Are you still sleeping or are you already reading? What news is really worth a click

2023-06-19 19:49:22
HomeBerlinAre you still sleeping or are you already reading? What news is really worth a click

The Germans avoid the news. Why actually? Our columnist has an idea on how to change that.

More than every second person avoids Nachrichten.dpa

We Germans are tired of the news, at least on the Internet. That says a new study by the Leibniz Institute for Media Research in Hamburg. The institute has been measuring trends in news usage in Germany for years. According to the latest study, only 52 percent of adult Internet users are interested in news. In 2022 it was still 57 percent, 10 percent less than the year before. That’s why it was already said in 2022: “Germans are tired of the news”. In 2023 it became: “News fatigue continues to increase”. An arc of suspense – in 2024 the headline could read: “News fatigue at its peak”. We don’t do it below that, we sleepy Germans.

The Leibniz Institute follows an apparent downward trend: Regardless of whether it is reach, use or trust, the news is going down the drain. The conclusion of the study is therefore clear: “Interest in news continued to fall in 2023.” The reasons for this apparently lie with us, the consumers. Because the study examines the behavior of people, not the content of the messages.

The focus is therefore our supposed disinterest. The Tagesspiegel headlined: “One in ten actively tries to avoid news”. Young people in particular seem to be actively preoccupied with not caring. A full-time job. 65 percent of all Germans try to do this on a part-time basis – a third of them deliberately avoid certain topics. Topping the list: the Ukraine war, followed by celebrity news and sports. Good topics to avoid, one might think: the news about the Ukraine war leaves much to be desired; life is too short for celebrity gossip; and only die-hard sports fans are immune to the media commercialization of professional sports. Perhaps the fault lies less with news-weary consumers than with low-news content?

Media scientist: “East Germans must represent their interests much more clearly”

According to the study, information overload, a bad mood factor and topic fatigue are also avoidance factors. That makes sense, especially since digital news follows the market logic of the internet. True to the motto: higher, faster, further for even more clicks with even less content. Because in the world of digital news, clicks count above all – they measure the apparent value of the news: who consumes how often and when. Algorithms then take care of the rest. They push headlines about war, sex and catastrophes, scandalous celebrities and scandalous politics. This advertising-driven flood of information is there – thanks to the internet – always and everywhere. In the end, the head resigns, because evolution lags behind digital sensory overload. This is why self-help gurus swear by active avoidance strategies – such as not reporting regularly. Ah, lo and behold!

So is it really true that we care less? Maybe our interest in news isn’t dropping, but in what we’re often presented with as such – bits of information prepared for clicks, with more drama in the background. How about more news about people creating lives and getting involved? No cuddle news, but research information with relevance? So the slogan in 2024 could be: “Are you still sleeping or are you already reading?”. Maybe it’s worth a click.