Generation gap | Dear Channel 4 boss, all Gen Z know is how to debate

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon recently made headlines for saying that Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – don't know how to disagree or debate. Mahon attributes this lack of capability to disagree to the use of short-form videos, largely on TikTok and Instagram.

‌“What we are seeing with young people who come into the workplace, Gen Z, particularly post-pandemic and with this concentration of short-form content, is that they haven’t got the skills to debate things,” Mahon said to a crowd at the Royal Television Society Conference in Cambridge.

Despite agreeing with the sentiment that short, seconds-long videos are ruining the attention span, and mental health of Gen Zers, I can’t help but question the link between the consumption of this and being able to debate.

Poor attention span can have a multitude of negative effects on the brain of a person – studies show that the brain becomes accustomed to constant and quick change which alters the part of the brain that regulates decision-making and impulse control. But there doesn’t seem to be much evidence in the link between this type of video and not being able to debate effectively.