Gen Z Decoded: How does Gen Z get informed?

News is always available – but does that mean young people are better informed? In the first episode of “Gen Z Decoded,” Kathi Puschmann and Sophie Wieners talk about how they find out what’s happening in the world in the morning and what role social media plays in it.

They tell you whether they specifically target certain media or come across news by chance in their feed, whether they still read entire articles and which media offers they don't want to do without. It becomes clear that there are many gradations between conscious news consumption and casual scrolling.

There is also the question of whether Kathi and Sophie would be willing to pay for digital journalistic content - and when the constant availability of information becomes overwhelming.

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.