Wooing Millennials With News

US millennials (aged 18 to 34) are heavy news consumers, according to an August 2015 study by US research initiative The Media Insight Project.

The study contradicts views that this generation is "newsless" and focused on infotainment. Other highlights include:

• Get the Facts: Keeping up with the news is important to 85% of US millennials and 40% pay for digital news services. Millennials primarily source their news through search engines and Facebook, rather than going direct to a website.

• Hot Topics: While Hispanic, African-American and white millennials are similarly interested in news, they tend to follow different topics. Hispanics consume more news on current affairs, science and technology, and the environment than African-Americans. Lifestyle topics are most popular with African-Americans.

• Social-Media Source: All groups rely on Facebook for news and information, with 81% saying they consume news from the social-networking site at least once a week. Hispanic and African-American millennials are more likely to source news on YouTube and Instagram.

• Online Activity: Around half of all US millennials say they are almost always or mostly online and connected. However, different ethnic groups spend this time in different ways: Hispanic millennials are less likely to play games or pursue hobbies online than white millennials.

For more strategies to engage with millennials, see Cannes Lions 2015: Connecting With Millennials, Marketing to Millennial Men and Meet the Millennial Parents.