re:publica Vienna: HOW DOES ONE BECOME AUSTRIA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL NEWS CHANNEL ON TIKTOK? AND WHY THIS QUESTION IS DANGEROUS. - IRINA OBERGUGGENBERGER, MICHAEL SCHMID
How to become Austria's most successful news channel on TikTok? ZIB has around 717,000 followers, with individual videos reaching millions of views, grown from experience and a sense for the platform. But success can lead to complacency. The ZIB editorial team has inquired as long as the channel has been running, instead of waiting for the numbers to decline. The result was uncomfortable: the trust of 14- to 20-year-olds is inherited, not earned. They trust ZIB because their parents and grandparents built this trust through TV and radio. This generation no longer knows either. Soon, there will be nothing left to inherit. If public broadcasting information loses the young, democracy loses its common factual basis. Not a story of doom. Media can retain the young if they stop guessing and start listening. What the target audience truly expects, and why much of it contradicts platform logic, is shown through concrete findings.
How to become Austria's most successful news channel on TikTok? The ZIB reaches around 717,000 followers, individual videos garner millions of views, grown from experience and a sense for the platform. But success tempts to rest on one's laurels. The ZIB editorial team has inquired as long as the channel has been running, instead of waiting for the numbers to decline.
The result was uncomfortable: The trust of 14- to 20-year-olds is inherited, not earned. They trust ZIB because their parents and grandparents built this trust through TV and radio. This generation no longer knows either. Soon, there will be nothing left to inherit. If public-service information loses the young, democracy loses its shared factual basis.
No apocalyptic story. Media can keep the young if they stop guessing and start listening. What the target group really expects, and why much of it contradicts platform logic, we show with concrete findings.
The first re:publica Vienna brought the most important European festival for digital society, politics, technology, and culture to Austria for the first time. From October 2 to 3, 2026, the Kulturhaus Brotfabrik became a place for debates and keynotes with international speakers. The teams from OKTO and Moment Magazin recorded the events and have been presenting the videos since October 5 in the slots at 6:00 PM and 11:10 PM.
