So we’ve seen how you can successfully design content for multiple modes — meeting audiences in Scroll, guiding them to Study, enabling Sensemaking.

When I talk to publishers these days, I rarely hear them ask, “How do we adapt our content to our audience” They much more often ask: “Do we need to put a 25-year-old in front of the camera?”

This is the wrong conclusion. And it’s revealing.

What publishers are actually asking is: “If we want our own creators or hosts, how do we find the right talent?” But when I dig deeper, the real question emerges: “How do we bring voices into a newsroom that won’t accept them?”

This isn’t surprising. Newsrooms run on hierarchies. You earn influence. You pay your dues. You work your way up. And if someone’s going to be the face of your organisation, they need credibility with colleagues, not just audiences.

Fair enough. But here’s what I tell publishers:

The question isn’t “How young does this person need to be?” It’s “Does this person understand the platform and can they translate our brand identity to it?”

Sarah Ebner, executive editor and director of editorial growth and engagement at Financial Times, recently shared on LinkedIn:

“I suggested creating FT Explains, a video and written explainer series headed by reporter John Reed and new multimedia producer Henry Esterson. The results have been phenomenal. The latest video ‘Why does Trump want Greenland — in maps’ has had over two million views on Instagram (so far) and led to 30,000 new followers. Fifty percent of viewers were 18-34 — doing exactly what we wanted, while appealing beyond that age range too.”

John Reed is in his 60s. A veteran reporter with deep expertise and strong camera presence. His explainers work because he radiates know-how while speaking the language of the platform.

Age wasn’t the factor. Platform fluency, authenticity, and expertise were.

First: Culture change can’t wait for the next generation to demand it.

The greater the generational mix in your newsroom, the more urgently you need to address outdated hierarchies. Millennials and Gen Z will demand different work cultures anyway — ones less based on “earning” visibility and more on matching skills to opportunities. You can wait for the conflict, or you can get ahead of it.

Second: Stop gatekeeping platforms as “less serious” journalism.

If your best reporters won’t go on camera because they see video as beneath print, or if your TikTok strategy is run by an intern, you’ve already lost. Platform expertise is editorial expertise now. Treat it that way.

Third: Authenticity beats demographics every time.

Audiences don’t want “young people explaining news to young people.” They want people who genuinely know what they’re talking about, speaking in a way that respects the platform’s language. That could be a 25-year-old creator or a 60-year-old reporter who’s done the work to understand how Instagram Reels function.

When you ask “How do we find the right talent?” what you’re really asking is: “Are we willing to change how we value work in this organisation?”

Because the talent is there. The platforms are there. The audiences are there. The question is whether your newsroom culture can make space for them.

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Banner photo: Adobe Stock By Alberto.

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