Gen Z wants the news, just in a more familiar package

By the evening of Oct. 5, 2026, as Quebec counted its final votes, the provincial election had become more than a story about who won. It was also about who would be affected by the result. 

The Parti Québécois’ victory revived the prospect of separation from Canada. For younger Canadians, political decisions can shape housing affordability, economic security, language and identity. Yet traditional political coverage does not always connect these stories to the people most affected by them. 

Montreal-based online news service The Rover has grown its young audience recently by writing their stories.

Christopher Curtis, co-founder of The Rover, said about 60 per cent of its audience is between 18 and 45.

Younger audiences want “good, compelling stories that describe the world that they see,” he said. 

The publication’s audience has grown younger since it expanded its presence on Instagram and YouTube, according to data from a 2026 audience survey shared with The Signal. The survey found that just under 25 per cent of respondents accessed news through Instagram, while nearly 14 per cent did so through YouTube.  

Statistics Canada data shows a generational divide in media consumption, with fewer than half of Canadians aged 15 to 24 turning to traditional outlets for information.

Quebec’s election shows how newsrooms can cover the same event differently. Outlets such as CBC and Global News covered the results and their political consequences, including electoral reform and the swearing-in of Parti Québécois members of the National Assembly. The Montreal-based independent outlet The Rover, meanwhile, examined the election through the experiences of voters. 

In an Oct. 11 episode of its YouTube series, What to Make of the PCQ’s Success, The Rover featured journalist Nora Loreto discussing the party’s rise in the Quebec City region. Rather than focusing primarily on the election’s institutional consequences, the conversation explored why voters turned to the Conservatives, including dissatisfaction with the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and concerns about affordability and transportation. Loreto argued that the results should not necessarily be interpreted as widespread support for the party’s entire platform, but also as a rejection of the political status quo. 

The episode shows how independent outlets can use interview-based formats like videos and podcasts to cover elections. 

University of British Columbia journalism professor Alfred Hermida said political reporting often takes a “horse race” approach, focusing on who is winning, who is losing and what politicians are saying. 

“For me, I think Gen Z wants more than just the facts,” Hermida told The Signal in a Zoom interview. “They want context, they want interpretation.” 

A generational disconnect 

Hermida argues that traditional journalism is still designed for audiences that news organizations already serve. 

“When I look at TV news, when you look at radio, it basically hasn’t changed in the last 30 years,” he said. 

Elyse Amend, a journalism professor at Montreal’s Concordia University, said traditional outlets prioritized older audiences, partly because their advertising was built around them. 

“Traditional news outlets have ignored young people,” Amend told The Signal in a Zoom interview. 

Now, she argues, newsrooms are scrambling to reach audiences they neglected for years. 

Younger Canadians also face different pressures, particularly around housing affordability, climate change and economic insecurity. 

“Boomers don’t have to worry about housing. They bought their houses ages ago,” Hermida said. 

The disconnect, he added, does not mean young people are indifferent to the world. 

“They’re very passionate,” he said. 

The Rover’s Curtis noticed a similar divide during nearly a decade working for The Montreal Gazette. He told The Signal in a Zoom interview that senior newsroom leaders can become distanced from the communities they cover, surrounded instead by journalists, politicians and business leaders.  

He tries to connect younger reporters’ interests and knowledge of their communities to potential stories. 

“There’s not enough young people in newsrooms and there’s not enough people willing to take an honest, serious look at the root causes of our problems, which I think is our economic system,” he said.

For Hermida, reaching younger audiences requires more than putting existing journalism on a new platform. 

“It’s not about appearance. It’s not about format,” he said. “It’s about your approach, your values, whose voice you’re representing (and) things that resonate.” 

Building journalism for Gen Z 

Toronto-based The Green Line is rethinking how journalism is produced by building a newsroom that reflects the audience it hopes to reach.  

Editor-in-chief Anita Li deliberately hired a team made up almost entirely of Gen Z journalists. Her staff ranges from 22 to 28 years old, while Li describes herself as the millennial “odd one out.” 

