A record number of people around the world are distancing themselves from news and ceasing to regularly monitor it. Recently, Reuters paid special attention to this issue in a study at the Institute for the Study of Journalism, Oxford University. It turned out that the number of respondents adopting such a habit today has reached 40 percent, which is a significant increase compared to 29 percent in 2017.
Participants of the survey explained the reasons for distancing themselves from the news mainly by the negative mood, fatigue as a result of a constant and continuous stream of news, excessive attention to wars and various disasters, and a feeling of inability to influence events.
British citizen Julian Berrett left the information space in a certain order during the pandemic. He deleted all media apps and also created a discussion group on the Reddit platform about the pros and cons of abandoning news.
At the same time, not all users are ready for such a decisive step. Some limit themselves to just following headlines, while others subscribe to selected and reliable media outlets, familiarizing themselves with the general information once a week, the study notes.
The co-authors of the study and the authors of the book "Evading the News" note that exclusion from the news is usually more common among young people, women, and low-income groups. This also depends on the countries. For example, in Great Britain, 46 percent, and in the USA, 42 percent of citizens refuse news, distancing themselves from information.
As Benjamin Toff, Director of the Center for Journalism at the University of Minnesota, noted, "We live in a world where we can follow the news 24/7, and access the information flow at any time.
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