Most citizens in western democracies have access to the news at their fingertips. The Internet has transformed the consumption of news, writes Shelley Boulianne, of MacEwan University.

The study uses survey data of young people to examine how online news affects civic awareness and engagement in civic and political life. The focus is on social networking sites and other online sources.

The findings suggest that the effects of online news on civic and political engagement are indirect. Online news increases civic awareness, which affects engagement.

The study concludes that by building civic awareness among youth, online news may be able to address participation inequalities between younger and older citizens.

The article was published by New Media & Society. Read the article and free abstract here. The full article is also available for free here until mid November.

Picture: engaged by Pia Kristine, licence: CC BY-SA 2.0