(Michael P. Smith)

In the United States, and especially abroad, newspapers are finding ways to connect with young consumers. At the 7th World Young Reader Conference in Washington, D.C., the true believers in attracting young people to newspapers shared research and success stories in a gathering that outnumbered (374 participants from 74 countries) and outshined most conferences made up solely of Americans.

The passion for their work was palpable and interesting for U.S. observers, some of which seem to have thrown up their hands and given up on young readers. The global message continues to be: "Don't give up on the kids." John Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, articulated it at the outset: "If we lose young newspaper readers, then we lose a generation of readers. If that happens, the prime engine of global news and information is damaged." He added: "In an age where anyone can reach a large audience without any special regard for quality, motive or even truth, the newspaper information gathering and processing function has never been more important."

The World Association of Newspapers and the NAA Foundation were sponsors of the conference, along with the Norwegian newsprint maker Norske Skog. It was WAN's Larry Kilman who summarized the conference best: "Here's how to get young people to read newspapers: pay attention to their habits, talk to them about their lives, and invite them to contribute, both in print and online." There were numerous examples of how to get young people to read newspapers from the conference (more on those in a minute).

Previous research by the Readership Institute bears this out. Two compelling findings should drive strategies:

• Adults who read the newspaper as children, or whose parents read a newspaper, report higher levels of readership now than do their counterparts who did not grow up with a newspaper in the home.
• 18 to 44-year-olds who had newspapers in the classroom as elementary or junior high school students have higher readership now than those who did not.

WAN's Aralynn McMane, whose job includes global newspapers in education efforts, said it best: "If you treat NIE as a circulation dump, the results will be rubbish."

The research firm D-Code of Toronto has begun a global study of 14 to 25 year olds in 10 countries. Like our own research, they are in the beginning stages of analyzing the results, but Robert Barnard shared some toplines:

• Free newspapers are not taking young readers away from paid-for titles. "They seem to be driving curiosity in the news and inspiring youth to go deeper into issues," said Robert Barnard.
• Trust in newspapers is not waning among young readers. "There is still trust in the newspaper format, what seems to be waning is trust in news overall."
• Parents (fathers more so in many countries) stimulate children's interest in news. Children report they often become interested in the news when adults talk with them about events.

The D-Code research will be made available to members of WAN.

Before I offer examples from the conference of how to get young people to read newspapers, some disclosures: The Media Management Center and the Readership Institute work closely with the World Association of Newspapers. Our readership team helped shape the research that is being conducted for WAN. I serve on the Young Readers Committee of WAN and am a trustee of the NAA Foundation. I currently have no affiliation with Norske Skog, but I truly believe that news organizations must have a cradle-to-grave strategy that includes the youngest of readers/users/viewers. Finally, I presented the Readership Institute's latest research on teens' use of the Internet at the conference. A full report will be available on this site shortly.

So how do you attract young people? Here are some examples from around the globe:


Engage in Total Youth-Think
Times of India leads the way: Deepti Mehra, NIE Director of The Times of India outlined a complicated but rewarding approach to reaching young people.

"I must admit that success doesn't come easy, in fact, the only thing that keeps us going is our belief that we needed to create true value for our children," she said.

The student edition of The Times of India, which reaches more than 2,000 schools, uses extensive market research to determine what students want. And they want everything -- local and international news, school news, career pages, debates on controversial issues, health and fitness, technology, sports, entertainment and more. "In short, a newspaper that is reflective of the attitudes, mindset and worldview of young Indians," Mehra said.

Getting them involved in the newspaper through interactivity and events is also a priority for the Times. Here are a few of those initiatives:

• School reporter and star correspondent programs, involving more than 4,000 students, which aim to promote journalistic values and civic consciousness among young people.
• Customer loyalty programs, much like adult programs but tailored to the young, that provide vouchers for restaurants, travel, entertainment and lifestyle products.
• Competitions, games and quizzes that stimulate young readers to connect with the newspaper.
• Activity workbooks and seminars for teachers and principals to encourage them to use newspapers in the classrooms.

Give Readers Access to Create a Younger Product
El Correo practices young citizen journalism: Monerrat Lluis, editor of the youth-oriented EnlaCe, detailed how a change in philosophy has made the venerable El Correo company younger.

"It is the conviction of each and every editor of El Correo that it is time to give citizens access not only in a section, a couple of pages or a weekly supplement, but throughout the newspaper," she said. "In the era of multimedia and interactivity, the reader no longer is an anonymous person who swallows what you say to him and, if he does not agree, can only complain to his partner or to the waiter in the bar where he reads the newspaper."



Here are three other examples of how El Correro is giving young readers access:

• Citizen contributions throughout the paper are marked with a special icon so that readers "know that the content was provided by a citizen, non-professional journalist. On the one hand, this emphasizes that citizen contributions are welcome, and, on the other, alerts the reader that what appears under the logo may lack the rigor and professionalism of our regular content, which we continue taking care of to the maximum."
• A daily columnist whose job is to have direct contact with readers. "It is not the typical mailbox of letters to the editor, but provides a face and personality to animate the discussion, to participate and respond. To answer is essential. Not a single question or viewpoint, even if it has nothing to do with the newspaper, can be neglected. Better not to open the door to readers than it open it and close it in their faces -- they would feel defrauded."
• A "photo of the day," but not "typical landscapes, they must have informative content. We receive authentic newsworthy photos."

Put the Product in the Hands of Kids
Electronic newspaper Vilaweb allows children to blog: "Blogs are a very interesting tool as they provide children with the feeling of what it means to write and publish a story," said Vincent Partal, director of Vilaweb in the Catalan region of Spain. "However, it only makes sense if blogging is integrated in a broader project that teaches pupils how to deal with news, creating them, reading them and understanding them."

Vilaweb's program teaches students about journalism and worldly issues using three approaches: Blogs, where children can create their own content and participate in discussions about the day's events; lessons to help them understand journalism; and a weekly roundup of news, provided through a dedicated web site and adapted for the young readership.

Children as young as six are contributing to the blogs, and the materials are tailored for both primary and secondary school levels.

Three stories are presented every week, two in Catalan and one in English, on items in the headlines. The site integrates blogs made by children from 120 schools and additional blogs that focus on special areas of debates.



Get to the Kids Who Don't Read
Platforms plus stories plus bonding equals young readers: That is actually a direct quote from Esben Seerup, managing editor of Fyens Stiftstidende in Denmark. His company, although older than the United States, has become younger with a three-way strategy: move to the platforms that the young use, create stories for them, and understand them as readers. The newspaper's approach includes:

• A new, free commuter paper that distributes 25,000 copies daily and targeted to younger readers.
• A newspaper web site with a modern approach and 90,000 weekly users.
• A radio station, founded in 2005, with 75,000 weekly listeners and a young approach.
  Reviews by children in the culture pages for things like computer games and other products and entertainment that appeal to young people.
• An "under-18" news team to produced stories for young people, and a team of student reporters in the schools.
• A marketing campaign to publicize the changes and alert young people of the new editorial material for them.
• A "Media Lab" at the newspaper headquarters that has attracted 400 class visits and allows the newspaper to "know the young."
• A "Media camp" internship program for 20 students each summer.

By Michael P. Smith (m-smith3@northwestern.edu)
Michael P. Smith is executive director of the Media Management Center.