I stopped by a fascinating journalism and new media conference at Yale Law School this morning. I still can't get over this little nugget, presented by Lee Rainie, who is director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
One in five don't bother with any news at all. For young adults, it's more than a third! Look at the 10-year change between 1998 and 2008.
If the news presenters weren't so FREAKING LAME they might get more viewers.
http://nowherethemiddle.blogspot.com/2009/10/jon-stewart-leaves-it-there-on-behalf.html
I'm not going to have to go too far out on a limb and suggest that a big reason is that news outlets including the Courant, are not honest in their presentation of the news. It isn't that the news is not factually accurate, but more the fact that you can't get an honest and balanced story anymore. At least the perception is that there is no honesty in the media so why bother tuning in?
I wonder what the definition of news is in this case? If it's traditional news (dailies, nightly TV broadcast) then, sure that makes sense. But I would suspect if you broadened the definition to links on Facebook, Twitter, etc. you would see an increase in consumers of "news." People need information... Even young people. They just consume that information in new ways. And that's a good thing, not a scary thing!