October Newsletter: Young People and News Media Consumption
What church leaders need to know about how young people consume news media today
Young people are digital natives and they navigate various platforms online as they learn about what is going on in the world around them. They get their news from legacy media outlets and through social media outlets like Facebook, TikTok, X (formerly: Twitter), and YouTube. Though stereotypes abound regarding young people’s reliance on social media for news, a large majority get their news from legacy outlets through their online access points (apps and websites). These generations are reshaping the news landscape today with their digital fluency. They’re also developing a strong sense of skepticism regarding certain kinds of viral content because they understand how easy it is to edit videos, photographs, and audio recordings, though most admit to having been misled by fake news at one time or another.
This month’s newsletter will dive into these trends and more, exploring the ways young people interact with news media and what that means for the church. We will explore some of the prevailing trends in news media generally, especially the impact of market consolidation and corporate incentives on news media and their overall shaping of certain narratives. What are the implications for the church that a large swath of our news media is run by for-profit corporations whose interests are not always aligned with those of our communities? How can we responsibly engage news media in such a world, and discuss important current events as a community of faith, when the landscape is so fraught with disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and more? These questions and more will form the latter half of our newsletter. We’ll offer ideas and resources about responsible media consumption and discuss the crucial role that independent media can have today.
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