THE STUDIES ARE BLEAK: Most teenagers don’t go out of their way to read news from reliable sources, or they depend on social media for their information about current events, which is a notoriously flawed approach, to put it lightly.
Teens in Contra Costa County tend to agree but still love their TikTok feeds.
According to a study by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a nonpartisan research organization, 57% of teens age 13 to 17 get their news from social media daily. Moreover, the same study suggests that only 12% of teens avidly read news regarding politics, social issues, the economy, the environment, or crime. Many teens and students simply don’t keep up with the news the “old-fashioned” way anymore.
“I have notifications for the New York Times,” said Scarlett He, a 12th grader at Monte Vista High School in Danville. “But most of the news I get is just what I scroll onto on TikTok or Instagram.”
But, to a portion of students interviewed, the internet isn’t an entirely trustworthy source.
Somehow it finds them
“You can’t really trust anything on social media,” said Morgan Nguyen, a 9th grader at California High School in San Ramon.
Nguyen said that the ability for any user to post on social media makes these apps an unreliable source of news for her. She also thinks a lot of teenagers passively consume news on sites like TikTok or Instagram — they want to kill some time, they start scrolling to see funny videos, and they end up seeing a few headlines.
Her peers agree this is a common phenomenon.
“Unintentionally, I do consume news from social media,” said Mansi Swaminathan, a 12th grader at California High School and the editor-in-chief of its newspaper, The Californian. “Not because I’m looking for it, but because as I’m scrolling, I receive it.”
As an editor herself, she admits that this form of news consumption is less than ideal, as social media algorithms often cater to a user’s opinions and biases. And given the nature of current conflicts, such as the war in Iran, the perception of news can get even more muddled.
An article by Ajai K. Rai at Columbia University describes the “Fog of War” effect, where initial reports of events are sensationalized or missing context due to the chaotic nature of combat. The paper alludes to a quote attributed to U.S. Sen. Hiram Johnson in 1917, which said that “the first casualty when war comes is truth.”
Combined with the already unreliable nature of social media, Swaminathan said, misinformation around the U.S. war with Iran and events such as the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School early on in the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran can occur.
On Feb. 26, approximately 175 people were killed at the school, at least 108 of them children. According to Time, the strike was due to outdated U.S. military intelligence suggesting the school was next to a military base.
But the information wasn’t immediately clear after it happened, not only due to the tumultuous nature of the war. Swaminathan said she saw people assigning blame for the strike on social media to different sides without credible sources. This information confused her and made her unsure of what to believe, which is why she personally has a negative impression of consuming news through social media. But she still understands why some of her peers turn to Instagram or TikTok.
“When it comes to current major conflicts, some famous newsrooms aren’t doing a good job reporting responsibly,” she said.
Swaminathan said that although she trusts that major news sources do present factual information, their phrasing of that information can often be biased. She said news organizations like the New York Times can utilize either an impartial or more accusatory tone, depending on which side of the conflict is involved.
Swaminathan pointed out headlines like “Two Schools in Iran Damaged in U.S-Israeli Bombing,” from the New York Times, which flatly states the facts that the schools were bombed by U.S. forces. But when the NYT describes Iran’s killing of protesters in its own country, the header takes a more moral, punitive bent: “How Iran Crushed a Citizen Uprising with Lethal Force.”
According to Swaminathan, the first article has impartial, factual wording, while the second is much more dramatic and accusative.
The idea of teens being disillusioned with traditional news media isn’t new. An article by Education Week suggests that 84% of teenagers have a negative view of the news media. At the same time, the study also suggests that about half of teens believe journalists are untrustworthy, falsify quotes, or take information out of context.
‘We’re getting bamboozled’
Michael Levitin, chair of the journalism department at Diablo Valley College in Contra Costa County, believes that this disillusionment is a consequence of students consuming news through platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
“Social media short-circuits depth and understanding in news,” Levitin said. “We’re getting bamboozled by the social media era into thinking that we’re getting very informed with the constant stream of news, when really people are largely uninformed.”
Levitin said that this lack of a deeper grasp on current events contributes to young adults distrusting traditional media organizations. This distrust has made some students unsure of who or what to trust when it comes to getting their information.
