Christian’s Response to Journalism in the Age of Digital Information Overload

By Jenna Mohrmann

Background

The reason I chose to wrestle with this particular media and culture relationship of online journalism articles and Christians within America is because I found myself overwhelmed at the amount of current event information that I was exposed to daily without knowing what to do with it. I knew I could not possibly process through it all, but I felt a responsibility to know how to approach it. It caused me to ask the question: how should Christians biblically and theologically respond to current events in light of the reality that we live in the age of digital information overload?

What is the problem?

Easily accessible journalism articles, as seen on Twitter and Facebook, affect how Americans interact with current event information and society. Americans are now overwhelmed with information glut that is a continuing entity that never lets up (Schuchardt 32). Americans continue to consume an abundant amount of information which then leads to amusing themselves for entertainment purposes. Eventually, this continuous stream of information just stays stagnant in their brains. This leads to an apathetic attitude towards injustices and tragedies instead of action that leads to positive change. However, Christians are called to a higher standard. They are not called to be apathetic or unengaged but active within culture and compassionate towards others. Christian Americans should more intentionally and purposefully consume current event journalism through social media platforms which will lead to better understanding those whom they minister to and lead them into action instead of apathy

Christians need to be more intentional about how they are consuming journalism. First, they must know what journalism is and what purpose it serves. Journalism exists to capture important events and report these events to society. This can be done through a variety of different mediums including written articles, photographs, video clips, radio broadcasts, television shows, or podcasts. The purpose of journalism should be to give an accurate portrayal of what is currently going on within a local, state, national, and even international contexts.

However, journalism cannot be done to its full extent because journalists will only be able to report on a select number of events that are going on within the world. Additionally, journalists will always have a bias because people have biases. The is not necessarily negative. Everyone has a worldview which the consumer must consider because it will come through their work. This means that people should recognize that it is not a reality for the news to give a completely accurate portrayal of where we are within society (Postman/Powers 24). Nevertheless, news is still something Christians must learn to wrestle through. Is a reality that “The news is what news directors and journalists say it is. There are lots of events that happen each day. There are a lot of tragic events that happen each day. We do not hear about all of these. Only the ones in control of the current event news choose which ones come out publicly” (Postman/Powers 11). Christian Americans need to know how the news industry operates in order to view the information they consume within context.

Another aspect of consuming journalism Christians must consider is the mediums and platforms they receive journalism through. Current event news comes through a variety of platforms throughout the years. It first became realistically possible through the invention of the printing press where mass amounts of copies of print could be made a distributed. Current event news was eventually broadcasted over the radio, then through television, and now through online mediums. Today, research shows many Americans obtain their knowledge of current event through social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. A Pew Research study performed in September of 2018 clearly shows that two-thirds of American (68%) get their news from social media usage. This study confirms that is the main cause of this massive shift away from tangible methods of journalism is due to convenience because people can easily access news articles through their smartphones. Americans value speed in most areas of their lives. When they can easily scroll through their newsfeed to quickly skim through articles that catch their attention, this becomes the desired way to receive current event information. Additionally, social media platforms allow for collaboration and dialogue between users. It also allows the user to customize their newsfeed to follow which sources, celebrities, politicians, and news companies they wish to interact with. The American Press Institute has found that 9 in 10 Twitter users surveyed say they use Twitter as their source of current event news and most of them follow individual journalists and institutions they wish to hear from. Is this shift beneficial? Or were Americans too quick to accept the convenience of online platforms? What are the effects of journalism through online platforms?

First, online platforms have immensely magnified the already existent problem of information overload. Our newsfeeds are flooded daily with an overwhelming amount of current event information. When the printing press was developed and became a commonality, literature began to be dispersed in mass amounts. While information overload has been a rising issue for some time, the problem is now intensely magnified since the explosion of internet in the 90’s. Steve Powers notes in with the digital age, Americans will be given more news than they can constructively use. He notes that the problem is no longer accessing news but filtering the torrents of news into byte-sized information that can be used (Powers/Postman 169). Media ecologist Dr. Read Schuchardt notes,

“Today, we’ve lost the pattern of recognition the ancients had (free from social and political status) and we are faced with an overwhelming daily deluge of new contradictory information, making it a full-time job just to keep up with what’s happening, let alone understand it” (Schuchardt 24).

Americans must recognize that through the digital platforms they choose to participate in, they cannot possibly keep up with all the information that is distributed. Humans simply do not have that capacity. Which leads into the next point, Americans are using social media platforms as the means by which they obtain current event information, but they are not thinking through the possible side effects of using these platforms.

