<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
News that\u2019s more \u201cuseful, interesting and fun\u201d and less \u201crepetitive, biased and negative\u201d are key ways of winning back \u201cthe lost generation\u201d of young people to traditional news publishers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With alarming statistics from a new Reuters Institute study showing that only 3% of the so-called Generation Z<\/strong> \u2013 young people aged between 18-24 – spent time accessing online news, the question of what legacy publishers should do differently was discussed at a London Press Club debate at The Stationers\u2019 Company, London, and chaired by BBC newscaster Samantha Symonds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the \u201cstarkest stats\u201d from the report, outlined by Nic Newman<\/strong> from Reuters Institute<\/strong>, was that Generation Z spent barely eight minutes a week reading online news websites during the recent general election.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOne of the core reasons we found was that while older groups saw it as a duty – part of the democratic process – to engage with news, younger people saw it as a chore\u201d, said Newman, a pioneer of the BBCs website. \u201cIt seems there is always something more interesting on their smart phones, mostly on Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The challenge was part of \u201cthe new attention economy\u201d, according to panellist Paul Clarkson<\/strong>, managing editor of The Sun<\/em>. \u201cNever before have a generation had so many competing voices. At The Sun<\/em>, it isn\u2019t reach that\u2019s the issue, we are already reaching massive numbers of Gen Z through social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram – but they probably don\u2019t know it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe base problem is how do we make money out it because while they are perfectly happy to pay for their Netflix Subscription but they are certainly not happy to pay for news\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A younger perspective came from panellist Abbianca Makoni<\/strong>, an Evening Standard\/Press Association<\/em> trainee, who suggested publishers thought more about what media they used for news outlets, like short videos. More positive content – \u201cnot just about knife crime, but success stories from Generation Z people\u201d – and recruiting more diverse journalists were also important.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yara Silva<\/strong>, Group Head of Socials at Reach Nationals<\/strong>, which includes the Daily Mirror<\/em>, questioned the idea that social media apps were \u201cnot news\u201d, arguing that most legacy publishers were already on Instagram. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe question is not really have we lost Generation Z – because we didn\u2019t really have them in the first place. And are we right in assuming that these teenagers will continue with these habits when they grow older. In my experience people don\u2019t usually start reading newspapers until later,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vicky Frost<\/strong>, editor of the Evening Standard<\/em>\u2019s Future London editorial project, said that while format and platforms were important, it was vital that \u201cthe core of our journalism is reaching a young audience who can see themselves as involved and reflected in our news values.\u201d That meant employing more young journalists and investing in their stories.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In summary, the Reuters study urged traditional publishers to:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Not just cover what people should know but what\u2019s \u201cuseful, interesting and fun\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Not to dumb down but make destinations more accessible, convenient and use more explainers<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Less repetition, bias and negativity that \u201cthe young hate\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Cover more human stories with passion, fairness and hope, and not always find two sides to every story \u201cfor the sake of balance\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Work with the moments young people have, creating content that fits them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk\/our-research\/how-young-people-consume-news-and-implications-mainstream-media<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/news\/uk\/london-press-club-reuters-under-35s-news-reading-a4358701.html<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.2.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.2.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.2.2″][et_pb_team_member name=”Paul Charman” image_url=”https:\/\/londonpressclub1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com\/media\/2020\/01\/23153058\/Paul-Charman.jpg” twitter_url=”@prcharman” _builder_version=”4.3.3″ header_level=”h2″ header_font=”|600|||||||” body_font=”|600|||||||” body_text_color=”#ffffff” background_color=”#000000″ text_orientation=”left” background_layout=”dark” hover_enabled=”0″ border_width_all=”2px” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ global_module=”384″ saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n paulrcharman.com<\/a><\/p>\n After a career spanning 25 years as a reporter on national newspapers, Paul was head of journalism at the London College of Communication. Now a media trainer and consultant, he chairs the Cudlipp Trust organising the annual lecture on behalf of the London Press Club. He was a director of The Media Society and is a judge on the British Journalism Awards.