Getting Young People Interested In News

I was at my Cleveland TV station internship one morning, attending a 2-hour meeting about studies of viewers in the area. TV stations are like high school girls---they are constantly concerned with their social status. Girls spend lots of money on clothes and accessories so they can hang out with all the cool people. The station spent lots of money to conduct a study that told them what people in the area want out of their local news:

• people care about weather more than any other item in a local newscast.


• people want to know a station is genuinely invested in their interests.


• people want more breaking news.


• the station's main viewers are older, and have little interest in the station's website or social networking connections.

The station was so concerned with the weather, its consumer awareness programming and creating a sense of urgency with more breaking news coverage. It has a presence on social networking sites, but it is viewed as a minor piece of the "product." I use this point to illustrate the news industry's distant relationship with younger information consumers. I know it's very hard to get people my age interested in the news. However, if there was ever a chance to get them interested, it's through the constantly expanding wave of hi-tech gadgets.

We're starting to see the early effects of twitter, facebook and youtube employed as sources of news. A number of my friends say they first heard about recent celebrity deaths on twitter before they heard it anywhere else. TV stations and some newspapers are posting on networking sites along with their regular websites. People are signing up for cell phone news updates on topics specifically tailored to their interests. While the excess of information can be overwhelming and annoying, I do see some benefits.

From a business perspective, a news outlet that seeks every available method of information delivery has a distinct advantage in the marketplace. The 24-hour news cycle's constant demand for content can be alleviated with a variety of ways to present that content. I think there are still methods that aren't being exploited.

I'm a big fan of video games. I grew up on Nintendo and grew into the Playstation brand. Playstation 3's online capabilities are nothing short of amazing. Living in an apartment with no TV channels, I spend a lot of time playing games online and watching DVDs. I also watch youtube clips right off of the PS3 web browser. By including a blu-ray player, Sony has repeatedly expressed its aims to make the system an all-in-one entertainment device. What if we take it one step further and make it a news info device.

If news outlets could establish programs for online video game systems, I think it would open up a whole new group of potential content consumers. News groups could create RSS-based news feed programs, package them like video games and offer bundles for specific types of news and expansions for additional news groups. The program would feature a constant stream of multimedia from around the world.

In terms of media philosophy, I've always been fascinated by Milton's marketplace of ideas theory. He asserts that through a diverse amount of sources, This theoretical marketplace is an essential concept to consider in a discussion on democracy and its relationship with free speech. If we apply this to the video game news program, we have some interesting possibilities to consider. The current Sony accessories like the EyeToy webcams and USB headset microphone could come in handy. People could use webcams and microphones to talk to each other about all the things they'd be seeing, hearing and reading. You could chat with just audio or see others in living color. The diversity of the sources could be magnified by the added input of the various consumers.

Such a program could facillitate more dicussion about current events among a group not known for having those kind of conversations. Perhaps as younger viewers mature, they will have more incentive to consume more traditional media. It might also encourage more technologically-friendly adults to get into gaming systems and their additional uses. This is a largely untapped market for the news business and it deserves serious attention and consideration.

Generation Gap

A recent study from the Pew Research Center suggests the gap in personal beliefs between young and old Americans is widening. Since the last presidential election, we seem to be heading in different directions when it comes to a number of domestic issues. A lot of people are talking about how younger people are embracing the technological boom while older people are shying away from it or just haven't caught on.

As a spokesperson for the 20-something demographic, I can see how the emergence of new technology can be startling to more traditional types. I recall attempting to explain text messaging or how to use some computer applications to an older relative this past year. Text messaging took awhile, but she's starting to get the hang of it. With the computer, she just writes word documents and sends emails, but she has no interest in learning anything beyond that. I see in some adults doubts about a genuine need for things like blogs, twitter feeds, even cell phones. Of course, as a student of journalism, I'm fascinated to learn how social networking across the web is evolving. I want older Americans to be more aware of, if not genuinely interested in exploring, the web's potential.

All this thought about the gap raises a number of questions:

Is the new wave of cell phones and iPods and twitterers and bloggers just too crazy for the older generations to wrap their heads around? Will today's older citizens eventually breakthrough the theoretical technology barrier? When we get old, will we be as techonologically-saavy as the kids coming up after us? Will my generation's collective understanding of computers keep up with future waves of electronic advancement.

The essential illustration of the one generation's struggle with technology comes from comedian Frank Caliendo. For his TBS show, "Frank TV," he portrayed Andy Rooney of "60 Minutes" fame reviewing the iPhone. Hilarity ensues.....YouTube - FrankTV and the iPhone

First Post, An Introduction

Hello. My birthday is tomorrow so I decided to write my first ever blog. You're excited...I can tell. I guess I'll start with some background on how I ended up here:

I dumped Myspace in college to focus on Facebook, I've posted on Helium (cool site if you like writing articles) and I do Netflix friends and top movie lists, but that's been the extent of my online social networking. I've heard about blogs and I've read some relating to current events, hockey and other things that interest me. I never really seriously considered blogging until my internship started earlier this week.

In order to finish college and earn my B.A. in Broadcast News, I need to complete 300 hours at a TV news station. News, as you've probably heard, is one of those industries where newer is better. Lots of people are talking about newspapers on the decline and how the internet is going to replace everything.

While I like to keep up to speed with what's happening in the industry I'm supposed to be entering, getting a job just seems more pertinent at the moment. If things don't change by late August, I'll be entering a competitive job market made worse by our economy.

I'm from New Jersey, but I studied at Kent State. My internship is in Cleveland. In the newsroom, reporters and producers have been talking about the Iran elections and the Twitter/Facebook source of news. Some say Twitter could actually be the death of traditional news because it can get information out quicker than any mass medium used today. Others see it as a passing fad, thanks to people following cats and random posts about daily routines. Some of the stuff people post on sites like that is pretty lame, but I guess the same could be said for blogs.

In any case, it would be presumptuous of me to assume I live a fascinating life worth telling lots of other people about. I'll include observations and random thoughts from time to time, but this blog will also be used to keep me connected to the digital world and explore issues relating to media and its influence in the world. If you happen to read anything of mine, your comments and observations would be greatly appreciated. Peace.