The latest Pew Poll on news media contains a dramatic number, and the article doesn’t single it out for discussion.
The poll asks about being a “good news consumer”. I’d have trouble with the premise. News isn’t like food or cars or appliances or entertainment. News doesn’t feed your body or mind, doesn’t give you any fun. So the word consumer doesn’t seem appropriate.
Here’s the salient and understressed number:
Another 3% said in their open-ended responses that they use news to make decisions or improve their lives.
Only 3% make decisions based on news or improve their lives based on news. Journalists insist that we need news for exactly these two purposes. Consumers disagree. I can’t think of another common product with so little importance.
Polistra's Mill 