A lost generation of news consumers? A survey shows that teenagers do not approve of the news media
Americans between the ages of 13 and 18 have a negative attitude toward journalism and the news, a recent survey shows, amid distrust of traditional media sources in a polarized society, AP reports.
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The News Literacy Project asked young people to describe today's media in one, and 84% of teenagers offered a negative qualification – such as “biased”, “crazy”, “boring”, “fake”, “bad”, “depressing”, “confusing”, “scary”.
About half of the teens surveyed believe that journalists give advertisers special treatment, fabricate details such as quotes, or pay or favor sources “always or almost always” or “often,” and about 6 in 10 believe that journalists in context. photos and videos regularly
About a third or less believe that reporters correct errors after they publish, confirm facts before reporting them, gather information from multiple sources, or write stories that help protect the public interest “often” — practices ingrained in the DNA of serious journalists.
Experts explain that few teenagers follow the news regularly or learn in school about the purpose of journalism.
“Part of this (attitude) is learned, but a lot of it is based on misperceptions,” said Peter Adams, senior vice president for research and design at the Washington-based News Literacy Project.
Consumption of news from social networks
Many of Lily Ogburn's classmates get their information from social media. Their parents didn't watch or read the news when they were growing up, so they didn't pick up the habit either, says Ogburn, a senior at Northwestern University's journalism school.
Ogburn is the former editor-in-chief of the highly regarded Daily Northwestern student newspaper. Articles in 2023 exposing alleged bullying and racism within the school's football program led to the coach's dismissal. However, she found that some students did not understand the role of the newspaper; they believe it exists specifically to protect people in power, rather than to hold them accountable.
“There's a lot of mistrust of journalists,” she said.
“I want to be a journalist that people can trust,” Ogburn said, “and I want to report news that makes people believe and trust the media.”
In addition to feeling that there is no such thing as fair journalism, young people are often not exposed to it through popular culture either – unlike the previous generation, which learned in detail how Washington Post reporters Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein came to expose the Watergate scandal in the Oscar-winning film “All the President's Men.”
When the News Literacy Project asked this question, two-thirds of teens couldn't give examples when asked what movies or TV shows come to mind when they think of journalism. Respondents most frequently mentioned the “Spider-Man” franchise or the movie “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (a comedy about the competition between news reporters), which does not paint a flattering picture of the media.
After retiring as editor of Newsday, Howard Schneider became involved in founding the first School of Journalism in the State University of New York system. Only, instead of training future writers, editors or producers, he felt compelled to teach non-journalists how to become good consumers of news.
Now executive director of the Center for News Education at SUNY Stony Brook, Schneider was not surprised by the recent survey's findings.
“The negative attitude, the feeling that the news is biased, is a reflection of how their parents feel,” Schneider said. “The more they are exposed to news, to legitimate news, the more positive their attitudes become.”
News literacy courses
That's one of the lessons 16-year-old Brianne Boyack learned during a class at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. He had little faith in the news he came in contact with, but he learned the importance of checking sources when he came across something interesting, as well as seeking reliable sources of information.
Her classmate, Rhett MacFarlane, applied what he had learned in class to investigate a report he heard from a friend that there had been a robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
“I learned that there really is fact-checking (in journalism),” MacFarlane, also 16, told The Associated Press. “You're professionals and you have to tell the truth or you'll be fired. I thought you guys just do what you want and choose what to say about a topic.”
However, news education programs in schools are relatively rare.
“There is inertia,” Schneider said, “and this is an urgent problem.”
Mayland University's Murphy said she doesn't think there is an inherent hatred of journalists among her fellow students. “They have no experience reading journalistic articles,” she said.
It is an area where the journalism industry needs to do more. One of the things they find frustrating in their chosen field is the resistance to change, especially the unwillingness or inability to use social media critically.
“The only way to change that is to move on to making things that captivate people today as opposed to what captivated them 20 years ago.”
