Online News And Teens
An old industry trying to understand a new generation.
(USA) Interesting to digest the Teens Know What They Want From Online News: Do You? report (from Newspaper Association of America) who explored the online news preferences of young people in the US.
The general flavour from the Executive Summary (pdf) is young people do not want a more dilluted version of the news offering online, they just want it better presented and in more concise offerings with an emphasis on more visual media.
Many people will criticise this as a further separation away from deeper knowledge and tertiary exploration of the issues, although I still remember the 10minute feast Newsround used to serve when I was a kid (and which they still do to this day)—it’s model of balance and how to ‘pitch’ something right.
Via Experientia
April 30th, 2009
What strikes me about the report is how suddenly obvious it is to present better news sites, rather than news ‘for kids’. Regarding what’s currently being offered, you only have to look at the quote ‘(news) simply doesn’t fit their needs’ – nothing to do with the content. It’s a matter of time availability and lifestyle.
I’ve personally cringed at some TV programmes attempts to dumb down the news for young people. I’m sure it may hit a certain demographic, but at the risk of alienating and patronising many others.
So I welcome this report and hope more people read it and understand the young peoples responses – they want news yes, but in a manageable format and presentation style.
You don’t have to be young to want that – its the reason I stopped buying broadsheet newspapers, and its one of the reasons why broadsheets adopted the tabloid style of publication.
Perhaps the news should take a leaf out of the 140 character Twitter model – less is more – more thought into the wording, and a more accessible size reaching many, many more people.