I was recently sent this article by email. I tracked it down to a journalism website, The Communicator. It’s a pretty good summary of the Millennial generation, with some insights into how they are changing media newsrooms. Interesting.

Cover Story: The Millennials

From: The Communicator, September 2007

Members of the next generation are graduating college and taking jobs in newsrooms. Who are they? How do they think? How do you manage them? How do they manage you?

By Stacey Woelfel

News director J.J. Murray has a battle on his hands. It’s a battle of wills and a battle of wits that he fights constantly with the job seekers and new hires he encounters at KIMT-TV in Mason City, IA, a newsroom that sees a lot of entry-level talent straight out of college.

The young journalists are bringing a great deal of skill to the newsroom but often give the impression they think a diploma proves they’ve learned all they need to know about the craft. He tells the story of one reporter who argued the finer points of copy editing in the middle of his first script review; when Murray told the reporter that he preferred to have people’s titles precede their names, which is common style for script writing, the reporter continued to disagree. “Some—on the first week on the job—have battled me on what they think is right and wrong,” Murray says, “instead of being here to learn.”

These journalists are part of the Millennial Generation, a cohort that thinks and behaves far differently from what Murray has previously seen in his two decades of news management and teaching. It’s not that this group of twenty-somethings makes for better or worse journalists than previous generations, but that they have to be managed differently. Generational researchers say news directors have a lot to learn about what attracts and motivates most of the applicants they will see in the coming decade.

 

DEFINING THE GENERATION

The Millennial Generation is a controversial one, even in its nomenclature. Trend watchers first referred to it as Generation Y, connecting it to its predecessor, Generation X. Gen Xers, born in the 20 years following the baby boom, have been characterized as pessimistic, cynical, self-centered individuals with a mistrust of values and authority. But this new generation, born in 1982 and later, is far from an echo of the dark Generation X. Research has pegged Millennials as accepting of authority, and craving feedback and constant positive reinforcement.

 

That 180-degree flip from Gen X, along with a strong objection from Millennials themselves to being connected to the previous generation, has left researchers struggling for the right label for the group. Terms such as “Generation Next” and the “Internet Generation” have shown up in research and popular media. But seminal researchers Neil Howe and William Strauss called the group “the Millennials” in 1991, citing the differences from Generation X and its forthcoming impact on the 21st century.

 

Howe and Strauss characterized members of this new generation as making an about-face on nearly every expectation America had grown to have of its teenagers and young adults. Surveying the generation in 2000 as the oldest members of the group came of age, Howe and Strauss found lower teen pregnancy rates, less violence and gang activity, lower drug use, and higher SAT and other academic test scores. The researchers said Millennials are avoiding trouble and achieving more because they respect and admire their parents, trust the government and respect the rules, and are optimistic about the future they are helping to shape.

 

Fast forward half a dozen years or so, and the oldest Millennials have graduated from college and entered the workforce. How would these idealistic high schoolers react to the stress of a full-time job? Molly Epstein, an associate professor of business at Emory University in Atlanta, says the same optimism still pervades the attitude of young Millennial workers. Epstein describes the working Millennials as employees who see themselves as special, with an expectation of individual attention for the work done in the course of each day.

 

Many credit an older generation of parents for imparting this sense of entitlement to the Millennials. Often called “helicopter parents” for the way they hover over their children, these baby boomer parents focused so much attention on their kids, the children feel special and expect close relationships with elders.

 

Remember the “Baby on Board” signs? The Millennials were the tots on the other side of that warning. Parents sheltered these children, stressing restrictions and boundaries to stay safe and steer clear of trouble. As a result, Epstein says, Millennials play by the rules and expect those rules and the authority behind them to keep everything in check. “The Millennial Generation really feels comfortable approaching adults and asking for advice,” Epstein says. They trust authority figures
and expect those in charge will always do what’s right.

 

Epstein also paints Millennials as a confident bunch. Their comfort around those older and in authority, coupled with the mentality that they deserve special attention, allows them to ask for help — and expect it. Millennials are optimistic about their future and the world they’re building and confident they can achieve much in life. They expect parents, bosses and peers to share that optimism and confidence.

