20 July 2023
The latest issue of Permanent TSB’s Reflecting Ireland series, published this week, explores our behaviour when it comes to news media, the impact of news on our mood, our social media habits and the impact of social media on our wellbeing. Produced by Permanent TSB in partnership with Core Research and BehaviourWise, the findings reveal it is very important to us to stay well-informed and up to date, and that we trust traditional media channels (TV, radio, newspapers) most to provide news that is accurate, fair and balanced. Watching, listening to or reading the news can have a negative impact on our emotions, particularly for women, and this can lead to a disengagement from news media. The research also shows that for younger people, social media channels are a main source of news. In a digital world, the lines around what constitutes a news source are blurring. While younger people are more likely to keep informed through social media, they are also more likely to fact-check news items they come across. Time spent on social media is found to impact on our emotional state, with 1 in 3 users reporting a negative impact on their mental wellbeing, rising to 1 in 2 among young people.