The majority of Millennials and young people don’t watch the news. CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BBC, all the acronyms, the entire alphabet, offer tangible and important news. They encompass all kinds of political spectrums. CBS and NBC are pretty neutral, FOX is generally Republican (right-wing), and CNN is Democratic (left-wing). Personally, I’ve never watched BBC but I know it stands for British Broadcasting Corporation. I generally focus on American news because it affects me directly. Also, American news covers foreign news when important events occur.
As a 20-something year old, my peers have made jokes about me watching the morning news as I get ready to go to class. In all honesty, it doesn’t bother me. I get breaking news updates from the Fox and CNN apps on my phone. I watch CBS morning news every morning and the Today show (on NBC) when CBS starts their daily programming. I feel well-informed. I know that I’m up-to-date on what is happening in the world, and I know that my information is accurate.
Lots of young people get their news from social media. Buzzfeed is not a reliable source of information. Facebook is not a reliable source of news. Instagram, Twitter, even the Odyssey (Sorry! Love you, Odyssey!), are not reliable sources of news. They’re opinion pieces. Television news has even reported that Facebook has published false news! The New York Times wrote an entire article about how Facebook is publishing false news and that Facebook struggles to fact-check every article that is being published on their website.
I don’t read newspapers. Not on my phone, Kindle, laptop, in the actual paper form. Nope, not my style. If I had the time or the interest, I would. I’d suggest reading the paper instead of reading a social media article. You can spend the same amount of time on your laptop and get reliable information!
However, this information can be biased depending which news provider you rely on, and that’s not good. With the world of politics as crazy as it’s been the last year and a half, it’s highly recommended to receive news from multiple sources. I piece together stories so that I can get the story from all sides. When Joe Biden received the Presidential Medal of Honor on January 12th, I got a news update from the apps on my phone before Facebook had articles and videos of the exact same event.
Getting reliable news is important in furthering this generation and the future. Social media is great and I love it, I spend hours on it, but it’s not a good place to get news-worthy information. Being uninformed or misinformed is dangerous. There’s a stigma that America is number one, but when those who make decisions (Millennials and young people – because kids are the future) are only self-focused, foreign diplomacy and affairs suffer.
So, watch the news. Be well-rounded. Don’t stick to one side, because then you’ll be completely biased. Get informed, stay informed, watch the news.
