Millennials & News

By Tenaya Goldsen, Supervisor at PRLab

As a standard millennial, I have grown up badgered by elders who believe my generation is indifferent and has no idea what is going on in the world. When making this conviction my grandfather always cites the evidence that newspaper sales are at record lows. But while he is right, does this fact really mean that millennials, who make up 24 percent of U.S. population according to Nielsen Media Research, are “disinterested” and “newsless”?

A study conducted by the Media Insights Project found that 85 percent of millennials “say keeping up with the news is at least somewhat important to them” and 69 percent of millennials “get news at least once a day.” These figures will act as solid evidence against my grandpa’s argument in our next conversation; but more importantly, they prove that the millennials are consuming just as much news as other generations.

While millennials are still interested in the news, they are consuming it in a totally new way. Here are some factors and findings pinpointed by different studies that attempt to reveal what is causing these major shifts:

• The smartphone – A 2015 Newsweek article, which examined how individuals obtain news, reported that 94 percent of the millennials surveyed owned a smartphone. This smartphone phenomenon is key to understanding why millennials obtain news differently. Smartphones enable users to gather information from diverse sources with the touch of a finger. Within less than minute a smartphone user can log onto the New York Times App, switch over to Snapchat News and then jump onto Facebook. The possibilities are endless. And adults, across all generations, are getting smartphones at an astonishing rate- in 2011 only 35 percent of U.S. adults had a smartphone, this number had jumped 68 percent in just four years according to the Pew Research Center.

• The millennial reliance on online sources – The Media Insights Project reported that the “average millennial gets 74 percent of her news from online sources.” This finding can help explain why newspaper sales are down. But it also is an important stat for PR and advertising professionals to keep in mind because we must be willing to adjust how to interact and communicate with society. Therefore, it key to keep up-to-date on which online news sources and other apps are both popular and emerging players.

• The popularity of social media sites – Social media sites have become popular platforms to share news on, and Facebook is at the top of that list. I see countless news stories spewed across my Facebook feed everyday. Therefore, I was not shocked that the Media Insights Report found that “88 percent of millennials get news from Facebook regularly, for instance, and more than half of them do so daily.” The study also found that on average millennials were regularly getting news from about three different social media networks, including 83 percent using Youtube to obtain news and 50 percent utilizing Instagram for news. Receiving news from social networking sites has led millennials to be presented with more diverse opinions and also contextualized explanations from peers. For example, the Media Insights Report found that on social media “nearly 9 in 10 (millennials) report usually seeing diverse opinions, and three-quarters of those report investigating opinions different than their own.”

These three ideas are key to consider, but there are many other important trends and factors changing the ways in which millennials obtain news. As PR professionals it is crucial to remain insightful about these topics because such comprehension could impact the choices and ideas we suggest for our clients.