Alex Beattie, Lecturer, Media and Communication, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, John Kerr, Senior Research Fellow, Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Richard Arnold, Professor of Statistics and Data Science, Te Hereng
Are you a news avoider? Do you turn off the six o’clock TV news, scroll past headlines, skip radio bulletins – or just ignore news entirely?
If you do some or all of these things, you are not alone. A new survey shows New Zealand has some of the highest rates of news avoidance in the world.
With news media already struggling with declining revenues and audiences, this adds to the immense challenges the sector faces in a competitive and politically polarised environment.
Previous research has found news avoidance is increasing around the world. But New Zealanders have also shown something of a love-hate relationship with the news: avoidance rates are high, but so too is general interest in the news. At the same time, trust in the media has been steadily declining.
To make sense of this, we surveyed 1,204 people in New Zealand in February 2023. We asked about news avoidance and the motivation for it, and recorded demographic details such as age, gender and political belief.
We found 60% of survey participants reported they sometimes, often, or almost always avoid the news. This combined total is higher than any other national figure reported in other studies, with Greece and Bulgaria the next highest at 57%.
Women reported higher rates of news avoidance than men. This could be due to a legacy of unequal access to the news, and a perceived lack of diverse voices in New Zealand’s news production, causing some to feel the news just isn’t for them.
We also found people with far-left or far-right political beliefs were more likely to avoid the news than those with centrist views. Those nearer the ends of the political spectrum are less likely to find their views represented in major news outlets and therefore seek alternative news sources that support their worldview.
Avoiding depressing and untrustworthy news
The major reason given for news avoidance is the negative effect news has on mood (32.7%).
Most immediately, New Zealand had been hit by severe floods in Auckland and Cyclone Gabrielle in the North Island only a month before our survey. But more generally, there has been increased concern about the impact of news consumption on personal wellbeing since the pandemic.
Similarly, many New Zealanders are experiencing news fatigue, with nearly 20% of respondents saying they were worn out by the sheer quantity of news these days.
The second most popular reason given was a perception the news was untrustworthy or biased (30.1%). People with right-wing political beliefs were more likely to cite this.
This suggests the decline in trust might be more about right-wing audiences perceiving a left-wing bias in the media, rather than a general distrust of New Zealand media overall.
Roughly a quarter of respondents said the news is too sensationalist (25.3%). Ironically, the use of clickbait and alarming headlines to engage audiences may be driving them away in the competitive attention economy.
In contrast, younger people (18–24) were more likely to cite not having enough time as a reason for avoiding the news.
Does news avoidance matter?
Our high rates of news avoidance say several things about audiences. On one hand, skipping the news occasionally can help manage stress and keep people interested in the long run.
This might explain why New Zealanders show high rates of both news avoidance and interest in the news: avoiding the news some of the time might help people manage their overall ability to engage and care.
Furthermore, despite high news avoidance rates, voter turnout at the 2023 general election was 78%. News avoidance may not affect civic participation.
However, we also found New Zealanders have high rates of very low or no news consumption at all. Just over 13% of participants reported they avoid the news “almost always”, more than in any other survey internationally.
Instead of consuming traditional news, many are likely turning to YouTube, social media and blogs, which often lack the more rigorous journalistic standards applied by mainstream media.
Scapegoating the news media
It might be easy to conclude New Zealand’s high rates of news avoidance are an implicit criticism of the media themselves. But this is to overlook the nature of their work and the immense challenges they face.
Holding governments to account and covering crises or divisive issues can be an unpopular and thankless task. Blaming the messenger is perhaps an understandable response.
But we also expect the news media to compete with information giants such as Facebook and Google, which do not employ journalists or recognise any real responsibility in disseminating news.
This feeds a commercial environment where traditional media must compete for attention and revenue against platforms that operate without the same ethical and professional standards.
Our findings also highlight the difficulty of satisfying an increasingly polarised news audience. With diverse groups perceiving bias and untrustworthiness differently, it’s nearly impossible to keep everyone happy.
With Google recently threatening to remove local news from its search engine due to its opposition to the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill (which would require digital platforms to pay for news content), these issues are not going away soon.
Rather than scapegoat the media for high news avoidance rates, we see our survey results as part of a broader argument for supporting and strengthening what is an essential service in a functioning democracy.
Alex Beattie receives funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
John Kerr works for the Public Health Communication Centre, which is funded by a philanthropic endowment from the Gama Foundation.
Richard Arnold receives funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tertiary Education Commission. He is a member of the New Zealand Labour Party.
