Social Media Overtakes TV, Sites As Top News Source

The Reuters Institute’s 2026 Digital News Report points to a media shift that has now properly taken hold: social media has overtaken television and news websites as the main way people get their news.

The findings come from more than 85,000 respondents across 48 regions, offering a snapshot of how quickly habits have moved into platforms that were once just for entertainment. Increasingly, news doesn’t begin with a newsroom homepage or a scheduled bulletin. It appears mid-scroll, alongside everything else.

Social platforms now lead overall news use. More people say they rely on them daily than on TV or dedicated news sites. 

TikTok and Instagram are pulling more of that attention, helped by short videos and recommendation feeds that decide what surfaces and what doesn’t. X, by contrast, has slipped as a news destination, while Threads is picking up some of the audience moving away. The report links much of that fragmentation to the changes that followed Elon Musk’s takeover of X.

READ MORE: Meta Unveils Forum App For Reddit-Style Facebook Groups

And this isn’t just a younger audience story anymore. The increase shows up across age groups.

At the same time, online creators are playing a larger role in how people come across news. In several regions, they now sit alongside established outlets in the same flow of information. Over time, they are also shaping how stories are interpreted, sometimes long after they first appear. It’s a different kind of gatekeeping, less formal but no less influential.

The incentives underneath it are mixed. Platforms reward engagement, not accuracy. Creators are often working to grow audiences or attract sponsorships. Most of the time that pushes content towards what performs well rather than what is most precise or complete.

That naturally creates space for distortion, though not always because anyone intends it. The structure of the system itself can drive it. Stories are often trimmed down or reshaped so they hold attention for longer, which can change how they are understood.

AI chatbots are also starting to emerge as another way people get news. It is still early, but they are already becoming part of the wider mix of sources people turn to.

What you’re left with is a news environment that feels less centralised than before. Fewer fixed entry points, more competing voices, and a system where attention now plays as big a role as editorial judgement.