BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — So how do you consume news? This week, January 22-26, 2024, marks National News Literacy Week and we here at 7 News are shining a spotlight on the importance of news. But there's a growing divide on how news is being consumed by new and older generations.
7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley handed the microphone over to members of our community to get their thoughts on news literacy and news media.
“Did you see this though?” asked Jamel Johnson, student, SUNY Buffalo State, as he and his friend Nigel Burch were scrolling their iPhones.
Johnson of Niagara Falls and Burch of New Jersey were together inside the Buffalo State dining hall Tuesday and were willing to share with me how their generation follows the news.
“How do you get your news?” Buckley asked the students.
“A lot of my news that would come from, I would say social media and you know, just looking through my phone and going on Google and things just pop up,” replied Burch.
“So, tell me, how do you get your news?” Buckley questioned. “I would say I get my news, same way, social media, on my phone or like news sites on my phone or something like that mostly,” responded Johnson.
At the Cheektowaga Senior Center, an older generation reminisces how they once got their news.
“I used to love the days when I used to have my cup of coffee and my newspaper and start the day that way. The world isn't that way anymore — sorry to say,’ remarked Alvina Zielinski of Buffalo.
Zielinski and Terry Burke of Cheektowaga both tell me they were once print news subscribers, but not anymore.
"And to me, that was news. Now, I think everything is kind of very slanted and I haven't bought a paper in a long time,” reflected Zielinski.
“I’m online. I Googled through my phone. I got a couple of apps and actually get, you know, get headlines. A lot of times it's not a good headline,” noted Burke
These seniors tell me they watch cable or local news and go online. But I asked these two generations, separated by at least five decades or more if they trust the news they might be scrolling through.
“I try to look at more than one source,” Burke explained.
“But sometimes there just like something you will see and just like, ‘nah there's no way that's true’ and you just swipe by it — just go on to the next one,” Johnson noted.
"What about the credibility of it? Do you trust it as a news source?” Buckley questioned. “Not 100 percent because you know sometimes you could see there's no way that's real you know, but most of the time I would definitely trust it, but would have to see it more than once,” described Burch.
Both students tell me they rely heavily on Instagram and sometimes TikTok for their news.
“You can just scroll forever and there'd be something new every signal time you scroll and TikTok is more of — I don't really trust TikTok. If I see something on TikTok, I would have to go double check it to make sure,” commented Johnson.
But one thing both generations agree on is making sure they are watching or reading the news to be informed, especially in their communities.
