The Media Authority sounded the alarm this year: journalism is not having an easy time of it, and that is an understatement.
Finding news is getting harder, trust is falling and young people are mostly getting what their algorithms are feeding them, often noise, sometimes fake news. Big Tech has imperceptibly become our main news source.
Alarming, above all, is that it is not just the young who are ignoring the news or consuming it differently. All generations, from young to old, are increasingly dropping out. And those who have once dropped out are not likely to return.
But journalism is not disappearing, it is transforming. It always has.
Every time a new generation changes its media behavior, a new wave emerges. When magazines were still well-behaved, there was suddenly Vice, which didn't present the news neatly but went into the middle of people, into youth culture with provocative topics. When newspapers still came in stately large format, NRC Next gave millennials their own morning edition of the newspaper in tabloid, we now know no different. Each generation of journalists pushes the news forward.
A recognizable mug
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The innovation always comes from below. Even now. Young Shannon Almeida and Priyanka Vazirani, for example, founded VOLV , a news platform that brings reliable journalism in bite-sized chunks. To be consumed within 9 seconds, ideal for our short attention span.
Young newsmakers are increasingly managing to reach an audience of millions through their own channels. From ‘Fox News basher turned People's Advocate candidate’ Kat Abughazalehto journalist Sophia Smith Galerwho makes journalism honest, relatable and close through social media. Both managed to gather a large fan base around them on their own initiative.
closer to home you have Benjamin Buit, better known as Bender. There is plenty to say about his way of making news (one-sided, subjective, sensational), but he is literally at the center of current events, is always personal and has a recognizable face. Bender has considerable influence. His viewers are involved and articulate. Moreover, he appeals to the normally capricious algorithms.
Personal and close
The new news consumer experiences quite a distance from traditional media, our own young people's news surveywhich we conducted in collaboration with Motivaction.
And exactly this generation of new journalistic creators is bridging the gap with their personalities. They show who they are, why something affects them and are open about what they still níet know. That is the essence of journalism: being curious, asking questions, daring to doubt. Only now it happens much more directly, more openly and from the bottom up. And that is a lesson for anyone who wants to tell a story to a new generation of media users, including marketers. Indeed, strong brands behave exactly like this: honest, engaged and close.
What brands can learn from new journalism
Brands and news publishers have one-and-the-same problem. Both are trying to break through algorithms, want to maximize reach without losing credibility and are looking for human attention within an increasingly artificial world.
We, as publishers, brands and creators, need to learn from the new newsmakers. Communicate more than transmit. Be even more self-critical. Embrace movements from below.
Views don’t mean everything
A strong brand knows that real attention is not bought, but earned. It always knows how to find the right place for the right message. Addresses social issues. And understands that you have to do that in a completely different way now than you did, say, five years ago.
That means looking beyond reach. The idea that you connect with people with a load of views and clicks is really outdated. It is the intrinsic motivation to generate involvement, to enter the discussion, to be transparent.
In a few years, successful journalism brands will apply the lessons of the new generation of newsmakers: dynamic, hybrid, community-driven, relatable, human.
You can already see that shift happening. One of our young journalists was recently addressed in a café as "that TikTok journalist". He hesitated for a moment - was that a compliment or not?
But actually the answer is simple: it ís a compliment. Because he proves exactly what this new generation of newsmakers is demonstrating: that journalism can reach young people, as long as it is told in a way that connects to how they seek information and make connections.
One thing is certain: journalism will always face great challenges. And again, a new generation of creators will emerge. It has worked that way for decades, which is exactly why news will reinvent itself again.
