Introduction: What We (Don’t) Know About News Avoidance

Abstract

Interest in news avoidance has recently grown both inside and outside academia. In this introduction to a special issue on the topic, we present a systematic review of existing studies (N = 116) and discuss what we (don’t) know about this phenomenon. Our review illustrates that news avoidance has been examined through qualitative, mixed, but most often quantitative studies, conducted primarily in Western countries, although with important exceptions. We highlight how existing literature portrays news avoidance as a multidimensional phenomenon—encompassing behavioral and expressive components—affected by factors at the levels of the (missing) audiences, the news content, and the broader structural context. In terms of blind spots, we know relatively much about causes for news avoidance and some of its consequences, but less about counterstrategies. Also, while much of our knowledge is centered around audiences, we know little about the roles of other actors, such as the news media, journalists, and intermediaries. We end by discussing what the research field can learn by studying news avoidance, highlighting the value of understanding how audiences relate to journalism through a diverse set of methodological approaches. We also stress the need to carefully consider normative assumptions when positioning news avoidance as a problem.

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