Home > Advice for consumers > Media Literacy > Publications > Ofcom's Media Literacy Publications  > Nations and regions

Executive Summary

The promotion of media literacy is a new responsibility placed on Ofcom arising from Section 11 of the Communications Act 2003.

Ofcom’s definition of media literacy, developed after formal consultation with stakeholders, is ‘the ability to access, understand and create communications in a variety of contexts’. Media literacy gives people the confidence and knowledge to get the most out of the many media platforms that now exist.

Ofcom has carried out an audit of media literacy across the UK and in March 2006 published its first report, which details the audit’s findings across all UK adults. That report, Ofcom’s Media Literacy Audit: report on adult media literacy, is available at www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy.

This report focuses on results across the nations and English regions. Its purpose is to provide stakeholders with a range of information about levels of media literacy across the UK. It should be read in tandem with The Communications Market: Nations and Regions, published alongside this report, which examines availability, take-up and consumption of communications services across the UK.

Our audit provides detailed examination of the media habits and opinions of people living in the different nations of the UK, supplemented with indicative findings for the English regions.

There are a variety of different responses across the nations and regions in relation to different aspects of media literacy. That said, there are also a variety of possible demographic explanations for many of these differences, as set out in the Introduction. It is not the purpose of this audit to assign exact causal explanations of the particular responses of each nation, but rather to set out what these responses are as a comparative benchmark.

The audit as a whole looks at how UK adults and children access, understand and create communications, with Ofcom’s particular focus being on electronic communications. In this context, our media literacy definition of access is much wider than availability or take-up of the platforms. Rather, it focuses upon interest, awareness, usage and competence relating to each platform. Understanding relates to how content (such as television and radio programmes, internet websites, or mobile video and text services) is created, funded and regulated. Issues of availability and take-up are covered comprehensively in The Communications Market: Nations and Regions.

Some of the elements of this audit - such as attitudes towards the provision of news, or knowledge of content regulation – apply to traditional analogue television and radio as well as their newer digital counterparts. But for the most part, this audit focuses on the four main digital media platforms – not only digital television and digital radio, but also the internet and mobile phones - as these are the ones where there is most divergence between different groups within the UK in terms of understanding, take-up and usage.

Our key findings are:

Across the nations and regions

• Respondents in Scotland watch more television than the other nations of the UK (24.3 hours), and those in Northern Ireland the least (19.3 hours). Self-reported hours of radio listening are fairly constant across the UK with the exception of Northern Ireland where workplace/education listening is minimal compared to other nations. Across the UK, the average number of hours per week that internet users are online is 9.9 hours. People in London use the internet most frequently (13.5 hours). Mobile phone owners in Northern Ireland send more texts than the average for the UK (38 and 28 respectively), and those in London make more mobile phone calls (28 compared to 20).
• Users in Scotland report higher levels of confidence about using digital TV than the UK average. Those in Wales are more confident about using the internet, and those in Northern Ireland are more confident using mobile phones.
• Knowledge about the various types of content control varies across nations. Awareness of the television watershed is lower in Northern Ireland. Confidence in blocking computer viruses or email spam is greater in Scotland. Awareness of age verification systems on mobile phones is higher in Northern Ireland.
• People in England have the highest levels of knowledge of industry funding and regulation, and those in Wales and Northern Ireland among the lowest. People in South West England are also less likely to know about the various types of regulation and funding.
• General levels of concern about all four platforms are lower in Scotland than for the UK as a whole. Concerns about mobile phones are highest in England. Respondents in Northern Ireland are also less likely to say they are concerned about the internet. Respondents in London are more likely to be concerned about radio and the internet.
• People in Scotland and Northern Ireland are more likely to use newspapers to keep up with the news compared to the UK as a whole. Radio is more likely to be used by those in Northern Ireland, and less likely by those in Wales. Radio is also more commonly used in London.
• People in Northern Ireland are less likely than the UK average to trust television news, and are more likely than the UK average to trust newspapers, as are people in the West Midlands. People in the South West are more likely to distrust TV news. Local and regional commercial radio stations are more likely to be trusted by people in Northern Ireland than elsewhere. People in Scotland and Northern Ireland are less likely to trust the BBC website than UK adults as a whole. Levels of trust for weekly local or regional papers are much higher in Northern Ireland than elsewhere. Those in Scotland and Northern Ireland are less likely to trust ‘broadsheets’.
• People in Scotland and Northern Ireland are less likely to say they have learned about various types of media (16% compared to 22% for the UK as a whole). Appetite for learning more is lowest in Wales and Scotland, and highest in London and the West Midlands.

English regions

• Take-up of platforms and devices is highest in London and the South East. Interest in digital features of the four platforms is higher in London, the South East and the West Midlands. That said, people in the South East are less confident about being able to carry out various tasks on digital TV and the internet than the UK average.
• People in London and the South East watch less television than elsewhere. Knowledge of funding and regulation of TV is lower is the South West, and higher in the West Midlands. Those in the East Midlands make most use of interactive TV services.
• People in the South West and East England appear to listen to more radio than elsewhere in the UK. Knowledge of radio funding and regulation is higher in the South East and in the West Midlands, and lower in the South West and East Midlands. People in London are more concerned than elsewhere in the UK about what is broadcast on radio. People in the South East are more likely to interact with radio.
• Internet users in London have the highest weekly usage, and use it more than other parts of the UK for accessing news and weblogs. People in the West Midlands, London and the South East show higher awareness of how search engines and the BBC website is funded, and confidence in using content controls. Concerns are higher in the South East.
• Mobile phone owners in London are more likely than the rest of the UK except Northern Ireland to have got their mobiles for texting, for keeping in touch, and for work. People in London and the East Midlands make broader use of their mobiles than the UK average. Those in London make most calls per week than elsewhere in the UK. Mobile phone users in the West Midlands are more likely to make more calls. Those in London and the West Midlands are more likely to be concerned about affordability issues relating to mobile phones than other parts of the UK except for Northern Ireland.
• People in London are more likely to use three or more news sources, and those in the South West least likely, compared to the UK as a whole. People in the South West are more likely to distrust TV news outlets in general.

