24/7 NEWS CYCLE IS ON FIRE

Is the 24/7 news cycle changing news and society by Callum McCormack, Queen's University, August 5, 2022

Under the influence of the 24/7 news cycle, the news is altering how we see ourselves and others in real time. The first blow came from the news outlets themselves who, in the transition to digital media distribution, have reduced the news agenda and the breadth and depth of professional news journalism. Second, audiences with new media habits have a short and selective attention span for news. And thirdly, social media as the primary news feed caters to that short and selective attention span unevenly across audiences and with dire results. It is a habit now to filter and bias news reporting to agree with an individual’s narrower world view. And, increasingly, it may include ignoring the news altogether. The news, like so much of the personalization offered by new media, is less influential to effect change. Without new media clout, a recovery from an impoverished news cycle and a eturn to the volume, depth and integrity of professional quality journalism may be unlikely and without social media stepping into the role, unbiased and important news, political and social, will never reach across geographic and social boundaries.

News journalism professionals have clung to the statistics that uphold that traditional journalism is still “more trusted” (News Media Canada) than social media. However, observations tell otherwise. Unable to sustain a roster of professional journalists and the associated objectivity, fact checking and thoroughness that they bring to news content, the social media prevalence was the perfect storm for transforming the news. Particularly in print media where journalism held down the serious news. In the 14 years up to 2021, U.S. newsrooms had lost 26% of their jobs, but newspapers outpaced this at more than 40,000 jobs (57%). Alternatively, Digital Native publishers have grown from 8000 to 18,000 in the same period. It is notable that whereas the newsroom employees are considered analysts, reporters, and journalists, digital native sector employees are classified as “other information services”. (PEW RESEARCH).

SHORT, SELECTIVE AND SHORTSIGHTED

With the digital native sector in charge of the news cycle audiences have new media habits defined by a short and selective attention span for news. In 2016 Barak Obama commented that “Social media could erode democracy” and in the data analysis social media prevailed. Facebook news stories alone were able to generate “more engagement than top stories from 19 major news outlets combined” (CBSnews.com). The rapid disintegration of traditional media, led to news being separated form oversight from media outlets. Individual journalists report their news their way, directly to audiences, and as they cater to those audiences, they can’t help but informally caption articles with their personal opinions and interact with readers through commentary. The negative effect on journalism is to separate news journalism from any other social media “information services”.

Today’s news habits are formed by enabling devices that give us “perpetual contact” (Module 6) and the opportunity of consuming and rejecting news via social media 24/7. The constant access to social media means that there is an unlimited pipeline of news updates that leads to information overload. In order to reduce the cognitive overload, “news consumers manage the perception of information overload by adopting certain news consumption behaviours.” But one of the important differences is the change in what constitutes news. It is very apparent from “the shift from journalism as investigation or analysis to journalism as immediate publication, with speed taking precedence over all else”. (Computers in Human Behaviour, 2017)

New media is the reason that there is a news overload. Due to Social Media channels we have begun to curate our news in such a manner that it limits the way we consume news as well as the value it adds to society. Research shows that the way people “keep up with the news” is by grazing the headlines of various outlets all day across multiple devices, with a recent survey stating 6 out of 10 adults said they only read the headlines (Film 260 Mod 5). This practice has allowed people to experience the news but never decoding or understanding the messages given. It is widely accepted that people don’t like to admit that they are less than intellectually curious and more than likely the percentage is higher. The research suggesting that adults faced with news overload cut it off. A phenomenon called news avoidance (Unpacking Overload).

We follow news feeds or communities that feature things that are easy to understand and align with our interests. However, news that is irrelevant or unappealing to the individual is the stuff that contributes most to this overload. (Journal of Applied Journalism). This subjective view on news is causing a crisis in journalism. The more complex the issue is, the less likely people will take the time to understand it.. The way news is curated now, targeting simplified subjects that are of interest to all and avoiding news overload and to maintain higher viewer retention. For instance, Sports News in the same research was shown, regardless of Irrelevance or Intensity, to not contribute to overload. Whereas the challenge to journalistic integrity is huge for serious news where authoritative voices have been reduced to headlines, leading to less diversity, and “less diversity in news means that the majority of news media are simply repackaging and relaying the work from the few that are still doing real journalism work” (Film Module 5). News that the individual agrees with is then amplified through social sharing.“More precisely, communication is no longer limited to certain times, as it can take place on a 24/7 basis (Module 6) and so the 24/7 newscycle has become the 24/7 new media cycle in which news blends with other information and entertainment seamlessly.

Another recent study shows statistical significance between news overload and two types of news consumption behaviour (Selective Exposure and News Avoidance). Reading the headlines and limiting where we look gives us a quick way to avoid news we find scary, anxiety producing or guilt inducing. This behaviour has always been part of our make-up, but the effects of new media on our minds has made this increasingly more prevalent. And with media tools as important as the news, conforming to just reading snippits and calling it news media amplifies the less accurate narratives all so that its consumers can make it easier to use new media news to stay in their comfort zone. Economically, the result is a new media news environment driving this 24/7 news cycle made up of nice, short, and less informative news (ResearchGate). However this cycle is driving the decrease in the quality credibility of the news, making it easier for people to turn off or turn away from the news. Both selective exposure and news avoidance eat away at the opportunity for news media to recover traditional journalistic value.

Selective Exposure and its relationship with journalistic integrity means looking at the politics of news where the debate has been studied intensely. The general idea is that the more interested people are in the subject, the more the more online sources they will use, accessing diverse texts. After an initial period of grazing widely there is “depressed participation and the likelihood of reducing selective exposure to attitude consistent news” (Journal of Computer mediated communication, Vol. 19, issue 2). This “attitude consistent news” is the fertile ground into which “hacktivism” and “fake news” figures and is the level at which news media is most vulnerable.

