Youth engagement is happening in local newsrooms across the country and through that engagement, trust is being built. When young people see or benefit from local news — in their classrooms or extracurricular activities — it’s likely they’ll feel more connected to their community and have a positive association with local media.
The civic stakes are high because of this — but the stakes are also high for the sustainability of news. Amid challenges to news organizations’ capacity, how might news outlets partner or invest strategically to create young stakeholders and lifelong advocates for both the news organization and the community’s civic health writ large?
That’s one of the themes we explored at the API Local News Summit on Youth Trust and Civic Resilience. We gathered news leaders and non-news experts in West Palm Beach, Fla. and discussed what it looks like to build sustainable youth engagement efforts into their coverage and fundraising.
We asked four summit participants to share more about the ways they are funding youth engagement programs in their communities:
- A blueprint for expanding journalism access in high schools. Journalism for All is a replicable model with a public/private structure that brings journalism education and paid opportunities to underserved schools.
- Share local news coverage with classrooms to spark civic engagement and boost fundraising efforts. Lookout Local shares coverage and curriculum with middle and high school classrooms to engage students. The program is popular with donors, too.
- Connecting youth journalism to a broader funding landscape. City Limits News built and framed media training programs as youth development opportunities to unlock larger, much-needed sources of revenue.
- How positive recognition coverage creates new revenue and strengthens youth trust. The Sumter Item’s Next Gen public recognition program spotlights students, bolsters community and creates sponsorship opportunities.
Gratitude goes to the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism as one of several supporters of our API Local News Summit on Youth Trust and Civic Resilience. Their support expands public-facing resources like these we can make from this gathering. And if you are interested in youth engagement and local news, or API’s Local News Summits, let us know.
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4 ways local news can grow and fund youth engagement programs
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The study’s findings likely align with news engagement behavior you’re already noticing, but the data across age groups shows these shifts cannot be written off as a passing trend that younger generations will age out of. Here are four key takeaways and what they mean for local news.
The American Press Institute, with support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, awarded $20,000 in grants to five news organizations to support projects that engage youth through news coverage, community listening or outreach.
