Four Keys to Attracting Young News Consumers

(MoneyWatch)  Normally, I would probably dismiss the results of a tiny survey that only had 18 respondents, but a new AP report caught my eye this morning.

The news service has been conducting an inquiry into how 18-34 year-olds in six places around the world get their news, as part of a broader effort to help its member news organizations reach this elusive younger demographic.

Point One: The survey found that young consumers do not have a daily ritual for getting their news, like reading a morning newspaper or watching the nightly TV news. Rather, they gather news in an "irregular fashion," mainly through email.

(Note: Most mainstream news organizations do not yet deliver their content via email.)

Point Two: The survey group members also tended to share news with friends via texting, email, or MySpace and Facebook accounts, etc.

(Interactivity is key. Few traditional publishers stress this aspect in their news presentation.)

Point Three: According to AP's Vice President and Director of Strategic Planning, Jim Kennedy, the survey respondents wanted the news to be presented in context. "They wanted to find a path to the backstory," said Kennedy. "And they wanted to find a path to what's going to happen next."

(In the era of hypertext links, all news stories can easily be linked to previous reports, as well as to relevant upcoming events. But, few news organizations yet exploit links to their full potential. A downright shocking number of magazine and newspaper websites don't even contain links at all!)

Point Four: Kennedy also noted that there do not appear to be any significant cultural differences between young news consumers around the world: "The young digital consumers in Hyderabad were very similar to the ones in Silicon Valley."

("Globalization" is not simply a buzzword. With the growth of interactive networked media comes an entirely new business opportunity, for those who recognize the moment. A news site's overseas user base can easily equal its U.S. audience, with a few minor adjustments to your metatags, keyword tagging, and viral marketing strategies. This is every bit as true for a "local" news franchise, like the Boston Globe, which is the natural "owner," globally, of its region, as it is for, say, the International Herald Tribune. There are many, many people all over the planet seeking news and information about New England around this ever-smaller and more tightly-integrated world.)