The aim of this study is to examine how a young audience perceives a local newschannel’s radio newscast which has been modified with a jingle. The study is of societaland scientific relevance as journalism should communicate truth and relevance in a waythat gives the audience the ability to independently form an opinion about social issues.The study shows how music is used and can be used in a news context and how itaffects the listener's attention and experience of news broadcasts. The essay’s jingle canbe described as a sound logo, a short melody that is used to draw attention to brands.The essay uses the word jingle synonymously with the word sound logo motivated bythe fact that the term jingle is more established among Swedish media consumers. Byinvestigating the issue on an individual level, the objective is to provide a result that cansupport decisions made during the production process within media companies. Makingthe news content more adapted to promote the attention of the listener can conceivablybenefit the individual listener, the media company that produces the news content andgroups in society that currently do not consume news via radio. The findings may alsoopen up further research on news broadcasting in radio. The reasons people avoid newslay the foundation for the subcategories and themes which answers the researchquestion. News avoidance theories contextualize the current media landscape and whatpeople prefer in their media consumption. The study is conducted with a two-partmethod. The results are mainly based on qualitative interviews done in a semistructured form. GSR-equipment has been used as a triangulation tool to increasecredibility and minimize the risk of faulty or distorted results. The GSR-measurementsshowed the physical reactions of the respondents and created possibilities forsupplementary questions based on these. The measurements only showed when a2respondent reacted and not why, therefore the qualitative interviews were still vital toanswer the research question. The results from the qualitative interviews show that alocal news broadcast modified with a news jingle is perceived as clear and partlycredible. But it is not perceived as entertaining. More specifically, the jingle's role forthe format of the broadcast is perceived as distinguishing news items by highlighting thestart and stop which contributes to clarity. The main reason why the news broadcast isperceived as credible is that it sounds similar to what the respondents have previousexperience with. The study cannot prove that the jingle has any function for theentertainment value.

The phenomenon of news avoidance receives increasing scholarly attention as small but growing parts of society decrease or terminate their news intake. This development is particularly visible among younger generations, correlating with an increasing wish to disconnect digitally. The severity of news avoidance for society depends on the chosen democratic model. Following Habermas’ understanding of deliberative democracy theory, citizens are expected to be informed and willing to connect to the public. However, there are considerations for a change in citizenship ideals that reflect the implications of the digitalized world in which news consumption is situated. Consequently, there is a shift away from the normative expectation of always being informed, and even alternative ways of public connection have emerged. To explore the tension between news avoidance, the normative expectations of public connection, and the call for a more realistic view of today’s citizenship, this study explores news avoidance among young Swedish citizens. In ten in-depth interviews with young news avoiders, motivations for their low levels of news consumption were explored, leading to three categories: mental health, relevancy, and structural factors. Repeatedly mentioned were the personal considerations that news consumption decreased mental well-being and that free time was preferably used for personal interests. Additionally, the wish to disconnect from digital devices either directly or indirectly influenced news consumption. Moreover, understandings of citizenship were examined, showing various views ranging from cultural belonging to obligations. Regarding civic duties, the findings were ambivalent, showing both an understanding and a questioning of news consumption as a duty for citizens. Alternative ways of public connection, such as TV shows or social media consumption, seemed insufficient. Concluding, from the standpoint of deliberative democracy, the findings on news avoidance and participants’ understanding of citizenship pose a challenge for democratic societies that hampers public connection.

This audience study explores the changes of news consumption and avoidance behaviour by young millennial immigrants from various backgrounds, living in Stockholm, Sweden. Considering various theoretical frameworks, such as the intentional vs. unintentional model (Skovsgaard & Andersen, 2020), the migration change model (Tabor & Milfont, 2011), as well as a combination of a phenomenology of news model (Bengtsson & Johansson, 2021) and media repertoires established by Swart et al. (2017), a qualitative research has been conducted consisting of eight semi-structured interviews. Through a thematic analysis possible patterns have been established and findings show that individuals tend to change their behaviour in news consumption for various reasons. (1) Participants want to be able to establish their own news-routines and use their migration as an opportunity for a new start, (2) there is a certain influence by people closest to them and with their social circle changing, their (news) interests change as well, and (3) motivation and interest play an important role in shaping new consumption behaviours in a new country: the more one is interested in learning more about the new country, its culture and its language, the more likely they are to check that country’s traditional news media sources.