Feature: News For The New Generation
Newspapers are losing their appeal in the age of “quick-fix” media, according to Jason Van-Haeften of youth marketing agency Blowfish 24, who says that 18-24 year-olds are more likely to log on to the internet to read the news than buy a paper.
Evidence suggests that media consumption habits are changing, unsurprising given that the average 18-24 year-old may well have had access to the internet, mobile phones and 24-hour news channels all their adult lives. Meanwhile, NRS figures for 2001 show that readership of national newspapers fell 1.2% year on year and according to ABC data, circulation was also down 0.8% during the same period. Van-Haeften says that this is due, in part, to increasing apathy towards news and current affairs among the younger generation and claims that newspapers are not doing enough to maintain their younger readership.
Analysis of the NRS figures for January to December 2001 shows that in terms of the most popular daily broadsheet, mid-market and tabloid titles, readership among 18-24 year-olds is low in comparison with older age groups. Of the titles shown below, the Daily Mail has the lowest proportion of younger readers, with just 438,000 or 8% of its total readership aged between 18 and 24. This compares with 1,385,000 (24%) readers aged 65 and over and 1,140,000 (20%) in the 45-54 category.
The Times also has a predominantly older following, with readership among 18-24 year olds totalling just over 190,000 or 12%, compared with 346,000 (21%) readers aged between 45-54 and 18% or 297,000 in the 35-44 category. The more light-weight, celebrity-loving Sun attracts the largest proportion of younger readers of the three, with 15% or 1,397,000 aged between 18 and 24. It also has a large readership among 25-34 year olds (21%) and those aged between 35 and 44 (20%).
According to Van-haeften, the increasing popularity of the internet and tailored news services such as the BBC’s Liquid News may well cause newspaper readership among 18-24 year olds to decline. He says: “Older people enjoy reading newspapers because it allows them to absorb information in a relaxed environment. The younger generation wants news instantly and does not have the time to read newspapers.”
He added: “News and politics are becoming less relevant to today’s youth. You only have to look at the fact that more people voted for Will and Gareth in last week’s Pop Idol than for the Liberal Democrats in the last general election to realise this.”
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