The SV-faculty invites all students and employees at UiB to attend Erik Knudsens presentation about news avoiders in Norway.

Have you found yourself consciously avoiding news or specific news topics over the past year? For instance, have you refrained from clicking on stories about the dire situations in Ukraine or Gaza? If so, you’re not alone. New figures from the Media Survey 2024 reveal that a whopping 34 percent of Norwegians are classified as “news avoiders.” Is it a democratic issue that so many people are dodging the news? Should news avoiders feel guilty? Erik Knudsen doesn’t think so. He discusses his research on people’s selective media consumption and news avoidance, citing results from the Media Survey 2024 recently presented at the Nordic Media Days. Knudsen will also offer insights from an ongoing MediaFutures study on whether so-called “constructive news” – solution-oriented news that emphasizes hope and possibilities over negativity – could serve as a kind of “antidote” to reduce news avoidance.

Erik Knudsen is an associate professor at the Department of Information and Media Studies and works as work package 1 leader in SFI MediaFutures.