College students, we are supposedly the ignorant generation, right? Well, maybe not entirely. Quinnipiac students may be the contrary. In fact, most students keep up-to-date with the changing times. A substantial number of students also responded that they almost always follow what is going on in the news.
Most students agree that TV and the internet are the most convenient ways of keeping current.
Freshman public relations major, Jillian Blumberg, said, “I keep my homepage set at www.boston.com so it’s always easy for me to find out what’s going on.”
Freshman health science major, Erica Ferzoco, said, “Watching the news on TV is the easiest thing for me because I’m a visual learner.”
Magazines and newspapers followed as a close second as the favorite form of media.
Gathering information from the radio is becoming obsolete.
Freshman broadcast journalism major, Lauren Giolitti, “Listening to news on the radio has become nearly obsolete- it’s only useful if you’re in your car.”
The term “news” covers a variety of genres. There can be news about anything. There is a large amount of students who follow more “sophisticated” news topics, such as national and international headlines, war and political news.
“Now that I can vote, I feel obligated to keep up with the political aspect of the news so I can make a more informed decision,” Kelly Langston, freshman nursing major, said.
“Right now, news about the election is top priority, but I usually prefer world headlines because it makes me appreciate other cultures,” Sarah Goldstein, sophomore advertising major, said.
With our generation, many people still followed sports and entertainment news over any other kind.
Sarah LeBlanc, freshman liberal arts major, said, “I like following sports because it’s just more interesting than most news stories- especially now with the opening of the NFL season and the World Series.”
A lot of students also said they found their local news most interesting. “Keeping up with my hometown news helps me stay connected with my family and community,” Angela Woodard, a freshman nursing major, said.
With time changing and important current issues, some students still do not follow the news. What turns students off by the news?
Junior computer science major, Nick Poulos, said, “I can’t always trust the news because a lot of the time it’s slanted.”
Joe DiPalma, sophomore criminal justice major, said, “I hate how the media makes things seem bigger than they actually are. They use the news as an entertainment show.”
According to freshman diagnostic imaging major, Lauren St. Laurent, “Newspapers are all about money now. I can’t even access my hometown newspaper on the internet without typing in a subscription number first to prove I’m a customer.”
The news never shows the positive aspects of society. There’s too much negativity because those are the stories that sell,” Tanya Quaresma, a freshman athletic training major, said.
Since 59 BCE when the earliest form of the newspaper was introduced in Rome, to the high definition TV broadcasts and the internet news at the tip of our fingers, the media has evolved and so has its followers.
Each generation has an established news medium of choice. Our grandparents listened to the radio and parents read the newspaper or watched the news on television. Our generation will develop its routine media habits, perhaps by clicking away news stories on the internet, or maybe some future form of media still to be invented.
Society will always have an integral connection with the news, no matter the form or the story.