Can you name three Supreme Court Justices? How about the three judges of American Idol? For most college-aged Americans, the latter is easier to answer. In "Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Read the News," author David Mindich explores the trend among young Americans of abandoning "traditional" news: the general interest and politics from newspapers, magazines, television and the Internet. Mindich - a professor of journalism and mass communication at Saint Michael's College in Vermont - based his book on interviews he conducted around the country. He found that the youth of America has developed an appetite for entertainment and apathy toward politics. Young Americans consume less news than their elders and less news than young people of the past, Mindich said. But news is more readily accessible now than ever because of the Internet, he said. "Despite the widespread use of the Internet among young people, the current generation of 18 to 34 year olds appears to be no more informed now than 18 to 34 year olds were in 1990," Mindich said. Barbara Reed, associate professor in the University's department of journalism and media studies, said she doesn't believe students read news online. "I think that is a passing fad," Reed said. "People do not spend three hours a day looking at the news online. It just doesn't happen." But there are exceptions to the rule. Rutgers College sophomore David Stuckey said he keeps up with the news everyday by logging onto the Internet in his residence hall. "When I turn on my computer, I go to my e-mail, Facebook, ESPN, and then I check the news," Stuckey said. "I get my news from CNN.com. Sometimes I read The New York Times online." Stuckey also said he prefers reading the news on the Web, because it doesn't cause clutter like newspapers. Mindich said 70 percent of older adults read newspapers and that only 20 percent of young adults do. The percentage of 18 to 22 year olds who say they read a newspaper every day dropped from 46 percent in 1972 to 21 percent 30 years later, Mindich said. He calls it a generational shift. Until the 1970s young people followed political news as much as their elders did, he said. "Many young people have…a 'thin' citizenship - only following the outlines of democracy, and in many cases, not even bothering to engage at all." One reason for this is a perceived isolation from the political process, Mindich said. "Many…believe that the political process is both morally bankrupt and completely insulated from public pressure," Mindich said. Rutgers College first-year student Noor Paracha said she followed politics in the past but no longer has time to. Susan Keith, assistant professor in the department of journalism and media studies, said professors are time-starved as well. "I always read something on the subway," Keith said "If I'm grading things online, I give myself a break and check out Google news. I also turn on television news when I'm washing clothes or making supper." Rutgers College senior Stephanie Miller said that she believes college students don't follow the news because they are too self-concerned. "Most students live in a college bubble," Miller said. "They're concerned with when the papers are due, when the test is, where the party is. Unless you live on campus - and the paper is right there - most students won't go out of their way to find one." Mindich cited complacency as a possible cause of tuning out, but the people who have the most reason to be complacent are the people who generally consume the news. "If the comfort that America provides makes people turn off the news, why do those who are the most comfortable in America consume the most news?" he said. Another issue is trust. Despite common complaints about news not being global, local, relevant or political enough, Mindich said examples of good journalism are available everyday. "Although citizens should be skeptical consumers of news, to reject all news means to reject the underpinnings of democracy," Mindich said. Both Keith and Reed said it is important to use a variety of news sources and not simply rely on one. Rutgers College first-year student Eric Branning said one of the reasons he doesn't watch the news is because there isn't enough of a balance between positive and negative stories. "After class, who wants to come home and watch the news?" Branning said. "It's just going to depress you. The news is boring, so I don't really watch it." Mindich said entertainment is eclipsing the news media. "The entertainment revolution [allows] young people basically unlimited entertainment options 24 hours a day," he said. Keith said the many options modern media provide consumers means news sometimes falls by the wayside. TV-watching, particularly entertainment TV, correlates negatively with news consumption," Keith said. "And as the most time-consuming activity apart from work and sleep, TV watching has an enormous impact on leisure time." But Mindich found that not everyone tunes out the news. "Social and societal factors play important roles in how we value news," he said.
Turning in or out?
Published: Thursday, November 2, 2006
Updated: Sunday, February 22, 2009
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