Being in a hyperconnected world lends all news to be easily spread and absorbed. With Millennials & Gen-Z being so closely attached to their devices, mobile or other, it only makes sense that they get their news there. In fact, over 70% of Millennials and Gen-Z get their news at least once a day.
Interestingly, Millennials and Gen-Z were once thought to read the news much less than generations before them, but social media platforms ensure that they are reading the news—just in a different way than the generations before them. All feeds have seamlessly blended into each other; local news exists in the same feed as celebrity news, politics, and other trending news videos.
Those who rely heavily on their devices will see and connect with the world holistically rather than through various subsections. With that in mind, it’s important as publishers to know exactly how to corner that demographic, and cater to what they are interested in. With the help of a breaking news video maker, gather inspiration from these five hot topics that Millennials and Gen-Z’ers are interested in:
1. Social Justice
According to Pew Research Center, Gen-Z’ers and millennials are far more focused on stories that focus on social justice compared to generations before them. Both demographics, for example, believe in diversity as a means to better communities. Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation however do not share this belief as strongly.
This video from Z100 took a high-level look at Pride Month without diving into specific stories:
The following video from CommonCause is more of a direct call-to-action about net neutrality:
2. Lifestyle News
Much of the news that comes organically in a Gen-Z’ers or Millennials feed is based around lifestyle. Celebrity, entertainment, and pop culture news takes the cake in terms of popularity with millennials, with 91% of the group using social media as a gateway to learn more about it. This video from our customer, iHeartRadio, is a great example of a lifestyle video that did well with the two generations:
And this video from Mashable focuses more on health as a lifestyle topic:
3. Their local communities
The social feeds that Millenials and Gen-Z initially gather their news is built on the friends and family that are relatively local to them. Because of this, much of the news they’ll see first (and will matter to them the most) are local stories. Millennial hot topics like weather, traffic, local crime, and other community news are very easily digestible and can sometimes be a necessity for them to look at before they start their day. In fact, one of the main reasons Millennials and Gen-Z choose to read the news is to be better members of their communities.
This video from Martha Stewart Living is great for getting viewers informed about their local teachers:
4. Professional Development
Topics surrounding thought leadership and professional development are great for capturing the attention of all generations—not only Gen-Z and Millenials. That said, younger generations have shown themselves to be more career-focused than older generations. Over half of Gen-Z will willingly work weekends and late hours if it meant for a better salary.
GoBankingRates created this video to get both millennials and older generations informed and inspired by other millennials, and the industries they work in:
5. Hobbies and special interests
If what you write about is highly specialized, don’t fret! Researching hobbies and specific interests is valued just as much as keeping up with the world and news. Giving updates about the hobbies they have through thought leadership, advice specific skill levels, or how-to guides could be the secret to getting the attention of the two generations.
This video from the Seattle Seahawks bridges the gap between both lifestyle and hobby news with the main focus of the article being a popular sports team and an actor on a show popular with millennials: