In Brief: More Young Adults Moving Back Home; Service Journalism Is Booming

Amid Pandemic, Record Number of Young Adults Move Back with Parents

Coronavirus shutdowns have forced millions of Americans, especially adults ages 18 to 24, to move in with their parents or other family members, the Pew Research Center finds.

In July, 52 percent of young adults surveyed lived with one or both of their parents, up from 47 percent in February and the highest proportion since the end of the Great Depression, when 48 percent of young adults lived with their parents.

According to a Pew analysis of Census Bureau data, the number of young adults living with their parents grew to 26.6 million in July, an increase of 2.6 million since February. Nine percent of young adults said they had relocated temporarily or permanently because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Among all young adults who moved due to the pandemic, 23 percent said it was because their college campuses had closed, while 18 percent said they had moved because of losing their jobs or other financial reasons.

During Troubled Times of 2020, Service Journalism Booms

Service journalism — stories that offer practical advice on how to perform life’s tasks — is in demand during this year’s coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest.

As NiemanLab reports, consumers are looking for guidance on everything from finances to dinner ideas to mental health. Once fodder for lifestyle magazines, service stories are well-suited to digital media, which allows people to access information whenever they need it. Some readers will return to particular online sections or shows, but many find service stories through online searches.

In its latest ad campaign, The New York Times promises its expanded service coverage will “help readers adapt to the new demands of daily life.” The New Yorker’s online feature “What to read, watch, cook, and listen to under coronavirus quarantine,” offers Netflix recommendations alongside an interview with a clinical psychologist on “Supporting children’s development during the pandemic.”

For journalists, the pieces are easy to report remotely. For PR people, the boom in service journalism presents opportunities to pitch story ideas.

Disney Seeks More Diverse Audiences for its Media Properties

Disney recently announced a multiyear partnership with marketing agency Translation to develop more effective ways of engaging with diverse audiences across its media properties such as ABC, Hulu and National Geographic.

Rita Ferro, president of Disney Advertising, said major marketers often talk about the importance of African American and Latino consumers as part of their overall strategies. Disney already has a team dedicated to Spanish-language marketing, but it needs more people with brand experience “on how to make culturally relevant creative stand out in the media business,” she told Fast Company.

Steve Stoute, Translation’s CEO, said the cultural shift caused by the Black Lives Matter movement has changed communication with diverse audiences from a nice-to-have to a need-to-have. “As an African American leader of a mainstream agency for the last 15 years, this was a watershed moment for me,” he said.

Three-quarters of Consumers Surveyed Didn’t Join Facebook Boycotts

Even as more than 1,000 companies boycotted or curtailed ad spending on Facebook in July for its handling of hate speech and disinformation, new research finds that few Americans joined the boycott.

The survey by BCW shows a gap between public discourse over the boycott calls and actual changes in consumer behavior or attitudes. Seventy-five percent of Americans surveyed said they did not boycott any major social media networks in the last three months over their policies on hate speech and moderating content. Forty-six percent of all respondents said that corporate social media boycotts didn’t change their support of those brands.

Civil rights groups including the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP launched the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which they call “a response to Facebook’s history of allowing racist, violent and verifiably false content to run rampant on its platform.” In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said “we work hard to find the right balance between encouraging free expression and promoting a safe and authentic community.”