Posted on 06/05/2018 1:04:01 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
If you feel like there is too much news and you can’t keep up, you are not alone. A sizable portion of Americans are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of news there is, though the sentiment is more common on the right side of the political spectrum, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted from Feb. 22 to March 4, 2018.
Almost seven-in-ten Americans (68%) feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days, compared with only three-in-ten who say they like the amount of news they get. The portion expressing feelings of information overload is in line with how Americans felt during the 2016 presidential election, when a majority expressed feelings of exhaustion from election coverage.
While majorities of both Republicans and Democrats express news fatigue, Republicans are feeling it more. Roughly three-quarters (77%) of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents feel worn out over how much news there is, compared with about six-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (61%). This elevated fatigue among Republicans tracks with them having less enthusiasm than Democrats for the 2018 elections.
Feeling overwhelmed by the news is more common among those who follow the news less closely than among those who are avid consumers. While a majority of those who follow the news most of the time (62%) are feeling worn out by the news, a substantially higher portion (78%) of those who less frequently get news say they are fatigued by the amount of it that they see. (Most Americans – 65% – say they follow the news most of time, whereas 34% say they follow only when something important is happening.)
Those less favorable toward the news media are also the most “worn out.” Eight-in-ten of those who think national news organizations do “not too” or “not at all well” in informing the public are feeling this exhaustion. This is somewhat higher than among those who say the news media do “fairly well” (69%), and much higher than for those who think news organizations do “very well” – of whom 48% say they are worn out by the news and 51% say they like the amount they see. This relationship between attitudes toward the news media and fatigue holds even after accounting for Americans’ political party affiliation.
(Overall, 17% of Americans say national news organizations are doing very well at keeping the public informed of the most important national stories of the day, while 24% say they do not too or not at all well; the largest portion, 58%, say the news media do fairly well.)
Some demographic groups – most notably white Americans – are more likely than others to feel exhausted by the news. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of white Americans express fatigue with the amount of news, much higher than among both Hispanic (55%) and black Americans (55%). Women are also somewhat more likely than men to feel worn out (71% vs. 64%, respectively). Those ages 65 and older are slightly less likely than those who are younger to express a sense of exhaustion with the news.
24/7 Trump Bashing - but that's abating somewhat, IMHO, now that they KNOW he's going to fight back!
Heck. I still have Clinton Fatigue leftover from the 1990's, LOL!
When you can turn on the News, even just the Local News, and you can catch the anti Conservative / POTUS Trump Bias in the first 30 seconds of watching, there are no surprises.
#BetterputsomeiceonthatMetoo...
I think they mean “FAKE news fatigue.”
Simple cure - TURN IT OFF!
I am tired of “news”.
I would welcome News.
It’s hard for me to imagine someone looking back from 2050 and thinking to themselves that the rise of the 24 hour news cycle was this really great thing for society.
Freegards
My first thought as well. We're tired of the vitriolic incessant hate filled Trump bashing 24/7
With the internet it's grown exponentially.
It's impossible to keep up with and sort out the relevant news. The selection of 'relevant' news by the msm and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter news feeds hides news that should be front page but isn't.
Raising the profile of a news story creates msm narratives.
It's becoming overwhelming and I believe those in control of the platforms will only flood us with more to hide their agendas.
We are envigorated.
Things are going the way of America for the first time since reporting WW2.
I don’t watch network news or television outside of an occasional sports broadcast at all, haven’t for about 20 years now.
I think it is completely unhealthy to have that crap on all day long. When I go to somewhere to eat, and they ask me where I want to sit, and I say “As far away from any television as possible.”
****I think they mean “FAKE news fatigue.”****
Yesssssssssssss!!!
I watch the Weather Channel for news on Volcanos, earthquakes, landslides, forest fires, hurricanes, floods etc. and check FR for other stuff;)
I turn on our local news precisely at 6:14 every night, watch the local weather, then promptly turn it back off.
You got that right.
And that extends to Free Republic too.
More than a time or two - I find myself FReeping too much. I usually take the weekends off from here.
Turning off the news is what those in charge of forcing unwanted and unwelcome political and social agendas would love you to do.
In this case ignorance isn't bliss. It's submitting to slavery.
The key to fighting them isn't to turn off the news but to find the legitimate sources telling the truth.
The PM drive time guy also gets bored, and tries to lighten it up with non-hard news stuff, keying off whatever happens to make it into the news recently, other than Trump and the opposition.
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