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After reading this article summarizing recommendations from Northwestern University’s Media Management Center for newspapers trying to reach younger readers, it made me think all newspaper sites should adapt USA Today’s school of news presentation. Their main recommendation: “creating a new type of site – not just for teens, but for all people who lack experience with news and have a limited amount of time to get engaged with it.” USA Today was the first newspaper to do this in print — colorful photos, info graphics and summaries for people wanting “news light” or news they could scan and digest easily with that morning coffee as you leave your hotel. It’s interesting to note this piece doesn’t even mention print in relation to its recommendations for teens — it’s all about online news. Other key recommendations from the study include:

- Focus on a few items, illustrated with photos, and explain clearly but briefly what is happening and why it matters.

- The home page should provide a general sense of the news and a seductive pitch for each story in the simplest, most visually enticing manner.

- Breaking news should be supplemented with basic information, background material, definitions and other insights about the topics.

You mean something like this? This is just a tease of the full report, which will be presented at the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers conference, so I’m sure there is more substantive data and specific recommendations. I thought I would add a few of my own…

- Instead of creating the new type of site suggested above, create a site for students that can be used as a source for homework. Cut costs by joining with newspapers across the country to create this site and aggregate content. Use the design tips above, but make the archives incredibly well-organized/indexed so students can search by keyword, subject, etc. Monetize through advertising and offer an ad-free subscription option for institutions and individuals. Students who get in the habit of news consumption for school will most likely want to stay informed as adults. Update: It appears this is happening in the move towards paid content. Perhaps a student version of this?

- Focus on integration with Facebook, Twitter and mobile apps. Make the news portable with the ability to subscribe by topic/interest. Focus on local with linked listings, maps, etc. since the bigger national papers/news sources will dominate online in national/international coverage.

- One of the discussion points at the conference will be: “The benefits of adopting a “Total Youth Think” approach to staffing, content, platforms and attitude in a way that appeals to the young — and those who advertise to them — but that does not alienate older readers.” Personally, I think this contradicts their main recommendation. There are tons of really great entertainment and community sites for youth that know how to do this well. Encourage youth to engage with the content, but treat them just as you would adults. Create community standards for commenting (ban text speak or all caps) that raise the level of discussion. Make these sites forums where teens can engage with adults and each other in real discussions about the news vs. another space for teens to just hang out.

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Categorized under: Newspapers

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