The battle of the generations: the difference in news sources, motivations and information literacy between baby boomers, gen X, millennials and gen Z. A quantitative study Student

The world is currently facing a big crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyday new information comes to light, sparking debate within society. The news has therefore become even more important. However, news consumption can be different per individual or group. Not much is known about differences in news consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to answer the question whether baby boomers, generation X, millennials and generation Z differ in news consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news sources, motivations to consume news and awareness of misinformation will be examined within these four generations. It is expected that baby boomers and generation X use traditional sources more than millennials and generation Z, who are expected to prefer online news content. Baby boomers and generation X are also expected to be motivated by information, whilst millennials and generation Z are expected to be motivated by entertainment. Baby boomers and generation X are also expected to be less aware of the risks of misinformation in online news content than millennials and generation Z. To conduct the study a quantitative approach was used. A survey was distributed under the Dutch-speaking population using a snowball-sampling approach. The survey was constructed using existing surveys. The main existing survey used was the “Biennial Media Consumption Survey 2008” (BMCS) made by the Pew research center. The results revealed that baby boomers and generation X do prefer traditional media, mainly television, to consume news. Millennials and generation Z prefer to consume news using their smartphone. Baby boomers and generation X use a more mixed media approach to news consumption whilst millennials and generation Z use online media only approach. Overall, all generations are motivated by information to consume news. However, only generation Z is also significantly motivated by entertainment to consume news. Lastly, no significant difference is found pertaining the awareness of misinformation. All the generations are equally aware of the risks of misinformation. To conclude, there is a difference in news consumption between baby boomers, generation X, millennials and generation Z during the COVID-19 pandemic. This difference mostly lies within the news sources the generations use to consume news. Baby boomers and generation X still use traditional media accompanied by online media. Millennials and generation Z have steered away from traditional media to consume news. Generation Z is also motivated by entertainment to consume news, whilst this was not the case for the other generations.