Fake News Blog

In today's blog, I will discuss the differences in media consumption. I had the opportunity to interview two college students and two adults ages 40 or older. The study consists of determining their top three sources of news. I found out their preferred ways of consuming information and their least. At the end of this blog, you will see the similarity and differences in media consumption.

Let's start with the two college students and compare their preferred ways of consuming news. I ask both subjects to list their top three ways to receive information from least to favorite. Subject A list started with the internet, hearing input from someone you know, and television. Subject A explains why they believe television is the most reliable way to receive news. Subject A says, "there are a few channels dedicated to that, the news and event that happens at the moment, which for us usually is all the time someone being robbed and a group of neighbors mad." They feel that the internet is not reliable when it comes to receiving the news. In subject A words, "you can find information on events even faster than television, but the only problem there is that there could be fake notes about whatever event is going on. you can have 8 different publishers speaking of the same event, but all of them will be told differently." Subject B listed the internet and hearing news from someone as the best way to receive the latest news. Subject b says, " I feel there are many ways of finding news online. You just got to be careful about which site you use. I still prefer the internet because I can hear opinions from people worldwide." They felt that the least reliable was television. " I feel that the news cuts out important information and has its own narrative they want to present to the audience. It feels less authentic." These two college students have similar patterns of receiving news, but their reasoning for not consuming information on specific platforms is different.

Let's discuss our two subjects who are 40 and over. I requested that both subjects do the same and list their top three ways of consuming news from least to favorite. Subject C list started with television, radio, and youtube. Subject C feels that the local news channel provides all the latest information in the community and all over in the most effective way. Subject C says, "youtube is the least reliable because it's opinionated and only sometimes based on the facts that took place." Subject D's list was the same as subject c, with news articles instead of the radio. They preferred reading news articles because it's straightforward, and no opinions are being pushed onto the reader. D's least favorite way to consume news is the radio. " They are mostly rambling and all over the place when talking about important events. I feel like most radio stations don't have their facts straight." These two subjects prefer not having to research their information and would instead stick to the old ways of receiving the news.

At the end of the study, I could tell there was a difference in media consumption between college students and adults 40 and older. College students prefer getting information from a classmate or someone they know personally. They enjoy hearing people's thoughts on the latest events. Older adults prefer the old-school style of receiving important news. They feel it needs to be more researched and focused on facts. It was enjoyable to interview different age ranges and hear their preferred ways of consuming information.