“If we’re going to speak to this audience, we really need to be of that audience,” Li told The Signal in a Zoom interview. 

About three-quarters of The Green Line’s audience is Gen Z or millennial. The publication focuses on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, but Li said its approach goes beyond platform choice. 

“We’re very rigorous in our journalism. But the way we speak to our audience is quite informal,” she said. 

The newsroom also allows journalists to become recognizable personalities, reflecting younger audiences’ trust in individual creators. Community events give readers opportunities to meet reporters and build relationships with the people producing their news. 

This shift is also influencing journalism education. At Concordia, Amend said courses are adapting through mobile reporting kits and vertical video, reflecting modern journalism platforms. 

She said journalism programs need to rethink how they teach reporting to reflect how younger audiences consume news. 

News fatigue 

Reaching younger audiences also means understanding why some avoid news altogether. 

Li says news fatigue can be a barrier, particularly when constant exposure to distressing stories affects people’s mood. 

According to the 2025 Reuters Digital News Report, 69 per cent of respondents said they had voluntarily restricted their news consumption at least occasionally, while 40 per cent said they did so because of the potential negative effect on their mood.  

The Green Line’s response is not to avoid serious issues, but to show audiences what can be done about them. 

Its Action Journey on Toronto’s housing market examines the issue over several weeks, explaining the problem, exploring existing responses and bringing community members and experts together.  

The series includes resources explaining housing terminology, outlining renters’ rights and helping homeowners navigate available programs. The newsroom also organized a community event where renters, homeowners and housing organizations could discuss challenges and share practical solutions. 

By combining explanatory reporting with community participation, The Green Line connects a systemic issue to readers’ everyday lives. Journalism then becomes something audiences can use, rather than simply consume. 

Li describes the approach as solutions journalism rather than activism: the newsroom reports on existing responses to systemic problems without prescribing answers. 

“It turns a scary thing into something interactive and communal that people can actually wrap their head around,” she said. 

The approach also challenges assumptions about young peoples’ attention spans. 

“Young people don’t have short attention spans,” Hermida said. “They will read long stuff. They will watch a 20-minute video on YouTube if it’s engaging and relevant to them.” 

Curtis agrees that compelling reporting matters more than format. 

“So much of the focus is on the form,” he said. “Like, where will it be? What will it look like? What buzzwords should we use?” 

Ella Macdonald, a digital broadcast journalist with Global News Nova Scotia, has found that social media can help legacy journalism reach people who might otherwise miss it. 

Macdonald began using a professional social media account after realizing that viewers sometimes recognized her from television but were less familiar with her community reporting. 

“In the era of AI, in the era of Meta, it’s more important than ever to create a name for yourself (and to) share that content with a wider audience,” she told The Signal in a phone interview.  

Her social audience is primarily between 25 and 35. Rather than engaging only with short videos, younger viewers often respond to the full television packages she posts. 

“They’re wanting to see a full picture,” Macdonald said. 

The shift, then, may be less about shortening journalism than making substantial reporting easier to find.  

One ecosystem 

That does not mean legacy and digital-first journalism have to compete. 

From 2022 to 2025, The Green Line partnered with CityNews. Li said CityNews wanted to reach younger audiences, while The Green Line was given room to experiment with traditional television formats. 

The Green Line brought TikTok-style transitions, graphics and a more informal presentation to its broadcast packages. Li said her team also learned from experienced CityNews editors, camera operators and presenters. 

For Li, the partnership challenges the idea that emerging media and legacy journalism should be treated as opposing sides. 

“I think it’s like one ecosystem,” she said. 

“I feel like there (are) a lot of opportunities to collaborate and I have a lot of respect for legacy,” Li said. “And I think the way we can all benefit is if we work together more frequently and more consistently.” 

If journalism wants to reach the next generation, the answer may not be choosing between legacy experience and digital experimentation. 

It may be learning how to use both. 

About the author

Claire Kelly

Claire Kelly from Toronto is in her second year at Kings in the BJH program.