Social media was by far the most popular news platform among 18 to 34-year-olds in the United States, with 47 percent of respondents to a survey held in August 2022 saying that they used social networks for news on a daily basis. By comparison, adults over 65 years old mostly used network news to keep up to date.

The decline of newspapers In the past, the reasons to regularly go out and purchase a print newspaper were many. Used not only for news but also apartment hunting, entertainment, and job searches (among other things), newspapers once served multiple purposes. This is no longer the case, with first television and then the internet taking care of consumer needs once covered by printed papers. Indeed, the paid circulation of daily weekday newspapers in the United States has fallen dramatically since the 1980s with no sign of future improvement.

News consumption habits

A survey on news consumption by gender found that 50 percent of women use either online-only news sites or social media for news each day, and 51 percent of male respondents said the same. Social media was by far the most used daily news platform among U.S. Millennials, and the same was true of Gen Z. One appeal of online news is that it often comes at no cost to the consumer. Paying for news found via digital outlets is not yet commonplace in the United States, with only 21 percent of U.S. consumers responding to a study held in early 2021 reporting having paid for online news content in the last year.

Social media is one of the go-to news sources in the United States – over one third of U.S. adults responding to a 2022 survey got their news from social media platforms every day, and a further 22 percent did so a few times or at least once per week. After the surge in social media news consumption in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily engagement fell in 2021, but the increase the following year suggests that daily news access on social networks could continue to grow in years to come.

The most popular social sites for news

An annual report surveying U.S. adults from 2019 to 2022 revealed that Facebook was the most popular social network used for news, followed by YouTube. Important to note here though is that TikTok was not included in the survey question for those years, a platform increasingly popular with younger generations. Whilst the share of adults regularly using TikTok for news aged 50 years or above was just five percent, among those aged between 18 and 29 years the figure was over five times higher.

Meanwhile, Twitter is journalists’ preferred social media site, with the share who use Twitter for their job at almost 70 percent. Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter however, some journalists raised concerns about the future of free speech on the platform.

Gen Z and social media news consumption

A 2022 survey found that half of all Gen Z respondents used social media for news every day. Gen Z is driving growth in social media news usage, a trend which will continue if the younger consumers belonging to this generation increase their engagement with news as they age.

According to data gathered in a survey held in 2024, ** percent of responding U.S. adults said that they got their news from social media often, the highest recorded in the time period shown. After a growth of people who claimed to never get news from social media from ** percent in 2020 to 32 percent in 2021, this share dropped back to ** percent in 2024.

In April 2025, the news website with the most monthly visits in the United States was nytimes.com, with a total of ***** million monthly visits in that month. In second place was cnn.com with just over *** million visits, followed by foxnews.com with almost a ****** of a million. Online news consumption in the U.S. Americans get their news in a variety of ways, but social media is an increasingly popular option. A survey on social media news consumption revealed that ** percent of Twitter users regularly used the site for news, and Facebook and Reddit were also popular for news among their users. Interestingly though, social media is the least trusted news sources in the United States. News and trust Trust in news sources has become increasingly important to the American news consumer amidst the spread of fake news, and the public are more vocal about whether or not they have faith in a source to report news correctly. Ongoing discussions about the credibility, accuracy and bias of news networks, anchors, TV show hosts, and news media professionals mean that those looking to keep up to date tend to be more cautious than ever before. In general, news audiences are skeptical. In 2020, just **** percent of respondents to a survey investigating the perceived objectivity of the mass media reported having a great deal of trust in the media to report news fully, accurately, and fairly.

A survey conducted in August 2022 found that Gen Z news consumers most frequently get their news from social media, with 50 percent of respondents reporting they used social networks as their news source on a daily basis. There was a general preference for online news sources rather than offline outlets among Gen Z, with only five percent saying that they read local newspapers every day.
News consumption: Gen Z vs. millennials The same 2022 study showed that whilst there were similarities between news consumption among millennials and Gen Z, there were also stark differences between the two groups. Gen Zers were significantly less likely to listen to the radio or watch television for news, and close to 60 percent said that they never read newspapers. Meanwhile, approximately 20 percent of Millennials reported listening to radio news and 15 percent watched cable or network TV on a daily basis.

