Amanda Little

Last year dealt heavy blows to the American news industry — with turmoil in legacy newsrooms, local papers disappearing, the collapse of BuzzFeed and other digital news giants, and major firings and record-low audiences at cable news outlets. 

But breakdown, as the adage goes, can hasten breakthrough, and in 2023, a new generation of American journalists demonstrated significant talent and promise. Gen Z college students produced landmark reporting, revealing important truths about what it will take to sustain and modernize an industry vital to our democracy in 2024.

Student journalists exposed misconduct, divulged fraudulent research and revealed toxic leadership practices at the Universities of Pennsylvania and North Carolina and at Stanford, Columbia, Northwestern, Harvard, and beyond. Their dogged investigations led to the removal of an eminent university president and an iconic football coach. They chronicled the traumas of a campus shooting, disclosed dubious funding streams, and repeatedly scooped local and national news. All while attending classes and knocking out their homework.

As an undergraduate journalism professor, I’ve interviewed many of these young reporters and know not only how valuable their work is, but also how difficult and jeopardized it is. It’s necessary for all of us with roles in higher education — alums, administrators, board members, and philanthropists — to protect and support independent student publications and expand journalism programming on campuses nationwide.

“Students have access to more and bigger stories and audiences than we ever have, but we’re also facing more difficulties,” Stanford sophomore Theo Baker told me. Baker, 18, examined the manipulated scientific research of the university’s former president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, revealing evidence that led to his resignation. Baker received a prestigious Polk Award but also said he was harassed, shunned by professors, threatened with lawsuits, and smeared on social media. “Journalists are a cancer on society,” one peer posted.

We can’t forget that student journalism is the seedbed of the American news industry. If we want a vibrant free press — and, for that matter, a functioning democracy — we need to pay closer attention to both the successes and needs of student publications and make significant investments in expanding journalism curricula and programming.

The American news industry needs young, digital-native talent. Sure, Gen Z’s preoccupation with social media may seem more disruptive to journalism than beneficial, but many college journalists are using it discerningly and to their advantage. Emmy Martin, editor-in-chief of the Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, oversaw the coverage of the campus shooting that was shared with millions by President Joe Biden, among other notable figures. The Daily Tar Heel’s audience surged beyond the UNC campus and now reaches more than 63,000 followers on X, 43,000 on Instagram, and has more than 85,000 likes on TikTok.

“It’s good for newspapers to have to adapt,” Martin told me. “We can be creative while still fact-checking, discovering the truth, and serving the public good.”

Molly Cohen, who helped break the story in the student newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, about the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania’s former president Liz Magill, said, “Our use of social media has made the news a lot more accessible, meeting our audiences where they are. We’re getting better and better at creating gateways to full-length journalism.”

And this goes beyond demonstrating social media savvy and holding college administrators accountable. As Miles Herszenhorn, managing editor of the Harvard Crimson, put it: “What are we as college newspapers if not local media outlets? Our campus news coverage matters, but our Metro reporting also fills a vacuum.”

For all their successes, these students are struggling. Baker at the Stanford Daily told me his paper is losing burnt-out staff while it gains renown. He isn’t even sure he wants to enter the journalism profession. “It’s inhospitable, relentless… doesn’t pay very well, and there’s not much job security,” he said.

Martin, who leads a team of 350 at the Daily Tar Heel, says she’s seen a spike in applications to join her staff “but also more turnover, more people feeling the toll of the coverage.” The future success of her program, she says, “mostly comes down to funding.”

Martin pays her editors small stipends, but her budget, largely supported by alums and ad revenue, does not allow for writers to get paid. Nor do students get academic credit for their newspaper work. That’s the reality at nearly every student publication, and it needs to change. Valuing student journalism academically and monetarily would help overcome the glaring barrier to entry that often keeps low-income and minoritized students from entering the field.

This is where alums, board members, and foundations can come in. We need to help provide supporting grants to pay students for this essential work. Moreover, college administrators should be recruiting high school journalists as avidly as they recruit high school athletes — drawing in a diverse cohort of young journalistic talent with dedicated scholarships.

We should also be supporting organizations, such as the Student Press Law Center, that provide legal resources to protect student journalists from administrative censorship. And while the demand for undergraduate and graduate journalism programming is growing, this curricula is often outdated. In addition to traditional research and reporting skills, colleges, and high schools should be investing more heavily in teaching next-level applications of videography, infographic design, podcasting, and social media. We must educate students on how to use TikTok, Instagram, and X as platforms for responsible citizen journalism.

This new year brings with it a high-stakes national election and escalating wars. Bolstering the profile and integrity of American news media is a necessary investment to meet the moment. And the industry’s best hope lies in Gen Z. There’s urgent work to be done to bring them into the fold.

Amanda Little is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering agriculture and climate. She is a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of “The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World.”