In recent years, traditional media has continued its harrowing downward trajectory while audiences turn towards social media for news. On a campus like McGill’s, that emphasizes critical thinking and research skills, do students’ news-consumption habits reflect the digital age of 2024?

Data from Statistics Canada in November 2023 revealed that around 85 per cent of Canadians aged 15 to 34 get their news from social media or the internet. Bill C-18, the Canada Online News Act, which came into effect in December, requires tech companies to pay Canadian media for their content. Meta responded by blocking Canadian media links on Instagram and Facebook.

Where are we getting our news?

Nick Belev, U2 Science, answered this question candidly. 

“At least once a day I’ll see something news-related, usually it’s from a newsletter my mom made me sign up for, or from reels [and] TikTok and I’ll spend about 10 minutes reading it,” he said.

Belev is not alone. In fact, all of the students interviewed said that they receive news through social media, whether indirectly or directly. 

Aliya Frendo, U3 Arts, often relies on TikTok for news. She believes TikTok news, when approached mindfully, offers informative and unique perspectives and also serves as an entry point to other media platforms for more in-depth reading.

“Oftentimes, I’ll come across news clips on TikTok and that will prompt me to leave the app and look them up,” Frendo said. 

Other students, such as Anwyn Woodyatt, U3 Science, have different feelings towards social media as a news source but admit its pervasiveness in daily news consumption is a force to be reckoned with. 

“Indirectly, I end up getting most of my daily news from social media, which isn’t the most reliable source,” she admitted. 

Similarly to Frendo, however, Woodyatt says that she will look for sources beyond social media if the news she receives there is overwhelming or seems to be untrue. 

University’s Uniqueness

Despite the centrality of social media, McGill students interviewed hinted at one specific factor affecting news consumption on a university campus, their area of study. 

Toby Li, U4 Engineering, gets her news mostly from social media and conversations with friends. She feels like her friends in different faculties are definitely better-informed than she is.

“It varies between faculties like there are certain faculties [..]where you have to keep up with the news, like if you’re in research or something,” Li said. “For me in civil engineering, it’s always been the same, like there’s not much new.”

Woodyatt agreed, citing conversations with more politically aware students as a preliminary source of current events. 

“I feel like it’s pretty hard to not be aware of current events when you’re on a campus with people who study these things and are generally pretty up-to-date on these things,” Woodyatt explained. 

How do students feel about their habits?

Habits can change over time; sometimes, seemingly small changes can have a big impact. 

“These days, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty undisciplined about getting the news,” Belev admitted, comparing back to the days when he had to keep updated on current events for his high school political science course.

Becoming a university student has also had an impact on how Li gets her news. 

“Way back, when I was young and newspapers were a thing, I’d read the newspaper because it was delivered to our house,” Li said.  Her newspaper-reading habits stopped when she started University, and the paper was not delivered to her door daily.

While students such as Li and Belev admit that they wish they were more “disciplined” in their news consumption habits, those who are more up-to-date, like Frendo, sometimes struggle with the burden of the current media landscape, finding it tiring at times.

“I’ve fallen out of love with The Globe and Mail and CBC,” Frendo said. “For example, with the situation in Palestine right now, I just don’t find that I have any major news outlet that covers it in a way that doesn’t make me frustrated.”

Students can access various news outlets through McGill, see the McGill Library for more details.