I’m Evie Turner, an Intern at The CivicLab and a fellow Millennial. I’ve read current research (2001-2015) on how Millennials consume news, how Millennials are voting, or rather how they’re not, and what to do about it.
- Millennials reported that a major news source for them is Facebook (NeimanLab). Many companies have taken note of this and have moved to social media structured platforms (RedCut).
- Many people would say that we don’t pay attention to the news but 85% of Millennials reported that the news is at least minimally important to them (NeimanLab).
- Of the people who are voting, the group that votes least are Millennials (ETS).
- Among the Millennials, the ones that vote are more likely to be college educated than the ones that do not (C.I.R.C.L.E.). In the US only 14% of people aged 18-24 and 43% of people aged 25-34 have either an associates, bachelors, or advanced degree. (Demos)
- Young people choose not to vote due to the lack of confidence in their government; they feel even if they vote they cannot make important change (ETS).
- Millennials in the US reported feeling that their civic engagement would not be welcomed due to their lack of expertise and money. (C.I.R.C.L.E.).
So, this means there needs to be some changes made. Schools need to put a greater emphasis on civic engagement at a young age and provide examples of ways that voting has positively changed society. In order for us to gain confidence in our government, our elected need to do more to make us feel like were being heard. A small gesture will go a long way in increasing civic engagement. In regards to consuming the news, many sources already have Facebook pages that are regularly updated. I think this is the best way for mainstream news outlets to reach me and my fellow Millennials.
