According to an Oxford study on global digital media, a negative pandemic-focused news environment has led to people losing interest in the news.
Student: “You can get breaking news on your phone these days.”
Student: “There are lots of human interest stories on Instagram.”
Most young people get their news on their phones or through social media, and acceptance levels are high for entertainment and sports news. According to an Oxford study, interest in news has fallen worldwide due to a "depressing" news environment centered on the pandemic and war. In Taiwan, there are many news sources but 84 percent of people get their news online.
Kung Ling-shin, Journalism Department Chair, Min Chuan University: “People use 3C products more these days, so they still trust the news and the credibility is still there. However, the form of the news that is being digested has changed. That's the root of this trend.”
The report also highlighted a trend wherein the more credible a media outlet is, the lower its usage rate. The four outlets with the highest credibility rankings were Commonwealth Magazine, Business Weekly, Economic Daily News and PTS.
Jason Ho, Associate Prof., Dept. of Radio, Television and Film, Shih Hsin University: “PTS has always had a high credibility rating. However, is PTS' news format popular with younger demographics in the internet era? PTS is also known for the quality of its dramas and it has its fan base. However, these formats are contained and can't be carried over to other types of programming.”
The report found that PTS News had a credibility score of 53 percent, which was one percentage point higher than last year. CTS News' score, meanwhile, rose to 40 percent. The offline utilization rates of both outlets rose from last year, but both their online utilization rates were low. One expert says Taiwan Broadcasting System needs to put more effort into not only news content, but also expand its online and social media reach to keep up with the times.
學生說：「因為現在有手機呀，就很方便，新聞一發生，然後可能過幾分鐘，就會出現。」
另一名學生也說：「IG會發比較那種大眾的新聞，那我就會去看。」
一問到年輕學子，如何獲得新聞資訊，他們幾乎都表示，習慣利用手機上網，或是從社群媒體獲得，而且對娛樂、體育等軟性新聞的接受度高。而根據英國牛津大學公布的一份全球數位媒體調查，顯示因為疫情、戰爭等令人沮喪的消息充斥，讓人們逐漸對新聞失去興趣；報告也顯示，台灣民眾接收新聞資訊來源，以網路、電視及社群媒體為大宗，其中，網路更高達八成四。
銘傳新聞系主任孔令信指出：「我們現在所謂3C產品，還有相關的這個東西，他們用的比較多，所以他們對於新聞還是有相信，所以有個信任度還是在，但是呢他們看的，閱讀新聞、 或者是收視新聞的方式的時候，已經換了一個載體，所以才會有出現這種狀況。」
報告也顯示，台灣的媒體品牌信任度，天下、商周及經濟日報為前三名，公視則是第四名，所有電視媒體第一，雖然民眾普遍轉向網路、社群媒體，對傳統媒體的信任度，仍舊比較高，突顯出「高信任度、低使用率」的矛盾。
世新廣電系兼任副教授何吉森認為：「公視信任度很高，這個都一直維持著，公視新聞做出來的格式，是不是符合現在的網路時代年輕人的喜愛度，公視的戲劇做的有一些口碑，有一些粉絲在追，但是這個東西沒辦法把他外溢到其他的類型的節目。」
報告指出，公視新聞的品牌信任度為53%，比去年增加一個百分點；華視新聞的品牌信任度則為40%。公、華視新聞信任度和離線使用度，都比去年提高，但網路使用度排名都偏低。學者建議，公廣集團除了要努力經營新聞內容外，加速網路和社群媒體的數位傳播，也是當務之急。