Censorship in the news: College students’ perspectives

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze college students’ perspectives on censorship in the news. More specifically, the research team studied the extent to which students trust the news and how they perceived different types of censorship. Subjects were all students of Salisbury University over 18 years old. The research team used Google Forms to create an anonymous survey so that the information could not be traced back to the subjects. Subjects were sent an invitation to fill out the electronic survey via Salisbury University email, which made it completely voluntary for those who chose to participate. The survey asked the subjects to reflect on their opinions about different news sources and modern occurrences of censorship. Through this survey, researchers obtained more evidence on how students defined and identified censorship. With the data, the research team was able to gain a better understanding of how college students evaluate their news sources. The researchers recorded the responses from the 106 students who completed the survey. The results displayed that the majority of college students at Salisbury University use social media to get their news. Most of the respondents believe they can sometimes trust the news but do think that news outlets leave out important details. Students appeared less likely to use news sources that exhibited bias, but the subjects had mixed reviews about when information should be allowed to be censored.