The shift in the news cycle leads AP World History and AP European History teacher Ms. Abbigayle Marion to adjust how she receives her news.

As more people use technology across the globe, changes in the news cycle have gone from news taking three-to-five business days to publish and inform the public to just 24-hours through the usage of social media and other networks. Now, people receive their news in just a few hours which can give people more involvement in society. 

“A lot of people get their news not from news sources anymore. I feel like it’s not newspapers or CNN or FOX, it’s social media,” Ms. Marion said. “So there’s a lot of bias, and you’ve got to be super careful in making sure that whatever information you’re taking in, you’re either seeing both sides or you’re trying to be as unbiased as possible.”

More than 2.4 billion people use social media and 64.5% of people receive their news every day from social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, formally known as Twitter, and Snapchat. Lowering the scale to obtaining news in America through news sources, 23% of American adults often get their news from various social media platforms and not traditional news sources. 

Depending on the people an individual follows on social media, it summarizes the algorithm for them to suit their desires. This can leave an effect on how news is delivered to people, giving them only one side of the story and providing biased information to a person.

“If you want to be involved and you want to stay up to date and you want to stay current, you’re making sure your algorithm is varied, so that you make sure you’re getting as close to the truth as you possibly can,” Ms. Marion said. “I mean, at this point, we can’t really trust anything, right, but we can get pretty close to what’s actually the truth.”

Ms. Marion said she believes the changes have benefits. Younger generations can engage with the news through social media and other news outlets. However, knowing when to take breaks from retaining news plays a role in emotional sustainability.

“I think it’s good. I think it helps people stay involved. I just think we need to be careful and wary that we’re not emotionally overloading ourselves,” Ms. Marion said. “Because we can’t fix the world by ourselves, but to make sure that your news is always as unbiased as it can be, or take in varied forms of news, so that you get as close to the whole picture as you can.”

The exposure of latest news and headlines can undercut mental health in people. Whether through social media or not, the overwhelming information learned leads people to emotional distress when presented with the latest news in a matter of hours.

Working with students has allowed Ms. Marion to understand and connect with a younger audience. She works to find ways to incorporate daily topics that correlate with the subject at hand in class. Difficulties arise when approaching a subject in class because some students become emotionally involved with the information provided by a news source. 

“I think most often, because I work with teenagers, I see how it affects you guys, and that changes how I approach a topic or how I approach even the lessons that we have already planned, because you guys are already emotionally invested in it, and it has just happened,” Ms. Marion said. “When we used to get it, three to four to five days later, there was a solution that was coming up. There was a plan, so there wasn’t panic. Whereas now, as soon as something happens, we know, and so that creates that panic or that overload of emotions that people get worried about.”

AP Human Geography teacher Ms. Jodi Esaili said receiving news in a matter of hours can lead to unhealthy social interactions. Engaging in news can be beneficial, yet the repetition of news that does not thoroughly cover the topic leads people to not care as much as they should. 

“[The 24-hour news cycle] is constant and not healthy to society. The news gets repeated over and over so people tune it out. They also do not cover news in-depth, so important details are missing,” Ms. Esaili said. “People only partially listen, as they are not covering news as it should be covered.”

Breaking news has a more essential role and gets posted within the first 24-hours, such as warning a group of people nearby of a situation. Not all news gets broken immediately and gets taken through the fact-checking process. 

With news constantly posted and at everyone’s fingertips, people receive limitless amounts of information at any time. 

“We have this 24/7 news cycle, so it keeps everyone in a state of anxiety. Sometimes, the local channels break in if the news is really important,” Ms. Esaili said. “There’s too much propaganda, not just political, but social, too.”

Receiving news in a matter of hours can lead to incorrect coverage of a topic, especially through uncredible influencers on social media. To Ms. Esaili, reporting a topic should have concise information presented to the audience. 

“There is way too much false news that is given over social media,” Ms. Esaili said. “It is not for the better of our society. We need better in-depth reporting so that people can see the entire picture instead of just a snapshot.”

