News and
young Australians
www.teachermagazine.com.au Source: Notley, T., Dezuanni, M., Zhong, H.F., Chambers, S. (2020) News and Young
Australians in 2020: How young people access, perceive and are affected by news media, Research Report. Western Sydney University and Queensland University of Technology
A survey of 1069 Australians aged 8-16 has illustrated how young people access, perceive and are affected by news media. The survey was conducted in February and March 2020, following the
bushfire crisis and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we look at some of the key findings from the survey.
'Yesterday I got my news from...'
54%
36%
33%
30%
29%
19%
19%
4%
Family
Television
Teacher
Friends
Social media Website/Phone app Radio
Newspaper
Family
Teacher Friends Social media
Website or mobile app
Television
Radio Newspaper
Level of trust in different news sources
71
29 67
33
93
7 87
13
News organisations Friends
Family Teachers
-75 -75 -75
-74 -74 -74
-68 -68 -68
-67 -67 -67
-62 -62 -62
-60 -60 -60
-54 -54 -54
25 25 25
26 26 26
33 33 33
33 33 33
38 38 38
40 40 40
45 45 45 Sad or upset
Smart or knowledgeable Happy or hopeful
Indifferent
Afraid
Angry
Motivated to act
-50 0 50
How young people feel when they
consume news News literacy education
20%
28%
Have received lessons at school to help them decide whether news stories are true and can be trusted
Have received lessons at school to help them create their own
news stories
20%
Also indicated in the 2017 instalment of this survey that they had received these lessons at school34%
Indicated in the 2017 instalment of this survey that they had received these lessons at school*Respondents could select more than one source
Almost nine in 10 respondents (88%) indicated they had access news in the past day and shared which source* they accessed news from.
Often/sometimes Hardly ever/never
Respondents who said they have 'a lot' or 'some' trust in various news sources
