Digital News Report Shows More American's Get News from Social Media than Any other Source

An accelerating shift towards consumption of News and information via social media and video platforms is further diminishing the influence of ‘established and institutional journalism’ and supercharging a fragmented alternative media environment containing an array of independent citizen journalist, podcasters, YouTubers, and TikTokers. Populist politicians around the world are increasingly able to bypass traditional journalism in favour of friendly partisan media, ‘personalities’, and ‘influencers." per a report from Rueters called the Digital News Report 2025.

Within New Mexico, organizations such as 2nd Life Media Inc, the parent corporation for AlamogordoTownNews.org, New Mexico Conservative News, streaming KALHRadio.org and affiliated in West Texas and California can confirm that this research is spot on. CEO, Chris Edwards, said that the social media platform links drive "73% of readers and listeners to our news platforms." Edwards continues, "the trend toward social media linkage and consumption of information and news has been ongoing but the pace jumped 100 fold with last years election and with the swearing in of the Trump Administration. Good, bad, or indifferent the administration and local reactions via local political leaders to federal mandates, changes or directives has made the impact of real time social reporting a must have of the information consuming public. This has been a boon for our multipronged news platform in every market we are now serving."

Key report findings...

Engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows. This is particularly the case in the United States where polling overlapped with the first few weeks of the new Trump administration. Social media news use was sharply up (+6 percentage points) but there was no ‘Trump bump’ for traditional sources.Engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows. This is particularly the case in the United States where polling overlapped with the first few weeks of the new Trump administration. Social media news use was sharply up (+6 percentage points) but there was no ‘Trump bump’ for traditional sources.

Audiences in most countries remain sceptical about the use of AI in the news and are more comfortable with use cases where humans remain in the loop. Across countries they expect that AI will make the news cheaper to make (+29 net difference) and more up-to-date (+16) but less transparent (-8), less accurate (-8), and less trustworthy (-18).

Social media consumption has also surged (+6pp) amid an intense political climate in the United States.

Among the sources included in the research, local TV news and local independent and online newspapers are the most trusted, along with the BBC and long-established broadcast networks CBS and ABC. But trust levels for all other brands are adversely affected by the highly polarised US market and the expanse of social media outreach by independent and localized news sources.

People often lament that, while local news often represents the best of what news can and should be, it seems to have suffered more than any other part of the industry in recent years. They look to the USA, where researchers have identified more than 3,000 local newspaper closures since 2005 – a trend that shows no signs of slowing down (Metzger 2024).

Local news media used to have a de facto monopoly over the provision of certain types of local information, but people now have a range of different sources to choose from – including digital platforms. Local publishers that adapt to the changing ways individuals consume news and information are the clear winners as the media landscape is quickly changing.

Consistent with the trends seen by 2nd Life Media Inc affiliates the reseach shows that people most frequently accessed information about general local news stories (e.g. about crimes, accidents) (49%), local activities/culture (e.g. things to do, reviews, walks, talks) (38%), and local information services (e.g. train/bus times, weather, movie times) (37%). Just one-third (32%) said they accessed information about local politics/government in the last week, despite this often being held up as the most important function of local news media. Information about local sports and clubs (20%), and local notices (e.g. deaths, etc ) (19%) were accessed by between one-fifth and one-quarter.

Local publishers such as 2nd Life Media will likely continue to benefit from a strategy that recognizes the centrality of platforms to the information ecosystem more broadly based upon most recent trends. Building a direct connection with audiences is always challenging, but especially so if there is a weak community connection between publishers and their audiences to begin with.

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