BridgeDetroit has a mission of serving the residents of Detroit with the information they need to be better engaged in civic life. And that mission needs to include residents under 18.
Our newsroom has launched a Youth Engagement Survey to help us understand how high school students consume news, what issues matter most to them and how they want to engage with their community.
The survey asks about their media habits, how they evaluate information sources and what they need to feel informed and prepared to participate, including being prepared for voting.
The project builds on conversations that began during BridgeDetroit’s 2025 “Meet the Candidates” events during the year of citywide elections, where staff heard directly from young attendees about their relationship to local news. Those discussions highlighted both a gap and an opportunity: while we’ve built trust with many Detroit residents, reaching younger audiences requires different strategies and platforms.
Our goal is to meet young people where they are. We want to understand what young Detroiters care about and how they want to be reached. And we want to make sure their voices are reflected in our reporting.
Ultimately, we want to foster a more informed and engaged generation of Detroiters and ensure our journalism is relevant to them.
The survey will be distributed through schools, after-school programs and a network of community partners, including youth-serving organizations across the city. Responses will be collected and analyzed to help us decide what stories we need to cover. We also plan to share what we learn publicly through our newsletters and with partners.
The effort aligns with broader shifts already underway in the newsroom. We’ve already expanded our social video presence under the direction of Engagement Editor Bryce Huffman and increased coverage of education, recognizing that younger audiences often engage with news differently than older readers.
This is the first step in a longer-term goal, with the findings helping guide our newsroom as we explore future engagement with youth.
It’s a big undertaking, and we can’t do this alone! Here’s how you can help:
- Are you between 13 and 18? Take the survey! We want to hear your thoughts.
- Are you a parent? Encourage your kids to share their thoughts with us!
- Do you run an organization that works with youth? Encourage them to take the survey!
- Do you teach high school classes? We’d love you to share this with your students. We’d also love to talk to you to get your perspective on what they need and how we can better serve youth in our city.
- Are you willing to share the survey? Reach out to Bryce at bhuffman@bridgedetroit.com
