The way audiences consume news is changing, and traditional news companies continues to lose ground.

During this week’s Webinar, Nic Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute, shared findings from the Reuters Digital News Report 2025. Newman noted how the rise of platforms, changing media consumption habits, and emerging technologies are reshaping news access and trust.

While the audience decline for traditional media companies is seen globally, it has been particularly evident in the United States, he said. Television, print, and even online news sites have seen a marked decline in weekly reach, especially among younger audiences.

While that’s not startling news overall, “the fact that this was happening in the week after the Trump inauguration is quite significant, that we’re still seeing those traditional media on the slide,” Newman noted.

In fact, social media and video networks were the only platforms to experience growth; the so-called “Trump bump” that had previously boosted all news formats was now relegated to digital platforms.

At the same time, an emerging “alternative media ecosystem” composed of YouTubers, podcasters, independent Substack writers, and influencers is replacing traditional media. In the U.S., Joe Rogan reached 22% of American adults during inauguration week, largely via Spotify and YouTube.

This influencer-led system has been seen in countries like Brazil, India, and the Philippines for quite some time, “so in some ways the U.S. is sort of button-holing onto these trends that we’ve seen elsewhere,” he said.

A growing number of users rely on social media for their news, although traditional media still plays “a much bigger role in most European countries as well as Japan.” It is rapidly becoming the preferred source of news and commentary for younger generations: “Every year we see that dynamic increasing.”

Video and audio reshape news consumption

One significant finding in this year’s report is the growing preference for video and audio over text, especially among Gen Z audiences.

While 55% of the global population still prefer reading when consuming news, the preference for video — at 31% — is increasing, especially in countries such as the United States, India, Mexico, and the Philippines.

Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels are capturing the attention of younger users. Newman highlighted that younger people prefer to watch and listen, and that is something publishers should pay attention to: “They’re already having an impact on the strategies that you need to think about if you’re trying to attract a younger audience.”

This shift in consumption and platforms is also redefining what a “podcast” is. Many of the most popular news podcasts in the United States and Europe now include video components and draw large audiences through YouTube. About 15% of U.S. adults consume news via podcasts, with personality-driven shows like The Joe Rogan Experience, Meidas Touch, and Pod Save America leading the pack.

The continued popularity of podcasts has driven some media companies to invest in podcasts in an effort to attract younger audiences.

Chatbots are changing how news is accessed

For the first time, this year’s report asked people if they were getting news from chatbots. About 7% of respondents said they had accessed news through a chatbot in the past week, but among those under 25, this number rose to 15%.

“Younger people are already using these chatbots for a range of different purposes,” Newman said. “And so as it becomes enabled with real-time news, people are asking questions around the news itself, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how that changes next year.”

Overall, the public remains sceptical of AI-generated news content. In Europe, 46% of respondents said they were uncomfortable with AI creating news (even with human oversight); in the United States, that figure was 53%. However, they were more comfortable with the idea of AI being integrated into tasks like transcription, translation, or backend tagging.

“I think there’s a clear distinction from audience institutes in terms of the type of AI they currently feel comfortable with,” he said.

Newman suggested this discomfort opens a door for news media organisations: “People worry more that it’s going to be less transparent, less accurate, and less trustworthy. So I think that’s a real opportunity for publishers actually to lean into some of those attributes because it’s things that the AI is not considered to be good at.”

AI-powered summarisation and personalisation features hold potential to reduce news avoidance and increase relevance, but they require a delicate balance. Whilst users appreciate having content made more relevant — such as through a summary or audio version — they remain wary of AI deciding what stories they see.

“They worry about missing out on important stories or being pushed into echo chambers,” he said. “But I think there’s definitely gains to be made there.”

New subscription strategies needed

While the shift from advertising to reader revenue has been underway for over a decade, growth in digital subscriptions is slowing. “Only a minority of users in all countries say they’re prepared to pay for the news or have paid in the last year,” he said.

In the UK, just 10% of adults pay for news; in some Nordic countries, that figure rises to 40%. But even there, growth is flattening.

Faced with this saturation, news publishers are exploring alternatives to the traditional single-price subscription model. Practices like bundling and flexible payment options could help, Newman said. Niche subscriptions, such as the Substack model, could also be useful for providing value in a narrow market.

What it means

In a wide-ranging discussion following Newman’s presentation, Jodie Hopperton, lead of the INMA Product & Tech Initiative, and Lucy Kueng, a media strategist, board advisor, and author, unpacked what these changes mean for news organisations today.

Kueng, who is writing a book on the creator economy, noted traditional news media is only now feeling the effects of a creator-driven shift that’s been underway for years.

“You’ve got classic media and you’ve got creator media, and they just function in different ways with different models,” she said.

She emphasised that success in this space isn’t easy; those who break through often have backgrounds in classic media and now operate like mini-media companies with teams, production budgets, and diversified revenue streams.

Newman agreed, pointing out that many creators build on multiple platforms. While some may begin with TikTok or Substack, they often expand to podcasts, live events, or YouTube — where much of the creator economy is consolidating.

Together, they emphasised that top creators are not just individual voices but increasingly resemble professional media organisations.

The panel also explored how habits form and evolve. Millennials tend to stick with platforms like Facebook, while Gen Z has grown up on TikTok and YouTube. Disruption, such as Elon Musk’s takeover of X or the rise of AI, can shift behaviours — but overall, consumption patterns are sticky.

“I think habits are just really strong in media,” Newman observed. “People learn how to consume media in a particular way and they don’t change for their whole lives.”

AI, they noted, introduces a new paradigm: it’s not about social or community but fast, task-oriented information. This could disrupt how people seek news, especially when they want just a quick answer rather than a full story.

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