What's Missing in the Frantic Search for Young Readers

By: Lesley Messer The Media Management Center at Northwestern University has warned that if newspaper readership continues to decline at its current rate, newspapers themselves could become obsolete in roughly 40 years. This startling statistic means, among others things, that recent J-school grads like myself may have shortened careers.

We all know that a main component of this possible disaster is younger people turning away from newspapers. By 2010, only 9 percent of those in their 20s will read a newspaper every day, according to a 2004 Media Management Center study.

So, how do we stop this journalistic apocalypse? Many newspapers have responded by producing lively tabs aimed at college students and young commuters. Perhaps they should also aim at younger readers.

My suggestion in three words: target the 'tweens.

J. Ann Selzer, president of the research firm Selzer & Company, Inc. said that this particular demographic, ages 8-12, has been difficult to study because people of that age are not necessarily readily available. Others ignore them because they usually do not have much money of their own to spend. But kids ages 8-12 represent a key audience that the newspaper industry ought to pay more attention to -- and a few papers have.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution's News for Kids -- which targets an audience ranging in age from 7-14 -- has seen a great deal of success since its redesign at the beginning of last school year. Anita Harkins, the editor of the section and a mother of a 'tween daughter, explained that it's a good mix of what kids should know, what they're learning in school, and what they want to read.

"One of our really popular things is 'Spanish for Everyone,'" she said. "I revamped it because when I came, it was incredibly boring. Now there are puzzles and games that go with it. It's interactive."

Harkins also has begun organizing contests for readers with prizes from books to baseball tickets. She also regularly publishes jokes that kids send in. And by writing stories with a conversational and simple tone, she makes sure that they are easily accessible.

This type of interactivity with the newspaper allows kids to understand that there's more to the news than just reading it on the Internet, she said. Younger readers are able to understand that there are people behind a newspaper and see that generating the news is something that happens beyond technological means.

Also, she said that it ensures that kids will continue to pick up the newspaper, even if it's only to see if they won a particular contest. Every week she said, she receives hundreds of letters -- a huge influx since she launched the redesign. Before, News for Kids received only a dozen or so letters per week.

Studies by the Readership Institute confirmed that this type of approach to journalism is very popular among readers. It's called "experience editing," and based on studies done with the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, subjects preferred stories that allowed them to empathize with the story. Not surprisingly, people don't enjoy being lectured to and would rather be engaged with the content.

And to further this concept, Harkins said that her headlines often beg questions and use the word "you." This is to make the readers feel older and important -- a quality that she maintained is very important to recognize and address.

She explained that magazines have been using this technique for years and that it's been wildly successful (as is evident with the success of publications like Teen People and Teen Vogue). Harkins also makes sure the stories are written in bite-size portions that are sometimes presented in unique shapes or formats -- a concept supported by Mary Nesbitt, managing director for the Readership Institute.

"What we do know is that younger adults respond to things like a variety of story forms and different entry points, so the packing of information becomes very important with this group [ages 18 and up]," Nesbitt said. "So for instance, you could have a story with some ancillary information and find that readers in this group would go to extra bits and not read the story at all. But that's fine because they've accessed the information they need. They had some value for their time."

Northwestern University assistant professor Susan Mango Curtis agreed. Curtis teaches a print media design class -- a course I took during my undergrad studies at NU -- and has challenged her students to redesign the Chicago Tribune for younger readers.

"We expect people [American immigrants] to change to be like us, but they won't. We can't think that," said Curtis. "My daughter grows up where all the kids in her class are second generation or born in another country. But the difference from the past is that they hold on to their culture. They know their history, they know their language, they know who they are."

And with this change in demographic, there needs to be a bigger focus not only on how we present the news, but the news that we present. Kids want to see maps. They want to know what's happening on the other side of the globe. And it's our responsibility to cater to their needs.

It?s widely held that newspapers are slow to make any drastic changes quickly. But why? With readership falling year to year, we need to study our consumers and fit the content and style accordingly. Why not start with what kids want?

After all, they are the future. And, probably, my career's saving grace.