Why do people avoid news? It’s not just because it makes them feel bad

News avoidance is a hot topic in research and something we’ve covered previously. It’s the apparently growing phenomenon of people sidestepping news despite the plentiful choices that abound. In this study based on a survey of U.S. adults, Edgerly seeks to uncover why some people have especially low levels of news consumption and what might be done about it. For example, she asks, are news avoiders simply uninterested, do they not understand how news works, or is avoidance driven by emotion?

First, news has to matter to people. Edgerly finds...