In September of 2024, the New York Times conducted an open forum with teenagers from school across the country regarding their “Relationship with the News”. Unlike yesterday’s post, this was not a scientific poll resulting in hard data. Rather, this forum produced comments from students that present more of their voice on the topic of media literacy. Below are some of the major takeaways from the forum, with a link to the specific area in the story if you are interested in reading what students have to say on the matter. There is every reason to believe that our students here at Olympia feel much the same way as the cross section of America presented in this story.
Would your child agree with these opinions?
Though the vast majority of teenagers said they get their news primarily from social media, many acknowledged problems with the habit. Link
Most also said that following news at all is stressful, depressing and exhausting. Link
Perhaps that’s why some seemed to prefer their current events filtered through humor. Link
In general across comments, teenagers were notably sophisticated about how algorithms and the attention economy work. Link
Many questioned the biases of mainstream news outlets. Link
But they also told us about the media they rely on — and how they navigate among sources to make sense of what they’re seeing. Link
Several walked us through recent examples of their attempts to find the facts behind a news story. Link (the assassination attempt of Donald Trump had taken place near the time of this survey)
Teenagers pointed out over and over that adults are fooled by misinformation more often than they are. Link
They also expressed frustration that adults don’t respect social media as a viable source of information. Link
Many noted that A.I. is exacerbating the problem. Link
Some gave shout-outs to their teachers and parents for showing them how to navigate the news.
*Image credit: Diana Ejaita