In January 2021, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center shared highlights from the By/With/For Youth: Inspiring Next Gen Public Media Audiences project at the 2021 NETA Annual Conference and CPB Thought Leader Forum.

1. Tweens and Teens:
Public Media’s Missing
Audience

2. Today’s
Presenters
2
Michael
Preston
Maribel
Lopez
(TPT)
Monica
Bulger
Mary
Madden
Rafi
Santo

3. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center
A nonprofit research and
innovation lab within
Sesame Workshop that
innovates and advocates
for children in a rapidly
evolving media landscape

4. From the “vast wasteland” …

5. … a powerful
experiment
to leverage the
strengths of
public media
for children’s
learning

6. Why tweens and teens?
▪ Critical years for identity
formation, independence,
decisions about interests,
relationships, and more
▪ Tend to be overserved by
media and often underserved
with quality content
▪ Broader audience implications
for public media

7. More than previous generations, Gen Z is …
❏ Racially and ethnically diverse
❏ On a path to higher education
❏ Empowered and focused on the big issues
❏ Likely to embrace changing definitions of family,
gender, and sexuality
❏ Truly digitally native

12. Introducing “Next Gen Public Media”
▪Conduct and translate
current youth media research
▪Support station learning,
design, and collaboration
▪Help the public media
community engage young
audiences

13. Today’s
Presenters
13
Michael
Preston
Maribel
Lopez
(TPT)
Monica
Bulger
Mary
Madden
Rafi
Santo

15. Methods informed by lit review &
consultation findings
Influence of video
Popularity of how-to videos not typically
found in public media offerings. Opportunity
to consider what info-seeking behaviors can
be predicted, supported, and responded to.
Multiple digital divides
Differences persist in frequency, privacy, speed
of access, devices used/shared. Additional
differences exist in representation and media
literacy. Shift from broadcast media reality to
networked one risks amplifying access
disparities.
Goals beyond entertainment
Choice of media to engage or platform to use can
be a means to accomplish social, cultural, and
political goals. Entertainment and
communication are primary, but learning new
skills and seeking info also significant.
15
Incidental news
Youth engage with media in ways that
dissolve traditional boundaries. Youth
consume small chunks of news from
multiple sources (with varying degrees of
journalistic rigor).

16. Who we interviewed:
● 50 youth aged 10-17, including voices from diverse groups of
youth not adequately represented in media research.
● Recruited participants from nine sites in the northeast,
midwest, south, and west + rural, urban & suburban areas.
● Interviews were typically in groups of 3-5 via Zoom, and
lasted one hour on average.
●

17. What we talked about:
● How they spend their time, what they find interesting, how
they find new stuff, who they spend their time with
● What issues are important to them
● Understanding of and experiences with public media
● How this moment is different, changes due to the pandemic
● Advice for public media stations + misconceptions adults
have about teens that is evident in programming

18. Emerging
themes and
opportunities...
18

19. 19
● Video creation and consumption is fluid and not
always named as such (Netflix has shows, YouTube is
for videos, and TikToks are their own format).
● TikTok personalized “For You” recommendations
mentioned by many as how they find videos; usually
first place they find news events.
● Gaming remains especially popular with boys, driving
much of their video interest as well (following gaming
channels, etc.).
● Binge watching becoming more of a norm.
Theme #1
Where teens mostly spend their time:
Video dominates

20. “I like to go on my phone or the
computer and just watch YouTube or
play Minecraft. One of my friends
plays it and she taught me.”
--11-year-old girl,
Knox County, Illinois
“I usually listen to music and play
Among Us or Minecraft, or Roblox,
games like that.”
--12-year-old non-binary,
Ventura, California
“In my free time, I just like to draw,
play games, and also watch videos. I
really like to watch videos that have
to do [with] programming and
drawing.”
--11-year-old boy,
Bronx, New York