Despite these differences, both Gen Z and millennial news audiences both demonstrated a clear preference for using social media to get their news. By contrast, Boomers were the least likely group to use social media for news, generally preferring network news for keeping up to date. Indeed, social networks are not without their problems, with consumers growing concerned about the news they find there. Social media and news Except for podcasts, social media is the least trusted news source in the United States. Fake news circulates there easily as consumers either unknowingly or deliberately share such content, and younger generations, who are the heaviest social media users, are at the highest risk of encountering biased, inaccurate, and untrue stories.

Data from a survey held in August 2022 in the United States revealed that the most popular news source among millennials was social media, with 45 percent of respondents reporting daily news consumption on social networks. This was more than double the share who got their news via radio. When it comes to trust, though, social media does not fare well.

Social media and news consumption

As adults of all ages spend more and more time on social media, news consumption via this avenue is likely to increase, but something which could affect this trend is the lack of trust in the news consumers encounter on social platforms. Although now the preferred option for younger audiences, social networks are among the least trusted news sources in the United States, and concerns about fake news remain prevalent.

Young audiences and fake news

Inaccurate news is a major problem which worsened during the 2016 and 2020 presidential election campaigns and the COVID-19 pandemic. A global study found that most Gen Z and Millennial news consumers ignored fake coronavirus news on social media, but almost 20 percent interacted with such posts in the comments section, and over seven percent shared the content. Younger news consumers in the United States were also the most likely to report feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19 news. As younger audiences were the most likely to get their updates on the outbreak via social media, this also made them the most susceptible to fake news, and younger generations are also the most prone to ‘doomscrolling’, an addictive act where the reader pursues and digests multiple negative or upsetting news articles in one sitting.

According to a study from April to May 2023, the most common way of consuming local news was via television, with 31.8 percent of respondents saying they watched local news on TV every day. Social media was also a popular option, whereas local news from newspapers and radio were the least popular choices.

A survey conducted in the United States in August 2022 found that white adults were the least frequent users of social media as a news source, with a third stating that they never used social networks for news. Conversely, Black Americans were the most likely to use social media for news on a daily basis.

In early 2025, ***percent of consumers in the United States were watching TV for at least ***** hours per day, down from ** percent who said the same in the corresponding period of 2024. At the same time, radio consumption also decreased, with ** percent of consumers listening to radio in 2025.

In terms of average time spent each day, TV is the second most used form of media in the United States, with adults spending *** minutes (more than ***** hours) watching television on a daily basis according to a study undertaken in April 2021. Digital formats took up the majority of U.S. adults' daily media consumption time, while for newspapers and magazines the average time spent was just *** and ***** minutes respectively. Is print dying? The reluctance among many print publications to publish their circulation figures tells a story in itself – print consumption is not what it used to be. Whilst many newspapers and magazines have made the move online, those which have not, have fallen behind, and in an increasingly digitized market risk disappearing almost totally from their audience’s view. Interestingly, ** percent adults who took part in a study on print media in 2018 admitted that they felt indifferent towards print dying out, and **** percent even said that they were happy at the prospect of the medium’s extinction. Despite the majority of respondents stating that they would be sad if print media became obsolete, a resurgence of the print medium looks to be unlikely. Book store and news dealer sales in the U.S. have been on the decline since 2007, and even long-established newspapers like The New York Times have had to protect themselves from the decline of print media by shifting their focus to digital. Subscriptions to The New York Times’ digital only news product have almost tripled since the end of 2014, evidencing the demand for such products and their potential success. Digital advertising and subscriptions make up a significant amount of the newspaper’s revenue and are necessary for its continued success. Had the NYT stuck to print, the company’s revenue would likely be very different. How has media consumption changed?  Since 2011, the daily time spent with major media in the United States has increased by ** minutes, with the average amount of daily time spent amounting to over half the hours in a day. Digital media is taking over, with music streaming services like Deezer and Spotify providing hours of entertainment and constantly expanding catalogues of music available at the click of a button. Revenue from music streaming in the U.S. reached 7.4 billion dollars in 2018, an increase of six billion in just five years, and the TV market is undergoing a similar change. Companies like Netflix and Sling TV are growing whilst traditional TV providers are losing subscribers. Streaming revenue, subscriptions and consumption are set to increase exponentially, whereas traditional media like books, print magazines and newspapers are less popular and have been exhibiting negative growth, a trend which is likely to continue in years to come.

