Review 2021
Every month at Core, we analyse the news stories that are resonating or not with the Irish public. This provides us with a real-time understanding of the culture, context and concerns that people are living within. These external stories influence consumer sentiment, people’s future plans and the hopes of a nation. Like last year, COVID-19 news continues to dominate our minds, but unlike last year, there is a greater diversity in the news topics people engaged with in 2021.
Across 12 months, we analysed the top 200 news stories based on how aware people were about the story and how important the story was in their personal lives.
Across the top 50 news stories ranked by significance, 46% were related to COVID-19, but beyond that housing, climate, social issues and sport also ranked high in people’s interest. Between 54% up to 81% of the adult population said the top 50 stories were of importance to them, highlighting how these stories influence our society.
At the top of this list was the HSE Cyberattack. The health system was hit at a time when every effort was being made to roll out the vaccine and protect against the spread of
COVID-19. In May, as we began to see some hope about getting through the pandemic, the entire HSE infrastructure was impacted, and as a result 81% of the public felt that this moment was of significant importance.
Public Engagement vs. Clickbait
The Cultural Index also reveals how despite significant coverage and public awareness, many stories are viewed as insignificant, raising questions about the extent of media coverage of certain topics.
Stories which had high public awareness, but low public importance included Facebook going offline in September, Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah and the return of Ronaldo to Manchester United.
Despite these trivial stories, the public ranked these as more engaging and important in their lives than Eoghan Murphy resigning as Fine Gael TD for Dublin Bay South, the Government’s launch of ‘Our Future Rural Plan,’ or Dublin City Council approving Garth Brooks concerts.
With a growing group of people reading headlines on social media platforms, driven by algorithms and attractive Clickbait, this is sustained evidence that pop culture can often garner more interest than political decisions which impact many of us.
The Core Review 2021 not only provides moment to reflect on the year that was, but also guides us into the next 12 months, providing us with the news stories which will matter most to the Irish public. So what’s your (most important) story?
