Addressing the News Consumption Gap
Print journalism is dead—or at least, that’s what most of us have assumed. As journalism moves online in greater capacity, many are finding their news on social media outlets like Instagram and Facebook or on popular news and broadcast sites. The digitization of journalism has essentially saved the journalism industry, but at what cost? The increasing digital divide has left many on the margins without access to both local and national news. If a person lacks access to technology, lives in a rural area, resides in a low income neighborhood or lives in a third world country, news access is limited. The result is a news consumption gap where certain individuals, especially in marginalized communities, are unable to access news that could greatly impact them. If journalists hope to provide the public with the necessary information to make well-informed decisions, then media outlets need to consider those on the margins and address the news consumption gap.
The Digital Divide
I have spoken a great deal about the various approaches to journalism like empathy, respect, cultural humility and objectivity, but even with these values in mind, have we truly learned how to create a diverse newsroom that distributes news equally around the world and accurately represents marginalized communities? The answer is probably no. I’ll take a few minutes to explore what I mean. According to Iberdrola, the digital divide is a product of unequal digitalization. Despite the mass marketing of electronic devices with Internet access, digitalization does not occur equally everywhere. For instance, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) estimated that at the end of 2019, almost half of the earth's inhabitants do not have access to the Internet. That means roughly 3.6 billion people are not able to access their local or national news via social media nor online sites. As digitization increases, low income communities across the world fall within the news consumption gap creating global information inequality. For example, the study for Reuters Institute examined news consumption among upper and lower class communities in the United Kingdom and found that compared to the 57% of the higher social grade, only 42% of the lower social grade consume the news by direct access—and that is if we look at only the Global North. When approaching the news consumption gap based on wealth and income across hemispheres, we can see how global income inequality directly correlates to global information inequality. In Colombia, for example, “a home Internet connection costs 20% (US$48) of the minimum wage (US$217/month), putting it out of reach for many workers” (“Why the media is a key dimension of global inequality,” 2016).
The Marginalized Fall through the gap
When the topic of information inequality is not looked at comprehensively, ethnic minorities risk falling through the news consumption gap due to unequal access to the media and misrepresentation by journalists. If access to information is only meaningful when linguistically-appropriate, then hundreds of ethnic minority communities risk falling through the news consumption gap due to inadequate news sources. Further, if many marginalized communities lack access to adequate information in the news, they also lack a voice in the media.
Call to action
If media and digital platforms were designed with individual communities’ diverse languages and needs in mind, ethnic minorities might not be left behind in the news consumption gap. When we consider the topic of information inequality, we realize that the very fabric of our media outlets disable news from reaching rural and low income communities due to the overwhelming digital divide. If we hope to create a future where every individual has access to the news, then media outlets need to change the way they distribute their information. If journalists hope to be a voice for the voiceless, they must meet people in their own context and consider their needs and available resources, including lack of access to technology, language barriers and digital illiteracy.
