Visting scholar Elissa Redmiles and colleagues show that pervasive media cynicism does not seem to change the habits of older adults. “…We find that people who have decades of potential exposure or experience with both online and traditional news media have reached a state of media cynicism in which they distrust most, or even all, of the news they receive. Yet, despite this media cynicism, the older adults we study rarely fact-check the media they see and continue to read and share news they distrust.” Read the full article here.
Analysis and Theory
The Misinformation Paradox: Older Adults are Cynical about News Media, but Engage with It Anyway
September 22, 2022
In a study with coauthors Imani Munyaka and Eszter Hargittai, Visiting Scholar Elissa Redmiles finds that older adults who are cynical about media "continue to read and share news they distrust."
