US EditionYoung Americans Show Growing Distrust in News, but Aspiring Journalist Remains Undeterred
Less than one-third of teens trust journalists to verify facts, with 84% describing news media negatively, driven by social media reliance and limited news literacy education.
- News Literacy Project survey found 84% of teens used negative one-word descriptors for news, and research documented negative attitudes among 13- to 18-year-old Americans.
- Researchers say lack of experience with journalism, parental habits, and social media reliance, especially YouTube, plus the news industry's newsroom shrinkage, leave teens unsure whom to trust.
- Aspiring journalists like Cat Murphy, who has wanted to be a journalist since age 11, learned fact-checking when Rhett MacFarlane investigated a friend's tip about the Louvre robbery.
- Fewer than a third of teens believe reporters correct errors or verify facts, and more than half suspect unethical practices by journalists, eroding trust as few teens follow news regularly or learn journalism's purpose in school.
- Experts urge industry change, noting news-literacy programs can help but remain rare while educators face curricular constraints and Howard Schneider calls adaptation an urgent challenge.
51 Articles
51 Articles
Why people choose not to share news
Editor’s note: Longtime Nieman Lab readers know the bylines of Mark Coddington and Seth Lewis. Five years ago, they launched a monthly newsletter on recent academic research around journalism and we’re happy to bring each issue to you here at Nieman Lab. In the last couple of months, they have added two other journalists-turned-academics to their team: Tamar Wilner and Nick Mathews, who teach and research at the University of Kansas and the Univ…
Cat Murphy, a college student, has wanted to be a journalist since she was 11 years old. Many of her friends don’t understand why. When they read the news—if they do—they hear a cacophony of voices. They don’t know who to believe. Journalists are partial. They make mistakes. Also, why link their future to a declining industry? “There are many comments: ‘That’s great! Look at what you’re getting into. You’re going to scream in the void. You’ll be…
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