Bad News, Doomscrolling, Negativity Bias [28.02.25]
The question repeatedly arises as to how people select and process bad news in times of global crises, wars, and local attacks.
Prof. Trepte provides insights into current study findings on news avoidance, doomscrolling, and negativity bias in an interview with Bayern 3 and the Stuttgarter Zeitung. She points out that news avoidance has not significantly increased since the 1980s. In Europe, people have been using traditional media about five percentage points less since the 1980s. This is not necessarily problematic and is often due to the greater diversity of media, especially the rise of social media. The main issue is not the avoidance of traditional media but rather the lack of critical engagement with non-traditional news sources and their quality. The feeling of being overwhelmed arises particularly from the sheer volume and loudness of these new news sources. Emotionalization, proximity, and scandalization are significantly higher than in quality media, meaning that people must make even more active selection decisions to engage with news in a meaningful and healthy way.
