News outlets and media companies are facing significant challenges. The landscape is shifting rapidly: AI is transforming how information is produced and consumed, trust in institutions, social media shapes what we see and believe and global conflicts increasingly dominate our feeds.

For over a year, we’ve been researching the future of news in depth. Our work combines ethnographic fieldwork with academic research. We’ve been sharing some findings through articles on our blog, such as here and here. 

But this conversation isn’t only relevant for media companies. Brands, too, are increasingly confronted with a similar challenge: how to stay relevant in a fragmented and fast-moving information ecosystem. In many ways, brands now need to think like publishers too. 

Adopting a publisher mindset means moving beyond one-off campaigns and short-term promotions. Instead, it’s about building a consistent editorial world around your brand (which fashion and lifestyle brands have been doing for years).  It is a recognizable point of view, a distinct tone of voice, and content that genuinely resonates with your audience’s values and curiosity.

We already see inspiring examples of this approach. Take the poster campaign for  Hinge: , which features the stories of real couples who met through the dating app, written by contemporary authors, primarily known for fiction, such as William Rayfet and Tomasz Jedrowski. Other brands are experimenting with new editorial spaces, like newsletters. For instance, Shopify uses Substack as an experimental channel to share founder stories and case studies.

Ultimately, this shift reflects something deeply human: our enduring appetite for stories too. 

“People are hungry for stories. It’s part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another.”
— Studs Terkel, Author & historian

This also circles back to one of our most recent collaborations. We worked on an exciting project with Trouw, which for 83 years has been producing journalism on topics such as climate, politics, inequality, and hope. Issues that feel especially urgent in today’s turbulent times.

However, despite its strong legacy, Trouw didn’t yet have a clear picture of how to meaningfully reach younger audiences. That’s why Trendsactive and Trouw joined forces to co-create ideas together. The session was built around three key insights that formed the foundation for our exploration.

Over the past year, we’ve gathered many socio-cultural insights about the future of news and the relationship between young people and journalism. For now, let’s dive into three of them.

1. Representation matters

Young people today are growing up in the most diverse generation yet, and that diversity is only increasing, driven by mixed marriages and globalisation. Yet many of them do not see themselves represented in the news. Their stories, their life stage, and the realities closest to them are rarely reflected in mainstream media.

In much of traditional media, there is a felt distance in the way stories are told. The world of young people is broader and more layered than what is so often represented. They want news that connects to their communities and their identities. Subcultures and niche communities get little space. Themes that matter to them, passions, interests, idols, style, youth culture, deserve a place in the news too.

Research supports this strongly. Academic studies show that young people actively seek out relatable content, looking for media in which they can recognise themselves and their experiences. Media and digital platforms play an increasingly vital role in identity construction for this generation, almost on par with face-to-face interaction. When news fails to reflect that reality, young people simply look elsewhere.

Young people want to see themselves represented and news organisations should actively include diverse voices, youth subcultures, and stories that reflect the full breadth of young people’s lives.

2. A Collective pain

For young people, news is an important source for shaping identity. They seek information and knowledge that helps them understand who they are and how the world works. They want multiple perspectives and angles so they can form their own opinions and think for themselves.

On top of that, unlike any generation before, they now have 24/7 access to news and all kinds of input. Young people consume news primarily through social media, and it is especially there that extremes and negativity are amplified. 

This contributes to a striking paradox. Young people are arguably the most globally informed generation ever, while simultaneously feeling deeply powerless. A Pew Research Centre survey found that researchers attribute this sense of powerlessness to a feeling that young people lack the agency to meaningfully influence the forces shaping their lives. There is a collective pain, a shared weight of awareness without a clear path to action. 

Young people are interested in news, including hard news. But they are looking for a sense of agency: what can they actually do with this information? They want to feel they can make a difference, however small. In the overwhelming flood of information, they want to decide for themselves where their time and attention go.

Move beyond just informing towards enabling. Every story about a problem should offer a thread toward action, however small, so that younger audiences leave feeling empowered.

3. The need for real connection

Young people are more technically connected than any generation before them. And yet, a large part regularly feels lonely. Digital connection does not automatically mean real belonging. Younger generations report higher levels of loneliness than older generations, despite being significantly more technologically connected. 

In 2023, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory declaring an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation”, and the World Health Organisation launched a dedicated Commission on Social Connection to address the growing crisis. This is not a minor issue. The physical health effects of chronic loneliness are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

There is a deep need for genuine social contact and real connection. They are constantly looking for ways to relate to one another, even intergenerational. News plays a powerful role here. It gives young people something to talk about, to connect over, to debate, and through that, to find their place among others. This is a core part of what news means to this generation. It also carries an important reassurance: you are not alone in facing the big challenges of the world.

Give young audiences the language, context, and conversation starters they need to connect with others around the stories that matter, this can be offline, but also online. 

An Invitation to move forward

These three insights are a call to action for (news) organisations willing to stay relevant in the lives of young people. 

Young people are not turning away from news because they don’t care, because they care deeply. But they need news that sees them, empowers them, and connects them to something larger than themselves. That means making space for diverse voices and underrepresented communities. It means moving beyond informing, toward enabling. And recognising that news, at its best, is not a solitary experience but a very social and even intergenerational one.

For every organisation with the courage to evolve internally and externally,  this is also an invitation to move forward.