Recapturing the youth market for local news
Schools have millions of students eager to learrn, engage and contribute
Youth and journalism go way back. Not long ago, many kids’ first jobs were with a newspaper, delivering papers around their community. The next generation saw news as a profitable opportunity. Could we return to those days?
Newspapers were introduced as teaching tools in classrooms in the 1890s. Newspaper companies got involved in the 1930s when the Milwaukee Journal and The New York Times gave papers to schools for free to teach current events.
This started Newspapers in Education (NIE), a joint effort between schools and newspapers to promote newspapers as educational resources to increase literacy and critical thinking.
Now, we focus on emerging audiences in journalism and local news. How do we engage young people? How do we reach the next generation? Schools, especially middle school and younger, present an opportunity to engage young readers and build loyal audiences and customers.
First, we have to ensure everyone can read. According to the Nation’s Report Card from the Department of Education, 68% of fourth-grade students do not meet gradelevel literacy standards.
The numbers get worse as children grow older. Today, 21% of adults in the United States are illiterate, and 130 million Americans read below sixth-grade level. There is hope. If we focus on increasing literacy, an educated electorate will follow. This is not brain surgery. It is pragmatism.
We can learn from what was done for generations with NIE. NIE grew into a powerful force from the 1940s to the late 1990s. Newspapers were in classrooms from kindergarten through college. Almost every subject was covered. Newspapers were also used outside the classroom for tutoring and
adult education. Adult literacy became a crucial part of programs.
Newspapers employed educators to run the program. As newsprint costs and circulation counts rose, programs charged half-price for school deliveries. The annual NIE Conference was the place to be with
NIE professionals sharing ideas to strengthen their programs. Many NIE programs established local partnerships, with businesses sponsoring and paying for the delivery of half-price copies of newspapers to schools.
At its peak in the 2000s, over 950 NIE programs delivered millions of copies of newspapers and educational programs to nearly 40% of all public school students in the U.S. Studies showed stronger academic outcomes.
We all know what happened next: Newspaper chains consolidated. Burdened with self-inflicted debt, they stripped the publications down on their way to quarterly returns and eviscerated their NIE programs. The programs still exist but are a hollow shell of their former mission, ambitions and social promise.
Some continue to fight the good fight. Kid Scoop provides newspapers with quality educational tools for teachers to use in the classroom weekly throughout the school year. Our National Conversation is powered by America’s youth and seeks to reduce partisanship and promote practical solutions to America’s challenges.
The Strong Mind
Strong Body Foundation, a nonprofit youth and community development organization (where I am executive director), has created a youth journalism program with middle school students at Ella Baker School in Minneapolis as part of our community solutions program. We plan to build a youth-led newsroom from the ground up. You can follow our progress at ellabakernews.com.
Perhaps we can inspire an NIE renaissance with organizations like Rebuild Local News and its nonpartisan coalition of 3,000-plus newsrooms to revitalize community journalism.
Local news organizations can benefit from more outreach with schools — high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. By listening to and giving youth what they want, we can engage and empower them.
In the age of AI and algorithms, local news can go the opposite of machine learning and promote more human connection. We can reinvigorate journalism by engaging with youth.
This can make dollars. It also makes sense.