The predominance of social media in news consumption and impartiality as a core value of journalism: some findings from the Digital News Report 2026
This edition of the Reuters Institute report makes it clear that trust in the news has never been so low.
The current news ecosystem demonstrates a paradox between audience behaviour and attitudes, as identified in the Digital News Report 2026 (https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2026/dnr-executive-summary), published by the Reuters Institute this June. While news consumption increasingly favours social media and video channels, concerns about trust in news, disinformation, and the influence of digital platforms are simultaneously rising.
This paradox emerges as platform-based news consumption surpasses that of television, media websites, and apps. Notably, 12% of respondents report using social media exclusively to access news. Among individuals aged 18 to 24, 52% identify social media, video platforms, and artificial intelligence as their primary news sources, and 56% indicate that they never regularly read newspapers. The use of artificial intelligence in news has increased, rising from 7% in 2025 to 10% in 2026. However, this growth is uneven across countries: while AI use doubled in Spain and South Korea, there was no increase in the United States, France, or Germany.
The report also highlights that “when online, people increasingly like to watch rather than read the news, often drawing on a wider range of sources and voices”. Online video news consumption has grown substantially: in 45 out of 48 markets analysed, more individuals use this format than watch news on broadcast television. Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands are the exceptions. Importantly, this increase in video news consumption is occurring primarily on third-party platforms, while direct video consumption through media outlets has declined by five percentage points (since the COVID-19 pandemic, video-oriented platforms have grown faster than text-oriented platforms).
News consumption through content creators is also notable: 27% of respondents access news-focused creators, and 46% engage with news from content creators more broadly. However, this demand does not supplant traditional media. Individuals who access news from content creators tend to consume more news from traditional outlets than average, and only 3% of respondents rely exclusively on content creators for news.
Interest in news has declined since 2021, with one-quarter of respondents reporting they consume news only once a week and have little or no interest in it. Trust in news has also reached its lowest level (37%) since the Digital News Report began measuring this indicator, although “trust in the most widely used individual news brands is holding up better than trust in news overall”. The report notes that “some of this worldwide drop in trust reflects wider anxieties beyond the news industry – trust in institutions and leaders is widely declining, and journalism is also often under direct attack from high-profile politicians”. The increasing use of social media and AI in news consumption further undermines trust, as these sources “have long been trusted less than traditional news media”.
The 2026 Digital News Report identifies challenges for media organisations in generating revenue through websites and apps, as subscription numbers decline. The types of organisations receiving financial support are also shifting, with significant backing for non-traditional media. Impartiality remains a key journalistic value, as 45% of respondents prefer news that takes no sides. Additionally, there is notable dissatisfaction with media coverage of global issues such as immigration.
