In the news universe of our digital age, there are seemingly endless ways one can get caught up on current events. Newspapers, TV and radio are the old-school options, but people are just as likely to get their news from Facebook or Twitter – most times getting the latest scoop straight from our smartphones.

College students seem more likely to say, “Oh I heard about that on my Facebook newsfeed” than to have watched the news or read the newspaper.
But does the enormous range of choices mean that young people are more knowledgeable about national and world events?

Many say no.

Christopher Harper, a journalism professor at Temple University, and a media columnist for the Washington Times, has a wealth of knowledge in the field. He worked for media companies throughout the years including ABC News, Newsweek, and The Associated Press.

It seems apparent that Harper would have a firm commitment to making sure students are up on current events – even he is losing hope.

Harper explained, “I gave up on giving current event tests about 15 years ago,” because students did so poorly on them.

Harper believes blame could fall to our educational system. “I think people are not told the value of news in kindergarten through twelfth grade, and this carries over to college.”

According to www.stateofthemind.org, newspapers have seen a steep decline in recent years. From 2006 to 2012, print advertising revenues have gone down more than 50 percent, and trends hint towards a continued decline as the years pass, dropping $1.8 billion in 2012; over an 8 percent decrease from the prior year.

The Centurion did an experiment – it printed 100 news quizzes with five fairly easy questions about recent events in the news, then handed them out around the campus.

About half of 100 people here at Bucks answered questions accurately.
To a question regarding the location where a soldier opened fire, and eventually, killing himself; the answer was in Fort Hood, Texas. Many students circled answers A or B; Fort Polk, or the US Military Academy – only half said Fort Hood.

Many people here at campus knew for a fact that Russia was beginning to invade Ukraine, but at the same time people were left saying, “I’ve got no clue;” circling the answer of Poland, or Belarus even though Obama’s speech was projected in every state, voicing his disapproval of Russia’s brute force.
“What surprise visitor greeted President Obama in Houston?”

The possible choices of answers: Jay Z, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or Russell Simmons.

The only relevant political figure from Houston among the answers is George H. W. Bush, but the answer was not so obvious to the students here at Bucks.
About half of the people got the answer correct, but almost just as many believed Obama was greeted by Jay-Z at the airport.

This answer is not too far off as one may think. The ‘best friend’ fantasy began when on radio station Hot 97, Jay-Z when said, “We’ve exchanged phone calls and texts before.”

This brings to light an even bigger problem in America today and especially in its younger demographic. People are more interested in the stories of celebrities than they are with what is truly going on in the world.

Outlets such as TMZ, which focus solely on celebrity gossip, get more views and generate more revenue than many news programs.

News still is very valuable in providing a lot of income, but we are in the technological era where iPhones are stared at blankly and newspapers end up as fragile packing paper for pottery. Playing your favorite app or checking up on what your friends are doing has replaced picking up a newspaper or watching the daily news.

Apple, Microsoft, Google and IBM are among the top five brands in all of the United States and it’s no coincidence that they’re technology corporations. This is why many news outlets are turning to websites to deliver their news.
The problem with this though, is that it gives the people even more of a choice to see or turn a blind eye to the events going on worldwide.

This generation now faces more ignorance than ever before. The fact that many would rather snuggle up with their phone shows how close we are to being consumed by technology.

The ignorance of current events poses a huge threat to the reputation of this country. People are brainwashed by their devices, and themselves. General empathy no longer exists.

There is always some hope though, as Harper said, “I think people become somewhat more interested in the news as they get older.”