In a world with “alternative facts” and an active threat of “fake news,” some Americans are starting to distrust certain news sources.
But in a digital world as constantly connected as today’s, news is practically inescapable, and despite the uncertain climate that surrounds it, ETSU students are staying informed.
Will Wade, a junior and history major, says he keeps up with news “too much.”
“It’s the obligation of being a person in a functioning democracy to know what’s going on in the world,” Wade said.
Wade chooses to skim headlines for some of his news. For more in-depth stories, particularly political analysis, he’s a fan of podcasts because he can listen to them on his commute to class.
NPR podcasts, Slate’s “Political Gabfest” and FiveThirtyEight podcasts are among some of the news sources he listens to.
According to the American Press Institute, 85 percent of millennials say keeping up with news is at least somewhat important to them and 69 percent get news daily.
Junior Haylee Sloan says she doesn’t really keep up with the news and relies more on what people share online.
“I keep up with it more on social media,” Sloan said.
Sloan feels it’s important and that she should be more informed, but she doesn’t have cable and convenient streaming services like Hulu and Netflix don’t have the news.
One student, senior and theatre major Britny Fox, takes a more proactive approach to finding the news she hears.
“I subscribe to the New York Times, Vanity Fair, I also follow the Washington Post, BBC and NPR online. I also listen to a more progressive online news source, The Young Turks. It’s mainly online and print sources I have online subscriptions to,” Fox said.
Fox, who reads the news on a daily basis, says it is absolutely vital to stay informed.
“I think it is absolutely imperative if you want to be a productive member of society,” Fox said. “You are obligated to be informed of what’s going on not only nationally at the federal level, but also what’s going on in your state.”