21. ● How-to videos are widely used for self-driven
learning, older platforms like Pinterest are
regaining popularity for kids interested in crafting,
cooking, design, etc.
● Learn new skills via video, including crafting,
playing music, creating videos, completing college
apps
● Find answers to stuff they don’t want to talk about
with parents and peers (e.g., accounts on TikTok
address puberty, gender norms, questions about
sex, also empowerment and confidence)
21
Popularity of how-to & advice videos

22. “I usually watch YouTube videos, and I think I’ve
been studying a lot of stuff for Japanese &
Russian ‘cause I’m trying to learn those two
languages right now.”
--11-year-old girl,
Bossier City, Louisiana

23. “I used to watch videos to help me do some
homework… I watch it from Youtube
sometimes.”
--10-year-old boy,
Bronx, New York

24. “I like to go on my phone, and I also just started
learning how to embroider, so...I’ve been look up
stuff on Youtube and Pinterest and learning.”
--13-year-old girl, Knox County, Illinois

25. “I learn a lot of art tricks and techniques off of
TikTok and Instagram and YouTube.”
--13-year-old girl,
Pasco County, Florida

26. ● “What is that?” Public media as a term doesn’t
resonate with youth, even among those who had
previous experience with programming.
● Those with prior public media experience have
positive associations, but most dropped off in early
elementary school.
26
Theme #2 Youth understanding of public media

27. Value proposition of “free” in context of public
media vs. YouTube or TikTok unclear to youth.
Cannot distinguish between ‘you’re the
product’ vs. public good.

28. “Usually, I do not pay, but recently, I don't know
if you've heard of it, the documentary on Netflix
'A Social Dilemma?' Yeah, it makes sense. It said
that you are the product. If the product is free,
you are the product. So that does make sense to
me. I do believe in that theory, but sometimes I
do pay for content, like content that not
everyone can access, so sometimes I do pay for
that kind of stuff.”
--13-year-old girl,
Ventura, California

29. 29
● Representation: would like to see programs on
real teen issues (confidence, gender roles,
empowerment), played by teens (e.g., Grand Army
or early Degrassi instead of High School Musical)
● Assumptions about teen lives: “we’re not all the
same”; not all teens like gaming, not all teens want
to be constantly connected
● Safe space for ‘objective’ info + discussion: by
teens, for teens
Theme #3 Youth advice for public media

30. “I think it would be more fun if they
had craft and cooking shows for kids.
I’d like them to have more shows
about using technology.”
--11-year-old girl,
Knox County, Illinois
“I think they need more music-related
things. If I could make something I
would make a guitar teaching show.”
--11-year-old boy,
Knox County, Illinois

31. “I've seen on TikTok a lot of accounts where they will
talk about history...the most recent one I saw was
about Christopher Columbus, and just talking about
how bad of a man he was. And I did a project on him
in sixth grade, so I was able to know about that, but
then I looked at the comments, everybody was like, ‘I
had no idea about this, school didn't teach me this.’ So
I think it'd be great if somebody could create content
about the actual things that are going on behind
people.”
--14-year-old girl, San Antonio, Texas

32. ● Space where ‘likes’ don’t matter: “that’s kind of
something I don’t like about TikTok… kids will do
anything to get attention.” (14-year-old girl, Texas)
● Space outside the outrage machine: teens seem
to like drama in shows, but not in their info
sources, becomes exhausting. Some mention
watching comedy like Jimmy Kimmel...
● Space for trusted info: teens are aware they
need to be on their guard when visiting pretty
much everything, role for public media to be
trusted space.
32
Reading between the lines: advice
for public media

33. “To be honest, I watch Youtube about it...
also Fox and CNN to see two different
points of views.”
--17-year-old boy,
Brooklyn, New York

34. “I look to New York Times, Fox News...stuff
that aren’t opinion based.”
--15-year-old girl,
San Antonio, Texas

