Targeting under 40s? It’s time to wake up to news

Every week, more Australians under the age of 40 engage with news than any other channel – including social media. Here’s why agencies should plan campaigns to include news as a channel.

Young people do read the news. Just ask Michelle Gunn, editor of The Australian.

Speaking on the Mi3 podcast earlier this year, she said: “They don’t necessarily come in through the front door at the home pages of our publications, but they know what’s going on. They read it. There’s a bit of a misconception around that.”

While research finds three in five under 40s get their news from a physical printed newspaper, they’re consuming news digitally at a much greater rate.

Still, there’s the belief that young people aren’t reading news at all. It’s exactly this misconception ThinkNewsBrands is looking to set straight with the release of The Youth Chapter, a report that shows nine in 10 under 40s engage with news every month.