Teenage media

Newspapers were thought to be a thing of the past with online platforms and email subscriptions, but some teenagers are reintroducing them to their peers.

The Ditch Weekly is a news hub that reports on local news in Montauk, New York, founded and run exclusively by teenagers. Middle-and-high-schoolers aged 13 to 17-years-old are reporting, writing, editing and publishing the weekly paper during their summer break. The outlet kicked off their second summer of stories this past Memorial Day with articles on breakfast spots, to local crime, and Montauk businesses, adamantly ignoring the elite and wealthy summer dwellers that flock to their shores each June.

The teens find contentment in getting off their phones and publishing news that matters to them. “When you’re on your phone, it gets boring after a while,” 14-year-old Dylan Centalonza, writer for The Ditch Weekly told the New York Times. “This is something you have to put work into.”

Screenshot 2025 07 17 at 1 19 31 PM — The News Movement

The News Movement, a platform that dedicates its content to a predominantly gen Z audience, is another example of how young people are gravitating to sources that resonate with them. This outlet specifically caters to the “media savvy” reader that may be more familiar with reading the news on social networks, but embraces the importance of truthful reporting and transparency in their stories

Gen Z want to feel spoken to in a peer-to-peer and natural style.

Rebecca Hutson

Editor in chief, The News Movement

Younger consumers “want authenticity, accessibility and veracity from their news content - and they want it delivered on the platforms they are already using,” Rebecca Hutson, editor in chief of The News Movement tells VML Intelligence. “Gen Z want to feel spoken to in a peer-to-peer and natural style. Where possible, they want to be pointed in the direction of additional resources and ways to use the information they've just been given in tangible, practical ways. They don't want to feel judged, don't want to be patronized and they don’t want to be spun.”

There are several reasons that younger generations don’t enjoy or choose to consume news from traditional outlets. In October, the New York Times reported that generation Z gets most of its news from social media platforms. “Much of the language in science journals, political speeches, or official documents can feel inaccessible to teens,” gen Zer Bella from Pennsylvania, featured in the article titled “Teenagers tell us about their relationship with news” said. Bella continues to explain, “so we instead opt to find someone who understands the information better.” Others interviewed acknowledged that disinformation can be rampant on these platforms, and that “navigating true and false information on social media can be extremely difficult” according to Bella. Ironically, while teens appear to be the most equipped to decipher untruthful content, they’re choosing to seek out alternative resources instead.

At a Glance

63%

Gen Z use TikTok as a news source

At a Glance

62%

Use Instagram as a news source

At a Glance

48%

Use Facebook as a news source

Although they may spend much of their time on Instagram, TikTok, and other social apps, younger consumers are often more in tune with the attention economy, and they’re aware that misinformation often drives more views and more business on these platforms. In a 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report by Sprout Social, 63% of gen Z respondents reported that they use TikTok as a news source, 62% use Instagram, and 48% use Facebook. What brands should understand, however, is that teens and young adults are both aware of the issues that are entwined with these sources, and are showing strong interest in finding new outlets that can cater to their understanding, interests, and comfortability.