The reality is that our digital technology and the web itself is retraining our brains to think, process, and handle information differently. This includes social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. As exemplified earlier, the primary reason Americans turn to social media platforms is to obtain current event information with speed and efficiency. Because of this, people handle online mediums differently than they do tangible mediums. Often times, online articles are skimmed through quickly in order to get the main idea. Newspapers are usually treated with more patience and intentionality. John Dyer, a theologian from Dallas Seminary who has written studied the effects of technology on society writes, “Our tendency is to scan headings and paragraphs looking for elements of interest, not to read word by word and line by line. If a page is not interesting or relevant, most people move on very quickly” (Dyer 164).   Online platforms retrain our brains to think in bullet point form. This affects our analytical thinking skills. Americans are focusing too much on the content coming through their social media feeds and not thinking through the implications that the medium has on them. Nicholas Carr, an author who writes on technology, business and culture writes in his book, The Shallows,

“Our focus on a medium’s content can blind us to these deep effects. We are too busy being dazzled or disturbed by the programming to pretend that the technology itself does not matter” (3).

Carr continues on to explain how the medium of the internet has rewired its users’ brain to think and process differently than it did before the explosion of the web. The internet has helped Americans think as if they are surfing the web and that information should come instantly even when they are not on the web. They lack the patience to sit down and deeply think through what they are ingesting.

“Calm, focused, undistracted, the linear mind is being pushed aside by a new kind of mind that wants and needs to take in and dole out information in short, disjointed, often overlapping bursts – the faster, the better” (10).

Part of handling media appropriately is knowing the effects of the medium by which it is consumed. Postman in his famous book, Amusing Ourselves to Death stated, “Each medium, like language itself, makes possible a unique mode of discourse by providing a new orientation for thought, for expression, for sensibility. Which of is what McLuhan meant in saying the medium is the message” (10). Americans are too quick to absorb the message, without realizing the effects of the medium by which the message came. Understanding the medium of journalism through social media platforms also requires understanding the concept of search bubbles.

American’s lack of understanding mediums leads into another related problem: people do not look at the credibility in the information they are interacting on social media platforms. They forget to ask the question “Says who?” (Schuchardt 32). How quick are Americans to trust the articles simply because they show up in their newsfeed? And if they are skeptical, do they know how to or take the time to determine if the information they just skimmed through is credible? Studies show that social media platforms for current event consumption makes it more difficult to have the patience to evaluate the information they are absorbing through these platforms. A study performed by American Educator in fall of 2017 evaluated how students interacted with sources and if they took the necessary steps to determine credibility. The study showed, “Many young people lack the skills to distinguish reliable from misleading information” (McGrew 7).  It takes patience to ensure that the sources one is interacting with are credible. However, this is an important part of the process of accurately viewing current event information. “A viewer must know something about the political beliefs and economic situation of those in charge of news and may compare those judgements with his or her own” (Postman/Powers). Considering the way the web is reshaping our thought processes, it is not a surprise that Americans seems to lack this patience. The cause for this is connected to the online, social media platforms Americans use to obtain current event information.

It is a reality that scrolling through newsfeed leads to an endless source of entertainment. In his well-known book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman explains why he believes Orwell’s prediction in 1984 was wrong, and Huxley’s prediction in Brave New World was right. Orwell feared we would be oppressed by control whereas Huxley feared we would be oppressed by endless information used for entertainment. Postman elaborates on the effects of television on culture to illustrate his view. He claimed, “television speaks in only one persistent voice – the voice of entertainment” (Postman 80). He also claimed, “television is transforming our culture into one vast arena for show business” (Postman 80). Even though Postman wrote this in 1985, the same concepts apply to American culture today. Americans are still in the arena of show business, they are simply gaining our information from different mediums – digital mediums. Postman points out how the medium of television treats news as entertainment. He writes,

“’Now… this’… is a means of acknowledging the fact that the world as mapped by the speeded-up electronic media has no order or meaning and is not to be taken seriously. There is no murder so brutal, no earthquake so devastating, no political blunder so costly – for that matter, no ball score so tantalizing or weather report so threatening – that it cannot be erased from our minds by a newscaster saying, ‘Now… this’” (Postman 99).

The same pattern Postman writes about Americans are using when they interact with current event information through social media platforms. They scroll, read a headline, and keep scrolling to absorb the next headline. The “Now… This” phenomenon is not only still a problem, but it is a never-ending pattern on social media platforms. Social media users can keep scrolling until they have amused themselves to death.

