Abstract
To function as well-informed citizens in democracy, early adolescents (12–16 years old) should become news literate news consumers. In this time of fragmented media use and evolving conceptions of (the importance and relevance of) news, this is not easy. Therefore, this focus group study investigated news consumption and news literacy through the eyes of early adolescents. Results showed that early adolescents have broad definitions of news. Their news consumption is predominantly passive, possibly due to a lack of intrinsic motivation. They see news as important, but often as boring, repetitive and negative, and disconnected from youth. Participants had knowledge of news content and effects, and stressed the importance of reliable news. However, for the majority, this did not translate into critical evaluation of news. For early adolescents, the key factor in becoming more news literate news consumers is motivation. Moving forward, motivation should be better incorporated in both research and practice.
Highlights
To function as well-informed citizens in democracy, early adolescents (12–16 years old) should become news literate news consumers
News consumption before the age of 18 is a positive predictor of news consumption 7 years later and interest in politics develops during adolescence and stabilizes already by the age of 20 (Russo and Stattin, 2017; York and Scholl, 2015)
Before adolescents are 15 years old, they are most susceptible to increasing their political and societal interest (Russo and Stattin, 2017). This group stands out in their news consumption, such as in their great use of social media to consume news (Craft et al, 2016). To address this gap in the literature, this study will focus on the news consumption and news literacy of 12–16-year-olds
Summary
To function as well-informed citizens in democracy, early adolescents (12–16 years old) should become news literate news consumers In this time of fragmented media use and evolving conceptions of (the importance and relevance of) news, this is not easy. Before adolescents are 15 years old, they are most susceptible to increasing their political and societal interest (Russo and Stattin, 2017) This group stands out in their news consumption, such as in their great use of social media to consume news (Craft et al, 2016). To address this gap in the literature, this study will focus on the news consumption and news literacy of 12–16-year-olds, (i.e. early adolescents)
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