How publishers can get better at reaching younger readers

Editor’s note: we are republishing a version of the note that previously appeared as a special edition of The Fix Media’s flagship newsletter. Subscribe to get everything you need to know about the European media market every Monday, along with monthly special reports.

Today, let’s look at five pieces of advice for news organisations to be better at understanding and reaching younger news consumers.

1. Meet readers / listeners / viewers where they are. Easy to say, hard to execute, but still crucial – news organisations should embrace the platforms where their target audiences spend time, whether it’s podcasts, TikTok, or YouTube.

2. Highlight individual journalists and let them build online presence. Young people are used to following and trusting individual creators. George Montagu, one of the co-authors of the “Next Gen: Understanding the Audiences of 2030” report, told The Fix that “steps like having pictures of authors and brief biographies explaining how they relate to the topics they work on” help increase news outlets’ credibility.

3. Invest in news utility and actionability. One more finding from the report cited above, per Montagu, is that “the young generation of consumers does not understand the utility and actionability of the news, because it’s not framed the right way”. Gen Z audiences “seek out explainers that aid their self-development, or read about political issues that are relevant to their immediate circles”, something that some traditional news publishers struggle with.

4. Develop non-news products. News avoidance is an undeniable reality, especially among younger people. To futureproof themselves, successful publishers have invested in non-news products like education and games. In Central and Eastern Europe, “those who have begun investing at least some resources into building non-news verticals are doing better relative to those who continued pushing mostly hard news”, David Tvrdon observed last year.

5. Think about even younger audiences. Having a Gen Z strategy is not uncommon. What about a Gen Alpha strategy? The latest generation is the largest in human history, and while it’s not old enough to afford your products, its parents are. “It’s up to media managers to seize the opportunity, and start building relations with the next generations of consumers as early as possible”, David Tvrdon wrote a few years ago.