Online News Consumption Pattern of Youths from the Aspects of Age and Gender in Malaysia

Yew, Li Yen (2021) Online News Consumption Pattern of Youths from the Aspects of Age and Gender in Malaysia. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

With the advent of Internet and digitalization, the amount of news and information available is no doubt increasing across the Internet. Besides, the way people consume information has also evolved. Unlike the news on traditional media such as print newspaper, television, and radio that instil a one-way communication, online news consumers can now interact with each other and actively participate in the news reporting and discussion. It is evident that the younger generation born in the era of digitalization has a different method of approaching news and information compared to the older generation. Therefore, this study aims to find out the news consumption patterns of young adults, and whether age and gender differences can influence their behaviour of news consumption. With that said, the age and gender of the young adults will be the main focus in this study. The methodology used in conducting this research is an online survey, with a total of 150 participants ranging from 18 to 30 years old. The findings revealed that the older young adults have a higher news consumption level compared to the younger age group. The outcome also showed that generally male have a slightly higher interest in news compared to females. Besides, the media preference for news consumption is largely dominated by online media, especially on social media. Hence, this study proves that age and gender plays a role in influencing the news consumption pattern of young adults.