Last Tuesday, Oct. 7, the nation celebrated it’s first National News Engagement Day!
Created by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (phew!) this day is dedicated to encouraging people of all ages to read, watch, like, tweet, post, text, email, listen to, or comment on the news.
As a journalism major I’m ashamed to say that I knew absolutely nothing about NNED. Shouldn’t I lose my degree over that? Probably… but it makes me wonder- What makes this day so important? According to the Pew Research Center’s biennial news consumption survey, 29% of young adults are deemed news less. Yikes.
That tidbit of information is a tad bit embarrassing and scary. If our generation stops caring about the news what will be of our country in 50 plus years? Imagine what our government could get away with without someone checking in on the people who make the important decisions in our daily lives.
After finding this information I wanted to seek out members of my generation who were showing their support for NNED and how they were achieving it. The answer was simple, social media.
Hash tags on Twitter and other media outlets were created to help spread the news about news day. Hash tags included: #NNED, #NewsEngagementDay, #AEJMC, #NewsUP, and even #BamaNED for my fellow University of Alabama students.
Visit the Twitter page for NNED tweets.
Students at Syracuse University showing their support for NNED!
Since I was so late in the game this year, I plan on celebrating next year’s NNED with more pizzazz. Thanks to Benjamin Mullins from Poytner I now have a NNED checklist:
- Take the pledge to engage in NNED
- Pinterest: AEJMC has a board dedicated to the many ways you can celebrate the news holiday
- Read this List of Facts to catch on the purpose of the day and why it makes a difference
- Follow and tweet #NewsEngagementDay to stay updated on social media
NNED was created by AEJMC’s 2013-2014 president, Paul Poindexter. Besides her name being totally amazing, she is also a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She wanted to set aside a day every year to “revitalize the public’s engagement with news, regardless of generation”. You can read more about Poindexter’s ideas in her book: Millennials, News, and Social Media: Is News Engagement a Thing of the Past?
Well, there you have it. Whether you’re checking your phone for a daily weather report or hearing breaking news from your professors mouth at 8 a.m. math lab you’re still considered a “newsie”. So mark your calendar for next years NNED and help preserve and acknowledge our government’s watchdog.
Have a great day and remember to spread the news!
Alexandra Alabama 