Judy Woodruff with "Generation Next"

A unique generation is coming of age in America. They've been called many things: millennials, boomerang kids, generation Y. Veteran journalist Judy Woodruff calls them "generation next," and they're the 42 million young people ages 16 to 25 who were born after the Cold War, were weaned on technology, came of age rocked by 9/11 and now face a future marked by complex global challenges. Hosted by Woodruff, Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. airs Friday, March 2 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET1.

To get to know her subjects, Woodruff traveled across the country in an RV, interviewing young people at colleges; in urban, suburban and rural settings; at workplaces and at home.

"Our main objective is to find out what young people think, to create a profile of the next generation, and to provide current decision-makers with better information about them," said Woodruff. "We want to help everyone understand the views of young people. And just as important, we want young people to know their opinions will be heard by decision-makers in business, politics, education and the media."

Generation Next is more than the documentary. It's a multi-media, multi-platform project designed to inform and engage young and old alike via traditional media such as television, radio and newspapers--and new media components: discussion forums, blogs, original video recorded by young Americans at the interactive Web kiosk and an online reporter's notebook by Woodruff.

In addition to Generation Next , the project's findings are being presented on air in a series of reports on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and in a series of collaborative reports with national media partners--Yahoo!, USA Today and NPR, which is producing a series of interviews and radio reports profiling members of "Generation Next."

Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions.