The Hex Update: Issue 011
Let’s catch up
Folks, welcome to Issue 011.
Three topics caught my attention this week:
- The future of news is in the balance, especially if opportunities for young storytellers remain limited.
- Many teenagers hold negative views towards news media.
- Streaming platforms, audience expectations, and advertising are placing additional pressure on one of broadcaster’s last remaining structural advantages: live sports.
To end the week with a little fun, I share a resource overviewing the different data types every professional should know.
Let’s get into it.
Three things
Here’s what caught my attention this week:
Article: Youth Media and the Future of News
This article argues the need for support of future news industry professionals. The ability to build an informed, engaged audience depends on actions taken now to generate interest and develop young journalists’ skillsets. Moreover, the article cites a study (see the following link) reporting many younger audiences view news media as boring, biased, and bad. The article posits young storyteller skill development can be a solution to address this concerning trend. Some stories are best told by younger producers, and these stories may more resonate with younger audiences, and may improve these audiences’ view of news media. Indeed, the program model to support young storytellers already exists. The article includes several examples, although many have been disbanded due to funding. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the support for these programs.
Why does this matter?
The pressures of the news industry surely weighs on all media organizations. Much of this pressure can result in a focus more on the short-term rather than long-term. However, the ability for media organizations to produce content and products that reaches and engages audiences will depend on the availability of professionals that can do the work. So, development of young storytellers should be viewed as an investment, rather than another line-item affecting the short-term bottom line.
Report: “Biased”, “Boring”, and “Bad”: Unpacking perceptions of news media and journalism among U.S. teens (2025)
The article linked above cites this study, and some of the reported results were striking enough for me to further review the key findings. The article emphasizes many of the negative views teenagers have of the news media and journalists. These include results related to an overall negative view of news media, beliefs around journalists maintaining standards of accuracy and fairness, and views related to news organization bias. Digging deeper into the report’s key findings, there’s some more results mentioning the majority of news organizations don’t produce information less impartial than other content creators online. The key findings were interesting enough that I have the full report in the queue for review.
Why does this matter?
Besides the results emphasizing negative views, teenagers views related to the impartiality of other online content creators was interesting. It raises further questions on what younger news consumers consider to be news. In fact, maybe this is a signal to news organizations to experiment with other formats of information delivery used by alternative creators. It could benefit not only improving the views younger audiences have of the news industry, but it might result in reaching and engaging a younger audience.
Article: Rewriting The Ad Playbook To Bring Linear and Streaming Together
This article provides commentary related to the impact further migration of audiences to streaming has on one of the last strongholds of linear television: live sports. This move by audiences is applying more pressure to the economic models of distribution. From the article:
Audiences are gravitating towards ad-supported and subscription streaming options that offer more flexibility, interactivity and measurable engagement. For leagues and broadcasters, the implications are clear: Sustaining fan engagement and monetizing live sports now requires a blended strategy which pairs the scale of linear with the precision and dynamism of digital.
Such pressure has prompted changes in content packaging, distribution, and monetization. As such, broadcasters are further exploring and creating partnerships with Free Ad Supported Television (FAST) platforms.
The goal is no longer simply delivering a game, but creating richer, more immersive experiences that retain viewers, attract advertisers and sustain revenue as local markets evolve.
This strategy is not only focused on audience, but in addition is an aim to improve the inventory for greater monetization opportunities.
Why does this matter?
Streaming platform adoption by audiences is nothing new. However, broadcasters delivery of live sports was one of the bulwarks to digital streaming disruption. This is no longer the case. Broadcasters are increasingly feeling the pressure as audiences are finding ad supported platforms to also be a viable, engaging viewing option for live events. This is not all that negative, as audiences have come to expect the richer, more immersive experiences streaming platforms provide. Thus, this competition could lead broadcasters to further innovate and develop such experiences on their platforms. Further monetization opportunities also become available with this change in focus. As such, broadcasters with live events in their portfolio might want to consider the benefits FAST platforms provide.
Just for fun
Understanding the Types of Data in Data Science
I’m taking a step into the data domain to end the week with a little bit of fun. At least, it’s a topic I find fun. Knowing the basics of data types is useful for any professional. This post was one of the more accessible ones I’ve found recently. It was also fun brushing up on some data fundamentals. I hope you find some use from it.
Onward to the weekend.
Cheers 🎉!
Let’s connect
If you found this content useful, please share. If you find these topics interesting and want to discuss further, let’s connect:
- BlueSky: @collinberke.bsky.social
- LinkedIn: collinberke
- GitHub: @collinberke
- Say Hi!
Reuse
Citation
@misc{berke2026,
author = {Berke, Collin K},
title = {The {Hex} {Update:} {Issue} 011},
date = {2026-01-15},
langid = {en}
}