News Avoidance: Concept, Causes and Factors

This article provides an overview of studies on news avoidance. The widespread nature of this phenomenon makes it crucial to examine not only how the information we consume affects public opinion, but also how the lack of news consumption influences people's perspectives. News avoidance is a multifaceted phenomenon. There are intentional and unintentional forms of avoidance, as well as complete and partial avoidance. The extent of this phenomenon is also measured in various ways. Depending on the research methodology, news avoiders may include those who self-identify as such, those who consume news below a certain threshold, or those who do not consume news from any source on a wide list. All this makes it challenging to quantify the prevalence of news avoidance. The reasons for rejecting news content are specific to the high-choice media environment, which can lead to information overload. The negative bias of news is also significant, as it increases the emotional cost of consuming news and encourages avoidance to protect mental well-being. The individual characteristics of information consumers also play a role. Women, young people, and those with lower levels of education are more likely to avoid news. Reducing the consumption of information content can be achieved by regulating the timing of news consumption (avoiding news at work, checking news only twice a day, etc.) or by managing the information environment (disabling push notifications, uninstalling news apps, etc.).