I asked my media literacy students this morning where they go for news. And the results look pretty good to me. Lots of local TV news and local newspapers. A number of them watch the Today Show (who knew the kids were watching legacy media?). And a predictable number get there news through Facebook – but their Facebook feeds generally include a number of respected news providers.
So that’s the good news.
The bad news?
I asked how many of them had paid attention to the news yesterday? (A standard kind of question for getting at real, rather than ideal, behavior.)
Their response?
4 out of 23 students raised their hands.
Not particularly surprising/alarming of college students approaching mid-term time, but it does raise an important issue – regardless of where you go for the news, you have to pay attention to it before the source matters.