The Next Gen News Report 2 (NGN2), a collaboration between FT Strategies, Medill Knight Lab, and the Google News Initiative, provides a roadmap for news organizations to reach younger audiences. The core of the report is the 7 Modes of Engagement, which distinguishes how "next gen" consumers (ages 18-25+) discover, consume, and share news.
To reach the next generation of news consumers, publishers must stop thinking about “the audience” as a monolith and start designing for specific “modes” of behavior. The second Next Gen News report reveals that younger consumers are not passive; they are active “information curators” who cycle through seven distinct mindsets.
Let’s breakdown the 7 Modes of Engagement and uncover how you can win in them.
1. The “Sift” Modes: how news is discovered
In sift modes, users filter through their chosen information environments to separate news from noise.
Across all markets studied, the report finds that young consumers actively curate their information ecosystems, seeking to reduce the daily mental load from sifting through endless content. Consumers intentionally mold their environment to refine and filter the news sources they encounter.
Observing this shaping process in the field showcases how sifting is richer than originally thought, now defined through three distinct modes of news discovery:
Mode 1: Scroll
❤️🔥 The vibe: passively encountering news whilst browsing social feeds
🕺 The energy: engagement is often spontaneous and fleeting, shaped by the emerging news producers they follow and platform algorithms.
💪 The strategy: intentionally create content that feels native to the platform and find patterns that break through to capture fleeting attention in the few seconds before viewers scroll to the next post
How to win at Scroll mode:
- Post consistently and predictably
- Balance the tone to make news entertaining without trivializing serious events
- Develop repeatable storytelling templates.
Case Study: Local News International. Using “Dave,” a recurring character who plays the role of the viewer, they use skits and satire to cover complex news in 40 seconds. By using a consistent personality and humor, they stop the scroll and build a recognizable brand identity without formal news constraints.
