During this year’s API Local News Summit on Opinion, Civic Discourse and Sustainability, I heard again and again from opinion editors that engaging Millennials and Gen Z in conversation is an important goal. They want to build deeper and more meaningful relationships with these audiences.
With this backdrop in mind, I started looking for insights in our recent research from the Media Insight Project, a collaboration of The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press Institute. In 2022 we surveyed nearly 6,000 Americans ages 16 to 40, a scale that allows us to examine in-depth these diverse generations’ news habits and attitudes by a range of factors — including by what they think are important functions of the press.
The findings suggest many of my fellow young Americans think the press should have some orientation toward civic discourse. Some 40% think it’s extremely or very important for the news media to “provide forums for community discussion.”
