All the News That’s Fit to Ignore

TLDR

In a fragmented digital media environment where news is increasingly encountered passively, active avoidance of news has outsized importance for shaping informed citizenship. The article systematically evaluates individual- and country-level factors predicting news avoidance behaviors, showing that country-level “cultures of news consumption” also influence avoidance beyond respondent differences. The study uses a large-scale quantitative comparative survey of over 67,000 respondents in 35 countries to examine how demographics, political attitudes, and news genre preferences shape avoidance across information environments. The analysis shows that press freedom, political freedom, and stability negatively predict news avoidance, and that avoidance depends on personal characteristics, news quality perceptions, and culturally specific norms.

Abstract

Abstract In a fragmented digital media environment where news is increasingly encountered passively in social media feeds and via automated mobile alerts, active avoidance of news, rather than deliberate consumption, takes on outsized importance in shaping what it means to be an informed citizen. This article systematically evaluates the factors that predict news avoidance behaviors, considering both individual- and country-level explanations. Using a large-scale quantitative, comparative approach, we examine more than 67,000 survey respondents across 35 countries worldwide and find consistent evidence for how factors including demographics, political attitudes, and news genre preferences shape avoidance consistently across information environments. But we also show how country-level contextual factors, what we call “cultures of news consumption,” influence behaviors beyond that which is explained by respondent-level differences. Specifically, levels of press freedom and political freedom and stability are shown to negatively predict rates of news avoidance. These findings suggest that many people’s news use practices depend not only on personal characteristics and preferences but quite sensibly on the news available to them, which they may have good reason to view as deficient or untrustworthy, as well as culturally specific norms around its value and utility.