“I find myself thinking that because I can’t trust the news on social media, I disconnect from the problems going on in the world,” said Marcus Casher, an 11th grader at California High School. “There’s too much information going different ways.”
Levitin agrees that this disconnect is something he sees in his students as well.
“(Students) come into my classes at the age of 18, where they should be ready to roll up their sleeves and get informed about the world and life, but they’re already quite cynical,” Levitin said.
Many students tend to be angry at the status quo, Levitin explained, so, along with blaming politicians and those in power, they feel inclined to blame the traditional media outlets as well. However, he thinks that it isn’t fair for students to scrutinize journalists so heavily, as the profession at its core has the goal of uncovering facts and presenting truth to the public.
“The vast majority of journalists out there are in it for the right reasons: to inform the public and tell stories that matter,” he said.
Another aspect of being informed affects all people across all generations: Self-selecting of news based on one’s own beliefs and opinions.
So how do students’ opinions on the war with Iran dictate their news intake?
Regardless of where they received their information, the students interviewed were overwhelmingly critical of the war in Iran, mainly due to the reasoning behind it and the impact it has on their community.
With fewer teens reading bona fide news, they may be less aware of things that could directly affect them, like a possible draft if the war in Iran grows.
Overall, students like Swaminathan, who engage mostly with traditional media, were the most opposed to the war and the most confident in their opinions. Whereas students like Casher, while still opposing the war, expressed uncertainty about how well-informed their opinions were.
Similarly, Scarlett He said that she doesn’t support the current war in Iran but said it is hard for her to be sure of her opinion. She mostly gets news from social media, which can present conflicting perspectives that confuse rather than inform her. She described a situation where she saw two completely opposing views on the conflict in the Middle East back-to-back while scrolling on social media. One video cited evidence defending Israel, and the very next video had someone reacting to the assertions and rebuking the claims made.
“It’s hard to form your own opinion when there’s so much stuff being thrown at you,” He said.
With fewer teens reading bona fide news, fewer of them may be aware of things that could affect them, like a possible draft if the war in Iran grows. Not following reliable news sites can mean young people are unaware of things that could directly impact them.
According to CNN, a defense policy bill passed late last year has made it so that young men eligible for combat will be automatically registered to the draft pool starting in December. The bill has no connection to the war in Iran, as it passed months before the conflict began. But, paired with the Trump administration’s refusal to deny the possibility of deploying troops on the ground, this new law paints a troubling picture of the possibility of another mass draft occurring, similar to the one during the Vietnam War.
None of the people interviewed by Contra Costa Youth Journalism were aware of the upcoming automatic registration for the draft.
If you can’t beat ’em…
Ultimately, though, social media is here to stay. This belief leads some to argue that, rather than keeping social media and credible journalism as separate entities, it’s best for journalists to bring them together.
“Kids are going to get their news on social media, it’s addictive,” Casher said. “Journalism should move towards social media.”
There are a few ways this push could happen. Casher suggests having a feed on Instagram or TikTok specifically dedicated to credible news. This would be an easy thing for social media companies to implement, he said. Journalism organizations are already verified on both platforms, having a bright blue badge signifying they are trustworthy and well-known entities. So a company like Instagram, for example, could compile the videos of these verified news accounts’ posts into one informational feed.
But credible news organizations should step up to the plate as well. Casher noted a disparity between the social media presences of companies such as Duolingo, a popular language learning app known for its strong online presence, and traditional journalism organizations. He believes that credible news organizations adopting a similar presence, where young adults can’t ignore their posts even if they want to, would encourage them to engage with traditional journalism and could mitigate issues of misinformation.
Levitin disagrees. He believes that social media platforms deciding on what news organizations are reliable could lead to even more bias in people’s feeds. But he does agree that journalists could be doing a better job with outreach. He proposed a solution that considers the audience on platforms like Instagram and TikTok but sticks to the principles of journalism.
“Journalists aren’t using new technology effectively,” Levitin said. “If we get young people to communicate with young people, we can encourage them to go into journalism and properly convey factual information.”
Benjamin Barba-Zuniga is a 12th grader at California High School in San Ramon, the opinions editor for the school newspaper, The Californian, and a CCYJ reporter. This story originally appeared in CCSpin.