Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News

by David T.Z. Mindich

At a rate never before seen in American history, young adults are abandoning traditional news media. Tuned Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News examines the reasons behind this problem and its consequences for American society. Author David T. Z. Mindich speaks directly to young
people to discover why some tune in while others tune out--and how America might help them tune back in.
Based on discussions with young adults from across the United States, Mindich investigates the decline in news consumption over the past four decades. In 1972, 74% of Americans in their mid-30s said they read a newspaper every day. Today, fewer than 28% do so. The average viewer age at CNN is
currently about 60 years old. And while many point to the Internet as the best hope for rekindling interest in the news, only 11% of young people list the news as a major reason for logging on--entertainment, e-mail, and Instant Messenger are ranked far higher on their list. Exploring the political,
journalistic, and social consequences of this decrease in political awareness, Mindich poses the What are the consequences of two successive generations tuning out? He asserts that as young adults abandon the kinds of news needed to make political decisions, they have unwittingly ceded
power to their elders. In an engaged and intelligent way, Mindich outlines these problems and proposes real solutions.
An indispensable resource for anyone interested in media or politics, Tuned Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News is also ideal for undergraduate and graduate students in journalism, media, communication, political science, American studies, sociology, and education.

Genres: Nonfiction, Journalism

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 2004

About the author

avid Mindich is a professor of media studies, journalism & digital arts. He has been at Saint Michael's College since 1996 and has served nine of those years as chair, ending in 2012.

Before coming to St. Michael's, Mindich worked as an assignment editor for CNN and earned a doctorate in American Studies from New York University. He has written articles for the Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Wilson Quarterly, and other publications. He is the author of Just the Facts: How "Objectivity" Came to Define American Journalism and Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News (Oxford University Press, 2005), a book Walter Cronkite called "very important....a handbook for the desperately needed attempt to inspire in the young generation a curiosity that generates the news habit."

Since the publication of Tuned Out, Mindich has given talks about young people and news to media groups (including the New York Times and USA Today) and at schools around the country.

Mindich founded Jhistory, an Internet group for journalism historians, in 1994. In 1998-1999, he was head of the History Division of the AEJMC. In 2002, the AEJMC awarded Mindich the Krieghbaum Under-40 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research, Teaching and Public Service. In 2006, CASE and the Carnegie Foundation named Mindich the Vermont Professor of the Year. In 2011, he was named New England Journalism Educator of the Year by the New England Newspaper & Press Association.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is focused on an interview survey instrument that reveals most young Americans have very little knowledge of civics or current events.

I do not think Mindich is overstating things when he writes, "Because they have ceded their own political power, the majority of young Americans who are tuned out pose a huge danger to their own generation; when they are ready to become leaders, they will pose a huge danger to democracy itself. this chilling image focuses me and should focus you, too."" [p127]

We are seeing the effect of low-information voting in the 2016 presidential elections, but a decade after this book was published there still seems to be no good strategy (aside from traditional newspapers) to pay reporters who cover state and local politics.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Dr. Jackson and the Public and the Media Course. Thanks to this wake-up call I now read the newspaper religiously each morning with a steaming cup of black coffee.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those book titles that either shocks, or makes you nod your head as you think, “Tell me something I don’t already know.” However you slice and dice it, this quick and engaging read is bound to surprise even the most curmudgeonly of readers and newshounds. Mindich, Associate Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at Saint Michael’s College, tracks data going back the past forty-some years to effectively show that news reader- and viewership is at historic lows – even with the advent of the Internet and instant political news and blogging. Although his own surveys and anecdotal data is statistically dubious at times, his profiles of young people – those both consumed by and those anathema to current events and news – show that there is, and probably always be, hope that we can turn back in our youngest generations (myself and my fellow Gen-Xers included).

So as not to make you walk away thinking that all is bleak, Mindich does detail numerous ways in which educators, educational policy makers, as well as a the various news agencies (print, internet, television, and radio): diversifying newspaper ownership and broadcasts, reinstating the public trust that was dismantled in the 80’s that once promoted news and public affairs programming for kids, advocating civics requirements in education (thwarted and stymied by the culture wars in recent decades), making politics meaningful and relevant, and advocating for quality journalism through monetary investment and higher educational standards. Perhaps a tall order for the pessimist – of which I am not – but a thorough prescription for much needed change nonetheless.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. This book was mediocre, at best in my opinion. I think everyone knows why not too many young folk watch the news, and this book is just redundant. Also I think Mindich is biased as well- he never mentions FOX or the Wall Street Journal. It's all about MSNBC and the New York Times. I read this as a part of a course, and I'm glad it's over.

[Bibliophile607 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some books would be better as a short article. This is one of them. The stats are interesting and can stand alone without all the filler verbiage.