GNI x NPA Ai-Powered
Next Gen News Sprint
Future-proofing audience strategies for news
Supported by
An existential challenge
The future of journalism depends on how fast news organizations can anticipate audience needs and adapt to change. A new generation of audiences isn’t interacting with news the way previous ones did, and the newsrooms that understand and meet them now will be the ones that thrive.
The GNI × NPA AI-Powered Next Gen News Sprint is a structured program that guides news organizations through the full journey from understanding next-gen audiences to shipping real AI-powered products designed to reach them.
Built on cutting-edge research
In an ever-changing industry, it’s natural to wonder what comes next. Who will our audience be five years from now? How will they find their news, and what will make them trust it? Which of the habits we build our products around today will still matter? Yet the best audience trend a newsroom can anticipate is one that already exists.
The Next Gen News 2 report, from Northwestern University Knight Lab and FT Strategies, shows us what that future can look like. The conditions, behaviors, and habits of people age 18 to 24, and the way they relate to news today, already point the way. The report is the foundation of the GNI × NPA AI-Powered Next Gen News Sprint.
How it works
The Sprint guides newsrooms through four core moments of transformation.
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Before you can reach next-gen audiences, you have to know them in the context of your specific area and mission. Participating newsrooms conduct original audience research, localize findings from the Next Gen News Report, and define a clear, evidence-based strategic challenge to solve.
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Insight without action doesn't move the needle. During a design sprint co-facilitated by GNI and NPA experts, teams transform their audience research into AI-driven strategies and working prototypes.
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The core belief is simple: execution with structure accelerates learning. By combining targeted coaching and measurable goals, teams are more likely to ship meaningful experiments. Guided execution reduces drift, clarifies tradeoffs and increases the odds that AI adoption translates into real audience impact. Each newsroom receives ongoing strategic product support alongside expert audience and AI coaching that adapts to their specific needs and goals.
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Participants join a community of news organizations navigating the same challenges, sharing progress, exchanging tactics and holding each other accountable. Through monthly sessions, async collaboration and structured peer exchange, every conversation makes the work sharper.
The cohorts
12 U.S. local newsrooms took part in the program between January and September 2026. Scroll through the carousel below to find out more about the products they developed.
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Advance Local
Jersey For Real, a weekly newsletter for next-gen audiences in New Jersey.
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Boston Globe
The Brief, a limited-beta iOS and web experience that packages Boston reporting into a finite daily lineup of source-linked cards, with AI-drafted summaries that editors approve before publication.
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Chicago Public Media
Chicago.com Guides, a shareable local-knowledge product that users can save, create and remix, designed as an entry point into Chicago.com neighborhood communities.
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Deep South Today
A crowdfunding platform that lets readers fund specific journalism projects through micro-donations.
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Graham Media Group
Community Creator Hub, a neighborhood community page on KPRC's site powered by local creators.
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LA Times
LA Interactive Lifestyle Planner, an upgrade to LA Times lifestyle guides with saved places and Metro transit overlays for people new to LA or a new neighborhood.
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Salt Lake Tribune
A "What you can do" box at the end of articles that gives readers ways to act on the issue a story covers.
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Tampa Bay Times
A restaurant recommendation experience built as a new content type in Arc, launching this winter with short-form vertical videos for discovery.
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Texas Tribune
A candidate matching quiz that pairs first-time voters with a statewide candidate in three Texas races.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Daily Digest, five personalized articles delivered each morning in the AJC app, with opt-in push alerts.
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The Minnesota Star Tribune
The Brief, a five-minute weekday morning catch-up on the stories affecting Minnesota, with swipe navigation and a "you're caught up" end state.
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The Philadelphia Inquirer
Inquirer Food Bot, a chatbot that gives personalized restaurant recommendations from picks by the Inquirer's critic and food reporters.
10 national newsrooms part of Grupo de Diarios América are taking part in the program throughout 2026-2027. More information about their products will follow.
The Next Gen News Sprint Tool Kit
For eight months, 12 forward-thinking U.S. newsrooms took on this dual challenge with us. They sought to build a strategic connection with the next generation of news consumers, while making responsible use of AI in their processes, products, and experiences.
This tool kit is where we finally raise the curtain. It shares the method they followed and the lessons they learned, opening a window onto each moment of the process.
Interested in bringing the Next Gen News Sprint Tool Kit to your newsroom or organization through a workshop? We’d love to hear from teams looking to explore the Tool Kit’s approach and how it can be applied to their own work.
More Resources
