Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences
This study explores selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand. Existing research suggests that selective news avoidance rates are high in Aotearoa New Zealand (Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2023. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Rese...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-10-01
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| Series: | Kōtuitui |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2409663 |
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| author | Alex Beattie John Kerr Richard Arnold |
| author_facet | Alex Beattie John Kerr Richard Arnold |
| author_sort | Alex Beattie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study explores selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand. Existing research suggests that selective news avoidance rates are high in Aotearoa New Zealand (Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2023. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy., Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2024. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy.) but we know little about why this is and if reasons for avoiding the news differ depending on the type of news consumer. Drawing from a nationally representative survey of 1204 participants, this study explores the relationships between news avoidance, motivations and demographic factors. We confirm the high rates of selective news avoidance and report that Aotearoa New Zealand has high rates of consistent news avoiders. New Zealanders’ primary motivations to avoid the news are because of how the news negatively affects their well-being, or because they do not trust the news, or are turned off by the quality of news reporting. We also find that gender and political beliefs are associated with the frequency of and motivations for news avoidance. We discuss why New Zealand has high rates of selective and consistent news avoidance, as well as the implications, and furthermore why women, and people with very left-wing or very right-wing political beliefs may avoid the news more frequently than other groups. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9aeae0dd4b54a3da678ec064b1fe40f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1177-083X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-10-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Kōtuitui |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9aeae0dd4b54a3da678ec064b1fe40f2025-08-20T03:45:10ZengTaylor & Francis GroupKōtuitui1177-083X2025-10-0120461963810.1080/1177083X.2024.2409663Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influencesAlex Beattie0John Kerr1Richard Arnold2School of English, Film, Theatre, Media, Communications and Art History, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New ZealandPublic Health Communication Centre, University of Otago, Wellington, New ZealandTe Pūnaha Matatini, New Zealand's Centre of Research Excellence for Complex SystemsThis study explores selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand. Existing research suggests that selective news avoidance rates are high in Aotearoa New Zealand (Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2023. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy., Myllylahti M, Treadwell G. 2024. Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand 2023. Journalism, Media and Democracy: AUT Research Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy.) but we know little about why this is and if reasons for avoiding the news differ depending on the type of news consumer. Drawing from a nationally representative survey of 1204 participants, this study explores the relationships between news avoidance, motivations and demographic factors. We confirm the high rates of selective news avoidance and report that Aotearoa New Zealand has high rates of consistent news avoiders. New Zealanders’ primary motivations to avoid the news are because of how the news negatively affects their well-being, or because they do not trust the news, or are turned off by the quality of news reporting. We also find that gender and political beliefs are associated with the frequency of and motivations for news avoidance. We discuss why New Zealand has high rates of selective and consistent news avoidance, as well as the implications, and furthermore why women, and people with very left-wing or very right-wing political beliefs may avoid the news more frequently than other groups.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2409663Selective news avoidanceconsistent news avoidancegenderpolitical beliefsage |
| spellingShingle | Alex Beattie John Kerr Richard Arnold Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences Kōtuitui Selective news avoidance consistent news avoidance gender political beliefs age |
| title | Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences |
| title_full | Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences |
| title_fullStr | Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences |
| title_full_unstemmed | Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences |
| title_short | Selective and consistent news avoidance in Aotearoa New Zealand: motivations and demographic influences |
| title_sort | selective and consistent news avoidance in aotearoa new zealand motivations and demographic influences |
| topic | Selective news avoidance consistent news avoidance gender political beliefs age |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1177083X.2024.2409663 |
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