Students Face Lack of Access to News on Campus

February 26, 2021 Alyiah Harris Features 0

At the entrance to the Kellogg Center, students can pick up a copy of USA Today in order to stay up to date with the news. Aside from that, many students find that they don't have the same access to the news on campus as they do at home. As a result, many often resort to social media to stay up to date with current happenings around the world (Photo by Alyiah Harris).

Being on-campus changes the access that students have to different news outlets. Although some students have TVs or subscriptions to different newspapers, on campus, students utilize different methods of staying up to date with the latest news, which can include resorting to social media.

David Reno, a first-year from Grand Blanc, gets his news from actual news platforms rather than social media. He uses multiple news sources, but he said that his favorite is NBC news.

“I think [the news] keeps you well informed, especially when it comes to elections because without that it would be impossible to know who to vote for,” said Reno. “I think it makes things very clear to me.”

Rebecca Wagener, a senior for Shelby Township, said she gets her news from a mix of both news outlets and social media. 

“Social media is easy for me to keep up with news, especially since I don’t have a TV or anything here,” said Wagener.

Wagener said that Instagram is the main social media platform that she uses to stay informed, but sometimes the accuracy of it can cause her to question the news she is provided.

“Instagram is probably not the most accurate unless it’s from an actual news source,” said Wagener.

Between questioning the reliability of some news sources and the content of the news itself, the content released by news sources can affect students differently, especially when it comes to living on a college campus. The type of news students consume on a daily basis can shape perceptions and emotions with regard to certain topics.

This is especially true for biased news sources and some of the news that is advertised on social media.

“It’s like certain news outlets create certain narratives that are not in line with reality,” said Reno. 

For as much as news consumption itself impacts students, a lack of attention to the news also creates an impact.

“Meeting other people who live very isolated lives away from the news, they just seem apathetic to the way the world really is,” said Reno. “They seem to have a lot of false conceptions.” 

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