Engaging social natives in the era of news avoidance

Sophie van Oostvoorn is the editor-in-chief of C.Tru, a project by Belgian publisher, Mediahuis. This project is a deep dive into the significant misalignment between in-depth journalism with analysis, and so-called social natives.

In recent articles in The New Yorker and The New York Times, we've learned that journalism is facing significant challenges, and major news organisations such as The Washington Post, Time, and The Los Angeles Times are being forced to downsize their editorial teams. These turbulent times are putting pressure on our existing revenue models, too.

The revenue models of most news organisations rely on capturing and retaining audience attention; through advertisements, attention is essentially commodified, with the aim of increasing subscriptions. Attention also serves as a reward model within editorial teams: the larger the audience, the greater the impact.

Despite the increasing consumption of information, people’s attention is not necessarily being directed towards journalism. On the contrary, the Digital News Report shows declining interest in news, decreasing news consumption, and a rising trend of news avoidance, particularly among young people.

This is precisely where the challenge of the new Mediahuis project, C.Tru, lies. Led by Christopher Kenis and myself, this project focuses on two key questions:

1. How can we effectively engage young people with quality journalism, and
2. What sustainable revenue model can support this endeavour?

Our starting point, inspired by Jeff Jarvis, is that journalism should sufficiently educate audiences so they’re able to have an informed conversation about the society they live in. This dialogue occurs both in the physical world - and increasingly on social media platforms. Hence, we refer not to young people or Gen Z, but social natives - individuals who have grown up online, where social platforms are an extension of their social life. Our task is to create journalism that they genuinely anticipate and that aligns with their information ecosystem.

Over the past months, we've utilised the Design Thinking method to explore approaches to this challenge. A key pillar that emerged early in our process is the importance of a personal approach.

Personal experience and the perception of news are critical factors in how social natives appreciate news, as highlighted in Irene Costera Meijer's Working Paper. They value news in a more individualistic manner: while ease of use is important, what matters most is that it caters to personal interests. This doesn't imply that news must always be entertaining, but rather that valuable journalism should be informative and inspiring.

Furthermore, due to the nature of information consumption on social platforms, news feels more immediate and intimate. Growing up with these platforms means they are perceived as an extension of one's physical social environment. Consequently, information received through social media is interpreted differently from news on traditional platforms. To effectively interpret information from social platforms, young people seek reliability through various sources.

Balancing a personal approach with journalistic integrity poses a challenge. However, we find guidance in the principles of journalism outlined by Kovach and Rosenstiel, particularly the notion that the first loyalty of journalism is to citizens. Upholding this principle ensures the reliability of a news organisation, as journalists are ultimately accountable to the public.

We believe that by emphasising connections, we can engage social natives more effectively. While there's an abundance of online information, the presentation of journalism often fails to address the needs and questions of social natives.

What's required is accessible journalism that caters to the needs of young, critical individuals. This demands a different approach—one centred on genuine connections with the audience. While news is inherently personal, its exchange often lacks personalisation. We aim to bridge this gap and make a meaningful impact.