The study of 1,800 Americans conducted by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government found that most young Americans do not have an ingrained, daily news habits like the older generations. Thomas Patterson, a government professor who conducted the suvey, explained that because many American households own more than one television set, many children do not develop a news habit by watching the same programs as their parents.

In addition, the study found that young adults have a very loose definition of news consumption.  “Young people seemed to think that just listening to the radio in the background was listening to the news,” reported Alex S. Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center.

Only 16 percent of the young adults (18 to 30) and 9 percent of teenagers surveyed read the newspaper on a daily basis, compared to the 35 percent of adults over age 30.  And despite the popular belief that the Internet is usurping young readers from newspapers, the survey revealed that young people were twice as likely to get their news through television than from online.

Nevertheless, Jane Hirt of the successful free Chicago daily RedEye, advocated following the example set by the more popular television and Internet to entice young readers.  RedEye, for example, features short “face-offs” with two sides of issues, a format that Hirt believes is common among young people’s Internet media.  In addition , she explained that with devices such as iPods and TiVo, most young readers are customizing their media consumption to their specific interests.  Newspapers, she counseled, should react accordingly with more specific coverage for niche audiences.

Source: The New York Times through Media Bistro