Treating current event information as a form of entertainment leads to an apathetic posture towards culture. Postman states that people are “drawn into a new epistemology based on the assumption that all reports of cruelty and death are greatly exaggerated and, in any case, not to be taken seriously or responded to sanely” (Postman 105). Instead of the news of injustices or tragedies breaking their hearts and moving them into asking what could be done, Americans treat them casually. Americans are so used scrolling past tragic headlines that they are no longer moved by them. If there comes a time when they are moved, often times thy are moved to share the article via Facebook or retweeting it via Twitter. Or, they consider dialoguing/debating current events over these platforms qualifies as putting their voice out there in order to initiate positive change. I would define this as virtual civic engagement, not actual, productive civic engagement.  If Americans were truly moved to a state of compassion over injustices and tragedies, then sharing a post over a social media platform or dialoguing about it among each other on the platform would not be considered “civic engagement.”  Christians must to do better.

Why should Christians care?

After deconstructing how journalism is functioning on social media platforms in the United States, one wonders: why should Christians care at all? Since these platforms magnify the issue of information overload, retrain our brains to interact with information differently that leads into the pattern of endless entertainment which then leads to apathy, should Christians simply stop consuming the information?

As Christians, our responsibility is first and foremost to Christ and the Church. This is demonstrated when Jesus gave the first and greatest commandments:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22: 37-39 ESV).

Believers are to love God and then others by being like Christ and sharing the truth of the Gospel with them. Do current events even have a place in how Christians are called to live our lives as followers of Christ? The answer is yes, they do.

A Christian’s responsibility to society as a whole is intertwined into the calling of loving God and their neighbors. Engaging culture effectively, which Christians are called to do, involves a basic understanding what is going on within culture itself. In order to create culture that promotes shalom, Christians must know what current issues the culture is wrestling through. This requires some knowledge of current events and a basic understanding of the sociopolitical atmosphere.  As Christians realize the issues there are with journalism though social media platforms, they must not confuse that with not having anything to do with current event information at all.

What should engaging with current events information look like for the Christian? Dr. Schuchardt states, “We were created to handle the stories and sorrows of the tribe we were born into. Under digital conditions, we’re required to somehow shoulder the weight of global knowledge – it is a psychic overstimulation that exhausts our ability to remain fully present” (Schuchardt 58). It is true, God has primarily created humans to remain present to where they are. However, current event knowledge still has its place. Humans were never mean to shoulder the weight of the world’s problems in order to be the solution. This was not what the church is called to do. Human beings will never be the solution to the world’s problems because it all links back to one problem – sin. It is Christ who is the redeemer of the world. However, believers are still called to live intentionally and be at peace as Christ-followers. Being surrounded with digital information overload is a realty of living in the twenty-first century. Because of this, Christians have to think theologically about how they should engage and respond in the midst of it. They must figure out how to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16) in the midst of our current culture that is daily dealing with this mass amount of messages thrown at them daily. If Christians are not faithful to wrestle through the information overload themselves and theologically think through how they interact with it, how will they fully engage the culture? How will they be able to properly create culture that resonates?

Christians are wired to create culture. In the book, Culture Making, Andy Crouch analyzes what culture is and how Christians should be engaging culture. Crouch points out that God has given humans culture and has given them a cultural mandate to cultivate, multiply and have dominion over creation. When Christians notice something that should change, the way in which Christians should go about instigating change is by creating culture. Christians should cultivate, or take care, of the good things in culture first and then create in order to promote positive change within culture (Crouch 74). Crouch points out that Christians cannot simply critique, analyze, copy, consume or withdraw from culture, they must create it. Christians should engage in the process of deconstructing what is going on in culture by analyzing, critiquing to then reconstruct, and finally creating to exemplify. In order to properly understand culture so that Christians can create what is best, they must learn what is actually taking place within culture. How Christians view and interact with culture determines how the Gospel will go fourth within culture.

Some argue that Christians should withdraw from social media platforms or current event information altogether. They think Christians should simply focus on making disciples where they are and ignore the happenings around the world. In a way, they wish to go back to an era before the explosion of the internet. This is not a helpful response to the situation. Withdrawing from culture will not help Christians shape or create culture. Ministering to those around them in local contexts will actually be more difficult if Christians do not have some knowledge of what people around them are wrestling through. This especially relates to knowledge of local current events. Christians should not look backwards and hope for times of the past, they need to move forward. Ecclesiastes 7:10 says, “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” Each era has problems of its own. Jesus himself acknowledged this (Matt. 6:34). In light of this, Christians should ask a few questions. How do Christians intentionally use the tools and technology they have access to? How do they respond and show Christ within this era of globalization and mass information that God has placed them?

