Residents Rely on a Variety of Sources to Keep up to Date on COVID-19

MEDIA RELEASE: May 20, 2020

Residents rely on a variety of different sources for keeping up to date on COVID-19, with television and online news used most often.

BERMUDA: The COVID-19 pandemic has been rapidly evolving, bringing constant changes to lifestyle and business. As part of a recent pulse survey conducted by Total Research Associates and Narrative Research, a local market research and public opinion company, residents were asked how they personally stay up to date on the pandemic.

A variety of different information sources are used, and residents frequently mention the use of multiple sources for keeping up to date with COVID-19. Specifically, just under one-half watch television news, while four in ten rely on online news, and a similar four in ten stay up to date by way of social media. Of note, the Government hosts daily press conferences and, at the time of data collection, one-quarter use these press conferences to stay up to date.

Among those who use multiple sources of information, TV and online news remain the most popular.

Across demographics there are notable differences in terms of the sources used. Specifically, residents aged 35 and older are much more likely to rely on television news, while use of social media for COVID-19 news is much higher among residents under the age of 55.

These results are the first part of a snapshot TRA Bermuda Omnibus® pulse survey These results are part of a snapshot TRA Bermuda Omnibus® pulse survey conducted in April 2020 with a random sample of 400 adult residents of Bermuda (18 years of age or older). The survey was conducted by phone from April 22-29, 2020. Overall results accurate to within ± 4.9 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.

For more information, please contact:

Graham Redford, Managing Partner, Total Research Associates, 278-8882 or graham@narrativeresearch.bm

OR

Margaret Chapman, COO and Partner, Narrative Research, at (902) 493-3834 or mchapman@narrativeresearch.bm