Relevance as a Mechanism in Evaluating News-Ness among American Teens and Adults

Bibliographic Data

ID22010976
AuthorsEmily K Vraga (0000-0002-3016-3869, University of Minnesota, corresponding author), Stephanie Edgerly (0000-0002-2934-0151, Northwestern University)
Year2025
Volume13
Issue6
Pages1049-1069
Publication date2025-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Journalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2167-0811 • E-ISSN: 2167-082X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21670811.2023.2250829
OpenAlexW4386456976
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited54

Definitions of news are increasingly fraught in today’s media environment, making audience assessments of news-ness – the degree to which something is considered news – particularly important. Drawing from literature on representation in news and news-ness, we explore how seeing news that features a similar age group affects ratings of news-ness. We also argue that relevance offers as a psychological mechanism to explain how audiences make assessments about news-ness. Using two experiments among teens and adults in the United States, our results confirm that proximity (in terms of age) of the groups represented in news affects audience evaluations of news-ness, with relevance acting as a mediator to linking proximity and news-ness. These results are replicated across issues and among American teens and adults. We discuss the importance of representation and relevance as strategic initiatives to involve people in news

Advertising · Business · Headline · News aggregator · News media · News values · Political science · Politics · Public relations · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Law · Media Influence and Health · Media Studies and Communication · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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