35. “Greta Thunberg motivates and inspires
me a lot. I love speaking about things that
aren’t right, make my voice heard. She’s
doing what a lot of politicians way older
than us can’t do.”
--15-year-old girl,
Bronx, New York

36. Kids are grateful for a chance to be heard:
surprised that we were taking their opinions
seriously. A space where public media can
differentiate from YouTube, etc., is adults
taking seriously what kids have to say.
Our method as model
Theme #4

37. “I would want to do this again because I feel that
it would help create things more for our age and
help companies realize what we're into. ”
--14-year-old girl, Bossier City, Louisiana

38. “...the older and older the adult is, they seem to
be... they are more out of touch, basically. They
don't know that we're moving away from this
one thing. The stuff that we're looking at is
constantly changing. The funny videos and
pictures we're looking at online are constantly
changing and going out of date.”
--14-year-old boy, Bossier City, Louisiana

39. 39
● Interviews allowed insight into home lives &
realities of daily tech use: Zoom meetings
happened in hallways, kitchens, bedrooms
● Zoom literacy: turn-taking, mute etiquette, family
members speaking off camera, virtual
backgrounds
● Shuttering of outreach and outside of school
programs
● Settling into different affordances of tech, better
understanding strengths & limitations
Bonus:
Theme #5
Unique to this moment….

40. “I feel like changes have taught us to
adapt because we used to use our
media a lot, but for random reasons
like Snapchat, we would just joke
around, Instagram, same thing,
Facebook. I don’t think we’re into
Facebook like that anymore.
For TikTok, we also used it as like
jokes and giggles but we also use it as
an information center, like we have
doctors on there. We have therapists.
It’s like an all-in-one basically for
social media. We learned how to use it
not only for entertainment purposes,
but for informational purposes as
well.”
--17-year-old girl,
Bronx, New York

41. Stay tuned!

42. Listening to and Learning from Stations
Station &
Stakeholder
Interviews
Program
Documentation
Reviews
Participatory
Strategy Ideation
Sessions

43. 43
What are we building
on from within public
media and what do
we need to consider
about station
context to do this
work?
What are we
building on from
within public
media and what
do we need to
consider about
station context
to do this work?
What should be
our north star
when it comes to
teen/tween
focused work in
public media?
How might public
media work
together as a
coordinated
network to drive
this work forward?
Listening to and Learning from Stations

44. The public media
community is not
starting from
scratch in the
realm of teens and
tweens - there are
vibrant programs
already in place in
stations across the
country.
Direct
service
to youth
Serving youth
through partners
Mass media and
digital media
Listening to and Learning from Stations

45. Program models:
▪ Educational program facilitation
▪ Job placement and training
Direct
service
to youth
Example programs:
Listening to and Learning from Stations

46. Serving youth
through partners
Program models:
▪ Educational curriculum and program model
development
▪ Educational media content production
▪ Educational technology platform production
(for educator use)
▪ Educator professional development
▪ Educational program facilitation (via
community partner)
▪ Distribution networks (educational and
general media, curriculum)
Example
programs:
Listening to and Learning from Stations

47. Mass media
and digital media
Program models:
▪ Educational technology platform production
(for youth use)
▪ Teen/tween produced media content for adult
audiences
▪ Teen/tween produced media content for
youth audiences
▪ Educational media content distribution
network
▪ General media content distribution network
▪ Teen/tween focused media content
production
Example
programs:
Listening to and Learning from Stations

48. Strengths to
Build On
Stations saw assets within
the current public media
system that could be drawn
in as the field developed
new work around teen/tween
engagement.
Content, platforms,
programs, and
initiatives for
youth already exist
and are growing in
our organizations.
Stations have connections
with schools and educators
Public media has
a trustworthy
reputation
(broadly)
Strong partnerships &
collaborations exist
and are possible
Public media already
focuses on civics, a critical
area of current need and
interest among teens
Media
distribution
systems are
established that
youth can tap
into to have
voice and
reach
Stations have an
existing focus on
underserved
communities
with high needs
Stations have
in-house
capability to
produce
media/content
Listening to and Learning from Stations

