Isa Hinojosa ’25
Staff Writer
Gen-Z is known as the generation that will murder journalism. That’s what older generations tend to believe as physical newspapers are on the decline and major news outlets are becoming unprofitable.
While this may be true to an extent, data collected from a survey taken by 52 college students reveals the truth to be a bit more optimistic. 42% of participants describe the frequency of their news intake to be fairly frequent, reading the news once a day.
However, fueling the older generation’s argument, only 8% of college students get their news from a physical newspaper, compared to the vast majority of respondents getting their news from online articles (82%).
Delfina Jorgensen ’25, a first-year student at Lake Forest College, provides anecdotal evidence to support these data points, being a member of the 42% that reads the news every day.
“I read The New York Times and back home, I would watch WGN news. My grandpa would always get the newspaper on the weekends, and I would read it with him. So, I guess I have always been involved with [the news],” Jorgensen says.
Jorgensen’s main source of news is not unusual among college students: 38% of participants respond that The New York Times is one of their primary sources or their main source of news. However, social media is a close second.
“Does TikTok count?” says Anya Krumbine, a first-year student at Columbia College Chicago. “Then that’s pretty much it. I’m not one to just go out and search the news and read articles and stuff.”
Sports news is also a popular niche among college students.
“Me and my buddies get into sports conversations, so that’s when I search the news,” says Peter Kraft, first-year student at the University of Dayton.
The common defense college students give as to why they don’t read the news on a regular basis is time.
“I don’t find myself having enough time to look at the news,” says Sara Lopez ’25, a first-year student at Lake Forest College.
While this may be true, this pains college students interested in pursuing journalism as a career and those simply passionate about journalism.
“It worries me a little bit [how our peers don’t care about the news]. I think we should all care about the future if we want a future,” Jorgensen says.
Jorgensen’s particular interest in politics is the fuel for her fire.
“[Reading the news] kind of just helps you, I think you need to know what’s going on, especially with politics, so that when you vote you’re voting smart,” Jorgensen says.
More optimistically, politics is what many college students cite as the reason they think they will be more interested in journalism in their adult life. They believe it is important for them to be informed voters, as Jorgensen said, just not yet.
Who can blame them? In the current political atmosphere, the state of the climate, and the current controversy surrounding journalism as a whole, it is hard to navigate the news and find uplifting stories that college students would actually enjoy reading.
“It stresses me out to read about things I have no control over,” Krumbine explains. “Like when you read about riots at the capital, you’re like, ’Oh god, that is horrible,’ and you have to just sit there and read about it, and you can’t do anything about it.”
Many students do find comfort in discussing the news, particularly when it impacts their lives.
“When something is in the news that would affect us, we would talk about it,” Lopez says.
However, college students believe what is in the news generally does not affect them. Many headlines also tend to be touchy subjects, if you don’t know your peers’ political persuasions.
“Back home, I would always have conversations with my family. But as I got here, I have similar conversations with my team [Lake Forest College Women’s Cross Country and Track], but not as in-depth.” Jorgensen explains. “It’s not as much detail as it would be if I were with my family. Some things are off-limits. My parents always told me you don’t talk about certain things, and that is usually what the news is about.”
This can obviously create tension between college students and lead to ignorance of the news. However, there is still hope that journalism will become more popular in the coming years with Gen-Z.
Lopez reflects, “When I’m an adult I will have more time and care more. I’ll care more about what’s going on in the world because it will affect me more.”
