The Continuum between News Avoidance and Alternative Media Use

The next presenter in this morning session at IAMCR 2023 is Katharina Schöppl, whose interest is in news avoidance amongst users of alternative media. Media are critical to the construction of a shared reality and public sphere, yet media realities are not comprehensive, which gives rise to alternative news media options as well as news avoidance. Such (intentional or unintentional) avoidance as well as use of alternative media is seen as problematic as it reduces people’s ability to participate fully in public debate, and should also be seen as a political act.

There are many definitions of alternative media; some see them as positive additions to the media landscape, who provide more diverse perspectives; while others, more recently, describe them as polarising, undemocratic, and radicalising. Users may be attracted to these alternative media because they describe the world in a way that is more compatible with their pre-existing worldviews.

In the interviews conducted by this project, dissatisfaction with mainstream media options was a key driver for news avoidance or a focus on alternative news outlets. This might be because of mainstream news media’s perceived politics, worldviews, negativity, or other factors. Additionally, people also preferred alternative options because of their more modern and convenient formats; they also avoided conventional news because of their negative emotional valence.

This produces a continuum between outright news avoidance on the one hand, and resistance to mainstream news options on the other. But this might also be seen as a vicious cycle between mainstream news avoidance, the adoption of alternative media options, and criticism and political protest, which in turn reinforces the rejection of mainstream media options.