 

Millennials: Meet Your Bosses Your boomer and Generation X news managers and colleagues are taking the time to learn how to manage you, and understand how you work. Here’s what you should know about them: * They are not joiners. Gen Xers distrust authority and groups. They work in teams when absolutely necessary, but would prefer to work alone. It will take time for them to get used to your team-loving outlook. * They’re looking out for No. 1. Gen Xers work to build skills with value and portability. They want a job — and the people working under them — to help them build those skills so they may move on to bigger and better things. You may see your bosses come and go more frequently than you would like. * They got where they are on their own. Gen Xers feel like they didn’t have much help growing up, so they may view your desire for help as being needy. Your expectations of a mentoring relationship may go wanting with some Gen X bosses. * They believe in the power of journalism. Boomer bosses grew up and came of age in the time of Vietnam and Watergate. They know what determined journalists can accomplish. They want you to know that, too. * They know a lot and expect you to know a lot as well. Both Gen Xers and boomers are highly educated, read a lot and know a lot more than you. Granted, some of that knowledge is from experience, which you will gain some day too, but in the meantime, you’ll do well to do your best to catch up on all that knowledge.

THE MILLENNIALS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

 

That’s what the researchers say about members of the Millennial Generation, but what do the Millennials say about themselves? Those studying journalism in college now and those who’ve just entered the field of broadcast news are members of this group and many at least partly accept the profile academics have created of them.

 

“The characterizations of the generation are somewhat true. We were raised to not be personally responsible and to feel entitled,” says Jordan LaPier, a senior journalism major at Arizona State University. “A lot of people my age struggle with it. Those who don’t just don’t realize it yet. I want to hear from somebody I’m doing a good job.”

 

But LaPier argues that he is a self-starter — which goes against the stereotype for his generation. After working as a supervisor for the school’s broadcasts, LaPier spent this summer as an online reporter for Phoenix’s Arizona Republic newspaper. “It was exciting for me to take something I don’t know about and start learning about it,” LaPier says. “I’ve picked up so much of this on my own.”

 

That confidence, of course, rings true with Epstein’s model of his age group. But a strong sense of personal worth is often a ticket to disappointment for Millennials.

 

“I had my expectations way too high,” says Lauren Williamson, who graduated from the University of North Texas this year and began looking for work. “The pay was lower than I suspected.”

 

Williamson said a trip to the RTNDA convention in April set her straight on what she could expect to make, as well as where she might earn that paycheck. “I had worked in Dallas (while in school) and thought I should be able to get into a top 100 market,” Williamson says. “The convention showed me that was not the way it works, and that it’s good to go smaller.” She is now a reporter for KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi, TX, and says the station gives her what she wants – that all-important opportunity for a Millennial to find mentors. “I wanted good coworkers, not all recent graduates,” she says. “I needed some role models whom I could find to be mentors.”

 

That need for a close, nurturing relationship with the boss is echoed by Jackie Cutler, a 2007 graduate of the University of Maryland. “I think, for the first job, I am pretty much looking for an environment that is mentoring — a chance to learn about reporting,” Cutler says. In fact, she found that sort of feedback-rich environment before she even began her formal job search, first by earning the Ed Bradley Undergraduate Scholarship from RTNDF in her senior year, and then by taking a spot in an NBC News Fellowship program the summer after her graduation. For Cutler, that permanent employer will have to earn the right to be her mentor, being “flexible, open-minded and not stuck in their ways.” Cutler says she wants an employer who is “open to the perspective I could bring to the table. My future boss must be a good resource, have connections and have lived a life they’re asking their reporters to live.”

 

More than just mentors, Millennials crave that security and safety their parents provided them as children. Rachel Gartner, a master’s graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, says that’s one of her main needs at her first job. “I’m looking for something that is very secure,” she says. Gartner says her station needs to have already made the transition to digital to secure a technical future. And she wants financial stability for the station, too. “A job where they are secure in the market — known for professionalism” means a great deal to her. And that financial security must extend to her salary and benefits. “Something that has a good base salary and benefits is important,” Gartner says. “I know the salary is going to range from market to market, but I’m looking for $25,000 starting out. And health insurance is right up there for me.”

 

Financial security is often a turning point for many Millennials, who are trying to decide if a career in broadcast news can provide everything they want. For some, like Williamson, the money takes a back seat to the other rewards she wants from a job. “Pay was kind of disappointing,” she says. “I thought, ‘Maybe I don’t want to do the news business.’ I looked at some PR jobs and the pay was about $15,000 more than I ended up getting,” she says. Williamson says she considered an offer from Shell Oil to do corporate communications, but came back to a love for news.

 

For Angela Smith, an anchor/reporter at “St. Joe Live” in St. Joseph, MO, the bottom line played a large role in her decision to stick with news. “I also had a minor in public relations, so I started to look at a lot of different things,” Smith says. Living in St. Joseph is relatively inexpensive, so Smith had to decide if she would relocate for a job. “I had a job in Kansas City that was offered to me. It was a marketing and PR job. Six days a week, 70 to 80 hours a week. No extra pay.” And there would be the expense of moving away from home and renting a place in a bigger city. “The cost issue was a big one, too,” she says.

