📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
Generation Z's distinctive digital nativity and habitual social media engagement have generated significant scholarly debate about whether this cohort is fundamentally reorienting away from traditional news sources toward algorithmically curated digital news feeds, with implications for journalistic sustainability and informed civic participation. This study examined the news consumption habits of Generation Z students at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), comparing preferences, trust levels, and engagement depth across traditional and digital news platforms. The study was anchored on the Media System Dependency Theory, which holds that individuals develop dependency relationships with specific media based on their capacity to fulfil informational, social, and self-understanding goals. A descriptive survey design was adopted, targeting a population of 10,000 students born between 1997 and 2012. A sample of 370 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling, and a self-administered questionnaire assessed platform preferences, daily news consumption hours, trust ratings, and motivations for news seeking. Findings indicated that 79 percent of Generation Z respondents at UNN preferred digital platforms for news consumption, with Instagram and Twitter being the dominant sources. Traditional broadcast and print media were accessed primarily when digital platforms failed to provide adequate depth or verification. Trust in digital news was consistently lower than trust in traditional media, yet convenience overrode trust concerns in daily media use. The study concluded that Generation Z students demonstrate pragmatic media pluralism, combining digital convenience with selective traditional media verification. It was recommended that news organisations develop hybrid strategies that serve content through social channels while maintaining rigorous journalistic standards to attract and retain young audiences.
Keywords: Generation Z, news consumption, digital news, media dependency, UNN students
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