neuhaus.fm
Lilian EdwardsBad bad news for democracy : 46% of UK "actively avoid news" and "under 35s are more likely to be interested in ‘softer’ news topics: entertainment and celebrity news (33% interested), culture and arts news (37%), and education news (34%)". Were all guilty here says this um very over 35 who feels seen 🤔
Nigel SmartActually for my mental health I try to avoid news. Its just too depressing in the last decade. So it might not be apathy about the world but despair which drives people to avoid the news.
@nigel_paul_smart as I say I avoid it a lot myself these days - but I don't think an electorate that's mainly knowledgeable abt celebs is v promising
Pawel Siwczak پفل@lilianedwards Part of the issue is that news has become sensational, gloomy in an unbalanced way, something about that couple in the USA that was part of the establishment here in the UK , some scandals, and so on. I stopped "watching" news a while ago to help preserve my mental health. Now I only "read" it as this gives me an option to scroll quickly or block triggering outlets, while still having an idea of what's going on (it is, sadly, important to be aware).
SamuelJohnson@lilianedwards Actively avoid news or actively avoid certain news services?
I have actively avoided all BBC News and politics programmes since 2017. First, because they failed to challenge Brexit related lies by Tories, esp about NI & Ireland. Second, I found most of the news superficial compared to what one could learn by following experts (not entertainers or conspiracy theorists) on social media. Third, it was not an efficient use of time.
Adam Dalliance@lilianedwards I'm interested in news, but the big media news companies just seem to be full of corporate capitalist propaganda instead.
I am way over 35 though.
@pre I suspect most ppl replying here are over 35 which rather defeats the point
⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe@lilianedwards Kind of a judgement on journalism as much as anything else? Easy enough to get sick of the bothsides-ing and politician lies; you can hardly blame 'em
Jeff Jarvis@lilianedwards excellent roundup
@jeffjarvis yup I thought so too
Angie is drawing@lilianedwards the news in the UK is much more like tabloid news, so I understand wanting to avoid that. I’m sure they get their info elsewhere, just not official newspapers and TV.
nickj@lilianedwards I could lap up all the news about Grenfell, which makes me wildly angry, and nothing at all would change. I can't see the threat to democracy lying with people not reading the news.
Busted FlushWhat seems true is that social media sites from TikTok to Reddit is the news source for an ever-growing swath of the people. And that for them, cable or broadcast TV is utterly dead. It simply doesn't exist.
They consume news in tiny bites. 3 minutes max. Text is preferred to video unless the video is the story. If you put a 15 second ad in, they will not watch it.
But in there own way, these people are informed.
Tushar Chauhan@lilianedwards entertainment has been trivialised by the advent of smartphones and the forced emergence of 'entertainer' as a valid, mainstream, low effort, lottery-like career choice. Everything is a game that is designed to create an alternate universe that wants to trap you in an easy to digest world of taps and clicks and chuckles.
G Sirc@lilianedwards I choose not to despair at all. Under-35s saved democracy in the recent US midterms. That so-called 'softer' entertainment news most likely has strongly political, pro-black, pro-LGBTQ, pro-inclusive content.
@sirc true but at least in UK fact is those consuming it may be wonderful human beings but they aren't voting - which was what provoked orig post.
Huw C. Davies@lilianedwards wondering where this leaves media and digital literacy