Germany taz
Gen Z Decoded: What is Gen Z missing from the media?
What topics and perspectives are young people missing from journalism? Kathi and Sophie say what media needs to change so that they feel addressed. more...
Deutsch (original) ·Auto-translated to English
Media companies want to reach young target groups - but do young people actually feel addressed by their reporting? In the fourth episode of “Gen Z Decoded”, Kathi and Sophie talk about what they are missing in traditional media.
They talk about topics, perspectives and forms of representation that they believe are neglected, and about how young people are portrayed in reporting. What bothers you about the way your generation is talked about? And when does the feeling actually arise: This story has something to do with my life?
It's also about money: What would journalism have to offer so that they would be willing to pay for it? And what would you change first if you could manage an editorial team yourself?
Donations to the taz panter foundation provide financial support for independent and critical journalists. The taz panter foundation promotes young talent, international exchange and moral courage.
A lot has been written and speculated about Generation Z: too addicted to cell phones, too apolitical, too sensitive, not interested enough in traditional news. There is no such thing as a “young target group” - even within Gen Z, information behavior, interests and media use differ considerably.
This is exactly where “Gen Z Decoded” comes in. Instead of analyzing young people from the outside, moderator Pauline Tillmann speaks with two representatives of this generation: Eva Katharina “Kathi” Puschmann, 22, and Sophie Wieners, 23, both members of the Südkurier youth editorial team in Konstanz.
In six 15-minute episodes, Kathi and Sophie talk about their own everyday lives, classify observations and question common ideas about their generation. It's not about speaking on behalf of an entire generation, but rather about making two personal perspectives visible and thereby enabling a more differentiated picture.
“Gen Z Decoded” is a podcast series in the taz panterstiftung’s “Free Speech” format, which was created locally and constructively as part of the taz panterstiftung’s 2026 Young Talent Project.