Social media and video networks have become the primary source of news in the US, surpassing traditional TV channels and news websites, according to research.
More than half a per cent of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube, overtaking TV per cent and news sites and apps per cent, according to the Reuters Institute.
“The rise of social media and personality-based news is not unique to the United States, but changes seem to be happening faster – and with more impact – than in other countries,” a report found.
Podcaster Joe Rogan was the most widely recognised personality, with almost a quarter per cent of the population stating they had encountered news or commentary from him in the previous week.
The report’s author, Nic Newman, said the rise of social video and personality-driven news “represents another significant challenge for traditional publishers”.
The institute also highlighted a trend for some politicians to give their time to sympathetic online hosts rather than mainstream interviewers.
It said populist politicians around the world are “increasingly able to bypass traditional journalism in favour of friendly partisan media, ‘personalities’, and ‘influencers’ who often get special access but rarely ask difficult questions, with many implicated in spreading false narratives or worse”.
Despite their popularity, online influencers and personalities were named as a major source of false or misleading information by almost half of the people worldwide, putting them on par with politicians.
The report also stated that usage of X for news is “stable or increasing across many markets”, with the biggest uplift in the US.
It added that since Elon Musk took over the network in 2022, “many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently.”
In the US, the proportion that self-identified as being on the right tripled after Musk’s takeover.
In the UK, right-wing X audiences have almost doubled.
Rival networks like Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon are “making little impact globally, with a reach of 2% or less for news”, it stated.
Other key findings about news sources:
- TikTok is the fastest-growing social and video network, used for news by per cent of people worldwide, up four percentage points since last year.
- The use of AI chatbots to get the news is on the rise, and is twice as popular among under-25s as the population as a whole.
- However, most people believe that AI will make news less transparent, accurate, and trustworthy.
- All generations still prize trusted brands with a track record for accuracy, even if they don’t use them as often as they once did
The report is in its 14th year and surveyed almost 100,000 people in 48 countries.
