Reading #newsengagementday activities around the country and the globe gives me hope that we can make engaging with news a priority again.

For the past decade I have been concerned that news engagement may be a thing of the past. My uneasiness has grown as I have watched the changing of the generational guard from Baby Boomers to Millennials, the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s who today range in age from late teens to early 30s. While the commitment to news engagement was strong among Baby Boomers and the generations that came before them, Millennials’ commitment to seeking news is comparatively weak. Millennials may bump into news while on the internet, social media, and their smartphones but running into news while doing something else is not a model for sustained future news engagement or an informed democratic society.

While some worry about the skills our journalism and communication students need for an ever-changing media landscape, I worry about the consequences of declining news engagement on the future of the news media, our democratic society, and a public that needs to be informed to fully participate in civic life. MORE

Today is the third annual News Engagement Day! As a society we’re less interested in the news than ever before, and this in spite of the volume of 24/7 live-feed platforms. News Engagement Day is all about re-prioritizing the news and clicking back in; it’s about getting informed and finding value in staying informed. Today, theAssociation for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication encourages everyone to consume the news and to interact with it: read, watch, listen, comment, tweet, post. Whatever you decide, get back on board with the news. How will you celebrate News Engagement Day? Share your plan, and keep spreading the word! MORE