Youth and The News
Newspapers and Broadcast news give regularly-updated updates on the world. Some people would consider it important to stay current on the events in the news, but are young people necessarily keeping up?
According to a survey, only 30% of college students at ECU polled regularly read the newspaper or watch broadcast news. However from those same people polled, 80% regularly watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, two news satire programs on Comedy Central.
While the programs do contain bits and pieces of current news, the focus is always on humor and more often than not information is left out of a story, in order to make a joke.
Some students, like Christine Flippo, prefer this form of delivery of the news. “I mean, yeah its not exactly the straight facts like you’d get from the news, but I like to be entertained. And if I can be entertained and get some of the news at the same time, what is the big deal? Besides, the regular news is too boring to watch.”
She states that sometimes she does watch internet news if someone sends her something particularly interesting, but otherwise doesn’t take interest in the newspaper.
Has the young generation turned it’s back on an interest in the news? It appears that that is just the case. However, some students like commuter Warren Wolfe, see this as a dangerous trend.
“Our generation is growing more and more apathetic to the world around them, and you can see this when they wont even turn the channel and take five minutes to make sure the world is still in good shape. It’s depressing, (its) a downward spiral. Soon we just wont care about anything that isn’t packaged in some sugar-coated entertainment show.”
It would seem that the news is still being watched and read by the older generations. Patricia Rowe, a 40-year old waitress, believes this is nothing but a passing fad.
“I remember when I was their age, I didn’t really care about the news either, I had more important things to do, and after a long day sitting down and listening to who died and what blew up, its not very relaxing. I completely understand why they don’t want to. But one day, the phase will pass and they’ll care again.”
East Carolina has it’s own local university-centered newspaper, The East Carolinian, which is published twice a week and is read by the majority of the student population, showing some promise for the young generation.
Filed under: Hard News