Where Millennials Get Their News

In 2003, I recommended to my client, Purdue North Central University, that they stop trying to reach prospective students with newspaper ads. Why? I didn't know anyone under the age of 25 who read a newspaper. Little did I realize how quickly this pattern would spread to other age groups.

The 2009 Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism report tells the rest of the story, and it is a bleak one for newspapers:

Newspaper ad revenues have fallen 23% in the last two years. Some papers are in bankruptcy, and others have lost three-quarters of their value. By our calculations, nearly one out of every five journalists working for newspapers in 2001is now gone, and 2009 may be the worst year yet.

The reason, of course, is a dramatic shift toward getting news online. This shift is apparent for all age groups, but is especially pronounced among Millennials.

"I get my news almost exclusively online."

"Constantly connected. Way too much so. I check the news sometimes more than it is updated."

"I usually get my news from multiple sources.I think I saw a newspaper in a museum once."

"TV stations are for old people worried about the weather."

The top three online news sites, Yahoo, CNN and MSN, all show large jumps in audience size between 2007 and 2008. Each enjoys over 35 million unique viewers a month. Two organizations that track online behavior closely, Pew and Annenberg, each shed extra light on how quickly audiences have shifted their news orientations online:

Pew: In December, 40% of Americans said they got most of their national and international news online, up 67% from 2004, when the number was 24%. That put the web ahead of newspapers (35%). Only television, cable, local and network combined, ranked higher (70%).

Annenberg: Eighty percent of Internet users age 17 and older consider the Internet to be an important source of information for them -- up from 66 percent in 2006 -- and higher than television (68 percent), radio (63 percent), and newspapers (63 percent).

As dramatic as these changes are, they are eclipsed by the larger drama of the changes in where and how people access online news. Mobile viewing, sharing stories on social networks and video sites, e-mail and RSS all make it easier for consumers to customize their news. In becoming their own 'news editors' and 'repackagers' Millennials are leading the way. Social media offers a way for Millennials to control and shape their news by filtering it through friends or reporters they trust.

“I get the news filtered from my friends.” Scott K

“Top stories is good for facebook… but not necessarily what everyone is reading… cause that's that pop stuff… I want editing… ” – Ben T

“It would be nice to be able to customize what news you want to see on facebook.”- Holly H

“Editing is very important.”—Kelsey L

As news organizations search for a business model to replace the advertiser-supported model, they could learn from Millennials who would trust a 'friend' over a news organization. By creating news around specific reporters, personalities or 'personna's', they may create value worth paying for.