Media literacy is the ability to use, understand and create media and communications in a variety of contexts. Our 2017 Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes report is part of Ofcom’s media literacy research programme. It provides detailed evidence on media use, attitudes and understanding among adults aged 16+, with a particular focus on those groups who tend not to participate digitally.
This report draws primarily on data gathered from the annual adults’ media literacy tracker survey. This survey is based on interviews with 1,875 adults aged 16 and over in September and October 2017. This is supplemented with data from Ofcom’s technology tracker survey in 2017, based on 2,861 interviews with adults aged 16 and over in July and August 2017.
This year, the report includes findings from an additional online study conducted with 1,050 adults aged 16+, which explored internet users’ attitudes to being online, understanding of media regulation, use and critical understanding of price comparison websites and their interest in and attitudes to news, and sources of news.
The report also includes additional analysis on working-age adults, in the Annex. Published alongside this report is the Adults’ Media Lives 2017 qualitative research report.