Journalists also must deal with the rise of fake news via social media. Society finds social media more convenient, yet not all sources that are posted on social media platforms have credible facts.

AP Human Geography teacher Ms. Katlin Kratz notices students receive news that comes from social media platforms rather than credible news sources. It affects the way students perceive a story because they only receive little snippets of information which does not provide the entire picture.

“Social media can be a good thing, but most kids, if you ask them where they heard something, they’re going to tell you that’s from TikTok, which is great, but that’s a short-form platform. Those are very small snippets of information. So in my opinion, I think people take clips and hear a very small part of a story, and they don’t get the entire picture, which leads to the spreading of misinformation,” Ms. Kratz said. “They’re not getting all of that information at once in one news broadcast. Now it’s just quickly being delivered on their phone. And especially kids tend to pay more attention to TikTok and Instagram or Facebook stories than the actual TV. So I think that makes a big difference in the way that they’re perceiving the information that they get.”

Studies show the 24-hour news cycle also plays a role in FOMO [fear of missing out] developing in a person because the idea of being up to date with every single news detail becomes overwhelming. News is delivered immediately to people through technology instead of waiting a few days to receive it.

“You get a notification on your phone now and you can open up the entire article within, you know, 20 seconds of it being published. So it’s definitely different,” Ms. Kratz said, “But I think getting different ways of having the news delivered to us is a good thing. I just think it’s important to be careful with the way that we perceive that.”

When looking at news sources, people should conclude their own opinions over an event rather than following biased news from one source only. Searching for the most reliable source and taking into account the credibility of it can be important when forming an opinion over a topic.

Ms. Kratz takes the initiative to find truthful sources when learning about the latest news events. 

“I try to be mindful of the news outlets that I’m getting my information from. I think as an adult, it’s easier to do that than a kid,” Ms. Kratz said. “I think it’s just important to make sure that your sources are valid and something that is maybe even biased, showing you both sides to a situation, so that you can make those connections yourself and form your own opinions.”

Learning about various topics assists Ms. Kratz with informing her students about current events when having discussions in class. Conversing about current events helps students engage in daily lessons.

“There’s always something that I can connect to my class with being a geography teacher. That’s one of my favorite things, is taking what’s going on now and making it relevant to my students, so that they’re intrigued and they’re invested, and then I’m also helping them become informed members of society,” Ms. Kratz said. 

According to studies conducted, after the 9/11 attacks, adults who watched the live event through television news coverage had more stress-induced symptoms than those who only watched partial to the entire report. People commonly find that watching or reading in-depth to a tragic event can be irresistible and impossible to turn away because of the horrific news that hooks them in an attempt to inform. 

“I feel like the news gets really heavy and can be really dark sometimes like you’re hearing not necessarily the good stories,” Ms. Kratz said. “But a lot of what we hear about are wars in different countries and all these natural disasters and things that can be really sad and really heavy.”

News posts in a matter of hours after an event occurs, making it quickly learned and acknowledged to the public. It casts a sense of stress on people when faced with countless articles and videos. 

“But I definitely think that some of the stories and the things that we hear today are happening so fast, and it’s so much for people to take in that I think that sense of overwhelm is there for everybody,” Ms. Kratz said. 

The changes in the news cycle affect society as a whole giving people the opportunity to become more involved socially and politically. Now that technology aids in the spreading of information, more people engage online with the issues addressed through news. However, news being delivered within hours rather than days presents people with an underlying sense of stress and anxiety.

“People are involved, more involved in social, political issues than they ever have been. That’s a good thing. People should be involved. People should care and take care of each other,” Ms. Marion said. “The negatives are people feel they have to be involved all the time, and that is exhausting, and it’s emotionally draining, so making sure you have that balance of knowing you’re not going to ‘fix the world in one day but want to be involved so maybe I can make a better world one day’ is important.”