News or no news?

buglebe

I am not sure where to put this. It isn't actually politics. Mods please move if needed.

This is from a newspaper I read online. How many of you read news everyday or watch it on tv? My daughter does not have access to cable where she lives and does not take the newspaper. They did have an antennae for a while but it wasn't satisfactory to them. Her husband gets the news from the computer. My daughter doesn't read much news. I think the children should be exposed to more news than they are. They are age 4 and 6. I don't mean the local news of who killed who but the national news regarding politics, weather disasters, I think children learn from these things.
I read this article with interest. It is long so no need to read it all, just scan and get the gist of it. How many of you get news from other sources than computer? We read the newspaper every day and also watch the news at least once a day. Yes I do find it depressing many times but I also think it is my duty to keep up if I am going to have opinions on what is happening and who I am voting for.

Living news-free
Survey shows many Americans don't get any news


By Trevor Stokes

Staff Writer


Last Updated:March 17. 2008 11:29PM
Published: March 18. 2008 3:30AM
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One in five Americans (19 percent) surveyed in 2006 said they did not get news from any source the day before, according to the Pew Research Center Biennial News Consumption Survey.
Two months ago, Austin Ing got fed up with election-year politics.

The back and forth karate-chopping and finger-pointing rhetoric constantly in the news was too much for the 23-year-old sophomore at the University of North Alabama. His response? Stop reading newspapers, watching cable news or clicking online news sites and become news-free.

He did admit to picking up a newspaper once or twice during the interim.

"Being aware is not a bad thing," he said.

Of his two-month news hiatus, Ing said, "In one way, it helps me focus on what's going on in my life instead of following stories that may or may not affect me."

Ing is far from alone in venturing into news-free territory. One in five Americans (19 percent) surveyed in 2006 said they did not get news from any source the day before, according to the Pew Research Center Biennial News Consumption Survey.

A whopping 27 percent of Americans aged 18 to 29 surveyed said they hadn't gotten news the day before from any source, including newspapers, television, radio or the Internet.

The survey will be updated this summer, according to an official at the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan "fact tank."

Clearly, not all young people shun the news. Audrey Lindsey, a 20-year-old from Lexington, gets most of her news from TV and the Internet.

"Most of the time, students don't pay attention to the news because they don't think it matters to them," she said.

For some young people who are developing their careers and families, catching the news may be low on the list of priorities.

"I don't find that so amazing," said Matthew Schoenbachler, associate history professor at the University of North Alabama, of the 27 percent news-less youth.

Schoenbachler said he, too, wasn't interested in the news in his 20s and started to pay closer attention in his 30s, a trend found nationally.

Of those surveyed, 18 percent of people between 30 and 49 years old received news the day before; that number decreased to 15 percent of those surveyed who were 50 years old and older.

Jim Martin, associate professor of journalism at the University of North Alabama said several reasons explain why news consumption has decreased over the years.

He said students who are busy with studies, part-time work and other activities may suffer from "time famine."

In the survey, time famine whittled down the average time spent looking at Internet news to just six minutes.

"Internet readers seem to be skimming the headlines," said Martin.

The brief click-and-hunt contrasted with the average American who spends 67 minutes getting their news from various sources, including 30 minutes watching television and 15 minutes reading newspapers or listening to the radio.

Even that 30-minute claim to get TV news may come as a misnomer.

"People can have the TV on in the background and say that they watched the news and not be engaged at all," said Martin. "They report that they watch the news, but when asked what they remember, it's virtually nothing."

So where does this take us into the future?

"I think that the trend is probably going to continue because there are more and more things competing for our time," said Martin.

Slightly more 18- to 29-year-olds (28 percent) surveyed said they had played a video game the day before as those who received no news (27 percent).

Many young people are mobile, another reason for decreased local news consumption, Martin said.

"In a mobile society, people are not as concerned with what's going on (locally) because they don't have deep roots in the area," Martin said. "People with local roots read the paper rather than college students who may not bring the habit with them."

The results, however, don't necessarily mean that American youth isn't curious about news; they may just get it from word-of-mouth, so explained 18-year-old UNA student Jennifer Wiley.

"Outside of our dorms, there is always free newspapers but I don't ever think about picking one up. So news is available to me, I just don't take advantage of it," she said in an e-mail response. "I enjoy knowing what is going on, but I'm just not that interested in pursuing it. When I am older, I will probably be more interested in the news."

She said she occasionally gets news on TV and she will vote this year, a first.

"Most of the time when I am trying to learn about a candidate or something in the news, I will talk to my Dad because he is in the military and reads the newspaper and keeps up with the news a lot," wrote Wiley.

But that word-of-mouth concerns some experts.

"When you get that word-of-mouth news, the possibility of being misinformed rises exponentially," Schoenbachler said. "I'm more worried about the media rather than youth apathy."

Austin Ing also shared concerns about the media with a group of friends. They said they suffered from news fatigue and wished the news would focus on what's good in the world, rather than what's wrong.

Ing, a business major, said he believes one of the biggest wrongs lay in politics, one of the reasons he gave up news in the first place.

Powerful lobbyists such as big pharmaceuticals and the AARP have millions to sway politicians, Ing said, "Young people don't have that kind of money to organize."

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com.

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Buglebe

dcut4

I am a Newspaper junkie. I start pacing if it is an hour late.

I also read CNN online and watch the news on T.V. once a day

hblueeyes

I think I get too much news. But I am also aware that the media puts their own spin on things. I want the facts and let me make my own conclusions. I watch the news on cable, I read 2 daily newspapers and also get news from online.

Me