TikTok over television. ‘Newsfluencers’ over journalists. Chatbots over news search. The 2025 Reuters Institute Digital News Report finds that audiences are increasingly turning to social platforms and video, as traditional media loses ground.
How Young Audiences Are Reshaping the News
At TEDx Patras, Mitali Mukherjee highlighted the disconnect between news outlets and young audiences, urging efforts to rebuild trust.
In its 14th annual edition, the Reuters Institute’s flagship survey draws on responses from nearly 100,000 people across 48 countries, offering a global “snapshot” of how audiences access and engage with the news.
Major themes emerging are the rise of alternative news channels and the use of AI chatbots for news discovery.
Influencers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are becoming primary sources for news and a growing concern for legacy media. On the other hand, for the first time the report records younger audiences turning to AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, bypassing search engines and traditional apps.
The report also confirms a familiar trend: engagement with television, newspapers, and even news websites continues to drop. Instead, audiences are flocking to social media feeds and video platforms.
The Rise of ‘Newsfluencers’
Across regions, more people are turning to social media for their news.
TikTok is the fastest-growing platform for news, now reaching 17 percent of users. Meanwhile, X (formerly Twitter) is shifting rightward. Fifty-eight percent of its users say they doubt the accuracy of the content they see.
Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 44 percent say social media is their main news source. At the same time, audiences increasingly prefer watching the news to reading it, with video-based consumption rising from 52 in 2020 to 65 percent in 2025.
“Ultimately, what is most important is what Big Tech does with AI, because that’s the one that is conveying real-time news to audiences,” said Mitali Mukherjee, Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University during our fireside chat at the Alternative stage of this year’s TEDx Patras a few weeks ago.
This year’s report once again brings forward the “platform reset,” as major platforms adjust their algorithms in ways that sideline traditional news.
This trend has accelerated the rise of “news creators”.
“Politicians like Donald Trump have taken advantage of this shift, bypassing traditional outlets,” said lead author Nic Newman. “They connect directly with influential creators, podcasters, and YouTubers who share their views. Publishers also face a loss of influence, with populist politicians increasingly looking to bypass scrutiny by working with sympathetic influencers instead.”
AI in the News: Audiences Are Growing More Skeptical
In 2024, more journalists used generative AI in newsrooms to support tasks like research, transcription, and headline suggestions.
At the same time, the report found that audiences prefer to use AI tools that allow them to consume news faster and more easily. Around a quarter of respondents (27%) wanted AI-generated news summaries, while slightly fewer said they were drawn to translations to other languages (24%). About 18 percent said they turn to chatbots to ask questions about the news, and more than one in five (21%) seek better story recommendations.
Yet skepticism remains. When it comes to trusted information, audiences still prefer established media outlets and government sources, signaling a clear appetite for human oversight in an AI-driven news landscape.
Trust and News Avoidance
Trust in news has remained steady for the past three years (40%), according to the report. But national differences are sharp. Finland continues to have one of the highest levels of trust at 67 percent. On the other end, Hungary and Greece rank among the lowest, each at 22 percent.
News avoidance is at its highest in Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, and Greece, where more than 60 percent of respondents say they often or sometimes avoid the news. The lowest news avoidance is recorded in the Nordic countries, as well as in Taiwan and Japan, where it drops to 21 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Younger audiences say the news feels confusing, overwhelming, and far removed from their lives. Climate change and economic insecurity add to the fatigue. Some worry that the news pulls them into arguments they’d rather avoid. According to the authors of the report, these responses highlight a real challenge: how to make news easier to understand and more relevant for a generation that’s tuning out.
The Rise of News Podcasts
The report found that news podcasts are valued for context, clarity, and depth, not for the personality of the host. Listeners come for factual reporting and analysis, not the celebrity-driven tone.
Even though video podcasts are on the rise, most audiences still prefer audio. It fits neatly into their daily life activities, such as commuting, exercising, and cooking, when watching isn’t an option.
Still, monetization remains a hurdle. Nearly half of the responders said that they were willing to pay for quality content. But most podcasts still rely on ads.
Local News: Trusted, But Struggling
Audiences primarily turn to local news for stories (49%), culture (38%), and services (37%), though these interests differ by region. While local media remains a trusted source for politics and major news, many people now rely on social media and search engines for everyday information like events and classifieds.
According to the report, local news in the United States has faced a steep decline, with more than 3,000 newspapers shuttered since 2005. Yet, resilience varies globally. The report concludes that to survive, local publishers must tailor their strategies, striking a balance between maintaining direct connections with readers and leveraging digital platforms.
Greece: A Fractured Media Landscape
Greece ranks among the lowest in public trust in news across 48 countries surveyed, with just 22 percent of respondents expressing confidence in the media. According to the report, this lack of trust stems from widespread political polarisation and concerns over undue influence from politicians and powerful business interests.
Social media remains a dominant source of information for Greek audiences, particularly among young ages. Nearly two-thirds of responders (64 percent) said they access news through platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Podcasting is gaining ground as well. About 9 percent of Greeks listen to news podcasts weekly, though much of the content is skewed toward entertainment rather than hard news.
Artificial intelligence is beginning to make its way into Greek newsrooms, though adoption remains slow. At the same time, the absence of a standardized system for measuring web traffic continues to hinder local publishers, particularly in the advertising market.
Perhaps the most troubling finding of the report for Greece is the rise of far-right YouTubers with ties to the now-defunct Golden Dawn party.
“Many of these YouTubers have larger online audiences than major news media organisations,” reads the report adding that their channels routinely spread extremist rhetoric and conspiracy theories, deepening the fractures in Greece’s already fragile media landscape.
* The Digital News Report 2025, authored by Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Rasmus Nielsen, Amy Ross Arguedas, and Craig T. Robertson, was released on Tuesday, June 17.
