Check out the Journalism.co.uk podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Spotify
News avoidance is a trend that has had the industry concerned for the last few years. In the last Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 41 per cent of Britons said they sometimes or often avoided the news, citing mental health, negative news and information overload as some of the top reasons why.
A new book - Avoiding the News: Reluctant Audiences for Journalism - shines a light on the people who almost never read the news.
In this week's podcast, we speak to one of the authors Benjamin Toff, assistant professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, director of the Minnesota Journalism Centre, and the former lead of the Reuters Institutes' Trust In News project.
What drives people to avoid the news at all costs and is there anything newsrooms can do about it? Tune in to find out.
The social contract btw journalism and much of the public is fraying - news use is declining, interest in news down, avoidance widespread.
— Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (@rasmus_kleis) January 16, 2024
Based on surveys and 100+ interviews w/consistent news avoiders, we look at why, and what it means when people live largely without news 2/9 pic.twitter.com/AYulsKoGp3
Free daily newsletter
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
Related articles
- How writing fiction has helped me deal with PTSD, with Northern Irish journalist Leona O'Neill
- Banseka Kayembe of Naked Politics, on engaging Gen Z with political journalism
- Livestreaming, explainer videos and newsletters: Overnight election coverage with three new media companies
- How are news organisations covering the UK's general election 2024?
- Please give us your feedback - and be in it to win a Book Bundle worth £150!