Connected to ‘the world’ : An explorative inquiry about audience relations towards news media

Abstract: Due to the nature of human experience every person is deemed to understand ‘reality’ in relative terms. Even though one might not always realize that in everyday life I think the appreciation of that phenomenon is vital to a study about audience relations towards the newsmedia. Abstract information may be felt to be different from concrete experiences. It can nevertheless become part of our convictions about reality.The present study asks the following questions: How do we relate to the news media as provider of such information? Are we aware of the impact a news source can have on our understanding of the world? Why do we attend to news media in the first place? In this study I will present social psychological theories which help to understand why ‘reality’ is a relative phenomenon connected to human experience, shaped by depictions and grasped selectively. The interview study with ten voluntary participants shall shed some light on real persons’ attempts to nevertheless try to come to terms with things “going on in the world.” The findings suggest that the relation towards the news media is marked by a focus on a specific aspect of the relation: the information given, the position of the attending person wanting to be informed, or the news media conduct which can be seen quite critical.The reasons for gathering information are also diverse. For example personal grounds can be prevailing, interest in other people, or the conviction that information is the foundation for joint action, while aiming towards change for the better. Accordingly some evidence was found that it would be preferable if the news media cut down on negativity concerning their reporting that could for instance lead to feelings of apathy. Sometimes elaborate opinions were uttered about in how far events reported about could be seen as ‘representative’ in comparison to what is felt to be the underlying ‘reality’. Regarding ideas about the news media audience in general, no greater trust in other people’s willingness to make an effort to see beyond the immediate information given was found. This mentally distancing from other people could in turn contribute to the feeling of not being ableto (collectively) impact ‘the reality’ that is communicated via the news media.