“I Don’t Understand It”: Australians’ Low Interest in Politics and Political News

Authors

  • Caroline Fisher News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra
  • Sora Park News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra
  • Kieran McGuinness News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra
  • Janet Fulton News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra
  • Shengnan Yao PhD student and research assistant at the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra

Keywords:

politics, elections, election coverage, political news, news consumption, interest in politics, OMA

Abstract

Research shows that while a significant portion of Australians are not interested in politics or political news, those who are interested in politics tend to consume a lot of news in general. Based on a thematic analysis of interviews with 60 Australians, ranging from non-news consumers (less than once a month or never) to heavy news consumers (more than once a day), this article shows that the type of political news source used and the way politics is reported have a big impact on people’s level of interest in it. Drawing on the opportunity, motivation, and ability (OMA) model, this article highlights how negative perceptions of political journalism as biased, conflict-ridden, and complicated influenced the information-seeking behavior of Australian voters during the 2022 federal election. The findings raise important questions for news outlets about audience disconnection from politics and how it is covered.

Author Biographies

Caroline Fisher, News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra

Dr. Caroline Fisher is Associate Professor of Communication in the Faculty of design, University of Canberra. She is a core member of the News & Media Research Centre, and co-author of the annual Digital News Report: Australia. University of Canberra. Her research focuses on news consumption trends and attitudes, and political communication. She is a CI on the ARC Discovery Project ‘The rise of mistrust: Digital platforms and trust in news media’ and ‘Valuing News: Aligning Individual, Institutional and Societal Perspectives’.

Sora Park, News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra

Dr. Sora Park is a Professorial Research Fellow at the News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra. Her research focuses on digital media users, media markets and media policy. She is the Leader of the Digital News Report: Australia project. She is the lead investigator of an ARC Discovery Project ‘The rise of mistrust: Digital platforms and trust in news media’ and a Linkage Project ‘Heartbeat of Australia: Tracking, Understanding and Engaging News Audiences.

Kieran McGuinness, News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra

Dr Kieran McGuinness is a postdoctoral research fellow at the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra. His recent research focuses on mixed method approaches to news consumption, misinformation, journalistic role performance, and the mediatisation of civic and political engagement. He is also lead author of the Valuing Diversity in News and Newsrooms project. 

Janet Fulton, News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra

Dr Janet Fulton is an independent researcher in Communication and Media, an Adjunct Associate Professor at RMIT University and a Research Associate in the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra. Fulton’s research interests include journalism, journalism education, media entrepreneurship, and creativity and cultural production.

Shengnan Yao, PhD student and research assistant at the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra

Shengnan (Pinker) Yao is a PhD student and research assistant at the News & Media Research Centre at the University of Canberra. She is also the scholarship recipient for the ARC project - the Rise of Mistrust. Her research adopts a mixed-method approach and focuses on trust in news media among Australian multicultural communities.

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Published

2024-09-14

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Articles