The Low-Down on the Town Hall Meeting

A group of 11 esteemed professionals in the news industry gathered for a Town Hall style panel as part of the daylong Millennials and News Summit on Nov.11 to discuss the challenges and future of journalism and journalism education. While most of the panelists agree that there is a problem with news consumption among Millennials, there was disagreement about the extent of the problem.

“We need to do a better job and stop treating them [Millennials] like citizens “lite,”’ said Tim Lott, Vice President of Audience Strategy at the Austin-American Statesman.

Patti Smith, President of KVUE-TV, disagreed, stating that it was less about the content, and more about delivery when it comes youth audiences. “The day the shooter was on UT, we did 79000 streams of coverage. When the news is important, they’ll come to it. We can make it engaging, but it is much more about the vehicle we are using.”

According to Wanda Cash, Associate Director of UT School of Journalism, a possible solution to the problem is to focus more on getting the attention of millennials.

“If you look at news from twenty years ago and today, you realize that not much as change. Why don’t we innovate?” suggested Talia Stroud of the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation.

Guest speakers include:
Patti Smith, President and General Manager, KVUE-TV (ABC Affiliate)
Tim Lott, VP, Audience Strategy, Austin American-Statesman
Ken Whalen, Executive Vice President, TDNA (Texas Daily Newspaper Association)
Kevin Benz, News Director, News 8 Austin
Emily Donohue, News Director, KUT Radio 90.5
Talia Stroud, Asst. Director, Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation
Wanda Cash, Associate Director, UT School of Journalism
Tracy Dahlby, Founder, Reporting Texas, UT School of Journalism
Jacie Yang, Texas State Journalism Professor and Smartphones & News Consumption Expert
Omar Gallaga, Statesman Tech Culture Journalist; Contributor, NPR’s All Tech Considered
Elise Hu, Texas Tribune political reporter who focuses on multimedia projects.

Click here to watch the video.