Seeking Out and Avoiding the News Media: Young Adults’ Proposed Strategies for Obtaining Current Events Information

This study takes a closer look at the role the news media plays in how young adults inform themselves in the high-choice media age. In-depth interview data with 21 young adults from varying socioeconomic backgrounds were used to identify the strategies they had for locating current events information. During the interviews, the young adult participants responded to six hypothetical “vignettes” by articulating the steps that they would take to find information about current events. Findings revealed two strategy patterns that interviewees voiced—one set of strategies directly involved use of the news media, and another set avoided the news media in favor of functional information alternatives. Common among all the interviewees, however, was the need for information skepticism when navigating the contemporary media environment. Implications for social inequality and news media literacy are discussed.