Why, in a world of abundant supply and unprecedented ease of access, do millions of people avoid news? That’s the driving question of Avoiding the News: Reluctant Audiences for Journalism, a new book by Benjamin Toff, Ruth Palmer, and myself.
The social contract between journalism and much of the public is fraying – news use is declining, interest in news down, avoidance widespread. Based on survey data and especially well over a hundred interviews with consistent news avoiders, we look at why, and what it means when people live largely without news
We show that news avoidance is not “just” a response to the content on offer. It is also fundamentally shaped by who we are, what we believe, and the tools we rely on.
It happens at the intersection between identity, ideology, and infrastructures, and compound inequalities.
News avoiders, as we explain in the book, and this excerpt from it, tend to be younger, women, and from lower socioeconomic classes. Politics matters too, but this is less about whether people are left- or right-wing and more about the “other divide” between the connected and the disconnected.
In contrast to news lovers (and many regular users), news avoiders tended to see following news as an atomized, solitary activity – they are not embedded in any news communities encouraging regular use. They also often see news as being “not for people like them”, and more for elites.
News avoiders’ conviction that they cannot make a difference politically – and that news certainly will not help them do so – is the core of how they talk about their relationship with news. Whereas news lovers have a sense of political efficacy, news avoiders often do not.
We think avoidance is a problem for journalism, for society, and for people missing out.
But many news avoiders do not see their (distant) relationship to news as a problem. They do not see news as worthwhile, serving people like them, net good for society, let alone a duty.
Because news avoidance is only in part about content, the response cannot be more of the same.
Anyone who wants to respond to news avoidance need to meet people where they are.
“From news for the few and the powerful, to news for all the people.” That is how Juan González and Joseph Torres in their book describe the historical “grand arc of the American press.” That is not the direction of travel now. If anything it is going in the opposite direction.
Whether or not journalists and editors want to do this (in an already difficult and challenging situation) is their decision. For those who do want to address news avoidance, we present five ideas based on our research in the book and in this article.
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