Politics: One Bad Hair Day, and it’s Goodnight Nurse

By Murray Stewart

The research team at the Duck ’n Fiddle was recently asked to conduct a media survey across the Overberg. It involved going door to door and interviewing over 11 000 people from farmsteads and inland dorpies, to the towns dotting the Walker Bay coastline.

The object? To ascertain who listens to what, who watches what, who reads what and how often. This helps advertisers decide where to get the maximum bang for their ad-spend buck. As you can imagine, the research was enlightening.

Most significant was the fact that 85% of the people avoid watching/reading/listening to local or international news, because the political situations everywhere are too depressing to follow. This is understandable – but more about that later.

From the ‘entertainment’ section of the survey, TV and print score over 90%. Apart from newspapers, magazines also supply the stories people love to skinner about. Like Malawian man gives birth to three-legged goat, or Pumpkin juice reverses balding!

Ratings are also in the 90s for TV watchers, and the favourite shows include Generations, 7de Laan, Egoli and the history/geography/science programs on DSTV. Very few people – 7% – listen to the radio, and those who do, prefer RSG, CapeTalk or KFM, if they’re not streaming or listening to pod-casts on the internet.

A disturbingly low percentage – 20% – actually watch the news and keep abreast of international and local flashpoints which could be life-changing. So this is a brief summary for those who follow the ‘ostrich-head-inthe-sand’ philosophy. They might well adjust their insurance premiums or reconsider having another kid.

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