Young adults meet the teams shaping ST’s youth content at fifth Conversations with ST

SINGAPORE – Young adults got a behind-the-scenes look at how The Straits Times connects with younger readers at the fifth edition of Conversations with ST.

During the event held at the SPH Media News Centre in Toa Payoh on Nov 1, participants between the ages of 18 and 30 interacted with the people behind three of ST’s young audience initiatives – G&M Explain TikTok channel,

The Usual Place Podcast

and the Unpacked newsletter.

Journalists Wong Yang and Christie Chiu, who front G&M Explain, explained how they break down complex current affairs topics into digestible explainers on social media.

The Usual Place Podcast host Natasha Zachariah spoke about engaging young Singaporeans through candid conversations on issues that matter to them, while Ms Goh Yan Han, co-creator of Unpacked, discussed how

the weekly newsletter

offers readers fresh perspectives on politics and policy.

Similar to

the third session held in May

for young professionals, this event for young adults was also open to the public.

Earlier sessions in the year-long Conversations with The Straits Times series were by invitation only. The first event in January brought together individuals from non-profit organisations, while the second in March engaged junior college students. The

fourth in July

featured business executives.

These sessions aim to facilitate candid discussions between ST and its audiences, offering readers a chance to interact directly with the newsroom and gain insights into its work.

Younger audience appreciates variety of digital products

One of the participants, Mr Trevor Thai, 28, who works in the social services sector, said that he has been reading ST since his secondary school days, and is happy to see how ST has evolved to better engage with younger audiences through its digital offerings.

“There’s a lot more online content now, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. For most young people, news is primarily consumed digitally or through social media, so branching out into different formats and programmes is a good way to reach more young people and get the message out,” he said.

Mr Thai added that he especially enjoys the G&M Explain videos, which present complex topics in a palatable way. “I enjoy the visual cues they use in the videos. I find it’s easy to digest. They take topics that tend to be more dry, more serious, and turn it into something relatable,” he said.

Mr Thai, a politics enthusiast, said the videos have deepened his understanding of current affairs. He believes they hold the potential to spark greater interest and awareness of local politics among young Singaporeans. “When they cover the history behind policy decisions... I think younger audiences will be more inclined to understand issues from these bite-size videos rather than reading long-form news updates,” he said.

The Usual Place Podcast’s Ms Zachariah said it was encouraging to hear from the young audience about how they liked the way topics were framed on the programme.

Feedback on how to improve the podcast was also useful, she said, with some of it aligning with ongoing discussions about future episodes.

“They want to hear from people who are under-represented. Someone also suggested having a biographical podcast where they hear about a person’s life in a podcast format instead of reading about it in a book,” she said.

Mr Sean Chiu, 25, a fifth-year medical student, said he enjoys ST’s young audience initiatives, which cater to digital natives, who often consume news more passively through social media and their peers rather than actively seek it out.

During the focus group discussions, he learnt about the Unpacked newsletter, and how it seeks to break down the biggest stories of the week, providing insight and context for readers who may not have the time to delve into each story individually.

He said younger audiences would appreciate more of the writer’s opinions and voices coming through to foster trust and an ongoing relationship. “It’s not a scarcity of facts or reporting, but more so the relationship. That’s why it’s important to connect personally with a news source, through their voices and opinions... It makes things more authentic and engaging,” said Mr Chiu.

Ms Goh, an assistant news editor at ST, launched Unpacked with correspondent Ng Wei Kai in February. She said it was heartening to hear that readers enjoyed the more casual tone of the newsletter in explaining the bigger picture behind local politics and policy.

“One person said reading it feels like you have a friend who happens to also be a political journalist telling you why you should care about the news while taking you on this journey in local politics,” she said.

Ms Goh added that the discussions were also helpful in planning for the newsletter’s next phase of growth and outreach as participants shared where they get their news from, and how they get drawn into reading topics that may seem dry at first.

“We got feedback that they would like to access our content more through social media, and get to know us more personally through events like these,” she said.

The sixth and final session of Conversations with ST, involving parents, is slated to be held in December.