Coronavirus: a growing number of people are avoiding news
Figures show the people who say they often or always avoid news increased from 15% in mid-April 2020 to 22% in mid-May. It was also found that 59% of people sometimes actively avoid news and 87% of those that often or always avoid news, have specifically avoided news about Covid-19.
When asked about the main reasons behind news avoidance, the majority of those who always or often avoid news told The Conversation, that they do so because of the negative effect it has on their mood.
Other prominent reasons people gave for avoiding news were a sense of overload (33%), or a lack of trust in news (32%). Only 5% said they avoid news because they are not interested in it.
The findings are based on a survey of 1,973 respondents, conducted by YouGov and is representative of the UK population.
While there was differences in news avoidance between groups with different levels of education, income or political orientation, it was found that women are more likely to actively avoid news than men (26% to 18%).
Source: The Conversation
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