The way people globally consume news is undergoing a noticeable shift, as revealed by a recent study. The report highlights that there has been a 10-point decrease since 2018 in the number of individuals who initially access news through websites or apps. Instead, younger demographics have demonstrated a preference for acquiring news through social media, search engines, and mobile aggregators.
This change in behaviour has led audiences to divert their attention towards celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities, overshadowing the prominence of journalists. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat have emerged as the focal points for news consumption among these demographics.
Notably, TikTok has witnessed remarkable growth and is now utilised by 20% of 18- to 24-year-olds for news, marking a five-percentage-point increase from the previous year. Additionally, the report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, indicates a significant decline in overall interest in news, with less than half of the survey respondents expressing substantial engagement, a stark contrast from six out of ten respondents in 2017.
The survey findings reveal a diminishing enthusiasm among respondents for having news stories selected based on their previous consumption, with less than a third considering it an effective method—a notable decline of six percentage points since the last inquiry in 2016. Surprisingly, however, there is still a slight inclination for news to be curated by algorithms rather than editors or journalists.
In terms of trust, there has been a slight setback, with a two-percentage-point drop observed in the past year. This reverses the progress made in several countries during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, approximately 40% of individuals express trust in news sources most of the time. The United States, despite experiencing a six-point increase in trust in news to reach 32%, continues to rank among the countries with the lowest levels of trust according to the survey.
