Back in January, we posted our annual set of trends–and while it’s only mid-Feb. as we write this, it feels like many news cycles from when we published our predictions–that a big issue would be lack of trust in the media among teens.

Here’s what we said:

 Young adults already don’t trust traditional media—and there’s a wide gap between news narratives—and tend to turn to social media influencers for insights, even as they recognize that social media may not be reliable. They will increasingly turn to AI for news summaries and decision-making. This will further erode the number of subscribers and journalists, further exacerbating their trust in traditional media.

Editor & Publisher just published a story worth reading that validates our prediction: “Teen distrust of journalism is rising — media literacy may be the industry’s best defense.”

According to the News Literacy Project (NLP) study, there is a massive disconnect between how journalists operate and how teens perceive them. To bridge this gap, the article suggests:

• Make Media Literacy Mandatory: Treat news literacy as a fundamental life skill, ideally as a high school graduation requirement, to give students a “BS detector” for their social feeds.

• Show the “Recipe” Behind the News: Don’t just show the finished story; explain the process of fact-checking, sourcing, and the ethical codes that distinguish professional journalism from a random TikTok influencer.

• Pivot from Cynicism to Skepticism: Teach teens that while it’s good to be a skeptic (verify before believing), total cynicism (assuming everything is a lie) actually makes them more vulnerable to misinformation.

• Humanize the Press: Show teens examples of local journalism that directly impacts their lives. Seeing “people like them” represented accurately builds a bridge of credibility.

• Watch the “Ambient Negativity”: Remind parents and educators that constant, blanket criticism of “the media” at home can inadvertently push kids toward unreliable, fringe information sources.

As part of providing a behind-the-scenes look at our own blog, because we were on deadline for another project, we used Gemini to summarize the recommendations cited in the E&P article. We do think the E&P article and the NLP study are worth reading yourself, and hope they continue to identify next steps to help address trust among readers because we feel a strong, trusted media is critical for democracy.