TY - JOUR
T1 - “I Don’t Understand It”: Australians’ Low Interest in Politics and Political News
AU - FISHER, Caroline
AU - PARK, Sora
AU - McGuinness, Kieran
AU - Fulton, Janet
AU - Yao, Shengnan
PY - 2024/9/16
Y1 - 2024/9/16
N2 - Research shows that while a significant portion of Australians are not interested in politics or political news, those who are interested in politics tend to consume a lot of news in general. Based on a thematic analysis of interviews with 60 Australians, ranging from nonnews consumers (less than once a month or never) to heavy news consumers (more than once a day), this article shows that the type of political news source used and the way politics is reported have a big impact on people’s level of interest in it. Drawing on the opportunity, motivation, and ability (OMA) model, this article highlights how negative perceptions of political journalism as biased, conflict-ridden, and complicated influenced the information-seeking behavior of Australian voters during the 2022 federal election. The findings raise important questions for news outlets about audience disconnection from politics and how it is covered.
AB - Research shows that while a significant portion of Australians are not interested in politics or political news, those who are interested in politics tend to consume a lot of news in general. Based on a thematic analysis of interviews with 60 Australians, ranging from nonnews consumers (less than once a month or never) to heavy news consumers (more than once a day), this article shows that the type of political news source used and the way politics is reported have a big impact on people’s level of interest in it. Drawing on the opportunity, motivation, and ability (OMA) model, this article highlights how negative perceptions of political journalism as biased, conflict-ridden, and complicated influenced the information-seeking behavior of Australian voters during the 2022 federal election. The findings raise important questions for news outlets about audience disconnection from politics and how it is covered.
UR - https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/22521
M3 - Article
SN - 1932-8036
VL - 18
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - International Journal of Communication
JF - International Journal of Communication
IS - 19
ER -