Paper Trail
'Total Youth Think'
Newspapers around the world are seeking ways to draw in young readers.
By Jim Abbott
I had the privilege in the fall of 2005 of attending the 6 th World Young Reader Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Although representatives of 66 countries were there, I found one major theme running throughout the conference: The time is now to reach young readers or the newspaper industry is doomed.
The ways these newspapers are reaching young readers are incredible, but there were several common approaches.
Reach them young. Various strategies were presented, including traditional Newspaper In Education (NIE) programs. Offering special pages for young readers, much like we do in the United States, was just one of the approaches. Some of the newspapers create their own young reader pages, while others rely on commercially produced pages. But that was just the beginning. Traditional NIE programs are developing the newspaper reading habit, but this must be done well. Simply dropping newspapers off at schools is not enough. Teachers need to be trained and the newspaper must be integrated into the regular school curriculum.
Reach them by including them. I simply lost track of the number of speakers who urged us to make sure that young people are included on every page of the newspaper. Special sections and teen pages are useful, but they are not enough. Young people need to see themselves on every page. The entire newsroom needs to be challenged to show photos of young people and include interviews with them on every subject. How are young people portrayed in your newspaper? You need to find out. Young people want the news but they want to understand how it affects them. Many newspapers are using young journalists to give an authentic voice to young people.
Reach them in multiple ways. Young people get their information in multiple ways and we need to be present in all of them: Web sites, blogs, handheld devices, mobile phones and whatever new technology is currently being developed. Young readers are used to multitasking and we need to be a presence in all of the various platforms they use.
Reach them where they are. Young people do not tend to read the newspaper at home. They are mobile and we need to be where they are – the mall, transportation systems, recreation venues and the like. We need to deliver the news in the form they want – compact newspapers, text messages – so they can access it wherever they go.
Reach them with quality content. Young readers do not want “dumbed down” news. They want to know about science and technology. They want hard news. They want to know what is going on in the world. But they want to hear it in a young voice and they want to know how it affects them. The number of newspapers employing young people as regular reporters is impressive. One newspaper has taken the dramatic step of requiring that the average age in the newsroom not exceed 35. Again and again, we heard that the job of reaching young readers belongs to everyone at the newspaper.
Reach them now. The sense of urgency was palpable throughout the conference. Changes at the newspaper cannot be delayed. We need to reach young readers today. It was interesting to note that many newspapers that have made significant changes to attract young readers have found this does not alienate older readers. The changes have included format (compact vs. broadsheet), graphics with bold use of color and art elements, and content.
Reach them through “Total Youth Think.” The silo mentality at newspapers is dead. Everyone must be involved in attracting young readers: publishers, editors, reporters, youth editors, graphic designers, advertising departments, NIE professionals, circulation departments – everyone. No longer can we afford to have a NIE program that goes one way and a youth section that goes another while the “main” newsroom does its own thing. A common comment throughout the conference was that all newspapers need to adopt “total youth think.”
The NAA Foundation is rapidly moving toward integrated youth programs, including bringing together youth content and NIE professionals for the NAA Foundation Young Reader Conference in St. Louis in July. For information, visit www.naafoundation.org.
If your newspaper is not focusing all of its resources on young readers, the time is NOW.
Jim Abbott, vice president, NAA Foundation, can be reached at (703) 902-1730 or abboj@naa.org.
