Teenagers today are referred to as the NET Generation, otherwise known as the media literate audience. This young market has been starved from important news that is easy to digest. Net News, a TV news channel, prides itself on reflecting the age of digital culture and integrating it into the modern lifestyle of teenagers living in the capital, online participation is at the core of it’s brand identity.
According to a Harvard news study 60% of teenagers pay little attention to news reports, however, their media consumption is complicated by an increase in loyalty to brands like Apple. Teenagers are currently spending $211 billion a year on apple products, such as the IPhone whose apps make the news, fun accessible and attractive. 72% of social app users are teenagers that favour Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. In my opinion the teenage news market has been neglected for too long!
The net generation, despite raised on a diet of TV, have a lack of engagement with politics, news and current affairs which is really concerning. Especially at a time when 2.6 million tweets on twitter were used to communicate and organise the London Riots, 74% of which were 13-20 year olds. I believe that an online platform, to encourage the communication of important new issues in a positive way, will help to resolve some social decay in corners of London.
Net News wants to dissolve the traditional boundaries between the outlet and receiver. It wants to allow teenage citizen journalists to respond and send us what they are interested in. An interactive dialogue will allow teenage users to have long term and trusting relationships as well as offer a mixture of infotainment, celebrity gossip, fashion and current affairs.
Hitting the senses:
The Net News website needs to be emotional, immediate, entertaining and accessible. It will exploit the use of RSS and Twitter feeds, podcasts, interactive games, galleries, quizzes, competitions, voting polls, facebook links, IPhone apps, audio Vox Pops clips and short documentaries. It needs an iconic ‘hip’ presenter that can easily relate to the needs of teenagers.
The news team:
The Net News team need to be divided so that each time a viewer communicates, we immediately react. This will safeguard the long term relationship with the audience and help us to understand what interests them.
85% of the television audience decreased to 25 % from 1969 to 2005 as a result of viewers opting for news online. For the Net News TV channel to survive, it’s efficiency on online news production is imperative. To create a push and pull action between the TV and Online mediums, throughout the day, the online news feed will respond with ‘teaser’ updates.
The team effort consists of ten people; a planner, assignment editor, producer (also in charge of legal issues), one local London reporter, one national and entertainment reporter, one international and sports reporter (the reporters will also be in charge of taking photographs) an editor, interactive producer and a presenter. The interactive editor is also responsible for the Online PR, this will be done to encourage link building, RSS, reputation management and micro-blogging.
Viewers will be educated in the news production process by being given a learn space to understand the roles of the producers and editors, as well as receive insightful lessons in the format of a BBC College of Journalism page, this will give those without job prospects a chance to learn about journalism careers.
Content:
The Net News brand will provide a constant flow of infotainment news that requires large images, short headlines and sub headings. Viewers will be enticed with comical and trivial elements of a story, quizzes for entertainment news and live updates for the sports and weather on the Twitter feed. The presenter will have a Facebook fan page because 71% of the target audience have a Facebook profile, it is essential to ensure that the site interacts with the whole spectrum of social media.
We will use interactive diagrams to simplify complex, political and international stories, so that teenagers can easily navigate through important events.
Teenagers are going through a tough time of youth unemployment, exam stress and career crossroads, they also need some one to talk to about bullying, sex and drug advice. To expand on communicating these important issues, we will attach links to short documentaries from the TV channel and the interactive producer will respond with helpful comments.
Ethics:
Net News must safeguard the trust of the teenage audience. The content must be impartial, objective and transparent. It will abide with disability and discrimination laws to ensure special access facilities for teenagers with visible and hearing impairments.
Net News is on the frontline of investigative campaigns to ensure marginalised teenagers across London are given a voice. After the riots, many London teenagers felt they had been misrepresented by the news, Net News is determined to transform this relationship and encourage the net generation to talk about what matters to them.
Image from the WikiCommons Website.
