🙈 News Media Faces a Crisis of Credibility

The findings document unprecedented volatility in media consumption: interest in news is declining, while the overall level of trust in the media has dropped to 37%—the lowest figure recorded since the study began tracking this metric in 2015.

Audiences are exhibiting a combination of anxiety, detachment, and cynicism. Many express dissatisfaction with how traditional media outlets cover protracted, systemic issues such as inflation, immigration, and international conflicts. In the United States, public trust has plummeted to 25%, with major brands like CBS News and Fox News each losing 10 percentage points in trust year-over-year.

Nevertheless, experts have identified seven defining trends reshaping the global media industry.

Platforms Outpace Proprietary Publisher Sites

For the first time in history, social media networks and video hosting services have surpassed the official websites of news organizations and television channels on a global scale. Third-party platforms have become the primary source of news across two-thirds of the studied markets. Direct traffic to publishers’ own websites retains leadership only in Western and Central Europe, as well as in affluent Asian nations.

Shifting Consumption Habits Transcend Generations

Globally, 30% of respondents identify social media as their primary source of information, up from 22% five years ago. This trend is not confined to youth demographics; the share of viewers relying on traditional television and press websites is declining across all age groups, except for the “55+” category. Furthermore, 56% of young individuals aged 18 to 24 stated that they have never regularly read printed newspapers. It is becoming evident that the older generation is gradually adopting the digital habits of younger cohorts, rather than the reverse.

The Second Wave of Digitalization: The Video Boom

While the first wave of the internet revolution disrupted text-based print media, the second wave is impacting traditional television broadcasting. Approximately 77% of respondents view online news videos on a weekly basis. However, audiences are consuming this content via global video services and social media rather than on broadcaster websites. Video viewership on publishers’ proprietary platforms has fallen by 10% since 2021.

The Rising Influence of Independent Creators

One in four respondents (27%) receives news from independent content creators and bloggers. Users report that influencers present information in a more engaging, comprehensible, and accessible manner, although trust in their impartiality remains lower than that of professional journalists. Bloggers are not yet replacing legacy media, but rather complementing it.

A Historic Decline in Trust

Trust in news coverage has dropped in 29 out of the 48 countries surveyed. The steepest declines occurred in the Philippines (-10 percentage points), Ireland (-9 percentage points), Thailand, Peru, and Poland (all at -8 percentage points). Paradoxically, as audiences migrate to third-party platforms, public concern regarding disinformation and the negative impact of social media on society has intensified.

AI Chatbots Carve Out a News Niche

One in ten people globally (10%) now utilizes artificial intelligence chatbots to find and consume news, reflecting a 3% year-over-year increase. Among youth under the age of 35, this figure reaches 16%. Notably, it is not detached users turning to AI, but rather the most highly engaged content consumers. Trust in AI-generated answers remains low at 20%, and users frequently click through the bot’s source links to cross-verify information.

Paid Subscriptions Face Stagnation

The share of individuals willing to pay for online news has stalled at 17% across a sample of 20 tracked countries. Among paying subscribers, 43% do so to access exclusive content, while 46% are driven by value-based motivations—they seek to financially support quality journalism, recognizing its critical importance to civil society.