February 25, 2026 – 2 min read
The way teens consume news and information has radically changed in the last decade. Across the board, young Americans are becoming more polarized, consuming less news, and relying more and more on social media platforms to stay informed.
One of the key problems Civic Unwrapped seeks to combat is the decline in news consumption among today’s youth. According to a 2025 survey in news consumption from Pew Research, only 15% of young adults(18-27) say they follow news all or most of the time. That number has strongly decreased since 2016, where the proportion was 27%. Additionally, teens have developed a strong negative opinion of the news media. In a 2025 study conducted by the News Literacy Project, 84% of teens expressed a negative sentiment when asked the best word to describe news media, frequently using words like “boring”, “biased”, and “confusing”.
This means that young Americans read, listen to, and watch less news than before, and overwhelmingly think poorly of traditional news media such as newspapers and television networks.
Americans are also more polarized, or politically divided, than ever. In a 2022 study by Pew Research, roughly ¾ of both Democrats and Republicans believed the opposing party to be more immoral than other Americans, compared to only about 40% in 2016.
Part of this is likely due to the rise of social media consumption in recent years. Platforms like Instagram, X, and TikTok often contain and fail to regulate large amounts of misinformation and polarizing content.
It is quite alarming that, according to the Pew Research study on US news consumption, 76% of young adults often or sometimes get their news from social media. Misinformation and polarizing content can be extremely harmful to youth, especially if they don’t access verified information sources.
This is why Civic Unwrapped strives for its goal of being an accurate and trustworthy information source, but also accessible and engaging for teens. Civic Unwrapped seeks to foster civic engagement in youth by providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate the complex world of information we live in.
Sources Cited
jcoleman. “Young Adults and the Future of News.” Pew Research Center, 3 Dec. 2025, www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/12/03/young-adults-and-the-future-of-news/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
Nadeem, Reem. “5. Republicans and Democrats Increasingly Critical of People in the Opposing Party.” Pew Research Center, 9 Aug. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/republicans-and-democrats-increasingly-critical-of-people-in-the-opposing-party/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
The. “Report: “Biased,” “Boring” and “Bad”: Unpacking Perceptions of News Media and Journalism among U.S. Teens – the News Literacy Project.” The News Literacy Project – for a Future Founded on Facts, 5 Nov. 2025, newslit.org/news-and-research/teens-and-news-media/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.