By Sibahle Zuma
Like most people my age, I don’t wake up to the old-age tradition of buying a newspaper or having one delivered to my doorstep to understand the world around me. I wake up to notifications from TikTok, Instagram, X and sometimes Facebook.
World events now arrive sandwiched between “get ready with me” videos, grocery hauls, makeup tutorials and celebrity gossip. Somewhere between a skincare routine and a five-second meme, I learn about elections, wars, corruption scandals and climate disasters.
But what actually makes me stop scrolling and pay attention?
Usually, it’s a compelling hook: a TikTok explainer breaking down a complicated political issue in under two minutes, or a well-designed Instagram carousel explaining why a global event should matter to me personally. For many Gen Z audiences, news has to compete with an endless stream of content engineered to capture our attention. Relevance, immediacy and accessibility matter more than ever.
We are a generation that consumes information in short bursts. We move quickly from one piece of content to the next, constantly navigating an online ecosystem designed to keep us engaged, entertained and scrolling. There is, of course, a broader conversation to be had about what this means for our attention spans, our relationship with information and even our emotional capacity to process the constant flow of global crises.
The more urgent question for news organisations is this: if Gen Z audiences are still consuming news, just differently, how do media organizations adapt? Where do young audiences actually find the news? What kinds of stories resonate with them? And perhaps most importantly, do they believe journalism is worth paying for?
The way Gen Z consumes news is not just a personal observation. It is part of a much larger global shift in audience behaviour. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 40% of people aged 18–24 globally use TikTok for news, while 39% of young audiences access news primarily through social media platforms rather than directly through news websites or apps. Younger audiences increasingly prefer visual, short-form, personality-driven content that feels accessible and easy to engage with.
But while these trends are global, they take on a particular shape on the African continent, where internet accessibility, high data costs, unemployment and distrust in institutions shape how young people engage with journalism online.
In her dissertation The News Consumption Habits of Generation Z in Johannesburg, Siyathemba Ben found that platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp are now central to how young people encounter news. Many respondents described discovering news passively while scrolling, often relying on algorithms and short-form explainers rather than intentionally visiting news websites.
At the same time, the research revealed an important contradiction: despite preferring social-first news formats, young audiences still value credibility deeply. News24 emerged as one of the most trusted news brands among respondents, while concerns about misinformation, bias and sensationalism were repeatedly raised.
I found similar patterns in a small Instagram poll I conducted among my followers. I asked three simple questions: where do they find their news, what kinds of stories interest them and do they pay for the news they consume?
A large portion of respondents said they were particularly interested in international relations and understanding South Africa’s position on the global stage. Many expressed a desire to understand how international events affect their day-to-day lives locally. Al Jazeera, Daily Maverick and News24 emerged as some of the most trusted news outlets among respondents, alongside TikTok videos and Instagram reels.
What stood out, however, was that traditional news outlets often appeared secondary to social media platforms. In many cases, social media was where respondents first encountered a story, while established news organizations were used later to verify the credibility of the information.
The most revealing responses emerged when I asked whether they paid for news.
None of the respondents said they currently pay for the news they consume.
One follower told me: “I will never pay for the news. If a story is behind a paywall on News24, I know I can find it elsewhere for free.”
Another said: “I do not pay for the news due to the cost of living. I am prioritising food over the news.”
These responses reveal a difficult reality for news organizations attempting to attract younger audiences. Gen Z audiences are not disengaged from news. In fact, many consume large amounts of information daily. The challenge is that we have grown up in a digital ecosystem where information feels immediate, abundant and, most importantly, free.
This raises an uncomfortable question for the future of journalism, particularly on the African continent: if younger audiences increasingly expect information to be free, how do news organizations sustain themselves?
For Gen Z audiences, the internet has normalised unlimited access to information. We grew up in an era where news competes not only with other news outlets, but with influencers, podcasters, YouTubers, streamers and content creators who often explain complex issues in ways that feel more conversational, accessible and emotionally engaging than traditional journalism.
In many cases, younger audiences are not just comparing journalism to other journalism. They are comparing it to the entire internet.
That has fundamentally changed how younger audiences perceive value.
A subscription to a news outlet is no longer competing solely against another newspaper or broadcaster. It is competing against free TikTok explainers, Instagram reels, YouTube commentary channels, podcasts, WhatsApp voice notes and algorithmically curated feeds that deliver information instantly and endlessly.
For many young Africans, paying for news also collides with economic reality. In contexts shaped by unemployment, rising living costs, expensive mobile data and financial insecurity, paying for multiple digital subscriptions can feel unrealistic. Journalism may still be valued, but it is often viewed as a luxury rather than a necessity.
This creates a difficult paradox for news organizations. Gen Z audiences still care deeply about current events. We want to understand politics, social justice movements, global conflicts, climate change and how these issues shape our futures. We are informed, opinionated and constantly connected.
But loyalty looks very different for our generation.
We no longer consume news from one platform, one publication, or one broadcaster alone. Instead, we move fluidly across platforms, piecing together information from creators, journalists, social media feeds, podcasts and traditional news outlets simultaneously. Trust is no longer automatically inherited from institutions. It is constantly negotiated, verified and tested in real time. The challenge for African media organisations, then, is not simply attracting Gen Z audiences. It is convincing younger audiences that credible journalism still offers something valuable in an internet ecosystem overflowing with free information. The future of journalism may depend less on whether Gen Z cares about the news, and more on whether newsrooms are willing to rethink how trust, relevance and value are built in a digital generation.