 

 

PLACING THE MILLENNIALS

 

Financial security, strong mentors, a feeling of being someone special—the needs that the Millennials have introduced to the job hunt are new to those who’ve helped place graduates in their first jobs. Phousavanh Sengsavanh runs the placement efforts at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She’s noticed some common traits in the graduates seeking work. “Students are individuals, of course, but a lot of them have unrealistic expectations,” Sengsavanh says. “This generation seems to have a sense of entitlement. They think that a degree is enough.”

 

That sense of entitlement, coupled with the comfort and security of the homes and lifestyles from which they come, Sengsavanh believes, often leads students to be surprised by the realities of pay and job conditions. “Higher pay is the real desire the students want. They are accustomed to having more,” Sengsavanh says. And, because many classrooms have the latest in high-tech gadgets, the graduating broadcast students want a state-of-the-art newsroom, and are shocked when they find stations that lack the most modern tools. “Some are surprised at how low things are,” she says. “Some are pretty realistic, they know this is the route, but some can’t believe it’s that way after 20 years.”

 

News Managers: Meet the Next Generation   There’s more to the Millennials than what they have posted on their MySpace pages. Here’s what they want you to know about them:   * Many of them covet Katie Couric’s job. Millennials aren’t lazy; they’re actually quite ambitious. But too many of them lack realistic expectations about what’s possible for them to accomplish.   * They’ll program your iPhone for you. Millennials grew up immersed in technology. They’ve never lived in a world without the Internet and are quick to adapt to new technology and do not fear change.   * They could use a few hours of yoga a week. Millennials have very sheltering parents. Many have been handed a lot of things in life and often find stress in situations boomers or Gen Xers wouldn’t even think twice about.   * They wouldn’t mind matching work shirts. Millennials are team players with a capital “T.” They thrive on group projects and don’t work nearly as well alone. * They’ll tell Mom everything they did for you today. Millennials often speak to their parents daily, if possible. Cell phone and e-mail technology means they never cut the umbilical cord, which is just fine with them.

 

THE NEWS DIRECTORS’ TAKE

 

With far more than 20 years of news management experience, Dave Vincent says he’s staying positive about the changing nature of people seeking their first job with him at WLOX-TV in Biloxi, MS. “There are lots of good people out there. You just have to look,” Vincent says. His take on the Millennials whom he has interviewed is that their dreaded sense of entitlement is most often exhibited in the belief that a degree in journalism or communications is enough.

 

“I like to make sure they’ve had an internship or some practical experience,” he says. “They have degrees, but it’s all theory. They have not had practical experience.” He also sees too many who want to anchor first, feeling they have the right to do it just out of school, rather than earning a spot on the desk.

 

The Millennials’ love of predefined rules and procedures might also be, in Vincent’s view, chipping away at one of journalism’s most prized traits. “I don’t see enough people who really are as curious as I would like,” says Vincent. “I don’t think this generation is as curious as the last couple of generations.” That lack of curiosity is something Vincent finds hard to teach to his news recruits, as is passion for the profession. “It’s more a job than a calling. For my generation, it was something we really aspired to do.”

 

For many of the folks he interviews now, Vincent says he has the impression that journalism is “just a job.” Jill Jensen at KQTV in St. Joseph, MO, has seen the same trend. “Newborn broadcasters seem so timid these days and not so curious,” Jensen says. “I’m closer to 50 than I am to 40, but still seem to have more passion and zest for this job than some of the recruits who come through the door.”

 

Another longtime news director, John Petersen at KOTA-TV in Rapid City, SD, has seen that growing need among his Millennial employees to hear how they are doing. “These kids want instant feedback,” Petersen says. “They want to know every week, which is good. I try to take the time to do it.” His counterpart at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, WV, agrees. News director Aaron Williams says he wants coachable employees, and the Millennials are certainly that. “I think we get a good amount of people that have a lot to learn, know it, and want the coaching,” Williams says. “I’m surprised.”

Five Lessons Gen Xers and Boomers Want to Teach Millennials   * Distrust authority. Don’t assume the government, the entrepreneur or even the boss is right. Assume the worst about anyone in authority whenever possible.   * Figure out how things work. Don’t make it a black box world. Try to understand what causes lead to what effects. Don’t just look at the bottom line.   * Find out what you didn’t learn in school. For all the gadgets you had in the classroom, we worry that your education wasn’t as good as ours. You need to read more, talk more and know more than you do now to do this job right.   * Take initiative when it comes to your career and your skills. Professional development opportunities may not be handed to you. The only person who can tell you how to get better is you. Mentors are for wimps. * We run the newsroom (and the world) now, but we want you to learn to take over. We’re worried you are too dependent on others. We want to see you become independent leaders and thinkers.

