How Young People Actually Experience News Today
By Daniel Roodt
The way young people experience news is changing. But contrary to popular belief, they haven’t stopped caring.
That was one of the key takeaways from the first episode of the monthly CINIA Webinar Series, How Young People Actually Experience News Today, hosted by Aphiwe Mame, and featuring News24 journalist and digital storyteller Velani Ludidi.
For many young people, news no longer arrives through television bulletins, newspapers or radio broadcasts. Instead, it appears between TikTok videos, Instagram reels, podcasts and conversations with creators they trust.
The question is no longer whether young people consume news. The conversation has shifted to:
- How they encounter it;
- Who delivers it;
- Why they believe it.
Ludidi argued that this shift is not necessarily a crisis of trust in journalism. Rather, many young people feel excluded from the stories the media chooses to amplify. Too often, youth voices appear only as statistics in discussions about unemployment or social problems, instead of being recognised as experts, leaders and active participants.
However, journalism faces a difficult balancing act. While anyone can publish content instantly, professional newsrooms remain responsible for verification, fact-checking and accountability.
“We can never be first in the same way a citizen with a smartphone can,” Ludidi noted. “But we can be first in providing verified news.”
The conversation also highlighted the growing threat of misinformation, particularly in an era of increasingly sophisticated AI-generated content. Media literacy, critical thinking and healthy scepticism are becoming essential skills for navigating today’s information environment.
Perhaps the most important reminder was that quality journalism costs money. Investigative reporting and public-interest journalism require resources and public support.
If we want healthier information ecosystems, there is a need to invest in credible journalism and ensure young people see themselves reflected in the stories shaping our democracy.
Further Reading
- A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism explores how young audiences consume and relate to news and how they proactively navigate the information ecosystem. Read the study, by Dr Craig T. Robertson, Dr Amy Ross Arguedas, Mitali Mukherjee and Dr Richard Fletcher, titled Understanding young news audiences at a time of rapid change, HERE.
- Closer to home, Chris Roper explores how independent news providers fit into the changing media landscape in South Africa. Read the article in Daily Maverick titled News creators are on the up as legacy media falls out of favour, HERE.
Webinar: How Young People Actually Experience News Today
Watch the full discussion on how news travels across platforms and how younger audiences are navigating information in real time.
