How can Australian media address news avoidance in 2024?
According to research from the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre, Australians have some of the world’s highest rates of news avoidance. Because of this, Stephen Ellis, Director of Growth and Strategy, Lush – The Content Agency, argues that traditional news media need to take a different approach if they want to maintain or reclaim their audiences.
When it comes to news avoidance, Australia is a world leader according to the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre.
News avoidance is exactly what it sounds like – avoiding the news whether intentionally or unintentionally. And the number of women avoiding the news in Australia is particularly high – 72 per cent of women avoid news, compared to 67 per cent of men.
While for some, news avoidance is unintentional and has been overtaken by time spent scrolling through social media feeds, studies show that people more often actively avoid the news because they find it too negative, don’t trust it, or feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of events.
