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| The NAA Foundation focuses on Newspaper In Education, newspaper youth content, scholastic journalism and diversity. In this blog, you'll learn about products, programs and resources that emphasize the use of newspapers and other media by young people. You'll also learn about programs and activities that can help news media companies transform their cultures in order to grow business and increase readership and audience. |
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New Foundation Research: Teens and Online News
The NAA Foundation and the Media Management Center at Northwestern University teamed up in early 2009 to explore and put to the test better ways to match the online news preferences of young people. "Teens Know What They Want From Online News: Do You?" is the result.
For this research study, we developed prototypes of home pages and story-level pages, then tested them in focus groups across the United States. Teens' responses were remarkably and overwhelmingly consistent, regardless of market size or location.
"In our focus groups, it was clear that teens were not looking for a youth news site that focuses mostly on lifestyle and entertainment content," says Jeanne Fox-Alston, vice president of the NAA Foundation. "What they really want are news sites that do news well - not dumb the news down or pretend that the writers of the site are experts in teen culture."
Given that teen responses were very similar to those of adults who are light readers, we recommend creating a new type of site - not just for teens, but for all people who lack experience with news and have a limited amount of time to get engaged with it. The answer isn't to dilute the news, but to be bolder.
Want to know more? Register for our free webinar, scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time (1 to 2 p.m. Central) on Thursday, April 23. In this one-hour webinar, you will learn what kind of news Web site would attract and interest teenagers.
Meanwhile, click here for the executive summary and full report on our research study.
Published
Apr 06 2009, 02:57 PM
by
Marina Hendricks
About Marina Hendricks
Marina Hendricks is manager of the NAA Foundation. She manages Newspaper In Education, youth content and scholastic journalism programs, oversees the development of print and online products, and coordinates the NAA Foundation Web site, www.naafoundation.org. Before joining the Foundation, Marina was a features writer and the teen editor at The Charleston Gazette in West Virginia. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Marshall University.
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