In May 2025, a survey asked U.S. adults how they feel while consuming news. The results indicate that a majority feel informed, with 53 percent saying that news generally makes them feel this way. At the same time, 43 percent reported feeling angry, and 32 percent said they feel depressed when consuming news. In contrast, only 16 percent described feeling hopeful. These findings highlight that while staying informed is a major benefit of news consumption, negative emotional reactions—such as anger and depression—are also very common among Americans.

Data from a survey held in the United States in late 2023 found that more than half of all responding Latino adults mostly got their news in English. U.S. born Latino adults were substantially more likely to consume English-language news than Latino immigrants, who were more inclined to get updates from Spanish-language news media.

Americans are spending more time than ever consuming media, with projections indicating a continued upward trend. In 2023, the average daily time spent with major media formats, including television, newspapers, magazines, radio, and digital platforms, reached ** hours and ** minutes. This figure is expected to surpass ** hours and ** minutes by 2026, highlighting the growing role of media in daily life. Digital media dominates consumption The increase in overall media consumption is largely driven by digital platforms. By 2025, U.S. consumers are anticipated to spend nearly * hours per day with digital media alone. This shift towards digital formats was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a sharp increase in the usage of streaming services and e-books. Today the digital media thrives because of mobile internet and smart TVs, and it is likely to continue on this path as consumers are still looking for ease of access and on-the-go experiences. Generational differences in media habits While television remains the primary device among the general population, younger demographics show different media device preferences. A March 2024 study revealed that ** percent of adults in the United States used mainly the TV for entertainment purposes. However, for those aged 18 to 34, smartphones were the primary device of choice. This generational divide in media consumption habits underscores the evolving landscape of entertainment and the growing importance of mobile devices in capturing younger audiences.

A 2025 survey found that roughly 60 percent of U.S. adults aged 65 years or over said they saw information they believed to be false or misleading every day, compared to only 29 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 years old. Younger respondents were also marginally more likely to say that they were not sure if they had seen false information or not.

The most popular online news brands in the United States as of February 2025 were CNN.com and Fox News online. A study found that 23 percent and 22 percent of respondents to a survey had visited those sites respectively for news in the last week. Also high in the ranking were Yahoo! News and The New York Times online. Support for and trust in both sources varies significantly according to the political affiliation of audiences, particularly among Democrats and Republicans. News and politics A survey revealed that more than ** percent of Republicans reported not trusting The New York Times, whereas The NYT is one of the most trusted news sources among Democrats. The same study found that over ** percent of Democrats did not trust Fox News**. The perceived credibility of major news sources in the United States changes annually and is often influenced by election campaigns and the voting persuasions of the American public. However, whilst most Democrats believe the mass media to be objective in its reporting, very few Republicans feel the same. In 2020, just ** percent of Republicans trusted news organizations to report fully, accurately, and fairly. Trust in news The most trusted news sources in the United States are radio, network news, and newspapers, despite online outlets being used more frequently by younger audiences. Social media and podcasts are considered the least trustworthy news platforms by all American voters, though again, the survey indicated that Republicans are generally more distrusting of mass media news than voters of other political parties.

