next generation KARLA LIZETHE HUNTER


orters


Kimberley Barber, including the Hampshire Chronicle and Salisbury Journal, are aged under 30. A valuable source of new recruits is Newsquest’s young reporter scheme, which encourages would-be journalists to mould their skills while in full-time education. Earlier this year, Barber recruited a second apprentice through the scheme who was completing her A levels. Barber also throws her doors open to students seeking work experience, including some from the University of Winchester, which focuses on broadcast journalism. “There are some young people who come in and want to do TikTok and podcasts, but there are still a lot who want to write,” she says. Students who step into Barber’s Winchester office will see an old article from The Journalist extolling the virtues of shorthand carefully pinned to the wall. “They are shocked to see our reporters doing shorthand,” says Barber. “Younger people gravitate


Social media’s generation gap


IS THE reluctance of young people to become journalists linked to the way they approach the news? During the past decade,


younger people have drifted from websites to social media, where consumption of the news is “less intentional and more incidental”, according to a study this year by the Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford. People aged 18–24


generally embrace platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, although Facebook has fallen out of favour. When it comes to social and video networks,


they are more likely to rely on individual news creators to keep them informed than traditional news outlets. It is not always clear


whether these creators are journalists or influencers who are paid to promote a product or storyline. The Reuters study found 64 per cent of those aged 18–24 consume news daily, compared with 87 per cent of over-55s. There also seems to be a disconnect between younger people’s interests and what is reported by traditional media. Nearly one-third of 18–24


year-olds (31 per cent) believe their generation is


not covered sufficiently in the news, compared with 20 per cent of those aged 35–54. “Young people are asking


how they fit into that world,” says Craig Robertson, a research fellow at Oxford. “It can feel quite alienating.” The report, published in


March, suggests a lack of young voices in newsrooms may be a reason why coverage is seen as failing to represent younger generations fairly. “Newsrooms are quite


cautious about experimenting too much but there is some necessary tinkering that needs to go on,” adds Robertson.


Evie Flynn, who works on the Southwark News and sister publication the South Londoner


towards us as we have a traditional newsroom where they can be among other more experienced journalists and


learn the trade.” More young journalists are learning on the job. Izzy Lepone joined the LocalGov news website as entry-level assistant editor in 2025, roughly two years after leaving


university. Editors believed that what she did not already know about local government, she would quickly learn. Lepone’s interest in journalism grew while she was at


university, where she wrote for two student magazines, and she is keen to explore the full range of media. “Writing is my passion but multimedia is the way forward,”


she says. “People’s attention spans are changing and young people are looking for short-form content.” It remains to be seen whether the many options open to


journalists are enough to attract more young people, especially those who believe news should be more focused on their generation and want to tell stories via video while being less reliant on the written word. While this also means journalists are developing a higher


profile and jostling for attention with influencers and others on social media, young reporters such as Flynn see it as the media moving with the times, perhaps helping to diversify the profession.


“There is a shift in the way that people get information


about current affairs towards TikTok and Instagram,” she says. “Mainstream news organisations need to jump onto those trends.”


theJournalist | 15


SOUTH LONDonER April 2026 • Issue 46


South London saunas and ice baths


Freight roars into Brixton nightlife


stand up and be counted


KATE CHEKA JOINS A HOST OF COMEDIANS FOR DULWICH FESTIVAL


Forty years of Peckham Theatre


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