The Digital News Report 2026, published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, marks an aggregated change: for the first time, social media and video networks are, on average across the markets studied, used more as news sources than television and than news organisations’ websites or apps.

The report puts social media and video-network use at 54% of audiences, against 52% for television and 51% for news websites. Adding AI chatbots brings the third-party total to 56%. The authors describe a drift, not a sudden switch.

Behaviour differs by age and country. Television remains the main source for many people aged 45 and over. 10% of respondents use AI chatbots for news, up from 7% the previous year; in the United Kingdom the share is 4%, the lowest in the study.

Growth in news video is happening on third-party platforms. News organisations on average have less control over audience relationships, and the distinction between journalism, commentary, entertainment and sponsored content can be harder to recognise in algorithmic feeds.

The report treats the trends as still developing. 62% of respondents are concerned about fake news, up four percentage points. Convenience nevertheless appears to outweigh concern.

For readers, checking the origin of information becomes more important. For publishers, presence on platforms should be combined with a direct relationship and an editorial identity.

Image: Whispyhistory, 13 Norham Gardens, Oxford, 26 January 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. Reuters Institute premises, not a television studio. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Digital News Report 2026 executive summary — Reuters Institute.