SIS Professor's Startup Brings Citizen Journalism to Gen Z
According to a done by Morning Consult in 2022, up to 50% of Gen Z uses social media as their primary news source. With more and more young people moving away from traditional news sources such as newspapers, TV news, and radio, media outlets have had to make shifts to reach younger viewers and listeners. SIS professor Elise Labott realized the need for more Gen Z-focused news sources and young citizen journalists, and from that realization came 鈥 a news platform by Gen Z, for Gen Z.
We caught up with Labott to discuss her journalism experience, the creation of Zivvy, the need to train and prepare more journalists, and the importance young news consumers place on accessibility and trust when they seek out media.
Launching a Career in Journalism
Labott first started combining her interests in international affairs and media at graduate school at the New School University in New York. She wrote her thesis on the United Nations and public diplomacy and had the opportunity to cover the UN for various publications and media outlets, including ABC News.
Labott moved to DC after graduation and began a long career with CNN. Starting as a producer and working her way up to reporter, she covered the State Department and reported on a total of seven Secretaries of State during her time with CNN. In 2014, Labott became the State Department Correspondent for CNN and began traveling the world on assignments.
鈥淏eing the State Department correspondent for CNN was my dream job. I traveled the world, and I met so many amazing and interesting people,鈥 said Labott.
Identifying News Gaps
In 2018, Labott decided to make a career change and left CNN to pursue a career focused more on media involvement. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Labott began teaching at SIS while formulating the idea that would eventually become Zivvy. During the creation process, Labott partnered with a former CNN colleague, Eric Weisbrod, who had assisted in building up a social media presence. During her time as a working journalist, she realized that young people were being left out of conversations about the future of news and media, and, as a result, were becoming more detached from the news.
鈥淢y role is to help young people assume the mantle of leadership, and that starts by being an informed, media-literate news consumer,鈥 Labott said. 鈥淚 think that young people have tuned out traditional media and think that it's not relevant to their lives. They feel like they don't have a voice in the issues shaping their future, so that's why I decided to create this startup.鈥
Labott鈥檚 startup, Zivvy, was created with one goal in mind: to inform, engage, and empower the next generation of media consumers. The quirky name comes from the Swiss word 鈥淶ivilcourage,鈥 or civil courage, and embodies what Zivvy hopes to inspire in its contributors and users. The purpose of Zivvy is to meet Gen Z news consumers where they already tend to get most of their information, which is on social media.
鈥淣ews shouldn鈥檛 be a chore, and we are focusing on combining the traditional media fundamentals and ethics with modern technology and content creation,鈥 said Labott.
News for Gen Z by Gen Z
Zivvy is a unique news source, as its content is completely presented on social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Zivvy utilizes Gen Z college contributors and creators across the country to report on both national and international news. The creators are often involved on the ground in various events and campaigns and will film short videos explaining the topic in an unbiased and uncomplicated way.
鈥淲e're using young creators because young people want to see themselves reflected in the news. We also want to give young people a pipeline to their future, so when there's an issue and young people have a large part in it, we find those people on the ground to cover those stories,鈥 Labott explained.
A key factor in producing quality news coverage is fact-checking, and Zivvy makes it a priority to be truthful and unbiased in their reporting and coverage. By using verified sources and a diverse group of contributors, Zivvy is helping its Gen Z consumers access credible information in an interesting and informative format.
鈥淵oung people are consuming media in different ways, and news for them is this kind of scrolling culture,鈥 Labott said. 鈥淥ur goal is to give them healthy, legitimate, credible, interesting, and informative information while leaning into today's scrolling culture.鈥
Young Journalists Are Also Savvier News Consumers
As more and more members of Gen Z become eligible to vote, the importance of accessing credible news and media sources only increases. Over the past several years, trust in media has become a , and media literacy has decreased at the same time. To counter these issues, Zivvy is dedicated to being an inclusive news source that represents the wide-ranging backgrounds of Gen Z.
鈥淎 lot of times people assume that young people are a monolith, and they think one way, but they don't,鈥 Labott said. 鈥淲hen we talk about inclusivity, that includes people from different political backgrounds, people from different geographical backgrounds, and so on. It's our focus on inclusivity that respects people's different life experiences. I think part of what we try to create is a kind of common ground by having uncomfortable conversations about issues and respecting that no one is necessarily right or wrong.鈥
Creating a more involved and media-literate Gen Z is the driving force behind Zivvy, and that involvement is important because future leaders need to be connected not just to what鈥檚 going on in their communities, but also to what's happening worldwide. Having young people get involved with journalism is a gateway to creating a world that is more understanding, truthful, and connected.
听鈥淵oung people tend to tune out of the conflicts in the world, but I think it's important to be global citizens and understand that we all have a place in the world, that we all have shared experiences, and that we can learn from one another,鈥 said Labott. 鈥淵ou can have a community of people around the world that you're learning from and sharing experiences with. News is not only about covering global stories or stories relevant to your own life but also learning from others outside of your community.鈥