‘Straight to the Source’: How Teens’ Experiences Shape Their Understanding of and Expectations for News

This study of U.S. youth provides insight into the knowledge of the journalistic process they have in place and how journalistic information is prioritized in their lives. Teen participants based in one area of the country were observed in a hands-on, news-based simulation and then interviewed. Results reveal that, while these teen participants demonstrated general weaknesses in the skills of attribution and updating information when producing traditional broadcast news, these skills were almost entirely disregarded in the context of news they published on social media. The youth participants who have grown up with social media, expressed a general anxiety that all information (journalistic and non-journalistic) can be easily altered or distorted and weakness in coping with information overload. Still, the participants hold high expectations for the function of journalism, but express dissatisfaction with actual news content presentations and delivery. Takeaways for news literacy interventions and news presentations are discussed.