The Future of News For Gen Y and Z

Where Millennials and Zoomers Will Get Their News

The United States is getting younger. I’m an early Baby Boomer and we reigned for years as the largest adult generation, but not any longer. As of July 1, 2019, Millennials (also known as Gen Y) became the largest living adult generation (Pew Research). It was a close race three years ago, but Millennials beat out the Boomers by about half-a-million people. That gap grows larger every day.

The Millennial generation continues to grow as young immigrants expand its ranks. Boomers – whose generation was defined by the boom in U.S. births following World War II – are aging and their numbers shrinking in size as the number of deaths among them exceeds the number of older immigrants arriving in the country.

With immigration adding more numbers to this group than any other, the Millennial population is projected to peak in 2033, at 74.9 million. Thereafter, the oldest Millennial will be at least 52 years of age and mortality is projected to outweigh net immigration. By 2050 there will be a projected 72.2 million Millennials. Pew Research

Millennials were born between 1981-1997, which means they are all adults now. The oldest Millennials just entered into their 40s. Many are married with children and in the middle of career development.

Generation Z (also known as Zoomers) is not far behind their older Millennial brothers and sisters. Zoomers were born between 1997-2015, which means many of them are still children or teens (most of our grandchildren are teenage Zoomers). However, it won’t be long before Gen Z will give Millennials a run for their money (so to speak) for generational dominance.

Gen X - Quick Look

Even though I’m focusing this article on how Millennials and Zoomers get their news, let me say a quick word about Gen X. Those are children of the Boomers (1946-1964). Gen X (1965-1980) will soon outnumber their Boomer parents — probably by 2028. Gen X’ers are in their 40s and 50s and many are beginning to think about their own retirement.

Gen X is an interesting group when it comes to news. They grew up with Baby Boomer parents like me and watched us read physical newspapers (real paper in our hands!) and choose our favorite local and network newscasts from one of just three channels. They watched the world evolve technologically with computers, cable, the Internet, Smartphones, tablets, and other devices, and made good use of new ways to gather information.

I think of Gen X’ers as the ‘bridge’ generation that grew up between the analog world and the digital world. They’ve seen how both work and learned to work both sides well.

The Future of News

Let’s begin with Millennials. They are often referred to as the first “digital generation.” Though some people think Millennials are not interested in “news,” that’s not true. They are interested, but the way they get their news differs from Boomers and Gen X’ers.

Millennials spend a lot of their time on social networks, especially on their mobile devices. According to a 2015 study released by the American Press Institute, Millennials —

• Say keeping up with the news is at least somewhat important to them — 85%

• Get news daily — 69%

• Regularly follow five or more “hard news” topics — 45%

• Usually see diverse opinions through social media — 86%

• Pay for at least one news-specific service, app, or digital subscription — 40%

[You can read the full report here.]

A 2015 report by Pew Research showed that 61% of Millennials reported getting political news on Facebook, while 60% of Baby Boomers looked to television for their political news. Gen X’ers bridged the older Boomers and younger Millennials by getting about 51% of their political news on Facebook.

Digital outlets serve as the main source of news for the majority of those under 35, including 64% of those between the ages of 18 and 24. Meanwhile, TV still reigns supreme for 51% of those over 55 — The older you are, the more likely you rely on traditional sources. If you grew up with the internet, you probably use the internet. Whatever the case, the survey also seems to confirm that print media and radio are just less essential. Business Insider

A 2021 survey released by Statista.com reported that social media was the top daily news source for Millennials (44%) compared to 21% for radio, 18% for online-only news sites, 15% for cable and networks, and just 11% for newspapers.

The Boomer generation has spent decades getting their news by going directly to news providers (e.g. television, radio, newspapers, magazines). The morning newspaper and the 6pm news were a big deal at my house growing up. That’s also true to some degree with Gen X’ers since they grew up with Boomer parents.

However, Millennials get their news through social connections and entertainment. News that’s of interest to friends and other people in a Millennial’s social “world” often becomes of interest to them. A vast majority of Millennials are aware of the diversity of opinions about the news through their social media connections. What other people in their social world think is important to them.

