Avoiding the News is a striking book that asks why, in an age overflowing with news, millions around the world deliberately choose to turn away from it. Based on field research in Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the book shows that news avoidance arises not only from content but also from deeper roots—identity, ideology, and the structure of the media itself.
Are those who avoid the news truly uninformed—or are they making a conscious choice? Why does traditional journalism leave some audiences feeling alienated? Framed around these questions, Avoiding the News examines how groups estranged from the public sphere access information and form their own “folk theories” of the media.
Serving as a guide for anyone seeking to understand the widening divide between professional journalism and its audiences, this study lays bare the inequalities deepened by news avoidance and opens the way toward a new understanding of media today.
