4 takeaways for local news leaders from a study on news consumption by U.S. teens and adults

Understanding where people turn for news, who they trust and what information they seek out (or avoid) is crucial for developing strategies to reach Americans across generations and differences with the information they need in their daily lives.

Additionally, knowing what young news consumers value is especially important for the sustainability of local news. It’s also essential to the health of our democracy because local news can often serve as an on-ramp to civic engagement.

The latest study from the Media Insight Project, The evolving news landscape: Comparing media habits and trust between teens and adults, sheds light on just that. And it’s unique in that it surveyed both adults and teens as young as 13.

The study’s findings likely align with news engagement behavior you’re already noticing at your news organization or hunches you have based on young people you know, but the data across age groups shows these shifts cannot be written off as a passing trend that younger generations will age out of.