Exercise: Identify some “audience problems”
from the State of News Media or other industry reports/
Among all ranges
of audience groups, I’d like to specifically delve into the Millennials, also
known as the Digital Natives. Although the world relentlessly shouts the end of
newspaper era, in fact, people are consuming more news than ever with
unprecedented privileges of having access to various news platforms (Poindexter, 2012). The way Millennials consume news, however, differs from
the audiences of older generations. With their mobile devices at hands and
shorter attention span, their news consumption is more customized and instant, seeking
news that only interests them; hence, news comes to them. What’s problematic
with the way Millennials consume news is that they are accustomed to reading short
stories or only headlines to get the gist of the stories; therefore, lacking a
full contemplation of news. They accept news stories at face value because they
are reluctant to engage in a deep critical thinking in today’s fast-paced
society. Studies (e.g. Pew Research Center, 2010) show that Millennials have higher educational level,
but I wonder whether they are better at distinguishing legitimate news sources and
getting various news stories to broaden their perspectives of the world than
audiences of other generations.
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