Digital divide and its impact on news consumption among Generation Y Millennials :A field study

نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية

المؤلفون

1 Assistant lecturer at the college of Language and Communication Arab Academy of   Science, Technology and Maritime Transport

2 Professor at Journalism department - Faculty of Mass Communication - Cairo University

المستخلص

This research sought to address the impact of digital divide on the news consumption among millennials. By using the survey tool, the researcher investigated to what extent different respondents of Gen Y adapt with technology (access, usage, digital literacy skills), and their attitude toward digital news. Through using the uses and gratification theory, this research shed light on understanding how Gen Y engages with the news media, their motivations to read news and the gratifications obtained. Besides, and whether they have different perception of news sources credibility.
The results showed that social media platforms are the most popular sources of news, making up 72.1% across all respondent, followed by online news sources or apps with a total percentage of 57.6%, reflecting a growing reliance on digital platforms. In addition, education-related news is the most preferable news content among respondents, with a mean score of 2.34 and RI 78%. Political news and health/wellness ranked second, as the majority of respondents reported that they “sometimes” consume them. There’s a clear preference among respondents for traditional news sources. While Social media platforms and influencers/content creators garnered the least trust, news apps and online news websites occupy an intermediate level. The research also found out that staying informed about current events and trends ranks as the most significant motive, with a high mean score of 2.45 and RI (81.8%). Over half of the respondents (52%) “always” engage in this activity.
Also, more than half of respondents 51.1% show an interest in using mobile devices for news. Besides, a considerable percentage of respondents (38%) across all respondents use their mobile devices “occasionally” for news. This suggests that even individuals who do not consider mobile devices their primary device for consuming news, still turn to them at times for updates or breaking news, emphasizing its convenience.
 

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