How to reconnect students with the news

Why have young adults stopped paying attention to the news? Where do they look for information about politics and current events? And what are the consequences for American society?

David Mindich, a faculty member at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, is looking for answers to these questions. He spoke Sept. 15 at Whitworth College in Spokane. I attended the lecture because I’m using David’s book, Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don’t Follow the News, in my Mass Media and Public Opinion course this semester.

Here are the main points of Mindich’s thesis:

1. Young people never got into the news habit. Fewer than 20 percent of them read a newspaper every day, down from half of that age cohort in 1970.

2. The Internet isn’t replacing traditional media. Students that Mindich interviewed told him that they use the Web for e-mail, instant messaging and entertainment – but not to follow the news.

3. Mindich doesn’t blame young people. The decline in news consumption started with the parents of the current generation.

4. Entertainment has supplanted the news. Movie stars are better known than politicians – as reflected in a survey that Mindich gave to college students nationwide. (This is consistent with responses from students in my Public Opinion class.)

5. The news media can change to attract younger viewers and readers: by being passionate about the news; by not talking down to young audiences, and by being more aggressive in holding leaders accountable and getting to the truth. (He praised the way that TV journalists in 2005 let their anger at the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina show in their news reports.)

6. Educators, politicians and journalists need to collectively look for ways to show young people how to connect with the news – for democracy’s sake. “When young people don’t pay attention to or follow the news, they vote against their economic interests – they vote on hunches or slogans.” One program that seeks to engage high schools students in current affairs and politics is Student Voices, sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

A research team in my Public Opinion class plans to survey UI students about their news habits and political awareness. I’ll share the results here later this semester.

JAMM fall semester enrollment holds steady

The University of Idaho released fall enrollment figures this week, based on the 10^th day of the semester (Sept. 1). Overall enrollment on the Moscow campus fell by 5.54 percent, from 11,310 to 10,682, explained in part by a better economy and smaller high school graduating classes in Idaho last year.

Our college, Letters, Arts and Social Sciences showed an increase of 11 students (.26 percent), from 4,162 to 4,173. CLASS and Law were the only UI colleges to report gains.

The School of Journalism and Mass Media’s enrollment was exactly the same as fall 2005, 448 majors. This number breaks down as follows:

Advertising, 152 (up from 117) -- 44 of them freshmen.
Journalism, 106 (down from 115)
Public Relations, 95 (down from 101)
Radio-TV-Digital Media Production, 90 (down from 97)
This list doesn’t include five students who each declared two of our majors, which isn’t permitted under our degree requirements.

Some other highlights of the fall 2006 data: We have 103 freshmen, 10 more than a year ago. See the accompanying photo of me with some members of the class of 2010). About 56 percent of our majors (251 students) are female. And 40 students (8.9 percent) self-identify as an ethic minority, up from 34. An additional four students list themselves as “other” (often students of mixed backgrounds) and 25 other students left blank their ethnic/racial identification.

Our stable enrollment is consistent with a slight increase nationwide in journalism and mass communication enrollments nationwide. The University of Georgia conducts an annual enrollment survey which offers insights into enrollment trends. I’ll offer highlights of its 2006 report in a future posting.

UI graduate running for governor of Alaska

Sarah Heath Palin, a 1987 UI journalism graduate, is the Republican candidate for governor of Alaska.
Sarah won the Aug. 22 primary with a decisive victory over the incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski. She will face former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles in the Nov. 7 general election.
Sarah was born in Sandpoint, but her family moved to Alaska when she was 3 months old. After attending Hawaii Pacific College and North Idaho College, she enrolled at the UI in the fall of 1984.
"Geographically and demographically, Idaho was closely related to Alaska -- beautiful and friendly," Sarah told me in a recent telephone conversation. "I wanted to go out of state (for college), and when I arrived in Moscow, I knew I'd made the right choice."
Among her memories of her time at UI: prowling the Kibbie Dome's locker rooms for beat stories for her Reporting class. She returned to Alaska after graduation and worked as a reporter for several TV stations in between raising four children. She served two terms on the City Council and two terms as mayor of Wasilla in south-central Alaska.
Here's a link to Sarah's campaign Web site.