NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
PDF on ERIC Download full text
ERIC Number: ED597133
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Aug-5
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Across the Great Divide: How Today's College Students Engage with News
Head, Alison J.; DeFrain, Erica; Fister, Barbara; MacMillan, Margy
Online Submission, First Monday v24 n8 1-18 Aug 2019
This paper reports results from a mixed-methods study about how college students engage with news when questions of credibility and "fake news" abound in the U.S. Findings are based on 5,844 online survey responses, one open-ended survey question (N=1,252),and 37 follow-up telephone interviews with students enrolled at 11 U.S. colleges and universities. More than two-thirds of respondents had received news from at least five pathways to news during the previous week; often their news came from discussions with peers, posts on social media platforms, online newspaper sites, discussions with professors, or news feeds. The classroom was an influential incubator for news habits; discussions of news provided relevant connections to curricular content as well as guidance for navigating a complex and crowded online media landscape. Respondents majoring in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and business administration were far more likely to get news from their professors than were students in computer science or engineering. The interplay between unmediated and mediated pathways to news underscored the value of the socialness of news; discussions with peers, parents, and professors helped students identify which stories they might follow and trust. Opportunities and strategies are identified for preparing students to gather and evaluate credible news sources, first as students and then as lifelong learners, based on the assumption that instructors discussing news in class can demonstrate intentionally,or unintentionally, that familiarity with news is a social practice and a form of civic engagement.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Tennessee (Nashville); Texas (Austin); Massachusetts; California; Illinois (Chicago); Virginia; Oklahoma; Alaska (Anchorage); Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A