In this blog post, we will explore the changing attitudes and behavior of young people towards news, focusing on the differences between social natives (18-24s) and digital natives (25-34s) in terms of news access, formats, and attitudes.

We'll be drawing on the Reuters Institute's Digital News Report 2026, based on almost 100,000 interviews across 48 markets, along with a dedicated 2026 Reuters Institute report on young news audiences. Together, they confirm what the 2019 Digital News Report first flagged: young people, particularly those between the ages of 18-24, rely heavily on digital and social media for news and have a weaker connection with traditional news sources — and the trend has only deepened since.

However, with the growth of newer platforms such as TikTok and Telegram and increasing concerns about news distrust and avoidance, the behavior of young people towards news has evolved even further. In order to ready themselves for a new, young audience, newsrooms must address the needs of their audiences, and distribute news through the varied social media formats where younger audiences are consuming news.

Social Media as a Main Source of News while trust in the news continues to decline

The 2026 Digital News Report found that social media, video networks, and AI chatbots have solidified their lead: 52% of 18-24s globally now name them as their main source of news, well ahead of TV, radio, or news websites and apps. That figure combines three source types rather than social media alone, so it isn't a direct continuation of the 39% figure from earlier reports — but the direction is unmistakable.

The platform shift has also moved on. Among 18-24s, Instagram is now the biggest social platform for news, reaching 42% of this age group. Facebook's decline among young audiences has been sharper than expected: weekly use for news among 18-24s has fallen from 47% in 2014 to just 16% in 2025.

The study noticed that there has been a gradual transition from Facebook to more visually based platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Noteworthy is the fact that TikTok news consumption among 18-24 year-olds has grown from 3% to 15% in the span of three years.

YouTube has become a favorite source for news among young people in Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. In contrast, those aged 25-34 are more inclined to use Facebook for news since it is the platform that they have grown up with, and have been slower to move to new networks such as TikTok for news.

Despite the rise of online video, text- and audio-based formats remain relevant. People aged under 35 tend to prefer reading news, but they also appreciate a combination of text and video content in order to comprehend information more effectively.

Additionally, podcasts are a popular audio-based format. Trust also looks different today. Only 37% of 18-24s say they trust the news most of the time — a 9-point gap behind those 55 and over that has stayed roughly consistent since 2015, even as trust has declined for both groups. Separately, overall global trust in news (all ages, all markets) has now fallen to 37% as well — its lowest point since Reuters began tracking it in 2015.

Younger audiences are avoiding the news

Despite the competition for audiences' time and attention among news outlets and formats, young people increasingly choose to selectively avoid the news, with substantial rises in avoidance among social natives since 2019.

The 2026 data shows avoidance holding firm: 42% of 18-24s say they sometimes or often avoid the news, compared with 37% of those 55 and over. As before, the leading reason across all ages is the negative effect news has on people's mood. But young people stand out on two other reasons: 21% say news doesn't feel relevant to them (vs. 16% of those 55+), and 15% say they find it difficult to understand (vs. just 5% of older audiences) — a gap that speaks directly to how newsrooms frame and explain stories for younger readers.

However, this selective avoidance is not limited to younger audiences, but the Reuters research suggests that political news avoidance is tied to negative perceptions, lack of relevance, and distrust in news.

New Ways Young People Are Finding News

Two additional shifts are reshaping how young people encounter news, neither of which existed as answer options in earlier Digital News Report surveys. AI chatbots are gaining ground fastest with younger audiences: 15-16% of under-35s now use them weekly to access news, compared with roughly 3% of those 55 and over. Individual creators are having an even bigger effect on attention: 51% of young social media news users say they pay more attention to news creators and personalities than to traditional news brands and journalists — a ratio that flips almost exactly for audiences 55 and older.

Some newsrooms are already adapting. Swiss outlet Watson introduced a TikTok-style "flow mode" to boost engagement with younger readers, while Australia's The Daily Aus — staffed by young journalists — runs weekly polls to keep a close read on what its young audience wants from the news.

Different Interests in News Topics

Younger audiences have different attitudes toward news compared to older groups and are more likely to believe that media organizations should take a stand on issues like climate change. They have a wider definition of what news is, considering topics like sports, entertainment, and science as news.

Despite being less interested in traditional news topics such as politics, international, and crime news, younger audiences are more likely to be interested in entertainment and celebrity news, culture and arts news, and education news. However, the report notes that not all young people are interested in the same types of news and that there is variation by market.

Motivations for Accessing News

The motivations for accessing news are different for different age groups. All age groups consider news as important for learning new things, but younger people under 35 are slightly more motivated by the entertainment value and shareability of news compared to older groups. They are slightly less motivated by a sense of duty to stay informed or the personal use of news. However, the sense of duty to consume news varies between those under and over 35, and it also varies between countries.

In conclusion, the behavior and attitudes of young people towards news have evolved significantly in recent years. The rise of digital and social media platforms has led to an increased reliance on these sources for news, especially among social natives.

Online video platforms like TikTok and Instagram have become popular sources of news for younger audiences due to their informal and entertaining style. Meanwhile, digital natives have remained loyal to Facebook for news but have been slow to adopt newer networks for news.

Young people have different motivations for accessing news compared to older groups, with the entertainment value and shareability of news being slightly more important for them. If publishers want to succeed in capturing the attention of younger audiences, it's clear they need to branch out into different formats and address audience needs by planning content that addresses the audiences' needs in the right place, at the right time.