Majority of teens hold negative views of news media, says report

16 days ago

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Mary Robb, a social studies teacher at Andover High School, has been teaching news literacy for 25 years.
Students in Robb's class showed little interest in becoming journalists, despite taking a media-related elective.
A survey by News Literacy Project found that U.S. teens have negative perceptions of journalists, describing them as 'Biased,' 'Boring,' and 'Bad.'
Only 28% of Americans trust the news media, with even lower trust among Republicans (8%).
Teens struggle to distinguish between news, opinion, and advertising, and many get their news from social media.
Only 32% of teens could name movies or TV shows about journalism, with 'Spider-Man' and 'Anchorman' being the most cited.
The report recommends improving news literacy education and encouraging teens to interact with professional journalists or join journalism programs.
Robb emphasizes the importance of teaching students to distinguish between standards-based journalism and other types of information.
Many teens are unaware of the ethics and standards of professional journalism, leading to skepticism about the profession.

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