Methodology

News for the Next Generation Research Study

Who carried out the study, and who was surveyed?

The News for the Next Generation study was commissioned by NewsBrands Ireland and conducted independently by the research agency Colourtext.  It is based on a 2024 study carried out in the UK by Newsworks.

A nationally representative sample of 2,000 young people aged 16–29 across the Republic of Ireland took part. Fieldwork ran online between 21st of May and 5th of July, with quotas for age and gender to ensure accuracy.

In addition to the large-scale survey, we carried out eight in-depth qualitative video interviews with young people from across Ireland. These one-to-one conversations added rich, first-hand perspectives, helping to explain not just what young people are doing, but why they think and behave the way they do.

When the research talks about ‘news’, what exactly was meant by that?

Respondents were allowed to define “news” for themselves. To test this, we asked an open question: “Can you name the biggest news story right now?” This ensured responses reflected real-world awareness rather than researcher definitions.

How were ‘news brands’ defined?

In the survey, we presented respondents with a list of 30 Irish news brands to establish a shared definition. From there, we asked how often they engaged with any of these.

How did the survey measure news engagement?

Colourtext created an innovative Smart-Recall methodology, designed to overcome the limitations of traditional recall surveys. It combines:

• 24-hour time-bounded recall – limiting memory errors.
• Critical incident recall – anchoring answers to major headlines of the day.
• Unprompted and prompted recognition – e.g. 81% could recall a top story unaided; 94% recognised real headlines when shown.
• Bias control – normalising “not sure” responses to avoid over-claiming.

This blended approach gives a much truer picture of young people’s actual behaviour

The findings show that news brand engagement is strong, with 8 in 10 young people engaging with established news brands every week. The figure includes all formats of Irish news media brands — print, news websites, news apps, and crucially, their social media channels. For most young people, social is the gateway — but what they are engaging with is still the journalism of trusted Irish news media.

Irish news brands have strong presences on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter/X and more, keeping them in weekly contact with the majority of 16–29-year-olds.

Q: How was the segmentation of the youth news audience carried out?

A: The segmentation was based on revealed preferences rather than demographics alone. Instead of asking people to describe themselves, we looked at how they actually engaged with news.

Respondents were shown a set of 37 real news headlines — spanning breaking news, crime, political analysis, investigative journalism, features/lifestyle, interviews, and more — and asked to choose which stories genuinely interested them. This “revealed preference” approach let us go beyond posturing or social signalling to capture what truly resonates.

We then analysed these choices in combination with wider measures of consumption levels, trust, attitudes, motivations, and user needs. By clustering young people based on these behaviours and outlooks, six distinct audience segments emerged. Each group reflects not just how much news they consume, but why they consume it, what they look for in journalism, and how news fits into their daily lives.

The result is a set of nuanced, behaviour-driven personas that go far deeper than age, gender, or demographics — providing a powerful map of Ireland’s youth news landscape.

*************************************************************************************************************************

For further questions on the research, please contact:

Lisa Buckley, NewsBrands Ireland lbuckley@newsbrands.ie

Download Full Report