Opinion: Students tune out the news but there is still an urgent need for activism to enact change
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There’s no question about it; we are in a tumultuous time. When all your focus is on the news, it can seem like the world is in a perpetual state of war and malice. Journalists seem to promulgate the worst parts of the goings-on, adding to the mania and the fear that it is endless.
What we see as a result of what the media expounds is a dynamic relationship between viewers and the media. When the drama of the internet and the news become too much, we either watch or tune it out.
With the tensions from the genocide presently occurring in Gaza, we have begun to see many people overtly state upsets while others stay silent or slowly veer toward apathy. The reverberations from the conflict have brought people to organize mass protests. We have also started to see videos of attacks on pro-Palestine protesters across the U.S. and the death of one pro-Israel protester near Los Angeles.
For the average viewer, it can seem like too much to face. For the sake of mental health and clarity of mind, many people veer from the sight of too much information and violent content.
While many students here at the University of Oregon are trying to stay informed, some fall victim to media fatigue.
“I stay off [the] New York Times,” Leo Munks, a junior, said. “I mean I want to be involved and I want to know what’s going on but at the same time I don’t want to exhaust myself.”
What Munks highlights is the phenomenon known as media fatigue. When a person’s preferred news medium becomes inundated with information, they tend to feel stressed and overwhelmed. The prolonged exacerbation of these feelings leads them to tune out images that cause them to feel these feelings.
Cognitive dissonance is another reason why people tune out. Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort that arises from having contradictory thoughts about a particular thing.
When one views a representation of the world in the media that contradicts their perceptions, it becomes too much to manage. So, they tune out and choose to consume something more palatable that coincides with their perspective.
Clara Petke-Long, a UO sophomore, shared how she often takes breaks from media consumption to view more palatable images but still appreciates the news.
“I know that it’s reality but it can be kind of jarring,” Petke-Long said. “But I think it’s important people are seeing it because I think a lot of people pretend like it’s not happening.”
Standing firm in what you are for and against is essential to avoiding the dangers of cognitive dissonance and media fatigue. Students like Petke-Long are aware of this and revisit the news often.
Students on campus have proven to be aware of hot-button topics. We have seen large turnouts for protests on campus and around town before.
But tuning out the news is still a problem that leads to complacency and obliviousness of what to do.
Some people may say that activism online or in protest form is inconsequential –– that there is virtually no point using your voice. However, these tactics of activism have garnered results in the past. If it weren’t for the Civil Rights and Marriage Equality movements, we would surely still be in a shackled state of segregation.
And it is important to use your voice especially in the U.S. where we have the right to free speech.
Today with social media and the internet one cannot dismiss how the domino effect of one person’s voice can produce an uproar. We must remind ourselves of the power we hold as a collective identity.
One must avert apathy, and stay informed on the world around them especially when so much is at stake.
“It’s really hard to find hope and find a motive to try and stop it because it’s such a big thing,” Petke-Long said about the genocide in Gaza. “But no change is going to happen unless there is that hope.”