In today’s world, there are various means of staying informed on current events. Whether it is through reading news sites such as The New York Times, watching broadcast news on channels like CNN or ABC News, or talking with family and friends, people receive information and stay up to date in different ways. As the political and social landscape has shifted over the years, the importance of knowing what is going on locally, nationally, and globally has significantly heightened. This is especially true amongst Gen Z and teens, who are encouraged to not only “be in the know” but to truly understand how the world is constantly evolving in order to create a better future for themselves.
During the 2020 presidential election and the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the news was a constant in my household. My family and I would have CNN on the TV everyday, and we would be informed on everything that was happening, from the rapid spread of the pandemic to the polls of the presidential race. As I grew older, I became more aware of the concept of misinformation and fake news. I began to understand the ways in which misinformation spread, especially amongst people my age and generation. I started to hear stories of various people who were trusting the fake news being catered to them and spreading the misinformation to others, unaware of whether or not it was true or one-sided, and I started to fully comprehend how the news and social media were interlinked in today’s society.
New ways of consuming news have emerged – most notably social media. Social media, whether it is TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, or X (formerly known as Twitter), has been the main news source preferred amongst Gen Z instead of traditional media like newspapers or TV news stations. According to Statista, out of 531 respondents, 50% of Gen Z use social media daily as their news source in the U.S. (11% never use social media to consume news.) However, when it comes to national newspapers, 61% of Gen Z never use newspapers to consume news. (4% still use national newspapers as their primary news source).
As social media continues to evolve and become more multifaceted, news influencers have emerged and have also become a primary source of news for many young adults. In a study from the Pew Research Center conducted in July and August during the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, statistics showed that 40% of young adults aged 18-29 get their news from influencers, with 65% saying it helped shape their understanding of current events and civic issues.
The study also found that news influencers were more likely to lean conservative, and 77% report that they have no past or present affiliation with a news media organization. This means that these news influencers are not diligent in fact-checking their sources like reliable reporters affiliated with a news media organization would be, thus allowing for misinformation to spread faster amongst young people and Gen Z.
During the Fact Check: Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda panel at the LA Times Festival of Books, Steve Oney, journalist and author of “On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR,” dove deeper into news and misinformation in the present day. “We have a whole other conundrum of what has social media done to the news,” Oney said. “Social media has made all of us the individual author of our news. We don’t need an expert. We can put it out on our social media platforms and that is a tremendous shift in the way we view the world and you don’t know what the final effect is going to be. We are living in a new, strange time.”
Despite the fact that Gen Z frequently turns to social media to keep up on current affairs, social media is the least trusted news source in the U.S. according to another study conducted by Statista. Because fake news is able to circulate easier across social media platforms, Gen Z (who are the heaviest social media users) are at higher risk of succumbing to biased or inaccurate stories, and therefore their media literacy (the ability to critically analyze and evaluate stories and media) is not as finely tuned as others.
An example of this is research conducted by Stanford to study young people’s media literacy. Researchers showed 3,446 high school students a video depicting bold red letters blaring “2016 Democrat Primary Voter Fraud CAUGHT ON TAPE”, with a series of blurry security footage showing ballot stuffing. However, this was actually a video presenting voter fraud in Russia, and when the video was shown to these high school students, only three students were able to detect the Russian connection.
Misinformation and fake news have always been present in our society, and with the internet and social media becoming more entrenched into our daily lives and the news, it is safe to say that the spread of fake news is not going away anytime soon. However, educating ourselves and others about current events and issues is an important first step to combating fake news and misinformation. Particularly among Gen Z, it is important that we take the time to fully comprehend and understand the ways in which fake news affects us and the society we live in, and take the necessary steps to finding the truth.
