Troubling (but not surprising) news about teen readers finding online news ‘troubling’

From Romanesko:

Romenesko Misc. | Northwestern Media Management Center
While the 14- to 18-year-old participants in a Northwestern-sponsored study [PDF] describe time spent on YouTube or social networking and music downloading sites as a treat or time-out, they describe their online news experiences as stressful or a reminder of the world’s dangers. “We found teens are unlikely to follow serious news online, but that they will click on news stories that appeal to them when they find them on other sites,” says Michael P. Smith, executive director of Northwestern’s Media Management Center.
> News organizations’ websites are not a prime destination for teens (RI)

Posted at 5:30:24 PM

This isn’t very surprising, but it should make us stop and think about teens and their news consuming habits. That’s not to say, “Well, we better just post all Britney, all the time.”

No. News organizations need to find a way to remain relevant to younger audiences without compromising the quality of their coverage. Do I have the answer? Unfortunately, I do not. If I did – as the line goes – I’d be out there trying to make money off it.

Weigh in: For my peers, how would you characterize your online news reading habits?

Other news:
Also from Romanesko, an interesting CJR article that discusses bloggers organizing and being paid for their work: Blogonomics. As you likely know, most news organization don’t pay their staffers to blog.

Maybe I should have called this post “Romanesko Round-up.” Nah.

Definitely add Romanesko to your RSS reader.

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