Each generation is a bridge. Even as Gen X is a bridge between Boomers and Gen Y (Millennials), Gen Y is a bridge between Gen X and Gen Z. What kind of changes in news use do we find between Y and Z? Here’s a 2019 survey that shows smartphones continue to be primary in how younger people get their news —

Data from both the survey and the qualitative research emphasise what we have known for some time – that young people are highly reliant on their phones. Our digital tracking in the US and UK shows that Gen Z and Gen Y spend a large part of their waking hours interacting with smartphones. They use them for communication, for media, for games, for dating – and for news. Across all markets, our survey data reveal that the smartphone is the main device used for accessing news for the vast majority of under 35s (69%).

Another way of illustrating the primacy of smartphone news for young people is to look at data on their first contact with news on a typical day. Nearly half of Gen Z news users (45%) in our combined sample come into first contact with news in the morning via the smartphone, with only 19% via TV and 5% via desktops/laptops. Similar trends can be seen among Gen Y, who also first turn to their smartphone (39%) over TV (22%) or the computer (8%). By sharp contrast, for over 35s television is still the most likely first contact point with news (30%), with smartphone (19%) and radio (18%) some way behind.

We can also look in more depth at where people go when they first pick up their smartphones for news. While those over 35 are likely to first go directly to a news site via an app or the mobile browser (39%), Gen Z are more likely to turn to social media and messaging apps (57%). In other words, news brands are less important for this group than for over 35s. Gen Y are somewhere in the middle, with 43% getting their news via social media and messaging apps and 33% directly. Facebook is equally popular as a first destination with both groups, and Instagram has become more popular in the last few years as a first destination. Interestingly, Twitter is twice as popular with Gen Z users compared to Gen Y users. Direct traffic is relatively more important in the UK than in the US, partly due to the prominence of publishers like BBC and the Guardian. Reuters Institute Digital News Report

A 2022 survey about Gen Z “daily news source frequency” showed that 50% depended on social media, 17% radio, 13% online-only news sites, 9% network news, 8% cable news, and 5% newspapers. Zoomers look to Instagram and YouTube for a lot of their news and information. They are very open to new social platforms to get information and new platforms and devices are coming.

Just about the time you think you know what a generational group is going to do, they do something else —

Gen Z was the largest generational group on Twitter in 2018, but by 2019, Gen Z had migrated primarily to Youtube, Facebook, and Instagram for news–first thing in the morning on their mobile smartphones. Reuters

Look at the numbers and you see the future of news. In the words of an old Bob Dylan song, The Times They Are a-Changin'. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen. The way a Boomer looks at primary news sources is not the same as how their children (Gen X) views news sources. The same is true with Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z. And just when you thought it was safe to go into the water — here comes Gen A (Generation Alpha). Some people think Generation Alpha began in 2012, while others say it was 2015. The point is that life keeps rolling along.

What’s a Journalist to do?

News media companies are trying to figure out how to handle all the changes in how various generational groups get their news. I understand some of what they’re going through because I dealt with viewer ratings as a news manager. However, journalists need to do what journalists need to do — and that’s be curious, skeptical, objective, and accurate. Cover the news and tell the truth — no matter which platform you use to report.

I’ve seen this crazy business of news from the inside since 1967. I’ve worked in radio, television, newspapers, and online. Delivery systems change, but principles don’t change. What’s right is what’s right. Yes, you may have to write shorter. Yes, you may have to put more thought into how you write headlines, lower thirds, and the first two sentences of a story. Research shows that younger people have shorter attention spans when it comes to news. But that doesn’t mean you have to change your principles! Do your job the way it’s supposed to be done and you’ll have a good future in journalism.

---

Next Newsletter

Gen Y and Z are getting much of their news from social media. I have some questions about the reliability of social media news and hope you do as well. We’ll look at that in the next newsletter.

Comments Welcome

I hope these thoughts are helpful to you as a journalist or news consumer. Please share your comments and I’ll respond as quickly as I can. If you like what we’re doing in this newsletter, please let your friends know about it so they can subscribe.

Newsletter Purpose

The purpose of this newsletter is to help journalists understand how to do real journalism and the public know how they can find news they can trust on a daily basis. It’s a simple purpose, but complicated to accomplish. I’ll do my best to make it as clear as I can in future newsletters.

1960s Radio News, © Mark McGee