Lecturers get an inside look into how news for youth is made at ST News Literacy Champions event

SINGAPORE – Lecturers from tertiary institutions got an inside look at how everything from tongue-in-cheek TikToks to viral videos covering Parliament and the 2025 General Election were made, from some of the main faces behind ST’s news coverage for youth, on Sept 28.

Journalist Wong Yang, also known as “Gerry” from ST’s “Gerry and Mandy” short-form video series, said: “The demands have really changed – younger audiences want their news to be fast, engaging, relatable and digestible. News might also be something they prefer to watch rather than read.

“It’s made me think about telling stories visually and in a way that speaks to viewers more sincerely, instead of telling them ‘here’s what you need to know’.”

Executive producer Farzanah Friday said: “Creating content for our young audiences requires us to stay updated on fast-evolving trends and the topics that matter most to our young, while also experimenting with different content styles helps us identify what fits best.”

The 1½-hour workshop held on Sept 28 at News Centre in Toa Payoh North, was attended by 41 lecturers from the polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education.

The event was part of this year’s edition of the ST News Literacy Champions programme — a free, year-long programme that supports lecturers so they can better infuse current affairs and build news literacy in their classrooms.

Lecturers who participate in the programme receive curated resource packages individually tailored to the modules they teach and free ST subscriptions to be able to better integrate the news into their daily teaching.

Attending lecturers said that they found the event helpful in learning about how to use news in the classroom.

Charlotte Char, a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s Centre for Foundational Studies, said: “It was a great opportunity to find out more about how to engage young people with the news.

“We already use some video content in our classroom, but we may want to have another look at the type and length of the videos that we use as a hook for our lessons.”

Rebecca Lim, a lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences added that she noticed the way her students consume the news had been changing.

She said: “Sometimes, it’s a struggle for (our students) to read long-form articles so I really liked the suggestion of using videos as a hook so our students engage with different forms of media.”

For James Sharpe, a lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Film and Media Studies, the session was reassurance that “the direction that the industry is headed in is in line with the young journalists in the mass communication diploma and the content they want to create”.

He added that the session was also a chance for him to connect with other educators: “Educational institutions tend to be quite siloed so being able to come together and hear questions from like-minded educators is very fascinating and positive.”

ST editor Jaime Ho said: “We’ve been working with polytechnic and ITE lecturers over the past year with the aim of making news and current affairs more relatable to younger people.”

“We’re of course deeply aware that as with others, younger Singaporeans will get their news from a wide variety of sources and formats, especially on social and video platforms. We’re therefore collaborating with these lecturers to help young people evoke an interest in the world around them, and to understand how to engage on each of these platforms through which they get their news.”

Dillon Loh is a journalist covering the youth beat at The Straits Times.