{"id":70,"date":"2006-04-20T18:26:39","date_gmt":"2006-04-21T02:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/?p=70"},"modified":"2006-04-20T18:26:39","modified_gmt":"2006-04-21T02:26:39","slug":"including-generation-y-in-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/2006\/04\/20\/including-generation-y-in-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Including Generation Y in the conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Session: How to attract the Gen Y generation and what are their sources for news?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Convener: Peggy Kuhr, notes by Peggy and Cecily Burt
\nParticipants: Peggy Kuhr, Cecily Burt, Mike Van Buren, Christine Saed, Scott Hall, Bill Densmore, Stephen Silha, Dave Johnson, Jim Shaffer<\/p>\n

Discussion: Peggy is struck by the lack of younger faces in gatherings to talk about the future of journalism; baby boomers show up; Gen Y\u2019ers don\u2019t \u2026 or they aren\u2019t invited. They get their news elsewhere and may not be eager to participate in mainstream media models.<\/p>\n

Youth get bits and pieces of news from many sources (Myspace \u2013 high school
\nFacebook- college, MTV- not just music videos, national and world news from a youth perspective), just like adults, albeit less traditional sources. News is what they want when they want it.<\/p>\n

The Daily Show is that generation\u2019s trusted news source. (Scott Hall said his daughter must be ingesting topical national and international news from somewhere because she wouldn\u2019t get Jon Stewart\u2019s humor otherwise. Watched a portion of an archived Crossfire video clip where Jon Stewart was a guest.)<\/p>\n

Some traits of young people and media that we noted (Generation Y is about 8 to 26 years old):<\/p>\n

They\u2019re connected to video and audio. To appeal, media must be multi-media. Don\u2019t expect them to just sit there, passively reading \u2013 say \u2013 a newspaper.<\/p>\n

Just like adults, they get their news and information from a variety of sources and media. \u2026. A lot of new from the web, and from tv. Newspapers rank very low. They\u2019re grazers \u2026 grazing for news\/information (just like the rest of us).<\/code><\/pre>\n
Don\u2019t assume Gen Y is monolithic in terms of point of view or interest.<\/p>\n
Youth are desperate for community and they\u2019re not getting it in their local newspaper, and they\u2019re not getting it in their schools. They\u2019re going online for community \u2026. Myspace, facebook<\/p>\n
If they are so desperate for community, is there some form of news ecology we can create to attract them to participate? What about “mynewsspace.com?\u2019\u2019 (just kidding, myspace).<\/p>\n
One view: It\u2019s not necessarily the form that\u2019s driving people away from newspapers, it\u2019s the content.<\/p>\n
We have a generation of really smart young people \u2026. They know a lot about the world beyond them (compared to other generations when they were young) but they don\u2019t really see how anything they can do will make any change.<\/p>\n
Are there solutions?:<\/p>\n
Kids are smart but not willing to get involved with civic affairs because they don\u2019t feel they can make a difference. They want to see tangible results from their involvement, so the Next Newsroom has to create resources for their voices to be seen and heard, whether through comments, blogs, or creating their own stories.<\/p>\n
The best way to get Gen Y\u2019ers involved in reading\/viewing media is to get them creating media.<\/p>\n
Young people are willing to share information about their world and interests, but you have to seek them out; they won\u2019t come to you. They won\u2019t offer something without being asked.<\/p>\n
Lawrence.com is one answer by Lawrence Journal World\u2019s to providing interest of news for younger readers. It\u2019s hipper, edgier, youth voices and blogs. But more mainstream website, LJWorld.com also gets readers involved by inviting them to comment in real time on stories; often creating very lively debates and dialogues about the news, fairness, relevance, etc., such as a recent story posting and picture of a Humvee being blown up in Iraq.<\/p>\n
The Minneapolis Star Tribune revamped its edition by creating the \u201cexperience newspaper\u201d with attention to what the experiences are from reading a paper. Question: is it working out? \u2026 Better to try and fail than watch it die. Don\u2019t fall for the argument that change will alienate loyal readers. Loyal readers are already loyal, go after the 18-24-year-olds who aren\u2019t naturally attracted to your paper.<\/p>\n
If you recruit young people to create news content, be prepared for a short-term investment as they move on to college or other interests. And that\u2019s ok.<\/p>\n
Christine, our citizen and our librarian: Journalists have to be engaged with kids. There is a big disconnect between older adults. Perhaps the two can engage around technology; the youth could help the adults operate the computers and design websites and the adults could offer to mentor the youth in business. and kids. Have to find ways to draw youth to new media; have to make it relevant.<\/p>\n
Stephen talked about the work on Vashon Island encouraging dialog between youth and adults, using a Fishbowl model: Create a circle with youth on the outside, adults on the inside. Youth can ask the adults inside the circle any question they want to ask \u2026. Write down the question \u2026. The adults choose what they want to answer. Then switch places. Helps build trust and knock down barriers of communication.<\/p>\n
The lesson of \u201cCar Talk\u201d (thanks to our MN radio guy). Car Talk used to be a 4-minute spot on Sunday morning \u2026. Now, it\u2019s huge nationwide. So, try something out, and see what happens.
\nIf someone has an idea, for a radio show, give them a 5-10 minute spot. Let them do it, then ask How did it go? You don\u2019t have to commit to a long-term program \u2026. Can it be sustained \u2026. Just do it once, and if it works, do it again \u2026. 4-5 times, and then you\u2019ll know if this should continue.<\/p>\n
Rules for developing a program:
\n-One at a time. Start simple and start small.
\n-Be flexible.<\/p>\n
The 2 most popular shows on Scott\u2019s radio station are hosted by rural mail carriers.<\/p>\n
Final words from a retired school teacher: Maybe news should become like lunches at school. Once upon a time, you were forced to take something from every food group as you went through the cafeteria line. Whether you\u2019d eat it or not, you\u2019d have to take the food because it was good for you. A lot got thrown away \u2026. Now, it\u2019s the \u201coffer concept.\u201d All kinds of food are there for you to choose from. Take it if you\u2019ll eat it. \u2026 With the news: let\u2019s offer it in different ways and those who are interested will take what they want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Session: How to attract the Gen Y generation and what are their sources for news? Convener: Peggy Kuhr, notes by Peggy and Cecily Burt Participants: Peggy Kuhr, Cecily Burt, Mike Van Buren, Christine Saed, Scott Hall, Bill Densmore, Stephen Silha, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-session-notes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/stlouis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}