Another reason why retreating is not a beneficial option is that God has blessed Christians within America with responsibilities as citizens of the United States. They have the privilege of having a voice through the system of democracy. Since God expects believers to submit to and respect our governing authorities which He appoints, they should use their voice and steward that privilege well. (Romans 13:1-7). To steward the privilege well requires being able to interact with current event news and information to know how to thoughtfully vote and engage in society. This requires a theology of how to handle current event information.

Since journalism is transitioning to digital platforms, this means Christians should be theologically thinking through the use of technology as well. Christians must be intentional about all they do. Paul writes in his epistle to the Colossians, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23-24).  Christians must remember that they will give an account for their actions and decisions before Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). Clearly, Christians must live with intentionality. This includes how they respond to the information glut of the twenty-first century. The church and society desperately need Christian thinkers. “Christian thinking, seeking to highlight the importance for understanding the world, is significant for serving both the church and society” (Schuchardt 12). This is what it means to love God with our minds. Finally, if endless entertainment of current events leads to an apathetic posture, what is the solution? What is a Christian’s responsibility once they interact with current event information? How should our theology play into this part of our lives? What does the Bible say Christians should do with all the information?

How should Christians respond?

First, to avoid falling into the pattern of scrolling leading to a means of endless entertainment, Christians must be intentional with how they consume media through digital platforms. Since journalism is making a switch from tangible to digital, Christians must start thinking theologically about social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The use of these tools themselves is not sinful. However, when tools are used without thought and intentionality, the tools can start to use the user. Christians must think through the effects of the tools they choose to use including their social media tools and utilize it in a way that is intentional to counteract the negative tendencies of using it. John Dyer writes,

“The internet is a technology, then we should assume that it will present us with powerful new ways to shape the world, but that same power will also shape us and the way we see the world. If used without reflection, that shaping will eventually make its way into our souls, influencing how we see ourselves and others and what we think as important” (Dyer 160).

Scripture commands believers that whatever they do should be done for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). This indicates that believers should be living every aspect of their lives with intentionality for the glory of God including how they use our tools and technology.

Second, the antidote to apathy, the attitude which leads to the sin of slothfulness, is compassionate action. As Christians interact with current event information they should be thinking about what they are going to do with the information they consume. If they are not moving towards action, this becomes information that stays stagnant in their brains which would then be defined as entertainment. Injustices in the headlines should move Christ-followers. These injustices and tragedies are the reality of brokenness due to sin within the world. God is a God of justice. This can be seen throughout the biblical narrative. God gave Israel the law so that they may live righteously in the presence of a just and holy God. Deuteronomy 16:20 states, “Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Also, Isaiah 61:8-9 says, “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrong doing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.”

Furthermore, God calls Christians to pursue justice as they live their lives on this earth. The Lord instructed those in exile in Zechariah 7:9, “this is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another.’” God also instructed Israel in Micah 6:8 “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Christians should be pursing justice to an end goal of peace as far as it depends on them (Rom 12:18).

However, believers must remember they do not have the final say. Paul writes in Romans 12:19, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”In light of this, Christians must remember that they are not the solution to the world’s sin problem. Justice will never be complete until Christ returns to judge. God is also a God of compassion (Ps 78:38). Jesus demonstrated his compassion throughout his ministry on earth (Mark 6:34). Believers should also have compassion on those that experience oppression. Colossians 3:12 states, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” A believer’s calling includes pursing peace as far as it depends on them (Rom12:18), and having compassion on those around them (Col. 3:12). Therefore, Christians are then required to make an intentional effort to not passively scroll through journalism articles apathetically. This requires a theology of current event consumption and how a believer should act on that information with intentionality.

What does impactful action look like?

Since it is clearly fundamental to know how to interact with current event information through digital platforms in an intentional manner that leads to action instead of apathy, what does this practically look like? What should a Christian’s steps of actions consist of?

First, despite the fact that much of our current event information is taken from social media platforms, appropriate action does not include sharing or dialoguing and debating current event issues over these platforms. Considering the billions of times this has happened, it does not appear to regularly lead to positive change within society. However, appropriate and beneficial action should include Christians speaking up beyond online dialoguing when they see injustices around them. This helps them guard against apathy. Since God is clearly a God of justice and compassion, Christians need to advocate for both of these to an end of peace as far as it depends on them (Rom 12:18). However, they must remember that the final say does not fall upon the Church. God Himself is the final judge. All will answer to Him for how they have lived their lives.

