Paris — The depressing state of the world is leading
people to switch off from the news, the Reuters Institute reported on
Wednesday.
The combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Russia-Ukraine war and cost-of-living crisis have led to declining interest in
the news, a survey by the British research group found.
اضافة اعلان
Across 46 countries surveyed and 93,000
participants, it found the share who said they actively avoided the news had
increased from 29 to 38 percent since 2017.
The numbers doubled in some countries, including
Brazil (54 percent) and Britain (46).
Young people in particular found the news to be a
downer, but the chief reason for avoiding the news was its repetitiveness,
especially around COVID-19 and politics.
“I actively avoid things that trigger my anxiety and
things that can have a negative impact on my day,” a 27-year-old British
respondent told the researchers.
“I will try to avoid reading news about things like
deaths and disasters.”
Others said the news led to arguments they would rather
avoid, or a feeling of powerlessness, while many young people said they found
it hard to understand.
Lead author Nic Newman said the findings were
“particularly challenging for the news industry”.
“Subjects that journalists consider most important, such
as political crises, international conflicts and global pandemics, seem to be
precisely the ones that are turning some people away,” he was quoted as saying.
Most of the study was completed before the invasion
of
Ukraine in February, but subsequent surveys in five countries found these
issues had only deepened in its aftermath.
Trust in the media fell in half the countries
surveyed, and rose in just seven, the report said, reversing gains made during
the pandemic.
Overall, trust was at 42 percent, down from 44
percent when the media had a small positive bump from the pandemic.
The
United States showed the lowest level of trust
at 26 percent, tied with Slovakia.
The problem is being compounded by young people increasingly
detached from legacy media, with 15 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds saying they
use TikTok as a primary source of news.
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