Information overload is a factor in news’ impact of important hard news like the Ukraine war and Covid. “Ukraine fears Western support will fade as media loses interest in the war”. The 24/7 news cycle is exhaustive, and it has an impact on how engaged society is in creating change. It was observed that “Despite the increased death toll, those (anxious and concerned) behaviors then gave way over time to less concerned responses to COVID-19 news, along with increases in societal risk-taking during that time period.”(UC Davis).

AN IMPOVERISHED NEWS CYCLE

Understanding News Avoidance is an important evolving discipline in the diversity, equity and inclusion aspect of new media. If selective exposure is a problem among those consuming online news, the bigger problem is news avoidance and the socio-economic aspect of those who turn away from news altogether. “Results show that people at lower social positions, measured as their relative lack of cultural and economic capital, are significantly more likely to avoid online news. A lack of cultural capital predicts total news avoidance online, avoiding online public service news and the “quality news,” while it lessens the likelihood of avoiding “popular news” online. (Disconnecting from Digital news, 2022).

Living without “quality news” altogether will have broad implications as again, politics is the bellweather for showing a relationship between news and societal impact as “news consumption has been linked to political participation and knowledge (Aalberg and Curran, 2012).There is hope for news integrity with the advent of ‘social journalism’. The practice would combine the best of citizen journalism with a new media version of publisher oversite which would take on the fact checking and objectivity, or earmark articles that are opinion. News Avoidance is not just a factor of overload, but also of lower socio-economic accessibility and understanding. A new hybrid breed of “popular news” may find its way into the habits of a broader spectrum of consumers.

The 24/7 news cycle is “on fire” but so is traditional journalism. Most people get their news for free. Generationally, newspapers are aging out, with predictions that there will be no paper editions as early as 2025. Avoidance, overload, selective exposure are the limiting factors. Under the influence of the 24/7 news cycle, the news is altering how we see ourselves and others. “When participants felt highly overloaded with news information they received on social media, it was more likely they would selectively expose themselves to certain news sources”. This is potentially a recovery plan for journalism as research respondents overloaded with news may be willing to pay for “quality news, well organized and helpful with coping with overload” (Unpacking Overload, 2019) and. Social journalism may create new value for users from those who are avoiding the 24/7 news cycle completely; a socio-economic group that couldn’t afford news in the first place.

SOURCES: and News Topics on News Overload.” Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies, vol. 8, no. 3, 2019, pp. 273–290., https://doi.org/10.1386/ajms_00002_1.

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Lee, Angela M. “How Fast Is Too Fast? Examining the Impact of Speed-Driven Journalism on News Production and Audience Reception.” Dissertation, 23 Sept. 2014, https://www.academia.edu/8460523/How_Fast_is_Too_Fast_Examining_the_Impact_of_Speed_Driven_Journalism_on_News_Production_and_Audience_Reception?email_work_card=title.

Lindall, Johann. “Disconnecting from Digital News: News Avoidance and the Ignored Role of ...” SagePub, DOI.org, 17 Apr. 2022, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14648849221085389.

Knobloch-Westerwick, Silvia, and Benjamin K. Johnson. “Selective Exposure for Better or Worse: Its Mediating Role for Online News' Impact on Political Participation*.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 2014, https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/19/2/184/4067521.

Nikos-Rose, Karen Michele. “People Becoming Desensitized to Covid-19 Illnesses, Death, Research Suggests.” UC Davis, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.ucdavis.edu/curiosity/news/uc-davis-research-suggests-americans-are-becoming-desensitized-covid-19-illnesses-death.

Walker, Mason. “U.S. Newsroom Employment Has Fallen 26% since 2008.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 8 Apr. 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/13/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-fallen-26-since-2008/.

Sabbagh, Dan. “Ukraine Fears Western Support Will Fade as Media Loses Interest in the War.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 12 June 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/ukraine-fears-western-support-will-fade-as-media-loses-interest-in-the-war.

IMAGES:

Cartoon Image of. 24/7 Newscycle. https://www.allposters.com/-sp/Don-t-Believe-the-Internet-Lincoln-Humor-Poster-Posters_i9721520_.htm?AID=96280778&ProductTarget=9721520&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=PLA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_7KXBhCoARIsAPdPTfgj-BWAvFvkE9YjnQkIrFpi3pZ5M9cuvoYbRyFajQKNYi5eG3Qr89YaAmotEALw_wcB.

Lincoln on Social Media. https://www.allposters.com/-sp/Don-t-Believe-the-Internet-Lincoln-Humor-Poster-Posters_i9721520_.htm?AID=96280778&ProductTarget=9721520&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=PLA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_7KXBhCoARIsAPdPTfgj-BWAvFvkE9YjnQkIrFpi3pZ5M9cuvoYbRyFajQKNYi5eG3Qr89YaAmotEALw_wcB.

Willy Wonka on Social Media. https://memegenerator.net/instance/61709833/willy-wonka.

Star. Trek on Social Media. https://memegenerator.net/instance/61251339/star-trek.

The Rich Meme. https://www.dreamstime.com/news-meme-press-media-funny-social-sharing-rich-people-vs-poor-concept-image174435671.

Star. Trek on Social Media. https://memegenerator.net/instance/61251339/star-trek.

The Rich Meme. https://www.dreamstime.com/news-meme-press-media-funny-social-sharing-rich-people-vs-poor-concept-image174435671.

The Real News https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmm_7RDZJeQzq2-wvmjueg