Sarah Schreiner

Our Generation, Politics, and News

           Millennials, news, and politics, are an unlikely combination. When Millennials hear a political conversation starting, they often run the other way. We’ve become a generation that hates politics. We place news consumption among all the other things we consume via social media and what not. News is not as important to us as it has been in previous generations. An study shows, “Overall, just 47 percent who use Facebook say that getting news is a main motivation for visiting, but it has become one of the significant activities they engage in once they are there. Fully 88 percent of Millennials get news from Facebook regularly, for instance, and more than half of them do so daily“ (Media Insight). Most of us millennials don’t even get our news from actual news sources. We blur the line of news and traditional media but consuming our news in places we find most convenient.

            This is large reason why news stations like CNN are tanking. CNN is considered a more moderate news source in that it is the most fact-based reporting station. Brett Lang wrote in his The Wrap article “CNN Becoming Like Fox News, MSNBC, Pew Study Finds” that CNN fills its airtime with 54% factual reporting compared to Fox news at 45% and MSNBC at 15%. CNN was the only one of the three whose factual reporting was greater than its opinion or commentary. CNN was at 46% while Fox was at 55% and MSNBC was at a whopping 85%. Many of us Millennials would turn on CNN if we tuned into watch TV news because it’s the most moderate station. How different is our generation than the previous in identifying as Independent or Moderate? A Time magazine article that compares Millennials to other generations says, “34% of millennials call themselves true independents, meaning they don’t lean toward either party. For older Americans, it’s just 10%” (Gillespie). Even then in a recent Reason-Rupe poll 62% of millennials call themselves liberal but by that they mean they favor liberal social views like gay marriage pot legalization (Gillespie). In turn, their social views actual say nothing about their views on government spending. “To millennials, being socially liberal is being liberal, period…. Despite the strong liberal tilt among millennials, 53% say they would support a candidate who was socially liberal and fiscally conservative” (Gillespie). We're a moderate generation with little sources for news and representation.

            The bipartisanship of the country has left most millennials dreading the political talk. That’s part of the reason we don’t seek out news, we consume like any other information. That’s also part of the reason CNN is trying to become like Fox and MSNBC because if they swing one way they’ll surely increase their views and ratings by catering the older TV watching population. With millennials so split on their views the only channel that’s technically up their alley is CNN but millennials don’t watch TV!  The polarization of the country is found on sites everywhere. A Pew Research Center Study on Political Polarization and Media Habits found that “many consistent conservatives and liberals hear dissenting political views in their everyday lives” (Mitchell). The same study found that those with consistently liberal views are more likely to block or “defriend” someone on a social network – as well as to end a personal friendship – because of politics and conservatives are more likely to hear political opinions that are in line with their own views. Overall, though, whether conservative or liberal they are much more likely than others to closely follow government and political news (Mitchell).

            Being a millennial myself, I would say part of the reason we’re so down the middle is because of the nasty debates we see arise from politics. We’re ready to compromise because we don’t see how anything gets done when we don’t. The older generations would probably call our lack of news media consumption apart of our complacent nature and social media focused lives. No Baby Boomers and Gen X, we’re not complacent, we’re just different and non-traditional! With the distrust in government at an all time high and the presidential debate stirring up more debate than ever, many of us won’t vote. Millennials are known for their lack of participation in government (which is why Baby Boomers and Gen X call us lazy…) but we just don’t see the point. A trade publication article that talking about appealing to Millennial voters says it all, “We're strapped with school debt and largely uninsured, the majority of us oppose the war, and many of us feel that our elected officials and candidates have no idea what is going on in our lives. It's easy and logical for young people to be cynical about politics, and that's a problem for anyone who wants to change the face of power in our country” (Weiss).

            Look at the presidential race now. We have far left and far right to choose from. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders couldn’t be more polarized.

           

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Donald Trump has brought a huge amount of coverage to the presidential race but it's just not enough. His celebrity past isn't enough to get us to polls. Hey politicians and news outlets if you want our votes, views, and our attention…. appeal to us! There's studies here and everywhere telling you what we like. The bipartisanship is our country is plaguing our government. News isn't our main concern but you can make it. Hey Baby Boomers and Gen X, meet us the middle, we'll be here waiting.

"How Millennials Get News." The Media Insight Project. March 2015. Web.

Mitchell, Amy et al. "Political Polarization & Media Habits." Pew Research Center. 24 Oct. 2014. Web.

Weiss, Mattie. "Mobilize The Millennials." Campaigns & Elections (1996) 28.12 (2007): 72-73. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.

Lang, Brent. “CNN Becoming Like Fox News, MSNBC.” The Wrap. 18 March 2013. Web. 

Gillespie, Nick. "The Secret Language of Millennials." Time. Time, 11 July 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2016. <http://time.com/2974185/millennials-poll-politics/>.