The launch of the Reuters Digital News Report is always a highlight of the media-gazing year. The latest edition, published on Monday, also marks a key point in the evolution of digital news.
For the first time in the US, social media and video platforms edged past traditional television and news websites as the main source of news following the January 2025 presidential inauguration. This underscores the platform preferences of younger users and the rising influence of alternative voices in the information ecosystem.
The change, detected in post-inauguration survey data, reflects a tipping point in the US media landscape where digital-first behaviours are now mainstream. Among Americans under 35, more than half said they rely primarily on social or video platforms for news.
Typically, where the US goes in terms of news, the world will follow. The report was based on a survey of more than 1,000 users across 48 countries.
It also revealed that podcasters and online influencers are playing an increasingly prominent role. Joe Rogan reached between 20% and 22% of US adults during the inauguration period, outperforming many traditional media brands. Other figures such as Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly and Brian Tyler Cohen also attracted large audiences, according to the report.
These findings highlight a broader shift: personality-driven news formats, often delivered via social media and podcast platforms, are now central to how many people – particularly young men and politically right-leaning users – engage with current affairs. Yet this also brings risks: respondents identified influencers and politicians as the leading sources of false or misleading information online, ahead of mainstream journalists.
AI chatbots emerge as news sources
A second standout trend is the growing role of generative AI in news consumption. About 15% of US adults under 25 said they used tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Meta AI for news in a typical week. Worldwide, the number was 7%.
These figures, while still modest, signal the beginning of a shift toward AI-driven news access, especially among the youngest demographics. The implications for publishers are stark: AI summaries and answers often bypass links to original sources, threatening already-declining referral traffic from platforms like Google. As generative AI becomes more integrated into search interfaces, the challenge of preserving visibility and credit for original journalism is intensifying.
Trust remains strained
Trust in the news remains flat globally at just 40%. In many countries – including the US, France and the UK – the report finds no significant improvement in trust levels, which have hovered around this point since the post-pandemic peak in 2021. In the US, more than 70% of respondents said they find it difficult to distinguish between real and fake news online, a figure that has remained stubbornly high.
However, some digital platforms appear to command greater trust than others: YouTube and LinkedIn scored net positive ratings from users in terms of trustworthiness, a contrast to the generally low ratings for platforms like TikTok, Facebook and X.
The pivot to video and younger audiences
While text remains the most widely consumed format for news globally, younger people increasingly prefer video and audio formats. Among 18–24-year-olds, fewer than half said they access text-based news daily, with many favouring short video formats on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
These shifts are not only generational but also political: the report finds that right-leaning users are more likely to consume news via YouTube or X (formerly Twitter), whereas left-leaning users are more engaged on Instagram and TikTok. This points to a fragmentation of the news audience along both age and ideological lines, with implications for how publishers think about format, tone and distribution.
These findings signal sweeping changes for publishers – especially as they negotiate with AI developers or litigate over content rights. The rise of social video and personality-driven news demands fresh strategies to maintain engagement, trust and traffic in an increasingly digital-first media environment.
The full report is available at https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025
- https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-news-consumers-are-turning-podcaster-joe-rogan-away-traditional-sources-2025-06-16/ – This article discusses the shift in U.S. news consumption, highlighting that, for the first time, more Americans reported getting news from social and video networks than from TV and news websites in the week following the January 2025 U.S. presidential inauguration. It also mentions that over half of people under age 35 in the U.S. are relying on social media and video networks as their main source for news.
- https://www.ft.com/content/2262f82e-fb65-445b-b99c-b039c1b32ce9 – This article examines the significant shift in media consumption patterns, highlighting the transition from print to digital and now to short-form videos with platforms like TikTok and Instagram dominating. It discusses how this evolution has resulted in a decline in traditional news consumption, with more people, especially under 50s, getting their news from social media feeds rather than conventional sources.
- https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/fox-corp-buys-video-podcast-company-red-seat-ventures-2025-02-10/ – This article reports on Fox Corp’s acquisition of Red Seat Ventures to expand into the podcast market and attract younger audiences. Red Seat Ventures provides services to clients such as former Fox News hosts Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson, indicating the growing prominence of podcasters and online influencers in the media landscape.
- https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/social-media-is-just-mainstream-media-now – This analysis presents data showing that social media has now fully replaced traditional media as Americans’ primary daily news source, with 48% of U.S. adults turning to social media at least once a day for news, compared to smaller shares for traditional news destinations like broadcast and cable networks or news websites.
- https://www.marketing-interactive.com/reuters-study-news-video-networks-social-media – This article discusses the Reuters 2024 Digital News Report, highlighting the fragmentation of news platforms, with six networks now reaching at least 10% of respondents for news. It also notes that TikTok has overtaken X (formerly Twitter) for the first time, with 13% of respondents using the video-sharing platform for weekly news.
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-02-09/youtube-tiktok-instagram-news-consumption-grows-as-traditional-media-shrinks – This article discusses how platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become the new juggernauts in news consumption, especially among young people. It highlights that creators on these platforms are drawing large audiences, indicating a shift away from traditional media sources.
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