 

 

MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

 

As news directors recognize the differences in the next generation, students and young journalists should also recognize the weaknesses being a member of that generation brings. Scott Nichols, news director at WETM-TV in Elmira, NY, says there are still a lot of people coming out of college who want each job that’s out there, and the sense of teamwork Millennials feel may not serve them well.

 

“People in college who are reading this now should look around and see that they are better than the competition,” Nichols says. Epstein says Millennials are often more about group achievement rather than individual achievement. So that spirit of competition may not be terribly strong in them. Sengsavanh has seen it too in her placement efforts. “Some students are still a little more casual in their approach to the job search.”

 

She and many news directors urge Millennials to be more active and aggressive in the search. And that’s a lesson their teachers can learn as well, says news director Nic Moye at KOHD-TV in Bend, OR. She wants early mentors—college professors—to be honest with the students who’ve given them their trust. She says the best applicants she’s seen putting together a brand new newsroom are the ones who know where they stand. “Teachers who are brutally honest with students have done them a favor,” Moye says. She’s interviewed some applicants after a trusted professor has told the person he or she does not belong on the air. “I appreciate that honesty,” she says.

 

For news directors and other managers who will have to develop an army of Millennials to staff their newsrooms in the coming decades, honesty is a starting point. Epstein suggests those managers begin with an honest assessment of their own traits. Most news managers, she points out, are Gen Xers, who tend not to mix well with the new generation, so the relationship can be strained at the start. “There is a real disconnect between the two groups,” Epstein says.

 

The need to set up mentoring relationships may be one of the hardest differences to bridge. “Gen Xers do not have a lot of faith in anyone,” Epstein says. “So when a Millennial employee comes to a Gen X manager and starts to ask for personal advice, the Gen Xer instantly wonders, ‘Why would you trust the organization?’ ”

 

Gen Xers want portable skills independent of their organization, while Millennials want to be part of that organization, Epstein adds. “They crave that sense of loyalty and connection and group,” which the Gen X manager must provide to help the Millennial succeed.

 

Even with the potential for conflict, the process can work. Jim Flink’s day job is as an anchor/reporter at KMBC-TV in Kansas City, MO. But he moonlights as an instructor at Park University and has witnessed successful relationships between young Millennials and older managers. An excellent example, he says, is Jill Jensen in Missouri, who set up a mentoring system with results. “Jill was interested and engaged in her interns. She wasn’t hands-on with them every day, but she made mental notes and passed those on (to me),” Flink says. “I was able to create a master plan for each student.”

 

Building that sort of system to mentor Millennials is important, Epstein says, particularly where one may not have existed for the older generation. Gen Xers look at the needs of Millennials and often question the hand-holding. “ ‘No one did it for us’ is often what Gen X managers think,” Epstein says. “Gen Xers have a huge chip on their shoulders. There is anger.”

 

Working through the innate conflict between Gen X managers and Millennial employees is important, Epstein adds, so that managers can then focus on the basic needs those employees have. Epstein says managers have three steps for success in leading Millennials:

 

* Set up a system that makes it possible for new Millennial employees to develop a personal relationship with those in authority. If Millennials feel they can have a meaningful connection with the boss, they will react with zeal for the position.

 

* Develop a regular input, feedback and recognition system that gives new employees daily or weekly ideas on how they are doing. Epstein suggests stations look into the “360 Degree Performance Review” method, which brings all employees into the evaluation process, not just the immediate supervisor.

 

* Finally, Epstein recommends stations develop clear rules and paths, which the Millennials can use to perform daily duties. The comfort level they have with following the rules and meeting guidelines will help them excel in this sort of rigidly defined framework.

 

J.J. Murray has put to use that comfort with order and instructions in screening his new applicants. He has a 50-question written test he gives each candidate before he’ll continue the hiring process. “Some don’t know the senators in their own home state,” Murray says. “Some news directors have given up on this.”

 

But Murray hasn’t. He says the employees who get past the test and do well in an interview get a very clear message from him regarding what their workload will be and what skills they will need on the job. Once working, they have writing and stories scored on an objective scale. And they get one more thing that any Millennial would find to be vital: Murray promises to teach them and mentor them on a job they’ll find challenging, if they stay open to learning. By doing so, he’s begun to bridge the latest — and perhaps greatest — generation gap local newsrooms have faced.

Stacey Woelfel is news director at KOMU-TV in Columbia, MO, where he works with students from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He is also RTNDA’s Region 5 director.

Originally published in the September 2007 issue of Communicator.

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1. PWC “Millennials at work” survey

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