Do we have a news inheritance crisis pending?

Image courtesy of Unsplash

Ofcom’s Children’s Media Use & Attitudes Report and Ipsos Online Lives of 15-24s has brought us fresh data this month and it’s news media habits where I’m first digging out some things to consider.

We continue to see social-first news media journeys among children and young people, but as we’ve previously seen, this journey is laced with mistrust and it seems to have eroded the trust more broadly with news media. Perhaps an accepted fee for free news, but mis and disinformation seems to undermine the validity of all news as a result.

Sources

Younger teens (12-15s) use TikTok as the source for news the most, yet it’s their family as a source for news that they trust the most.

30% of news consumers aged 12-15 use TikTok, followed by YouTube (27%) and then Facebook and Instagram (both 21%).

Trust however is firmly set on family – 78% said that news sourced from their family was always, or mostly, reported truthfully, compared to just over a third (36%) who said the same about news on social media sites or apps. (Ofcom)

But if Millennial parents are more likely to check news content on news apps, consume news on TV and older generations most likely to consume print news, is their an inheritance challenge when it comes to news?

AI & News

This dip in trust more broadly in news seems to leave the door wide open for AI-generated news and its acceptance.

Half of children say they’re using AI tools (slightly up from last year at 48%) and more are using tools for learning and/or school work (Ofcom).

When it comes to trust in AI-generated news over a third of teens say they’d trust it less than something written by a human but around the same proportion say they’d trust it the same and 17% would trust an AI-generated news article more than one written by a human (Ofcom).

Where you live

The Ofcom data highlights the growing differences when it comes to where children live and their socioeconomic background. Those in urban areas and from ABC1 households, are more likely to be using social media and messaging apps to engage with social or political causes. Teens in particular are searching, sharing, discussing news with others on apps, writing their own posts about causes they care about and following activists/campaigners.

Reach

Ipsos data finds an extensive reach of news content among 15-24s (95%), with the top news categories for this age group; general news (82%), weather (67%), local news (52%), entertainment (47%), sports (35%), technology (25%), business & money (25%), health (24%), lifestyle (23%), online gaming (17%).

They also found that apps were the main source of news, which could include social media apps (49%), followed by websites (35%) and Apple news (15%).

Being equipped

Looking at what children are being taught about regarding online safety tends to focus on three main areas; harmful content, how to keep personal information safe and being kind and respectable.

Secondary aged children are more likely to be taught a broader range, and children from ABC1 households are more likely to be taught certain topics compared to C2DE households. Fewer children however are being taught about how to spot fake news (23%) and what to do if they spot it (19%).

News Habits

It’s clear social first journeys are here to stay and there are some positives around interest in news in the latest data including a broadening of use of apps, such as the 11% rise of Reddit among 15-24s over the last year alone (Ipsos).

Media more broadly has a trust challenge with younger audiences, who are now predominantly getting that verification and trust through family members rather than first hand. That will be key to build that stronger relationship beyond older news consumers moving forward.

The second key opportunity appears to be around the critical thinking and skill set that children are equipped with alongside some of the other online safety themes they are taught about in school. Without that trust in journalism and deciphering the real and fake, will be harder still in years to come.  

You can read my Gen Z News Media Habits Report for the CIPR here

Lots to pour over; find the Ofcom report here and Ipsos one here

If you like updates on youth audiences check out my Engaging Youth Friday update on Substack here.