Social media overtakes TV as main source of news in US, analysis finds
Social media has overtaken television as a source of news in the US for the first time, according to a comprehensive analysis of media consumption confirming the rapid rise of 'news influencers'.
In a watershed moment for the US media, 54% of Americans said they received news from social media, according to the research carried out after President Trump's second inauguration. Half said they sourced news from the once all-powerful TV networks.
The accelerating global shift towards social media and video platforms is laid bare in a major study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which surveyed almost 100,000 news consumers worldwide.
It reveals a further diminishing of the influence of traditional news organisations, with more people heading to podcasters, YouTubers and TikTokers. The authors warned it is allowing populist politicians such as Trump and Argentina's Javier Milei to bypass the scrutiny of the transitional media in favour of new, online networks.
The role of news influencers, who use their personal brand to win an online following, is growing, led by the extraordinary impact of the podcaster Joe Rogan during last year's US presidential election.
One-fifth (22%) of those contacted in the US said they came across news or commentary from Rogan in the week after the presidential inauguration, including a disproportionate number of young men, a group traditional media struggles to reach.
News influencers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are also finding large audiences in India, Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand, which have younger populations that are heavy social media users.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk's X has seen a major shift to the right among its users, according to the analysis. Musk's takeover of the site has been followed by a 50% increase among right-leaning users, from 10% of the group in 2021 to 15% this year. There has been a corresponding fall in left-leaning users, from 17% to 14% over the same period, as liberals have abandoned the platform.
The findings confirm the huge changes taking place in news consumption worldwide. 'The rise of social video and personality-driven news represents another significant challenge for traditional publishers that are struggling to adapt their content and tone to these very different environments,' said Nic Newman, a founding member of the BBC News website and the study's lead author.
'Online video may be a good way to engage younger audiences, but there is very little commercial upside for publishers, with most news consumption taking place via platforms rather than owned and operated news websites. Publishers also face a loss of influence, with populist politicians increasingly looking to bypass scrutiny by working with sympathetic influencers instead.'
A decade ago, just two online networks were delivering news content to more than 10% of the report's global sample. That has now grown to six.
Facebook reaches more than a third (36%), while YouTube is not far behind (30%). Instagram and WhatsApp are used by around a fifth for news content, while 16% turn to TikTok and 12% still receive news from X.
There are concerns that truth will suffer. Overall, 58% of the populations studied remain worried about their ability to tell what is true from what is false online. Concern is highest in Africa (73%) and the US (73%).
The phenomenon of news avoidance continues to rise as users restrict the amount they consume, complaining about feeling overwhelmed by a gloomy news agenda. Four in 10 people in the study's global sample said they sometimes or often avoid the news – up from 29% in 2017 – the joint highest figure ever recorded.
The UK has one of the highest proportions of news avoiders, where 46% say they sometimes or often avoid the news.
In another major change on the horizon, young people are already turning to artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google's Gemini for news. It poses a serious risk to news companies as users may receive all the information they need through a chatbot without ever visiting the original source of the story.
The numbers using chatbots for news are still relatively small overall, but are higher with under-35s at 12% of the group. Across all the countries involved in the study, people expect AI will make the news cheaper and more up-to-date but less transparent, less accurate and less trustworthy.
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