49. ▪ Prioritization - Youth programming needs to become a strategic
priority at stations in order to flourish
▪ Structure - Standard funding, feedback, and outreach models
were built with adults, not youth, in mind
▪ Heterogeneity - Needs and missions differ station to station;
there is not one youth strategy for all stations
▪ Capacity - Most stations are new to youth programming and need
support in focusing on a new audience
▪ Collaboration - Partnerships matter a lot, but in different ways
Attending to
Station Context
As we looked across
what stations shared
within interviews
and in the strategy
design sessions, we
observed five key
themes that related
to station context
and youth focused
work:
Listening to and Learning from Stations

50. How should
we think about
our vision for
teens and
tween work?
Values
Action
????
?
Listening to and Learning from Stations

51. 51

52. What did we hear from the stations we
engaged with?
Listening to and Learning from Stations

53. 53
Youth
Developmental
Health and Uplift
Deepening
Youth
Perspectives
Advancing
Media Literacy
Power, Voice,
and Civic Action
Youth Economic
Mobility and
Career
Readiness
Transforming
Public Media
Content
Expanding
Public Media
Audiences and
Sustainability
Strengthening
Public Media's
Youth Capacity
Strengthen and
Transform K12
Institutions &
Pedagogy
Promoting
Justice,
Reducing
Inequities
Rethinking
Stations for the
21st Century
Changing the
Face of Public
Media Workers
NextGen Visions for Impact Themes

54. 54
Critical Consideration:
Nature of Visions
● Not all visions operated at the same level of activity.
● Some visions were ‘upstream’ from others when taken
from the perspective of a classic logic model.
● For example...
...are best understood as an ‘inputs’
towards a variety of other outcomes
and goals that are ‘downstream’ from
them.
Transforming
Public Media
Content
Strengthening
Public Media's
Youth Capacity

55. 55
Critical Consideration:
Nature of Visions
● Some have some pretty big assumptions in them about
how different types of interventions could lead to the
outcomes they care about.
● For example...
...the ‘sustainability’ element of this
theme potentially has a big
assumption that if we expand public
media audiences to include youth,
that will lead to an expanded donor
base down the line.
Expanding
Public Media
Audiences and
Sustainability

56. How might public media work together as a
coordinated network to drive this work forward?
What new forms of
infrastructure or new
field-wide initiatives
that might support...
Experimentation
around new content, programs,
and technologies
Collective learning and
improvement around those
efforts
Spread and scale of
those innovations
and content
Listening to and Learning from Stations

57. ▪ Importance of a “Backbone” supporting collective action and
innovation
▪ Teens and tweens as network actors
▪ Network as mechanism for aggregation of youth-produced
content
▪ Network as mechanism for spreading and scaling teen/tween
approaches
▪ Engaging local and national stakeholders outside of public
media
▪ Sub-networks and specialization
Looking across the
ideas generated in
by public media
stakeholders we
engaged with,
number of themes
emerged when it
came to how public
media could act as
a coordinated
network around
teen/tween work.
Listening to and Learning from Stations

58. Stay tuned!
We’ll be releasing a
report on our
engagement and
perspectives from
public media
stakeholders in the
coming months.
Teens and
Tweens:
A New Frontier
for Public Media

59. Synthesize and share out
Explore ways to integrate and inform strategies
Don’t do it alone! Find allies
Champion and advocate at all levels
Stay curious and informed
This work is being done to support us!
Let’s make the most of it.
Leveraging NGPM at TPT
(and your station!)

60. See more at cooneycenter.org/blog
60

61. Thank you!
▪ Sign up for updates: bit.ly/ngpm-neta
▪ Follow us: @cooneycenter
▪ Contact us: cooney.center@sesame.org
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