Northeastern University researchers offer lifeline for TV newsrooms seeking younger audiences

Researchers and local journalism experts at Northeastern University, in partnership with industry-leading audience research firm SmithGeiger Group, have published a survival guide for local TV newsrooms that are struggling to reach a new generation of news consumers. The Reinventing Local TV News Project recommends that news organizations hire a Digital Content Creator, a role researchers tested in three major market newsrooms for a year of experimentation on digital platforms. Reinvent: A Survival Guide for Local TV News offers guidance for news organizations and journalists on how to integrate that new role into the newsroom, the most effective ways for Digital Content Creators to tell stories, and ways to measure the reach of that work.

“The audience watching news on TV is shrinking. Newsrooms need to make digital content their top priority if they want to connect with the younger demographic,” said Mike Beaudet, who leads the Reinventing Local TV News Project as a professor of practice in video innovation at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism and Media Innovation.

Major findings include:

• Social media is the dominant platform for news for young people (ages 18-34).
• YouTube is the #1 choice, followed by Instagram and TikTok.
• Only 19% of survey respondents ages 18 to 34 watch TV to get their local news.
• Young people do care about local news.
• Testing revealed the ideal length for a video designed for social media is 50 seconds (±10 seconds).

Recommendations for newsrooms include:

• Create dedicated digital roles and invest in training. Digital Content Creators are essential for audience growth and shouldn’t be considered optional.
• Think mobile-first. Your audience is on their phones. Design every story for the small screen from the start.
• Prove your impact with the right metrics. TV ratings don’t capture the full extent of your work anymore. Track engagement, reach and impact across platforms.

Digital Content Creators gather and produce stories for digital platforms aimed at Millennial and Gen Z audiences, like a digital-first multimedia journalist (MMJ). Their work will enable TV newsrooms to prioritize producing original content tailored to each of their digital platforms, prioritizing YouTube and social media sites like Instagram and TikTok while also publishing to the station’s website, app and streaming channel. Because Digital Content Creators know how to speak the language of the internet, they’re also the ideal coaches to help their newsrooms translate their video storytelling expertise to social platforms.

Reinvent developed their recommendations through a nationwide survey and a year-long partnership with three of the country’s leading local TV newsrooms: WCBS in New York City, WLS in Chicago and WCVB in Boston. A Reinventing Local TV News fellow joined each newsroom for a year to produce stories intended to reach Millennial and Gen Z audiences on the social media platforms they already utilize. Fellows Maggie Cole (WCBS), Angela Chen
(WLS) and Leanna Scachetti (WCVB) were joined by animation fellow Gabby Aidam, who worked with all three to create the graphics and animation that audiences aged 18 to 34 expect in storytelling. In all they produced nearly 350 segments and gathered metrics from the TV stations’ digital platforms to help measure engagement.

After the four fellows wrapped up their year-long video innovation assignments, two of the partner stations hired their fellows to continue working in this new role. Even though business challenges facing television newsrooms have resulted in layoffs and hiring freezes, Reinvent’s academic/industry partnership is giving newsrooms both the courage and the flexibility to try new things and succeed.

As part of the research, Reinvent also partnered with SmithGeiger Group to survey more than 1,000 18- to 34-year-olds from across the country about their news habits, what information they want to receive from local TV stations, and the way they like that information packaged. One major finding: young adults in this age group care about local news, clearing up a common misconception that young people are not engaged with their local communities. Two-thirds of survey respondents described local news as relevant to their lives. Almost half of them want to get news from local TV stations on social media.

“By uncovering and affirming the places 18- to 34-year-olds rely on for their news, and then identifying the unique sensibility and expectations they have for these digital platforms, the team at Northeastern University’s Reinventing Local TV News Project has captured a path forward and a series of best practices to help guide local newsrooms,” said Seth Geiger, president and co-founder of SmithGeiger Group. “This research is certain to become a fundamental part of the playbook for attracting and retaining the next generation of news consumers and help to address the generational divide.”

This survival guide is the culmination of a multi-year research project at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism and Media Innovation. Since its founding in 2017, the Reinventing Local TV News Project has examined the intensifying pressures confronting the local television industry and experimented with new ways to position TV newsrooms for future relevance and success. This has included placing early-career journalists in newsrooms for yearlong fellowships focused on innovation and experimentation. The first round of fellowships placed two Visual Content Producers/Animators in newsrooms in Boston and Chicago. That experiment proved that the creative use of graphics and animation in stories increases audiences’ interest in and understanding of news topics.

The Reinventing Local TV News Project is funded by the Stanton Foundation.

For more information, contact authors Mike Beaudet (m.beaudet@northeastern.edu), Anna Campbell (anna@solarpunkstudio.com), and Lisa Thalhamer (thalhamer.l@northeastern.edu).

About:

The Reinventing Local TV News Project is led by Mike Beaudet, Northeastern University Professor of the Practice in Video Innovation, and John Wihbey, Northeastern University Associate Professor. Founded in 2017, the project is an ongoing research effort aimed at attracting a broader and younger audience back to local news in order to keep citizens informed on local issues and strengthen democracy in the process. Find us on Instagram and LinkedIn.

SmithGeiger Group helps newsrooms grow their reach, reputation, revenue and relevancy. Their clients include most major media companies in the United States and many international media organizations.

The Stanton Foundation was created by Dr. Frank Stanton, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest executives in the history of electronic communications and one of the television industry’s founding fathers. The foundation supports the protection of First Amendment rights and the larger challenge of creating a more informed citizenry.