DPG Media, the largest news publisher across the Netherlands and Belgium, has reached nearly 83,000 students by offering free access to its digital news apps, with eligibility verified through SheerID.
It comes at a time when Dutch research shows many young people now expect news to find them rather than actively seeking it, underlining how far publisher distribution has slipped out of daily habits. The same research shows only 64% of 18–24s consume news daily, and just 35% say they are highly interested in it.
I spoke with Imke Rodermans, Projectmanager Marketing IT – Circulation at DPG Media, about how the initiative is designed to address discovery and engagement among younger audiences.
Rodermans started by telling me that students receive full, unhindered access to DPG Media’s entire portfolio of news titles via mobile, allowing them to move freely across brands and editorial styles, from serious reporting in de Volkskrant and De Morgen to mass-market coverage from AD and Het Laatste Nieuws, as well as regional reporting through AD’s local editions.
“We found that adoption was immediate. Around 50,000 students registered within the first two days of launch – in fact, the early surge was so big we briefly mistook it for a technical issue. Our student programme now reaches roughly 10% of students in Flanders and 4% in the Netherlands.”
Discovery Is Broken, Not The Pricing
DPG Media’s strategy is a direct response to a deep structural shift in news consumption whereby younger audiences are primarily encountering news through social feeds.
Indeed, DPG Media’s own in-house research showed that 78% of young people rely on social media as their primary news source, meaning many rarely encounter news brands organically. Even when they do, engagement is low and haphazard.
DPG Media’s previous attempts to address this problem through discounted subscriptions failed. Even a 40% discount delivered only a few thousand student subscribers across all its titles.
It led to a clear conclusion: lower prices by themselves do not solve a relevance problem. The students, who admittedly have limited disposable income, simply did not see enough added value in paid journalism compared to the free content they already received in their social feeds.
Removing the price barrier was therefore seen not just a promotional tactic per se, but a complete strategic U-turn. Essentially, the aim was to reintroduce the product and show its value to a new generation of readers.
“Discounting alone did not address the core issues of relevance and discovery.” Imke Rodermans
Free access also removes a key subconscious barrier because it eliminates the need for any upfront decisions. Instead of asking students to subscribe, it gives them unrestricted access to experience the journalism first, in the formats and environments they already use.
From Access to Creating Behavioural Change
DPG Media’s immediate focus is to garner behavioural insights - how students consume news, what content resonates, and what drives repeat usage.
This includes testing content formats and editorial approaches through student focus groups and using those insights to shape new content frameworks. DPG Media is effectively using free access for both discovery and product development.
“The immediate focus is to understand how students consume news, what resonates with them, and what keeps them engaged.” Imke Rodermans
These insights carry enormous weight because news habits formed early tend to persist into adulthood, making this just as much about long-term audience investment as it is a discovery and access strategy.
It comes as other publishers are reaching similar conclusions. Schibsted’s IN/LAB work on young audiences in Scandinavia showed that these users engage more with formats and experiences that feel native to platforms they already use, rather than being pulled into traditional, legacy news environments.
Limiting Downside Risk
Imke re-emphasised that DPG’s strategy is focused solely on access, discovery and research on Gen Z behaviour.
DPG Media has tried to structure the programme to limit its downside risk, with eligibility verification through SheerID ensuring access is restricted to genuine students and reducing the risk of cannibalising existing subscriptions.
“By maintaining a clear distinction between student access and paid subscriptions, we can expand reach within a new audience without undermining current revenue streams.” Imke Rodermans
The end result is a controlled environment in which the publisher can build relationships with a younger audience without damaging its core business.
Bottom Line
DPG Media’s student program shows how publishers can reach Gen Z audiences in a way traditional subscription models are no longer achieving, especially with hard paywalled content.
The focus here is on access, discovery and understanding behaviour, which already delivers value by giving younger audiences exposure to trusted journalism and supporting media literacy.
Whether that can ultimately translate into paying subscribers remains the open question.