A New Model for News Studying the Deep Structure of Young-Adult News Consumption
news. In short, the study illustrated a contemporary news consumption model where the foundational elements for news and journalism – background and next steps – were mostly out of range. Stories “below the fold” seemed in danger of becoming vestigial news organs. The logical explanation for much of the current news consumption behavior is connected to the Internet-driven, 24/7 news world. In the study, seemingly unlimited access to
news, through unlimited channels, created an environment for excess. The participants in the study were consuming a steady diet of bite-size pieces of news in the form of headlines, updates and quick facts. News consumers do have a ubiquity of news to select from at almost anytime, from anywhere on a variety of technologies and platforms—television, Internet, mobile devices, radio and more. However, the reality is that the
abundance of news and ubiquity of choice do not necessarily translate into a better news environment for consumers. In fact, the consumers in this study exhibited news fatigue as they attempted to navigate an information stream that mostly dishes up recycled headlines and updates. For example, Jack from Kansas City said that “news [today] is not the full story, but more like a preview—it’s kind of annoying sometimes. I don’t like to get bits and pieces of information.”
Today’s model Faster delivery vehicles and platforms have created a news model based on quick delivery and quick-scan consumption. New generations of news consumers seldom dig deeper – or “below the fold” – which may explain why they crave more information.
Headlines, Breaking
Updates
Facts
Consumers say they are inundated with these aspects …
THE ‘FOLD’
Depth, Breadth
Back story Future stories/ Spin-offs
… while explaining they can’t find these aspects of a story.
* – Larger boxes indicate more available content
A Research Report from The Associated Press and the Context-Based Research Group 37