturn in China.

Analysis

Young and Old

One of the main disparities in the data is that knowledge of the Chinese economic downturn (a major international event) is not as widespread among those aged 18-24 (20.7%) vs. those over 65 (38.6%). However, 18-24-year-olds are hungrier for global news stories in general, with 26.1% saying that the UK media doesn’t cover international news. 17.5% of those 65 and over hold the same view. 

Leave Vs. Remain voters

Remain and Leave voters have a similar share on how much they “strongly” agree at 5.7% and 6% respectively. However, when “somewhat agree” responses are included, Remain voters are far more prone to believing that global news is not covered enough in the British press. 26.2% of Remain voters agree with the state to some degree compared to 16.4% leave voters who have the same view. The accusation that some Brexiteers have an “isolationist” view of Britain’s place in the world appears to be validated by our findings in this poll.

Gap in Knowledge

The most important takeaway from the data above is the sheer lack of knowledge of China’s economic downturn caused by excess debt in its property markets. Of those asked, 29.4% claimed to know about this turndown with 70.6% saying they don’t know. This striking statistic shows a large gulf in the British public’s understanding of key international trends. The economic downturn of a country on the other side of the world is not, at first glance, important to the UK. However, with UK exports to China amounting to £38bn in 2022, making it the UK’s 4th largest trading partner, the impact a downturn in China has on the UK economy is substantial. 

View the full tables here:

To what extent do you agree with the following statement? “The British media does not cover news stories from outside Britain enough.”

Have you heard about the economic woes in China relating to its property markets?

Read more blogs about Find Out Now’s UK Opinion polling

Looking to do your UK opinion polling?

Book a demo with Find Out Now

Read Find Out Now’s methodology and FAQ’s

Photo by AbsolutVision on Usplash