A survey conducted in March 2022 revealed that social media feeds or messaging services were the main news source among Gen Z teens and adults, with 51 percent and 33 percent respectively reporting getting news daily via social platforms. Gen Z teens, those aged 14 to 19 years old, were more likely to use social media for news than their slightly older peers, but consumption was similar across both groups in the sense that news sites were the least popular option and news from search engines was preferred to TV news.

During the third quarter of 2024, internet users in the United States spent over *** hours daily using the internet, with over *** hours spent viewing video content on TV (both broadcast and streamed) as well as more than * hours devoted to using social media platforms. This substantial amount of time spent with online media reflects a significant trend in consumption habits, which have been influenced by the need for inexpensive, faster, and more accessible entertainment. Media Consumption Trends and Future Plans The average daily time spent with digital media in the United States is expected to increase from *** minutes (seven hours and ** minutes) in 2022 to close to * hours by the end of 2025. This pivot is dictated by the ease of access of online entertainment and variety of content available on numerous platforms.According to a survey conducted in April 2023, the majority of consumers in the United States were not planning to make any major changes to most of their media habits in the following year. However, a notable ** percent planned to increase their time spent listening to podcasts. In general, there was an evident shift towards reducing or ending paid subscriptions to numerous media services. Free entertainment is on social A survey conducted in June 2023 highlighted that adults in the United States spent more time per day on TikTok than on any other leading social media platform, with an average of **** minutes per day. The video sharing network gained more popularity with users than YouTube and Twitter. This underlines the growing interest in short form video and fast entertainment options. Today consumers step away from traditional media and dive into online offers.

Data from a survey on news consumption showed that the share of U.S. consumers reading online news via a smartphone more than doubled between 2013 and 2022. However, consumption via computer or laptop decreased by about ** percent in the same time period.

News audiences in Norway were the most likely to pay for online news according to a global study on paid digital news content consumption, with 42 percent having paid for news online in the last year. Ranked second was Sweden, followed by Switzerland, Australia, and Austria. With the changing media landscape leading to more and more consumers turning to digital sources to access the news, publishers are adding paywalls on their sites. However, not all consumers are equally inclined to pay for digital news content. Italy and UK news audiences for example were substantially less likely to pay for online news than U.S. consumers. Why pay for online news? The reasons for paying for news are diverse and dependent on various factors. The digitalization of news allows stories to be shared and disseminated on a global scale, but not all sources are reliable or credible. For consumers, it is often difficult to identify trustworthy news sources, and as such which sources they would happily pay for. Consumers may also be reluctant to pay for news because of the sheer amount of free content online. Whilst the availability of free content made news more accessible, at the same time this impacts journalists and publishers. In Finland for example, this has led to a correlated decrease in sales of printed content. As traditional print publications move online, there is also a growing reliance on advertising to generate revenue. Users are encouraged to pay for access to restricted material as publishers limit content to members only. Consumer’s willingness to pay was seen to be dependent on content, with Americans happier to pay for news than features or e-magazines. Impact of the coronavirus With the coronavirus pandemic forcing millions across the globe to stay at home, having access to digital news has never been more crucial, accordingly an increase of subscribers paying for premium news content could be expected. However the health crisis has also led to economic hardship for many, which may instead lead to people cutting out luxuries such as paid news subscriptions. In the UK for example, 2020 saw a decrease in people paying for news content compared to the previous year. With the pandemic dominating news reports, 2020 also saw audiences experience news fatigue, and after a year of news coverage saturated with coronavirus updates, consumers may feel the need to switch off entirely.

In 2025, Fox News was the most widely used offline news source in the United States, with ** percent of respondents reporting they had watched it in the past week. CNN followed closely at ** percent, while local television news reached ** percent. In contrast, traditional print media saw lower engagement—only ** percent of respondents said they had used regional or local newspapers, and just ***** percent accessed NPR News, including local NPR stations.