Social media becomes world’s leading news source, report warns
Key takeaways
- News consumers worldwide are increasingly turning to social media and video platforms for information, overtaking traditional outlets for the first time, according to a Reuters Institute report.
- By: FRANCE 24 Young people use their phones to view social media in Sydney on November 8, 2024.
- The annual report from the institute, attached to the University of Oxford, is a closely watched tracker of trends reshaping the news media.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
News consumers worldwide are increasingly turning to social media and video platforms for information, overtaking traditional outlets for the first time, according to a Reuters Institute report. The study warns that shifting habits, driven by younger audiences and AI tools, are reshaping the global news industry and threatening old media business models.
By: FRANCE 24 Young people use their phones to view social media in Sydney on November 8, 2024. © Rick Rycroft, AP News consumers around the world are now turning more to social media and video platforms than traditional outlets for information, a respected report said Tuesday, warning that old-style business models are under threat.
The year 2026 marks "a significant milestone: for the first time, social media and video network consumption is now ahead of other news sources as the most widely used source of news globally", at 54 per cent, wrote Jim Egan, lead author of the report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.