Scotland

• Self-reported take-up of mobile, digital TV, and access to digital radio services are the same as the average for the UK. Internet penetration is lower. People in Scotland are less interested in the features of mobile and the internet than the UK average.
• People in Scotland watch more television than in other nations of the UK, are more likely to interact with TV, and have higher levels of confidence about using various TV features.
• People in Scotland listen to the radio for similar amounts of time each week as the UK average. They are somewhat less aware of how radio is regulated. Levels of concern about what is on the radio are particularly low.
• Weekly hours of internet use are the same as the UK average, although knowledge of internet controls and confidence about carrying out internet tasks is slightly higher. Awareness of how search engines and the BBC website are funded is the same as the UK average. Internet users in Scotland are more likely to say they download music, videos or software on a weekly basis than other parts of the UK.
• Mobile phone owners in Scotland are least likely to say they got their mobile for texting, although they make around the same number of calls and texts as the average for the UK.
• People in Scotland are less trusting of ‘broadsheet’ newspapers than other nations apart from Northern Ireland.
• People in Scotland are more likely than the UK average to agree that TV viewers and radio listeners should be protected from inappropriate or offensive content (despite the fact that those in Scotland are less likely to express concerns about these issues). In terms of appetite and experience for learning more about the media, they are somewhat less likely either to be interested or have experience than the UK average.

Wales

• Self-reported take-up of mobiles and the internet in Wales is lower than for the UK average; self-reported access to digital radio services is at similar levels; and take-up of digital TV is significantly higher. Volume of use of all four platforms is broadly the same as the UK average, however people in Wales appear to be less interested than the UK average in the digital features of digital radio, the internet and mobile.
• People in Wales are more likely to say they got digital TV for the quality of the picture than the UK average. Levels of interactivity with television are lower than average. Knowledge of TV regulation and controls is average.
• People in Wales are less aware of radio funding and regulation than the UK average. Levels of general concern are low, in keeping with the UK average.
• Internet users in Wales are significantly happier to give out personal details online than the other nations. While confidence in using the internet for various prompted tasks is higher than for the other nations, there is lower awareness of how search engines and the BBC website are funded.
• Mobile phone owners in Wales are more likely to say they got a mobile phone for emergencies and for texting than the UK average. They make a similar use of their mobiles as the UK average, but are less likely to know about age-verification. General concerns about mobile phones are lower than the UK average.
• People in Wales use fewer sources of news than the other nations. Overall, they are more likely to say they distrust newspapers than the UK average. They are more likely to trust BBC News 24, and appear more likely to trust the other UK-based 24-hour news channels.

Northern Ireland

• Take-up of the four main platforms, and of a range of other media devices, is lower in Northern Ireland than the UK average. That said, interest in the digital features of the platforms is at average levels with the exception of digital radio which is lower. Volume of use is low for TV and radio, but higher for the internet and for mobile texting, and breadth of use of both the internet and mobile is higher than the UK average.
• People in Northern Ireland are more likely than the UK average to get digital TV because of particular channels, the quality of the picture, and because they need a new TV set or are aware of digital switchover (DSO). People in Northern Ireland watch less television than across the UK with the exception of London and the South East. They have lower awareness of types of TV funding and regulation.
• People in Northern Ireland are less likely to say they listen to radio in their workplace or place of education. They are less aware of radio regulation, although they have higher than average levels of knowledge about how BBC radio is funded.
• Internet users in Northern Ireland use the internet for about the same amount of time per week as the UK average, but make a broader use of it. They have lower levels of awareness of how search engines and the BBC website are funded.
• People in Northern Ireland are more likely to say they got their mobile phones for texting, keeping in touch with family and friends, and for work, than in other parts of the UK except for London. They send the greatest numbers of texts, and make a broader use of their mobile phone. They have higher levels of awareness about age-verification controls. They are more likely to be concerned about affordability issues relating to mobile phones than other parts of the UK except for the West Midlands and London.
• People in Northern Ireland use a larger number of news sources than in other parts of the UK. They are more likely than the UK average to trust the press at an overall level, and more likely than the UK average to distrust TV news. Specifically, they are more likely to trust local/regional radio news, and less likely to trust other types of radio news. They are more likely to trust the weekly local press, and less likely to trust ‘broadsheets’.
• People in Northern Ireland are more likely to spend all or almost all their leisure time at home compared to other parts of the UK. They are more likely to say they regularly read newspapers/ magazines or listen to radio than the UK average. They are less likely to agree that content across all four platforms should be free to be expressive and creative compared to the UK as a whole. They are also less likely to have learned about media through classes and training than the UK average.

The full document is available below

• Media Literacy Audit: Report on media literacy in the nations and regions [pdf]
  Full Print Version

Back to top