The Hex Update: Issue 026

the hex update
media
The Last Mile problem in journalism; Gen Z’s attention and trust; updates to Google Search; the story arc of the Indian Statistical Institute; and some other cool things I came across this week
Author

Collin K. Berke, Ph.D.

Published

May 24, 2026

Let’s catch up

Welcome to Issue 026.

As Memorial Day approaches here in the U.S., I’ve taken a few vacation days to continue working on some home projects. That’s why I’m a little behind on this week’s update–I’ve had little time to sit down and write. But, here we are. So, let’s get started.

Three topics recently caught my attention:

For a bit of fun, I share an article about the arc of the Indian statistical institute. It was an interesting read.

You’ll also find some additional links to other items I found cool this week.

Three things

Here’s what caught my attention this week:

The Last Mile Goes to Athens (article)

The piece is a reflection of a training session for E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Kiplinger Fellowes. The session focused on an exploration of solutions to address journalism’s Last Mile problem: the distance between publication and impact not due to the quality of journalism, but rather it being due to never treating delivery as a design problem. Participants were challenged to develop solutions to solve community challenges using the Moment, Action, and Channel model framework. The piece shared a key insight originating from the session. Many of the groups produced technology-based solutions, which the majority of involved the phone screen. However, as the piece rightly points out, the best solution may not always be digital but rather analog. This insight was not a criticism of digital solutions by the author, though. Rather, it was a refocusing of a key principle: create what users of this information need, when they need it, and in ways they will use it. Crafting the right product that best crosses over the moment, action, and channel will increase the reach and impact of the solution.

Why does this matter?

Here’s my takeaway: create products for what audiences need, when they need it, and in ways best suited for them to use. This may not always be a technology-based solution. Also, impact is not always about the quality of journalism. Good content is out there. Rather, it’s a lack of addressing the Last Mile as a design problem. That gap between publication and impact can be closed if a greater focus is put on creating products and delivery mechanisms that fits all criteria in the Moment, Action, and Channel model.

Gen Z Trust & Attention Report: How Younger Americans Engage With Brands (report)

This report aims to provide more insight into where Gen Z gives their attention and places their trust. The report was generated from an online survey of 2,000 Gen Z Americans by Talker Research in 2026. A few facts from the report caught my attention. When it comes to attention, Gen Z spends most of their time on platforms like YouTube (59%), TikTok (58%), Instagram (54%), and Netflix (47%). However, as the article puts it, there’s a difference between where this group spends their time and trust they place on information. The rules that drive attention don’t lead to trust with Gen Z. It’s no longer about being where this group is. Now brands need to be authentic; provide substantive, useful information; are transparent; and provide proof. Gen Z puts more credibility into brands who share numbers, data, and present them with the facts. It’s also important to note that this group, more-and-more, is turning to AI for search.

Why does this matter?

Keeping track of where Gen Z focuses their attention and puts trust in will be important for media organizations, as they are a group reshaping search, discovery, and media consumption. It’s no longer about just being present in the spaces Gen Z spends their time, but it’s also about doing the things to also build credibility and trust while residing in these spaces. What does that look like? The report above makes it pretty clear: be authentic, provide substance, be transparent, and share the data and facts. Oh, and keeping in mind how this group uses AI for search will be critical going forward.

Google Search as you know it is over (article)

Google I/O, Google’s annual developer conference, was earlier this week. During the event, one of Google’s goals was clear: make AI technology more broadly accessible to its users. To do this, significant changes are coming to Google Search. The article above overviews two of these key changes: the expansion of the intelligent search box and search agents. The intelligent search box will allow users to submit even longer queries. It will, at times, place users into an AI environment that’s intended to be more conversational. Although links are not going away per se, this new feature further reduces their visual presence according to the article. Information agents were another key feature rolling out. In simple terms, it’s a feature that will identify, alert, synthesize, and summarize for users changes on the web based on users’ prompts and topics of interest. Finally, the article points to the impact this may have on publishers and referral traffic. The event contained so much more than what was included within the article, so click this link for Google’s recap.

Why does this matter?

Publishers need to be aware of these coming changes to search. They all have a direct impact on discoverability and use of content by users. This is especially true if your properties depend upon referral traffic. These changes to search will also have strategy implications in terms of search engine optimization and generative engine optimization for digital content. This will also include considering tactics to get in front of a web where users rely on agents to find, return, and summarize information for them.

Check out the links above for the full story in each item, not just my brief summary and analysis.

What I found interesting this week

I’ve continued with the reconfiguration of my dotfiles. This week, when time allowed, I was doing some more research on my tmux configuration. I was mostly trying to find some reference to some sane configuration options. Most of what I had aligned with what I came across online. However, I did make some changes to the theme, though. I mean, come on, a big part of configuration is applying your own theme, right? I’ll be pushing these changes to my dotfiles repo shortly.

Cool things I recently bumped into

A collection of links to things I’ve found cool recently (or was reminded are cool).

That’s it for this update. Take a moment this weekend to reflect on the sacrifices of the men and women in the armed services. Also, enjoy the long weekend and the ‘unofficial start’ to the summer season.

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: