Each day seems to bring a new jaw dropping headline, anything from world news to a local conflict that seems to hit closer to our own backyards. Within the past year alone some news stories have become tough to witness due to graphic content and language. It’s no surprise that the number of teenagers and young adults straying away from viewing the news has skyrocketed. Most millennials don’t bother to put time aside during the day to view a newscast but actually, attempt to avoid it. Is the true reason behind this due to the content making headlines or is it because news no longer means gathering the family around the television. Especially since everything is at our fingertips.
The content that makes up news today can be anything from heartwarming to disturbing. The paperless generation is armed with smartphones. Meaning news now features a heartwarming picture or disturbing video. Depending on the story everyone is buzzing about most young people may stray away from news because it's hard to watch and listen. With constant updates, post and notifications of some of today's top stories catching up on the latest news are too harsh for some millennials to bear. Causing many to avoid news altogether even the uplifting stories.Now that numerous social media platforms have a feature to go live it gives people a harder time escaping what's going on around them.
Maybe it has something to do with how news is consumed. Most people are curious and anxious to know what's going on in the world around us. It may not be that millennials are avoiding news but are consuming it in a new way. Physical newspapers are dying out but digital news has exploded. Radio, apps, news websites, social media and two of the largest search engines practically deliver the news to the palms of our hands. There seems to no longer be a need to sit in front of the television and watch a news broadcast.
Another possible explanation could be what millennials expect from the news. If it's not anything that captures a young person's attention or impacts them in any way it may part of what's pushing them away from the news. Even in adults, this may be the case. Most people are naturally nosey to what's going on in their community or have strong opinions about what's going on in the world. When looking at most college campuses there's a large percentage of the student body willing to protest, rally or speak their minds on recent controversy and heated subjects that essentially brewed from the news. It may have nothing to do with age and certainly doesn't mean that young adults follow the news more but is based on interest. Certain topics will immediately grab the attention of a millennial but it has to be something that matters to them in order for them to want to follow up on news.
In an old fashioned family, some may have been forced to sit and watch a newscast. News isn't something that can be forced but it's more important than many think. Even if it doesn't affect you as an individual it's important to understand and be aware of what's going on in the world around us.
