A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46
ATTITUDES TO NEWS PRESENTATION
Confidential
New Series Regional G.1
An inquiry made by the Wartime Social Survey for the Ministry of Information May, 1942
Interviewing was carried out during the period April 30th to May 13th
Is there anything in particular you would like to have more news about?
The table given below shows that 44.6% of those answering “Yes” say that they want more “real or true news”, or “more about the war in general” . It is possible that some of the informants answering “No” might have given this answer if they had not taken note of the words “anything in particular” in the question. Some interviewers had the impression that this was the case. This point should be borne in mind in considering the detailed results.
Men showed a greater desire for more news than women.
Breakdown into Age Groups shows little significant difference in replies, except that the Over 65 Group are less desirous of having more news than people in other age groups.
|
Under 20
% |
20-30
% |
30-45
% |
45-65
% |
Over 65
% |
Total
% |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 22.8 | 26.2 | 25.1 | 23.9 | 10.1 | 76.8 |
| No | 77.2 | 73.8 | 74.9 | 76.1 | 89.9 | 23.2 |
| Sample | 171 | 373 | 685 | 561 | 217 |
There are some differences between different occupation groups. Clerical workers and those in the managerial and professional groups have a relatively high proportion wanting more news, whereas housewives and those in the retired and unoccupied group show the opposite tendency.
|
Clerical
% |
Managerial & Professional
% |
Housewives
% |
Retired & Unoccupied
% |
Total
% |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 44.1 + 8.8 | 41.2 + 8.8 | 14.9 | 12.1 + 5.6 | 23.2 |
| No | 56.9 | 58.8 | 85.1 | 87.9 | 76.8 |
| Sample | 136 | 131 | 626 | 132 |
Other occupational groups show no statistically significant differences.
There is a slight tendency for people living in urban districts to want more news as compared with those living in rural districts.
Interviewers were asked to record the actual words of those informants who said that there were some things they wanted more news about. Replies are classified as follows:
It should be noted that the percentages given above are not percentages of the whole sample but only of those wanting more news, that is to say, 23.2% of the sample.
Men were more inclined than women to mention more than one thing.
|
Men
% |
Women
% |
Total
% |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| More true or real news | 31.3 | 18.5 | 25.5 |
| More about war in general | 20.8 | 15.3 | 18.5 |
| Home Front (miscellaneous) | 13.9 | 10.2 | 13.4 |
| British Forces overseas | 11.2 | 16.2 | 13.2 |
| Sample | 259 | 216 |
Analysis into Age Groups shows some differences:
On the whole are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the B.B.C News Bulletins?
The answer “No Wireless” was only recorded where this was given as a reason for expressing no opinion.
Men and women have the same proportions answering “Satisfied” but men have a higher proportion than women answering “Dissatisfied” and women have a higher proportion indifferent and with no wireless.
|
Men
% |
Women
% |
|
|---|---|---|
| Satisfied | 64.3 | 64.8 |
| Dissatisfied | 24.6 | 13.5 |
| Indifferent | 6.7 | 11.5 |
| No Wireless | 4.4 | 10.2 |
| Sample | 867 | 1151 |
It should be noted that some of those who possessed no wireless may have expressed an opinion as a result of hearing the news on other people’s wirelesses. This may account for the difference between men and women. It has been shown that men were more ready to express opinions on news than women.
There is a slight tendency for people in the under 20 Age Group to have a more favourable attitude than those in other groups. The over 65 Age Group has a high proportion without wirelesses. Otherwise there is little significant difference between groups.
Breakdown into occupational groups, urban and rural districts, and region, shows no significant differences.
Breakdown of these answers into sex and age groups show no statistically significant differences.