Next Gen
News 2

More than half of next gen news consumers engage with news at least daily, even though they also report feeling overwhelmed by a flood of news and information. We've found evidence of how next gen news consumers navigate a complex, fractured news ecosystem. We've also seen how successful emerging news producers meet the needs of these next gen news consumers.

We conducted quantitative and qualitative consumer research across five countries (Brazil, India, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United States), with 1,000 people in each country. We also conducted interviews with news producers from around the world who are successfully adapting to changing consumer behaviors.

The first Next Gen News report “found that young people have a complex and evolving relationship with the news. They simultaneously understand the value that news can play in their lives but are often disinterested or frustrated with how it's being delivered to them.” This remains true, and our latest research further emphasizes the importance of understanding how news is discovered and consumed. When asked if they “value news for [their] personal and professional development,” 65% of next gen news consumers agreed or strongly agreed.

Next gen news consumers do not passively accept the information environment they encounter. Instead, they consciously tailor it, continuously adding and pruning to ensure they receive a personally ideal mix of sources and notifications — even if balance and moderation are not always the desired outcome. They are fully aware of the role algorithms play in surfacing information for them and often employ conscious strategies to thwart control over their information flow. Audience members act so their own information needs — and sometimes those of others — are adequately met.

Modes of Engagement

We have evolved our original analysis into an expanded, deeper modes of engagement framework. The improved framework clarifies that sifting — defined as news discovery— is distinct from other, more focused modes of consumption. We break out three distinct discovery modes: Scroll, Seek and Subscribe. We also clarify that Socialization is bi-directional. While the original report focused on the impulse to share news, most next gen consumers place a high value on news from friends, family and other contacts.

We explored each of the seven modes of engagement to understand why next gen consumers engage in them and how news producers can prepare their content to meet their needs.

We identified specific ways next gen news consumers sift through information to choose when and how to go deeper. Depending on their mood and context, they encounter news as they scroll through their preferred platforms, actively seek it out, or receive it from trusted sources they subscribe to. How news reaches audiences shapes its reception, and news producers can integrate themselves into those habits.

When next gen consumers engage with a news topic or story, they often adopt one of three consumption modes: Substantiate, Study, or Sensemake.

The mode of Socialization is now better understood as bi-directional. Next gen Consumers share interesting, entertaining or important news with others because others they care about share news with them. They value news received from friends, family or coworkers differently than news from strangers or news organizations.

Putting the Modes into Action

We identified a cohort of emerging news producers who are succeeding in reaching next gen news consumers because they are perceived as more trusted and more relatable than those in legacy newsrooms. From them, we learned how successful emerging news producers can effectively insert themselves into the news discovery and engagement process by tapping into engagement modes. We anchored our selection of news producers in the modes framework from the original Next Gen News and identified where they successfully connected with next gen consumers. Most successful next generation producers specialize in a specific consumption mode — such as substantiate, sensemake or study. We ensured our sample reflected this diversity, spanning solo practitioners, mature producer-led media organizations, print/digital news producers, and tech platforms. Instead of starting with a story and defaulting to a preset format, these producers immerse themselves in each channel's nuances and languages, developing an instinct for what works and why. Through constant testing and iterating, they discover that success is highly contextual. What sparks engagement on YouTube might fall flat on TikTok, what drives conversation on Reddit rarely thrives on Instagram, and what works in a two-person interview podcast might not translate to a Q&A-style text article. This trial-and-error process allows them to design stories that feel native to each environment rather than being retrofitted afterward. The result is a reversal of the traditional workflow; distribution, rather than an afterthought, now drives creativity.

Recommendations for news producers

Based on our research, we have developed recommendations for news producers tailored to each mode of engagement.

Sift

How I discover information

Scroll

• Package for the platform
• Select stories and topics that break through
• Win the first two seconds

Seek

• Guide discovery
• Give control
• Personalize with purpose

Subscribe

• Sync with habits
• Build for completion

Consumption

What I get from information

Substantiate

• Meet your users
• Lead with facts
• Show your work

Study

• Show interest
• Go deep
• Bring it to life

Sensemake

• Create open conversations
• Orient the audience
• Include the audience
• Use satire wisely

Socialize

We connect through sharing news and information

• Highlight human stories
• Utilize memes for meaning and humor
• Make sharing a product feature

Explore the report