20th Jul 2023
ACM Heartbeat of Australia finds local news drives positive sentiment and connects communities.
The second ACM Heartbeat of Australia study has reconfirmed the importance of a healthy news diet in fostering community connection and positive wellbeing.
In partnership with the University of Canberra, the study of more than 6,000 people was designed to track the sentiment of Australians; how they feel, their concerns, how they connect to their community and their relationship with local news and advertising.
“Right now the number one issue of concern for Australians is the cost of living (75%) and we’re seeing this more so in the under 45s (79%),” said ACM Research Director Alex Mihalovich.
“The initial study in 2022 found that both physical and mental health were major concerns coming off the back of the pandemic but as we learn to live with Covid-19 and we’re faced with new challenges, our financial concerns have increased, directly as a result of our current economic situation,” said Mihalovich.