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_team_member][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Paul Charman News that\u2019s more \u201cuseful, interesting and fun\u201d and less \u201crepetitive, biased and negative\u201d are key ways of winning back \u201cthe lost generation\u201d of young people to traditional news publishers. With alarming statistics from a new Reuters Institute study showing that only 3% of the so-called Generation Z \u2013 young people aged between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\r\n by Paul Charman<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n News that\u2019s more \u201cuseful, interesting and fun\u201d and less \u201crepetitive, biased and negative\u201d are key ways of winning back \u201cthe lost generation\u201d of young people to traditional news publishers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n With alarming statistics from a new Reuters Institute study showing that only 3% of the so-called Generation Z<\/strong> \u2013 young people aged between 18-24 - spent time accessing online news, the question of what legacy publishers should do differently was discussed at a London Press Club debate at The Stationers\u2019 Company, London, and chaired by BBC newscaster Samantha Symonds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n One of the \u201cstarkest stats\u201d from the report, outlined by Nic Newman<\/strong> from Reuters Institute<\/strong>, was that Generation Z spent barely eight minutes a week reading online news websites during the recent general election.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cOne of the core reasons we found was that while older groups saw it as a duty - part of the democratic process - to engage with news, younger people saw it as a chore\u201d, said Newman, a pioneer of the BBCs website. \u201cIt seems there is always something more interesting on their smart phones, mostly on Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The challenge was part of \u201cthe new attention economy\u201d, according to panellist Paul Clarkson<\/strong>, managing editor of The Sun<\/em>. \u201cNever before have a generation had so many competing voices. At The Sun<\/em>, it isn\u2019t reach that\u2019s the issue, we are already reaching massive numbers of Gen Z through social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram - but they probably don\u2019t know it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThe base problem is how do we make money out it because while they are perfectly happy to pay for their Netflix Subscription but they are certainly not happy to pay for news\u201d.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A younger perspective came from panellist Abbianca Makoni<\/strong>, an Evening Standard\/Press Association<\/em> trainee, who suggested publishers thought more about what media they used for news outlets, like short videos. More positive content - \u201cnot just about knife crime, but success stories from Generation Z people\u201d - and recruiting more diverse journalists were also important.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Yara Silva<\/strong>, Group Head of Socials at Reach Nationals<\/strong>, which includes the Daily Mirror<\/em>, questioned the idea that social media apps were \u201cnot news\u201d, arguing that most legacy publishers were already on Instagram. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThe question is not really have we lost Generation Z - because we didn\u2019t really have them in the first place. And are we right in assuming that these teenagers will continue with these habits when they grow older. In my experience people don\u2019t usually start reading newspapers until later,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Vicky Frost<\/strong>, editor of the Evening Standard<\/em>\u2019s Future London editorial project, said that while format and platforms were important, it was vital that \u201cthe core of our journalism is reaching a young audience who can see themselves as involved and reflected in our news values.\u201d That meant employing more young journalists and investing in their stories.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In summary, the Reuters study urged traditional publishers to:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u2022 Not just cover what people should know but what\u2019s \u201cuseful, interesting and fun\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u2022 Not to dumb down but make destinations more accessible, convenient and use more explainers<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u2022 Less repetition, bias and negativity that \u201cthe young hate\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u2022 Cover more human stories with passion, fairness and hope, and not always find two sides to every story \u201cfor the sake of balance\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u2022 Work with the moments young people have, creating content that fits them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/londonpressclub1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com\/media\/2020\/02\/11164953\/IMG_2510-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/londonpressclub1.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com\/media\/2020\/02\/11165111\/IMG_2491-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn1.londonpressclub.co.uk\/media\/2020\/02\/11164953\/IMG_2510-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn1.londonpressclub.co.uk\/media\/2020\/02\/11165111\/IMG_2491-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n