{"id":2789,"date":"2026-06-03T14:01:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/?p=2789"},"modified":"2026-06-04T14:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:03:28","slug":"news-is-important-to-young-people-but-it-reaches-them-in-other-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/uncategorized\/news-is-important-to-young-people-but-it-reaches-them-in-other-ways","title":{"rendered":"News is important to young people, but it reaches them in other ways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are young people really no longer interested in the news?\u00a0Or\u00a0perhaps the\u00a0problem lies not in young people\u2019s attitudes, but in changing information consumption habits? These questions were discussed at the debate \u2018Young People and the News: Between Panic, Stereotypes and Reality\u2019,\u00a0organised\u00a0by the Media Support Fund and held at the LOGIN innovation and technology festival.<\/span>
\nThe discussion was attended by Dr Patricija Len\u010diauskien\u0117, PhD in Communication and Information Sciences, a researcher at Vytautas Magnus University and founder of the\u00a0organisation\u00a0\u201cMediasensus\u201d,\u00a0and Umberto Masi, President of the Lithuanian Youth\u00a0Organisations\u00a0Council (LiJOT). The discussion was moderated by Ruslanas Ir\u017eikevi\u010dius, Director of the Media Support Fund.<\/span>
\nThe discussion aimed to examine young people\u2019s relationship with the news not through the prism of moral panic or established stereotypes, but based on research, practical experience and the actual way young people consume information.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Young people are interested in the news, but they discover it differently<\/span><\/b>
\nAccording to Dr Patricija Len\u010diauskien\u0117, who has researched the information consumption habits of 15\u201317-year-olds, the claim often repeated in the public sphere that young people are not interested in the news is inaccurate.<\/span>
\n\u201cYoung people care about what is happening in Lithuania and around the world, but they access news through different channels than\u00a0previous\u00a0generations.\u00a0A large proportion\u00a0of the information reaches them via social media, and important sources of information include not only journalists, but also social activists, opinion\u00a0leaders\u00a0and other individuals with whom they\u00a0identify,\u201d noted the researcher.<\/span>
\nHowever, the study also revealed another important aspect \u2013 some young people who claim that traditional media does not interest them often lack a clear understanding of how professional journalism differs from the information\u00a0disseminated\u00a0on social media. This highlights a significant need for media literacy and awareness.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Social media has become the main gateway to information<\/span><\/b>
\nParticipants in the discussion agreed that social media has now become the main space where young people consume information. The speakers highlighted \u2018TikTok\u2019 as one of the most important platforms.<\/span>
\nAccording to Umberto Masi, a survey conducted by the Lithuanian Youth\u00a0Organisations\u00a0Council shows that three out of four young people are most easily reached via this platform.<\/span>
\n\u201cIf we want to talk to young people, we need to understand where they are. By informing young people in ways that seem normal or correct to us, we often simply\u00a0fail to\u00a0reach them today,\u201d said U. Masi.<\/span>
\nHowever, simply moving content to social media does not solve the problem. The content young people see depends on algorithms, so the media and institutions must find new ways to connect with their audience and hold their attention.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we reach young people without compromising journalistic standards?<\/span><\/b>
\nDuring the discussion, much attention was paid to the question of how professional journalism can adapt to\u00a0new information\u00a0consumption habits without losing its values.<\/span>
\nAccording to Dr\u00a0P.\u00a0Len\u010diauskien\u0117, some foreign media outlets are already experimenting with new formats and have journalists who present news in a language and format that young people can understand. However, this process is not straightforward.<\/span>
\nThe social media environment is dominated by short, quickly consumed content, so journalists have to strike a balance between the accuracy of information,\u00a0context\u00a0and the audience\u2019s attention.<\/span>
\n\u201cIt is important to go where young people are, whilst at the same time upholding the principles of professional journalism. Even reliable information presented in a shorter format is a better alternative than purely entertaining or unverified content,\u201d said the researcher.<\/span>
\nParticipants in the discussion also\u00a0emphasised\u00a0the importance of direct contact. Young people who visit media newsrooms and see the news production process up close often begin to view the work of journalists and the significance of professional information in a different light.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we cultivate the habit of paying for quality information?<\/span><\/b>
\nWhen discussing the relationship between young people and the media, considerable attention was also paid to the economic aspect.<\/span>
\nU. Masi pointed out that young people are interested in important global events, but some high-quality content\u00a0remains\u00a0inaccessible to them due to paid subscriptions.<\/span>
\nRuslanas Ir\u017eikevi\u010dius, Director of the Media Support Fund, raised the idea during the discussion of considering an initiative to provide Lithuanian media subscription vouchers for young people.<\/span>
\nAccording to him, one of the growing problems is that a generation is coming of age that is not accustomed to paying for news and, when faced with a paywall, often simply chooses not to read the information.<\/span>
\n\u201cIf we want to preserve a strong,\u00a0professional\u00a0and independent media, we must think not only about media literacy, but also about the understanding that quality information has value. One\u00a0possible solution\u00a0could be subscription vouchers, which would allow young people to\u00a0familiarise\u00a0themselves with professional media content and experience its value,\u201d said R. Ir\u017eikevi\u010dius.<\/span>
\nThe participants in the discussion also supported this idea,\u00a0emphasising\u00a0that practical exposure to quality journalism could be one of the most effective ways to foster a long-term relationship with reliable information.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The most important thing is not the platform, but trust<\/span><\/b>
\nSumming up the discussion, the speakers agreed that the relationship between young people and the news is not as simple as it is often portrayed in the public sphere.<\/span>
\nYoung people are not detached from the processes taking place in society \u2013 they simply discover,\u00a0evaluate\u00a0and consume information differently from\u00a0previous\u00a0generations. Therefore, the main challenge today is not only to adapt to new platforms, but also to\u00a0maintain\u00a0trust in professional journalism.<\/span>
\n\u201cThe problem is not simply that platforms or formats are changing. What matters most is that the ways in which people discover information, evaluate\u00a0it\u00a0and decide what to trust are changing too. Therefore, the question today is not whether young people are interested in the news. What is far more important is how we will ensure that reliable,\u00a0high-quality\u00a0and professional information\u00a0remains\u00a0accessible and relevant to new generations,\u201d\u00a0summarised\u00a0Ruslanas Ir\u017eikevi\u010dius, Director of the Media Support Fund.<\/span>
\nThe discussion showed that when talking about young people and the news, it is worth relying less on stereotypes and paying more attention to the actual experiences of young people. It is precisely the ability to understand these changes that will\u00a0determine\u00a0whether, in the future, we will be able to\u00a0maintain\u00a0a strong media sector that is important to society and\u00a0reaches\u00a0a young audience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are young people really no longer interested in the news?\u00a0Or\u00a0perhaps the\u00a0problem lies not in young people\u2019s attitudes, but in changing information consumption habits? These questions were discussed at the debate \u2018Young People and the News: Between Panic, Stereotypes and Reality\u2019,\u00a0organised\u00a0by the Media Support Fund and held at the LOGIN innovation and technology festival. The discussion…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2789"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2790,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2789\/revisions\/2790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medijufondas.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}