Extra Australians now entry their information by way of social media than conventional information shops and younger Australians are more and more drawn to video information on TikTok and Instagram, in line with the 2025 Digital Information Report.
The College of Canberra’s Information and Media Analysis Centre discovered tv (37%) stays the preferred supply of reports (up 1% from 2024) however extra customers now go to Fb, X, YouTube and different platforms than to a legacy information outlet.
The variety of folks reporting they use on-line information as their important supply of reports has dropped dramatically – from 28% in 2024 to 23% in 2025 – whereas social media as a important supply of reports has risen one share level from 25% to 26%.
A couple of in 20 respondents (6%) stated they’d requested synthetic intelligence chatbots for information within the week prior, the report stated.
The Australian examine is a part of a global survey by the Reuters Institute for the Research of Journalism, which canvassed nearly 100,000 information customers worldwide, together with a statistical pattern of two,006 folks in Australia.
Australia is a part of an worldwide pattern away from conventional information organisations in the direction of podcasters, YouTubers and TikTokers.
The latest Australian election noticed politicians turning to unbiased commentators and journalists on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok to unfold their message.
The College of Canberra survey exhibits social media is a well-liked place for folks aged 18 to 24 to observe information movies, with greater than one-third watching them on TikTok (37%) and Instagram (34%).
A video posted on Anthony Albanese’s TikTok account on the weekend, the place the prime minister speaks about paid sensible for “nurses, teachers, midwives and social workers”, had garnered 1.7m views as of Tuesday afternoon.
Nevertheless, information customers in Australia who’re extremely taken with information and politics usually tend to depend on on-line information as their important supply, the report discovered.
Channel Seven is essentially the most watched tv information model (34%), adopted by ABC (31%). Whereas there was a drop in viewership of the highest three TV information manufacturers, Sky Information Australia’s attain elevated by 4 share factors (17%) over the previous 12 months, the survey discovered, as did The Australian newspaper (13%).
Solely 7% of respondents say they rely primarily on radio and 5% on print. Podcasts and AI chatbots are comparatively minor: 2% report podcasts as their important information supply and 1% are utilizing AI chatbots as their important information supply.
Prof Sora Park, the lead creator at UC’s Information and Media Analysis Centre, stated belief in information has risen barely this 12 months and is highest amongst individuals who have undertaken information literacy schooling.
“In fact, these consumers have higher interest in news and are more likely to pay for it,” she stated.
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“This suggests that increasing media literacy across the population could not only help boost trust in news but also be part of the economic solution in the years to come.”
ABC Information (60%) is essentially the most trusted information outlet, adopted by SBS Information (59%), native newspapers (58%), BBC Information (57%) and Channel Seven Information (55%).
Australia’s information media aren’t as polarised as these within the UK and US. “Audience levels of trust remain steady,” the report discovered. “The main public broadcasters ABC and SBS continue to attract the most trust, though popular commercial television and national newspapers are only slightly behind.”
Shoppers in Australia usually tend to pay for information, with 22% being above the common of 18% in a bunch of 20 nations the place publishers push subscriptions.
The determine is highest in Norway (42%), adopted by Sweden (31%). The US is behind Australia with 20%.
Globally, total belief within the information (43%) has remained secure for the third 12 months in a row, however was 4 factors decrease total than it was on the peak of the pandemic.
Researchers are additionally monitoring information avoidance, with 69% of individuals saying they keep away from information as a result of it has a unfavourable affect on their temper, or is untrustworthy or biased.
Curiosity in information has been step by step falling since 2016, significantly amongst ladies.
This 14th version of Digital Information Report relies on knowledge from six continents and 48 markets.
