How we consume news is changing. Today more than half of teens keep up with current events using social media. The trend is catching on with adults too. A 2022 study by the Pew Research Center found that 43 percent of TikTok’s adult users in the United States rely on the app for the day’s headlines—up from 22 percent in 2020.
As more people turn to social media for news, traditional media outlets, such as newspapers, are feeling the effects. In 1970, more than 62 million people in the U.S. regularly read newspapers. By 2022, that figure had dropped to fewer than 21 million.
The transition doesn’t just affect how we get the news. It also affects how it is created. Newspapers, TV news, and other traditional media outlets tend to have professional reporters, editors, and fact-checkers dedicated to presenting the news fairly and accurately. On social media, information can come from anyone—including individuals who are not trained journalists.
This cartoon comments on the change in the industry. It uses symbolism: the use of simple objects or symbols to represent larger concepts. Study the cartoon, then answer the questions.
1. What type of media does the newspaper represent? What about the phones?
2. How does the cartoonist use color and size to contrast the two types of media? Why?
3. What are the phones doing to the newspaper? What point is the cartoonist making?
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