Almost four in ten (39%) people worldwide have said they sometimes or often actively avoid the news, compared with 29% in 2017, according to a report by Oxford University’s Reuters Institute.
The study finds that more people are turning away from news, describing it as depressing, relentless and boring, with news avoidance now at record high levels.
The authors of the report have said that wars in Ukraine and the Middle East may have contributed to people’s desire to switch off the news, the BBC reports.
A total of 94,943 adults across 47 countries were surveyed by YouGov in January and February for this year’s Digital News Report.
The report found that while elections spurred interest in the news in a few countries, including the United States, the overall trend remained firmly downwards.
Around the world, 46% of people said they were very or extremely interested in the news − down from 63% in 2017.
In the UK, interest in news has almost halved since 2015.
[Image: Pete Linforth from Pixabay]