Study: American teens awash in conspiracy theories, cynical about news media

Though 94% of teens want media literacy instruction, most aren't getting it

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, released a study today that shows the alarming frequency with which American teenagers are exposed to – and believe – conspiracy theories on social media. But the research also found that teaching students media literacy is associated with healthy online habits like fact-checking before sharing on social media.

And an overwhelming majority of teens surveyed (94%) want their schools to teach media literacy, although just 39% reported having had any such instruction during the 2023-24 school year.

The study — News Literacy in America: A survey of teen information attitudes, habits & skills — surveyed more than 1,000 young people aged 13-18 and highlights the pressing need for systemic news literacy instruction in our nation's schools. It was released to coincide with the first day of U.S. Media Literacy Week.

"As we head into the final stretch of an election season defined by the spread of information disorder, this survey demonstrates that we urgently need to prepare our young people to discern credible news from misleading or false information," said News Literacy Project CEO and President Charles Salter. "America's teens need to learn news literacy skills so they can be more informed voters of the future."

Among the findings:

• Eight in 10 American teenagers say they see conspiracy theories on social media at least once a week. Some of the most frequent narratives cited include the 2020 election being rigged or stolen, the COVID-19 vaccine being dangerous and the Earth being flat.
• Of those teens who reported seeing conspiracy theories, 81% report that they believe at least one of them.
• Almost half of teens (45%) think the press does more to harm democracy than protect it.
• Eight in 10 say information from news organizations is no more impartial than other content creators online.
• Less than one quarter of teens (23%) say they use generative artificial intelligence chatbots once a week or more, challenging the notion that AI tools have already upended the way young people approach schoolwork.

"This study underscores how vitally important news literacy skills are in an information environment dominated by social media. These platforms are home to harmful conspiracy theories, and our results show that American teens are not exempt from being exposed to, or potentially even influenced by them," said Dr. Kim Bowman, a co-author of the report. "We need to do everything we can to be sure that young people know how to protect themselves from falsehoods – and this report shows that our students are emphatically asking for media literacy to be taught in schools."

There were also reasons to be encouraged that media literacy instruction can help teens more successfully navigate our information ecosystem. Among the findings, teens with at least some exposure to media literacy instruction were more likely to:

• engage in civic-minded activities, such as pushing back against misinformation.
• correctly identify an image featuring a real person versus an AI-generated likeness.
• report higher trust in news media and more active news habits.

The study provides recommendations for parents and guardians, educators, policymakers and journalists to ensure students have the knowledge and ability to participate in civic society as well-informed, critical thinkers by the time they graduate high school.   

"The News Literacy in America report identifies that the country's youth want media literacy to be offered in schools and the findings could not make it any clearer that the subject needs to become a curricular priority," said Dr. Lance Holbert, Director of the Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics (LAIC) at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study. "It should serve as a wake-up call for educating the nation's youth about the value of quality journalism for a sustainable democracy."

Access the full report and downloadable graphics here. B-roll and classroom images are available upon request.

About the News Literacy Project

The News Literacy Project is a nonpartisan nonprofit building a national movement to ensure that all students are skilled in news literacy before high school graduation, giving them the knowledge and ability to participate in civic society as well-informed, critical thinkers. Founded in 2008, NLP is the country's leading provider of news literacy education and works with educators in all 50 states. Learn more at www.newslit.org.

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SOURCE News Literacy Project