By GRACE STEVENS, Age 13
“Why is no one talking about this anymore?”
That’s a common question asked by news consumers everywhere! Sometimes when reading or watching media, it can seem like every channel or every news publication is talking about one thing for a while, and then they all switch to another—kind of like a trend. While this happens for yearly events like holidays and specific months like Pride Month, Black History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, it can also happen for year-round issues. From Black Lives Matter to climate change, it can seem like issues that affect people’s everyday lives are only recorded in the media for a short timespan. Is that just a coincidence?
One reason why it seems like activism or coverage in the media follows a trend is because many newsrooms use the same strategies to decide if a topic is “newsworthy.” The Galtung and Ruge list of news value factors (1965) and Shoemaker et al. model (1987) are two methods commonly used to decide which stories are predominantly covered. News companies often look for stories that are relevant, timely, simple, negative, have a big impact, are of human interest, are predictable, unexpected, and feature elite people or countries. Because many news companies use these guidelines to decide which stories are covered, similarities in news coverage often take place.
“There’s only so much time and money and resources that journalists have,” said Ishmael N. Daro, the digital editor of Democracy Now!, in an interview. “Sometimes that can kind of take you down a wrong path. And social media is a big driver of that.”
Another reason why it can seem like news is coming in trends is because of how much social media and news are intertwined. A study by Pew Research in 2023 found that half of the adults in the United States get their news from social media “at least sometimes.” In fact, U.S. adults accessing news on social media sites have become a significant part of social media users. For example, 68% of U.S. adults use Facebook, and 30% of them use it to find news, according to the Pew Research study. Daro said that “[getting news on social media] feels more personal sometimes. If it’s somebody that you’ve followed for a while, you think you actually are friends with them. And you’re interested in what your friends are talking about. … I think, on the other hand, sometimes the way we consume news almost feels more important than the news itself.”
In conclusion, there are many reasons why news can feel like it is being followed in trends, from methods to decide newsworthiness to social media. Of course, with some news stories being largely covered, it leaves some stories in the dark. This is why it’s important to ask lots of questions, challenge the media to cover smaller issues, and to be your own investigator.