Christians should speak up and take a stand for what is right. How do Christian Americans become advocates for what is good and stand up when there are injustices? First, Christian Americans need to vote and exercise their voice within the democracy. Christians should not throw away this privilege that God has given them. They should do their best to steward it in order to bring glory to God. Taking this responsibility seriously requires thought and awareness of current event issues. Christians should have an idea of what is going on in the government at the local, state, national, and potentially even international. This does have a place in their lives, but they need to watch how much of it they are consuming and for what purpose they are consuming the information for.

A second way Christians can move from apathy into action is to make their concerns known to those who have been placed in authority. Each believer should know who their representatives are at a local, state, and national level and regularly voice concerns and ideas to them.

Third, as believers learn about the happenings in the culture around them, the individuals within the church should come together in order to advocate for a cause, stand for what is right, and go out and serve the community where there is need. Examples of this could include volunteering at a local homeless shelter, or spending time around the holidays serving at the soup kitchen. These are examples of how Christians can create culture to see positive change. This is how believers realize and act upon the reality that they are called to stay local and present. Having this understanding of current events can help them better understand those around them.

How should believers go about handling the reality of information overload? How can they practically engage it in a healthy way? How do they not just consume it so that it becomes a form of entertainment? This all starts with intentionality, and this could look different for each individual. However, here are some practical suggestions. First, Christians need to remember that staying present to where God has placed them is a priority. Each individual should examine where God has placed them to serve and invest. They should discover their gifts and realize the people God has placed in their lives to minister to. Even when the Israelites were exiled in Babylon, God instructed them to “seek the welfare of the city which I have sent you into exile, and pray for the Lord on its behalf, for its welfare, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare” (Jer. 29:7). God wants Christians to be actively reaching those around them with their gifts so that people may come to know Christ. Media intake of current events can be done purposefully so that it helps Christians minister to those which God has specifically placed around them to invest in. This is how our media consumption relates to ministry and our call to make disciples. This is why local news is important. Each individual in the church should ask: If this is the people group God has called me to be salt and light to, which current events can I keep up with that will help me better understand them?

Second, Christians must realize the reality that comes with information overload: humans cannot wrestle with all of the information, and Christians are not called to do that. Since it is not healthy to mindlessly consume information for entertainment purposes, Christians should limit themselves to only consuming current event information which they have the capacity to pray for. This helps put checks and balances on media consumption. Adopting this strategy will help Christians from falling into the cycle of scrolling through media for endless entertainment that leads to the ungodly attitude of apathy. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly, dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).  One example, then, is Christians can use current event information that they obtain to more effectively pray for those who are in authority. They can intercede by prayer for the injustices they read about in the headlines and thank God throughout whatever situation they find the world is going through.

It is a fact that journalism is switching to primarily digital platforms. Digital journalism as seen through social media platforms comes with its consequences. However, retreating and withdrawing from culture does not line up with how God has asked his people to live and engage culture. Christians must strive forward thinking theologically about how to handle this reality with intentionality. They must recognize their responsibility to be active within culture, and how intentional current event information consumption can help them do this better. Let the Church strive to live how God has called them to live. Let them stand up for what is good and true and love those around them as Christ demonstrated. The prophet Micah wrote “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” May Christians in America be faithful in doing this as well, until the Lord returns to restore all things.

Works Cited

Carr, Nicholas G. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. W.W. Norton, 2011

Crouch, Andy. Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. InterVarsity Press, 2008.

Dyer, John. From the Garden to The City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology. Kregel Publications, 2011.

Matsa, Katerina Eva, and Elisa Shearer. “News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2018 | Pew Research Center.” Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project, Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project, 21 Sept. 2018, www.journalism.org/2018/09/10/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2018/.

McGrew, Sarah, et al. “A Challenge That’s Bigger Than Fake News: Civic Reasoning in a Social Media Environment.” American Educator, 2017, pp. 4-39. EBSCO

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Penguin, 1985.

Postman, Neil, and Steve Powers. How to Watch TV News. Penguin, 2008.

Rosenstiel, Tom, et al. “Twitter and News: How People Use Twitter to Get News.” American Press Institute, 2 Sept. 2015, www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/how-people-use-twitter-news/.

Schuchardt, Read Mercer. Media, Journalism, and Communication A Student’s Guide. Crossway, 2018.